External and internal recruitment
1.
The company settled for external recruitment to fill the opening. This was done by placing an ad in the press. There are various platforms in which companies may advertise job openings, including job sites. However, placing an advertisement in the media is still the most common and effective way of hiring new talent and skills. Newspapers are still widely used in finding the right candidates to hire. Big Time Computers Inc. placed an advertisement in the newspapers and attracted a vast number of unsolicited applications. It is apparent that the hiring authority decided to disregard internal recruitment. This was because it was assumed that none of the employees qualified for the position. Going to external recruitment was more advantageous as it increased the chances of innovative ideas. Besides, it reduced the chances of internal politics and limiting the choices of candidates for the position. Internal recruitment may have implied having to train the employee on the new role. It would also involve conflicts and unnecessary competitiveness among the current staff.
Advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment
One of the benefits of internal recruitment is that it reduces the time of hiring. This is because the candidates are already part of the workplace, thus less time to find and engage them (Craig, 2015). Besides, internal candidates are easier to assess as their records are readily available. It also shortens onboarding times. This is because the internal candidates already understand the culture of the company (Muscalu, 2015). They are also familiar with the team and know the context and content of their roles within the same team. This implies that in Big Time Computers Inc., the candidates would be aware of the requirements of the senior technical writer within the company. It would also increase employee engagement as they would feel valued by the company.
On the other hand, internal recruitment may create conflicts and resentment between the considered individuals and the rest of the team (Muscalu, 2015). Besides, having an individual take up the new position would have required the company to recruit a new staff externally to fill the gap left. Internal recruitment also limits the pool of applicants and may result in an inflexible culture.
Advantages and disadvantages of external recruitment
External recruitment increases the pool of target audience, thus increases the chances of getting more qualified applicants. It also brings in fresher skills and inputs. This helps n boosting innovating and ideas within the company. This implies that it promotes the flexibility of the organizational culture. Bringing in a fresh skill would help to motivate the current staff and increase competition, thus better production from them. However, the process is time-consuming and costly. For instance, the company had to pay for the advertisement in the newspaper and sample from a large number of unsolicited applications. It also takes a long process to interview the candidate and for them to fit in the culture (Somjai, 2017). The current employees may also feel overlooked, thus reduced morale among them.
Additional recruitment strategies
Referrals
This is a term used when an employee is sourced from another recruiter within an employment network. It is advantageous as it saves time and money. Besides, the company would receive only quality and qualified individuals. However, the recommendation may be based on a bias (Shamsuddin, 2015). It may also invite negative politics within the company.
Promotion
Promotion is a recruitment process that entails the appointment of the best individual for a position based on their explicit merits. The rules of recruitment in this case are often understood and can be challenged in case of any breach. One main advantage is that it usually improves the bureaucratic capability. It also enhances the morale of the current staff and increases competition with the hope for the promotional position. However, a promotion would always leave a gap that would require a recruitment process. It may also lead to conflicts and resentment among the employees.
Job boards
A job board is a site that only deals with specific fields and careers. The portal enables employers to publish their job offers for the position to be filled and only attracts applicants from the particular field. This process is cheaper and faster as there are automated notifications on matching criteria. The search capabilities are also refined. However, there is less behavioral assessment (Skurpel, 2016). Besides, there may be system issues, including hacking. It also attracts an extremely diverse audience, thus a need for more efficiency to avoid attracting less qualified candidates. It also exposes the information of the employees.
2.
The hiring process involves reviewing the applications and selecting the best candidates for the interviews, testing the candidates, and choosing between them to make the best decision. During the hiring process, Lisa Cavanaugh constituted a team for the interview for the senior position. The team included two senior writers and a technical editor alongside herself. In the interview, the members of the panel focused on specific topics and aspects of the job to avoid redundancy and ensure that the conversation was in-depth about Hubbs’s role, experience, and qualification. It is notable that the team also did a referral from previous employers to ensure that Jason Hubbs was the best candidate.
The main advantage of this strategy of recruitment is that it helps the company to get the best candidate in a vast pool of applicants. Placing an advertisement in the newspaper targets a larger pool of qualified applicants. Besides, it offers greater flexibility and is more likely to attract more local talent. Constituting a panel for the interview is also time-saving as it gives a one-off chance for different perspectives for better assessment. Besides, it creates no room for partiality, thus better assessment than in a one-person interview. This implies that this kind of recruitment ensures that the best candidate is recruited. Additionally, the candidate is made familiar with the team and the work culture at the company. The referral is also an advantage as former employers only vouch for the best candidates. This helped to ensure that only the best candidate was hired.
3.
Hamrick’s concerns about the interpersonal skills were valid. This is because interpersonal skills for a manager are essential to creating trust between them and the team members. These skills include the ability to build trust, empathy, emotional intelligence, communication skills, and listening skills. These skills would help in fostering productivity of the staff members as it would motivate them to work in a friendly environment (Mencl et al., 2016). Therefore, it would have been prudent for the three team members to reach a consensus and weighed in between the importance of the interpersonal skills and the other qualifications. In this light, the hiring managers would have gone an extra step before hiring Hubbs for the position. This may have included putting him on probation to determine how he interacted with the rest of the staff, especially those in his leadership.
4.
Based on the hiring and selection process, it is apparent that there was a need to hire a new staff member for the new position. However, the process was rather hurried since not much was discussed about the candidate’s interpersonal skills which are quite crucial for the productivity of the team. The contributions of the hiring panel were also not exhausted in their entirety. The final decision was mostly based on the opinions of the referees.