Recruitment & Retention
Lesson 5 Outcomes, Readings & Activities
Offline pin Outcomes
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- Describe the major steps and decisions involved in recruitment & selection.
- Discuss the factors people consider in deciding to accept a job offer.
- Address the advantages and disadvantages of internal and external recruitment and other sources of applicants.
- Explain the concepts of person-job and person-organizational fit and their relevance to recruitment and selection.
- Identify the most important factors related to turnover and retention and strategies that can improve retention.
Import contacts Reading
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- Lesson 5 Lecture Notes
- Fried & Fottler text, Chapter 5 – “Recruitment, Selection and Retention”
Assignment Activity
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- Lesson #5 Discussion
Mode edit Written Assignment
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In no fewer than 10 pages (not counting title section and reference list) complying with the academic standards for written assignment found in the course ‘Guidelines’ (compliance contributes 20% to the assignment grade), describe in detail how you would respond and what actions you would take for the following scenario:
A doctor on the hospital staff has placed a requisition for HR to assist in the recruitment and selection of a Physician’s Assistant. Include the following elements in the steps and actions you would take to provide this doctor with the three best candidates –
- Best practices and compliance with recruitment laws
- Develop and present an organizational statement on diversity
- Source(s) of recruitment,
- Accepting of resumes or applications,
- The screening process to determine the best-qualified candidates,
- The actual interview process – i.e., the number and types of interviews,
- Criteria for determining the best qualified 2-3 candidates,
- Validate information (reference checking),
- Follow-up actions after the doctor has selected the candidate of choice, and
- Making an offer of employment – how much and what type of information should be shared at this time? Who should make the offer?
- At what point would compensation and benefits be discussed?
As an Addendum – include a brief guideline for hiring managers as to the requirements of Recruitment Laws (do’s and don’ts) and the audit steps to ensure compliance.
Recruitment & Retention
Lesson 5 Lecture Notes
First, let’s start off by discussing ‘human resources’ and ‘human capital’.
Workers have almost always, since the enlightened days of the 1940’s and the focus of organizational behaviorists, been considered as a ‘resource’.
Up to that point, for the most part, workers were treated as a disposable commodity. The word ‘resource’ was adopted to try to enhance the perception of workers as something to be valued.
However, recently, a new focus has emerged – calling them ‘human capital’. The reason is actually quite simple.
The attempt is to try to break the mindsight of many/most executives and managers that, as with any resource, it is either renewable or non-renewable and it is a tool to be used. The one thing they do understand and value is ‘capital’. This term denotes some object of value that cost money and its use anticipates a return-on-investment.
If we examine human resources as ‘capital’ is becomes easier to understand the ‘cost’ of maintaining a workforce.
Regardless of whether recruiting for a janitor or a doctor, there is a cost associated with recruiting and hiring. Granted the cost for hiring a janitor is minimal in comparison to that for a doctor. The fact remains, there is still a cost – advertising, time spent in reviewing resumes or applications, a series of candidate interviews, verifying references, making an offer of employment, new hire orientation including a myriad of paperwork and benefits enrollment paperwork. And the cost of the time in diverting resources to orient and familiarize the new hire with their duties and responsibilities, along with monitoring their performance.
Take this concept one step further when hiring a professional and this may often go beyond just ‘running a help wanted ad’ to recruiting through professional organizations and possibly even contracting with a professional recruiter (often referred to as a ‘head hunter’) and the associated fees, which can be substantial.
The investment in this ‘human capital’ doesn’t end there. There is ongoing training and development and/or monitoring performance against specified criteria and standards. If there are performance issues, there will likely be additional time and attention on working with the individual to resolve those issues. If these efforts fail, then sometimes a transfer to another position for which they may be better suited can occur; or more likely termination of employment. And with termination there are additional costs, such as severance, pay-in-lieu of notice, claims against Unemployment Insurance which can affect future premium paid by the employer and possibly even the cost of litigation if the disaffected individual feels his or her right have been violated.
Most industries, including healthcare monitor ‘turnover rates’ in their industry. As an indicator, let’s say the average turnover rate (this is the loss of employees for all reasons, including retirement, resignation and disciplinary termination among other possibilities) is 10% on an annual basis. Again, as a simple indicator, if this organization’s turnover rate is less than 10%, then there may be a feeling of satisfaction that they are doing a good job of retaining employees. Conversely, if their turnover rate is greater than 10%, it means they are losing employees at a higher rate than is typical of their industry and it necessitates examining what is causing that turnover. It could be an older workforce and with a higher than usual number of them retiring. It could be that individual are unhappy with things like pay, benefits and even more so with the way they are treated by management and are leaving the organization.
There are a lot of possible reasons and it’s important to determine what ones apply and if it is necessary to review and revised (improve) terms and conditions of employment to provide a more satisfying work experience.
References
Arthur, Diane (2001). The employee recruitment and retention handbook. Amacon – American Management Association,
Boston, MA
Dessler, Gary (2000). Human Resource Management (8th ed.). Prentice Hall, Saddle River, NJ.
Fallon, L. Fleming, Jr & McConnell, Charles R. (2007). Human resource management in health care – Principles and practice.
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Boston, MA.
Fried, Bruce J. & Fottler, Myron D. editors (2011). Fundamentals of human resources in healthcare. (3rd ed.). Health
Administration Press, Chicago, IL. ISBN: 9781567933635.
Fried, Bruce J. & Fottler, Myron D. editors (2015). Human resources in healthcare – Managing for success (4th ed.).
Hap-Aupha, Health Administration Press, Chicago, IL.
Lemire, John (1996) A Thesis – An integrated approach to examining management worker relations in the United States,
Thomas College, Waterville, ME.
