4.2 - Recruitment and Selection

What are the 3 types of hours an employee can work?

Full time, part time, flexible hours/0-hours

What is full time?

An employee working 35+ hours per week (often spread over 5 days)

What is part time?

Employee working for only part of the working week/anything less than full time (common in retail industry)

What is flexible hours?

- Employees given a set no. of hours to work in a week/month/year but get to choose when they work

- May work any no. of hours up to full time

How are flexible hours beneficial to both businesses and employees?

- Can lead to higher staff retention (staff happy to stay working at the same firm) and better productivity

- Flexibility in personal lives

What are 0-hours contracts

- Employee has no specified number of hours per week

- They are given work when the business requires them

How are 0-hours contracts beneficial/detrimental to both the business and employee?

- Fills business shortages

- Flexibility

- Can lead to uncertainty about work + irregular income

What are the 3 types of contracts?

Permanent, temporary and freelance

What is a permanent contract?

Has no fixed end date

Employee may stay within the business until either they decide to leave or the job role no longer exists.

What is a temporary contract?

Has a specific end date - employed for a certain period of time

Very common in retail industry (seasonal demand)

What is a freelance contract?

A self-employed individual is engaged to carry out a specific piece of work over a defined period of time (sometimes very short)

Common in creative industries (eg. new logo, advertisements)

Why are recruitment and selection very important to businesses?

Recruiting new staff is expensive

If good staff aren't recuited by firms, money spent on the recruitment process will be wasted, and the productivity and profit of the firm may fall.


For this reason, getting the recruitment and selection process right first time is important.

Why do many firms now plan their recruitment and selection carefully?

Employing good workers can be the difference between success and failure of a business

Why do job vacancies arise?

- Starting a new business
- Entrepreneur needs to employ staff to assist him/her

- Expanding (increasing production/diversification)

- When employees leave:
Offered anoteher job
Retiring
Leaving to have a baby
A member of staff is promoted
A member of staff in dismissed

What is internal recruitment?

When a business fills a job vanacy with an existing member of staff

Could be a promotion to a higher position/transferring an employee to a different area of the business

What is external recruitment?

When recruitment is carried out outside of the business - often through external job adverts (emails, job websites, recruitment agencies, business' website, newspapers, trade magazines, etc.)

What are the advantages of internal recruitment?

- Business knows (and is able to trust) the employee
- Relatively cheap + quick (no need for expensive advertising, recruitment + selection processes)
- Employee knows the business + co-workers
- Employees may be motivated by promotion opportunities
- Employee has an understanding of the business already

What are the disadvantages of internal recruitment?

- Limited no. of applicants - firm may miss out on a better applicant externally
- Business may have to pay for some training to ensure the employee has the right skills
- Lack of fresh ideas in business

What are the advantages of external recruitment?

- Greater pool of applicants/choice of employees
- Benefit from workers who have experience of working elsewhere
- Fresh enthusiasm and skill
- May bring new ideas into the business

What are the disadvantages of external recuitment?

may take the new employee time to settle into the business

expensive to recruit

new employee not previously known to the business

can take more time than internal recruitment

What does a job analysis include?

- How many workers needed
- What qualities + skills are required
- How many full/part time workers are needed
- When new workers will be required to start

What is included in a job description?

Duties and responsibilities new workers will be required to perform

The expected hours of work

The place of work

What is included in a person specification?

The educational requirements

Any professional qualifications required

Experience of similar work

What is included in a job advertisement?

Duties and responsibilities

Salary on offer

Experience required

Qualifications required

"Fill in the recruitment and selection process:

"

"

What is the contract of employment?

It sets out the hours of work expected of the employeee (along with many other things)

Either full-time (35-40 hours)
Part time (less than the usual working week - full-time)
Job share

What is job share?

When 2+ workers divide up one job role between themselves; known as a job share

What does a contract of employment include?

- Employer's name + place of work
- Employee's name
- Start date
- Job title
- Rates of pay
- Hours of work
- Holiday entitlement
- Period of notice
- Disciplinary procedures
- Grievance procedures
- Sick pay arrangments
- Pension rights

What are the benefits of full time work to the employer?

Employees are more skilled and experienced because they are at work for more hours each week.

There is better communication as employees have more direct contact with one another.

What are the benefits of full time work to the employee?

Workers are paid for more hours each week which could improve their living standards.

Employees are more likely to gain promotion as they have more experience and more training.

What are the benefits of part time work to the employer?

Employees can helpp with busy periods during the week

What are the benefits of part time work to the employee?

Employees can fit in work with other commitments, such as looking after older relatives or children.

Some older employees may not want to retire but find working a lot of hours tiring.

What is the job of the human resources function in a business?

To make sure it recruits the right number of workers with the right skills

The right person will ___ _____ to a business; the wrong person can _____ ____ and ____ ______

The right person will add value to a business; the wrong person can increase costs and reduce quality

Why do business have an effective recruitment and selection process?

An organisation can never be certain that it has employed the right person until they actually work - but an effective recruitment and selection process can reduce the risk of getting it wrong

What does CV stand for?

Curriculum Vitae

Is being a mechanic suitable for a Zero-Hours contract?

No - many customers go to a specific shop because they trust the mechanics with their car - they've built a relationship and trust with the staff there

If people are on zero-hours contracts, then customers will not want to come back if the same person/people aren't there

Is being a graphic designer suitable for a zero-hours contract?

No - the graphic designer should be someone who knows the business, their colours, how they communicate, themes, etc. - NOT someone who was pulled in to help ouy

Is being bar staff suitable for a zero-hours contract?

Yes - having bar staff on zero-hours contract would be incredibly useful during busy periods to help out and serve all customers - customers don't have a specific relationship with the bar staff, so it doesn't matter if the staff are not regularly there

What is the official name for a person applying for a job?

Candidate

What is the process of finding and appointing new employees?

Recruitment

What is it when an older person decides to leave employment permanently?

Retirement

What is the quantity of goods and services produced by an employee over a period of time?

Productivity

What is choosing the right employees from those who have applied for the job?

Selection

What is a contract?

A legal document setting out the details and conditions of the job

What is wrong with each aspect of this CV?"

What is quality?

The extenet to which customers' requirements are met

What is a psychometric test?

- Test that shows personality
- Helps to see who is best for the job and the ppl they will be working with

What are the advantages + disadvantages of interviews?

- Quite cheap
- Not always reliable - may be good at interviews but not at the job

What happens in an assessment centre?

- Role plays of the job
- Psychometric tests
- A no. of interviews
- Practical tasks


Can be stressful - how do employees work under pressure?

What are the methods of selection used by employers?

Interviews, psychometric tests, assessment centres

Finding the best employees will lead to:

““

Explain one benefir of internal recruitmnet

1 mark for identifying a benefit of internal recruitment.

1 mark for explaining the benefit of internal recruitment.

Answers may include:

•   current employees have experience of the business

•   current employees know the other employees

•   provides current employees with promotion opportunities

•   no need for external advertisements

•   no need for induction training

Example of a developed answer

There is no need for external advertisements (1) internal is cheaper as external advertisements more expensive (1)

Provides current employees with promotion opportunities (1) which can help motivate them (1)