Example of human resources recruitment practices and required amendments essay

Introduction: The present paper makes an indispensable attempt to emphasize on the significance of the human resources department of an organization and the effective execution of its functions such as planning, recruiting and selection of the workforce while not disturbing the legal and ethical concerns on part of both the employees and the organizations. To begin with, it is apt to understand the entire process that is followed by the human resource department i. e. the cycle of recruitment.
Definition: Human resource forms the most critical resource of any organization in the absence of which the efficient handling of the organization’s other resources seems to be hollow. Therefore it becomes inevitable for the human resource department to follow the most systematic and strategic method of recruiting to ensure a correlation between the potential employee’s skills and the job requirements. A relevant screening and hiring procedure not only reduces the employee turnover and organization’s costs but also enhances the morale of the workforce with the stable work environment.

Human Resource Planning:

The human resource department should make an effort to stay in touch with the latest updates related to the potential workforce such as their changing magnitude, their changing priorities and their most resorted way to seek employment. Such exercise on part of the human resource department helps the management chalk-out a simple yet effective human resource plan to keep pace with the changing internal and external environments. Consequently the management can also assess the timely workforce needs per the business objectives, training needs of the workforce in a prompt manner thus leading to the effective utilization of resources by the organization.

Job Description:

It is such area which requires utmost attention to be paid by the human resource department while making efforts to fill in a vacancy. The clear and concise assessment of the job requirement already does the half work of the human resource department to find the most suitable employee. With a clear vision defined, half the war is already won.

Recruitment and selection:

The recruitment and selection procedures need to be as realistic as possible to ensure proper utilization of time and other resources involved by the organization. The main objective that the recruitment and selection criteria of an organization should achieve is to obtain the maximum possible information of the prospective employee that is relevant to the job and the organization. Approaches such as Realistic Job Preview and Job Compatibility Questionnaire need to be resorted by the organization for the recruitment purpose. The responsibility of the human resource department does not end with the finding an apt candidate, it rather starts from there. Apparently, various selection methods need to be exercised by the human resource department such as the required medical checks, background checks and reference checks. Evaluation and control forms an integral part of the recruitment and selection process.

Legal requirements:

The human resource department involved in staffing responsibilities should possess sufficient and relevant knowledge and understanding of the applicable employment laws. Such employment laws were established to avoid the employer from practicing any kind of social, racial or gender discriminations towards its employees. Examples of such acts as enforced by law are Pregnancy discrimination act of 1978, Equal employment opportunity act of 1972, Age discrimination in employment act of 1967 and Title VII of the Civil rights act of 1964. With so many acts in place to safeguard the interests of the employees, it becomes a major responsibility on the part of the organizations to abide by these acts while trying to meet their staffing requirements.

Ethics and Human resource management:

Practice of ethics at work place definitely has its own prominence when it comes to the prosperity of the organization in the long run. It is these ethics that promote respectful and positive environment for all the parties involved in the working of the organization. With work ethics in place, the organization can provide affirmations to its employees such as, job security, high morale, just remuneration and job flexibility. Well, there is no perfect guide book to refer to the dos and don’ts of the ethics that need to be practiced. Rather, it is an outcome of the various backgrounds on which the human resource management sets its principles on, i. e., social, regional and economical backgrounds. Based on these sets of principles the ethical values also should be determined that best suit the organizational and the employee needs.

Application of the above literature to the current situation:

With the Title VII of the Civil rights act of 1964 there is no provision available for the organization to decline job offers to the female potential employees. At the same time, the Pregnancy discrimination act of 1978 also does not allow the organization to practice any undue discrimination towards its pregnant employees. Moreover if the ethics at the work place are to be kept alive, practices such as denial of offer of employment to the potential female employees or any sort of undue discrimination towards the pregnant employees cannot be resorted to. Simultaneously, the issue of high frequency of maternity leaves also cannot be left unattended as it ultimately is causing huge resource loss to the organization.

Therefore a midway needs to be employed so as to land up in a situation that is not discriminating or exploiting towards the female employees yet profitable to the organization.

1. First and foremost, at the time of hiring, the female employees should be assessed for their seriousness towards their career goals. Less career oriented females should be hired for processes that can be easily filled up at the time of requirement.
2. In cases where the female employees appear to be very serious towards their career, yet after joining employment, choose to also prosper in their family lives, need to counseled so as to equip them with sufficient emotional support and morale to ensure their maximum cooperation during their leave periods. Such counseling shall also ensure their comeback after their leave period which would cut down the costs of recruitment and training the newly hired.
3. Female employees should be asked to inform the management much in advance before going on maternity leave so as to ensure the provision of timely training of the substituting employee. Such promptness shall not disturb the quality of the work done.
4. Female employees, at the time of recruitment should be shouldered the responsibility finding a suitable substitute during their leave periods.
5. Additional support system should be established at the organization such as immediate medical attention, crèche or exercise sessions and nutrition counseling for expecting women so as to ensure a sense of security and belongingness towards the organization.

All the suggestions made above strictly adhere to the acts as established by the rule of law to ensure the protection of interests of the employees. These suggestions also instill a sense of responsibility in the organization towards its employees and vice versa. Such sense of responsibility enhances the sense of ownership and security in both the parties which could result in a mutually beneficial relationship.

References

1. Fombrun, C. J., Tichy, M. M. and Devanna M. A. (1984). Strategic Human Resource Management. New York: John Wiley
2. Redman, T. and Wilkinson, A. (2001) Contemporary HRM. Harlow: FT/ Prentice Hall
3. Watson, T. (1997). The Personnel Managers. London: Routledge.
4.  Sandra Steen, Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart and Patrick Wright. (2nd Ed.). (2010). Human Resource Management. New York: McGraw Hill Ryerson.