Recruitment: possible problems, impossible solutions

Recruitment is a process of identifying and hiring best-qualified candidate(s) for a job vacancy, in a timely and cost effective manner. Such a simple definition but a herculean task to be carried out. Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Recruiters use every possible means to get the right people and meet the number required. Following are some of the possible problems they encounter:

• Handling the expectations of job seekers is a huge challenge. They hold multiple offers from different companies and promise to join everywhere during their interviews. They do not reveal such information in the initial states. But they do so when their date of joining comes closer. As a result companies or rather recruiters experience candidate not turning up to join.
• In the above mentioned scenario, if the requirement is very crucial, the company is forced to pay higher salary to get the candidate on board thereby exceeding their original budget.
• The time pressure on closing the requirement is a crucial task. A lot of companies promise manpower to get a project. The terms are very simple as in if the organization does not deliver progress report within say ‘X’ number of man-hours as projected during the bidding of the project, it goes to someone else. When they get the project, companies are in a hurry to recruit. They speed up the interview process to get the right candidate. This in turn puts pressure on the recruiters.
• A lot of companies find it difficult to attract candidates let alone sustain them. Recruitment is a lengthy process which involves precious man – hours of not only recruiters but also the decision makers. It also involves money, effort and other misc cost such as transportation cost (if the candidate is outstation). In such a scenario, if the candidate leaves the company with say 6 months it’s a huge loss to the company more so if the candidate is of the rank of a manager and above.
• Sometimes the recruiters are not properly briefed by the operational managers. Hence they are unaware of the exact processes. The expectation set by the recruiter and the reality when he joins in are two different pictures. This mostly happen while recruiting freshers or first timers and most likely to happen in a BPO environment

As they say “All is not lost, there is still some hope”. Following are a few pointers to help companies come out of this dilemma.

• Employees though look out for additional benefits such as healthcare, share options and sodexo they are unlikely to join if the working environment, career progression and timely financial incentives are ignored.
• Employers need to ensure they are offering what the candidates are looking for not only in terms of monetary benefits but also non monetary aspects.
• Customize salary packages according to the needs of the candidate. This happens but only for the upper management level.
• Ensure proper employee training and development to enhance career progression not only within the organization but also elsewhere if the candidate is planning to leave. There is no point in denying training to an employee simply for the fear of him exiting the company.

These solutions are not new but they have never been applied for the mass recruitment scenario. These happen only for the higher management level and above and hence recruiting for those positions is easy. Primarily because there are less last minute drop outs, pay package hassles and contract or bond with the company. Till then recruiters will continue to be the woeful lot in the organization.