Recruitment Methods (CIE IGCSE Business)

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Danielle Maguire

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An Introduction to Recruitment and Selection

  • Recruitment is the process of attracting and identifying potential job candidates who are suitable for a particular role
    • Recruitment activities include job advertising, job fairs, social media outreach and referrals from current employees
    • The goal of recruitment is to create a pool of qualified candidates who can be considered for the role

  • Selection is the process of choosing the best candidate from applications received
    • The goal of selection is to hire the most suitable candidate for the job
       
  • A business will need to recruit and select a new employee(s) when a vacancy arises within the business
     

Diagram Illustrating Reasons why Vacancies Arise

2--why-vacancies-arise-cie-igcse-business-rn

Vacancies can arise for reasons including business growth, employees leaving and reorganisation

  • During periods of business growth more employees are needed as the business expands its operations
  • When an employee leaves their job and needs replacing
  • Businesses often reorganise their organisational structure which may result in the need for additional staff
  • A new business start-up needs to recruit workers for the first time
     
  • Businesses can choose to use a recruitment agency to carry out the recruitment and selection process on their behalf
    • New employees may be found quickly from its pool of available talent
    • Management time can be saved
    • Recruitment agencies usually charge a finding fee for their specialist services

Exam Tip

Make sure you know the difference between a job description and a person specification. You will be expected to know specific types of recruitment  documentation for the exam

Internal and External Recruitment

  • Internal recruitment involves promoting or redeploying employees that already work for the business
  • External recruitment involves appointing an employee from outside of the business
     

Benefits and Drawbacks of Internal and External recruitment

Method

Explanation

Benefits

Drawbacks

Internal

  • Where a person who already works for a business is appointed to a job role

  • This is commonly achieved through promotion or redeployment


  • The member of staff is already familiar with the business culture and working practices

  • The business is aware of the employee's strengths and weaknesses

  • There is no need for induction training

  • Expensive advertising is not needed

  • Employees can be ready to start their new role immediately

  • When an employee moves to a new role their old job needs to be filled

  • There may be resentment amongst employees who are overlooked 

  • No new ideas or experience come into the business which could limit creativity and innovation

External

  • Where a business hires an employee from outside of the business

  • A large number of applicants may be attracted

  • New recruits are usually highly motivated and keen to impress

  • New ideas and experience are brought into the business

  • New employees may need support from colleagues and induction training which slows down productivity initially

  • Advertising for external staff can be expensive and take a long time

  • A candidate who performs well at interview may be unsuitable for the job when they start work

Exam Tip

Be prepared to analyse why a business might recruit a senior manager externally rather than from internal applicants. One of the main reasons is to bring in outside expertise or s killset that does not exist in the business

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Danielle Maguire

Author: Danielle Maguire

Danielle is an experienced Business and Economics teacher who has taught GCSE, A-Level, BTEC and IB for 15 years. Danielle's career has taken her from across various parts of the UK including Liverpool and Yorkshire, along with teaching at a renowned international school in Dubai for 3 years. Danielle loves to engage students with real life examples and creative resources which allow students to put topics in a context they understand.