Identify and explain at least 3 organizational benefits of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce
Identify and assess at least 4 factors that affect an organization’s approach to attracting talent (highflyers and graduates).
Describe at least 3 factors that affect an organization’s approach to recruitment and selection
Compare and contrast the benefits of 3 different recruitment methods, and 3 different selection methods
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Organizational benefits of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce
Work diversity has several benefits to the organization. First, it enhances improved productivity. A diverse workforce brings different talents and skills which can be combined to enhance greater productivity. Diversity enables employees to work together, utilizing different skills to improve productivity at the workplace. Secondly, a diverse workforce increases creativity and problem solving at the workplace (Mondy et al, 2005). Diversity brings together different minds and ideas that can be combined on a daily basis to solve problems arising at the workplace. Diverse workforce can solve their own problems within teams without involving the management. As different employees from different backgrounds come together, they provide different ways of thinking and combine them to make superior decisions and solve pertinent issues affecting work performance. Lastly, attracting and retaining a diverse workforce creates synergy in teams and improves communication skills of employees (Mondy et al, 2005). This benefit is important for multinational corporations which operate in different parts of the world. For example, a workforce with Japanese and French individuals enables an organization to negotiate and communicate effectively with representatives from those countries without experiencing language barriers. Diverse teams can work together cohesively because each member represents different issues and markets that they are familiar and interested with.
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Factors that affect an organization’s approach to attracting talent
As organizations strive to attract high flyers and talented graduates to bring significant contributions to their operations, various factors come in their way. First, organizational culture and needs affect the organization’s approach because different graduates have different attitudes and skills which may or may not fit into the organizational culture and staffing needs (Breaugh, 2009). When organizations look for employees, they already have a position to fill, and the talent to be attracted should be the best candidate for that specific position. Secondly, geographical location and flexibility of the candidate affect the selection process because work location affects the decisions of candidates to take the job. For example, talented candidates may not apply for a good job that is situated in a hostile environment. Sometimes organizations use monetary rewards to attract employees to work in such areas.
The third factor affecting an organization’s approach to attracting talents is legal requirements. Organizations are required to follow specific legal requirements to hire and retain staff (Mondy et al, 2005). For example, employment laws may require the organization to offer a maximum of 35 working hours for a worker per week. This may mean that an organization working for 24 hours a day may have to hire several employees to work in shifts. Some talented employees may also be uncomfortable working during sociable hours such as nights and weekends. Lastly, the size of the organization determines its approach to attracting talents (Mondy et al, 2005). Small organizations require a few employees while a big organization requires many employees. Small organizations may also lack financial resources and persuasion power to attract highly talented staff like big organizations.
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Factors that affect an organization’s approach to recruitment and selection
One of the factors that affect an organization’s approach to recruitment and selection is geographic location of the organization. It is easier for organizations to recruit and select talents from the local environment than the international labor markets because the process of interviewing and selecting the best candidates will be costly if potential candidates are sourced from a far place. Furthermore, organizations may consider unemployment rates in different countries, regions or states to develop a suitable targeted recruitment process (Breaugh, 2009). For example, if unemployment rates are higher in California than Chicago, then a targeted recruitment process would make it easier for the company to recruit talents from California than Chicago. The second factor affecting recruitment and selection approach of organizations is the type of individual. For example, it is easier and less costly for an organization to recruit, select and retain senior employees with former contact with the company than young employees without any experience with the organization (Breaugh, 2009). Employees who have worked for the organization as employees will be easier to select because the company understands them and it does not have to subject him or her to thorough interviews and testing. Lastly, the approach for recruiting and selecting employees may be affected by demographic factors such as age, gender and literacy status. The needs and attitudes of different sexes and age groups depict the type of candidates to be selected for a specific job during an interview.
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Recruitment and selection methods
Recruitment methods include: employee referrals, college recruitment, and organization website (Breaugh, 2009). The benefit of referrals is that it leads to selection of trusted and reliable employees because current employees will only refer the job to people they trust. It also leads to the selection of people with desired skills and talents (Breaugh, 2009). Its cost is that it fails to achieve workforce diversity. The use organizational website is that it reaches talents from diverse backgrounds, who would not be reached through referrals. Organization websites may attract candidates who are not serious, making recruitment process difficult and costly. Graduate recruitment leads to recruitment of fresh and highly talented employees like the referrals method. However, it will result in costly training and development of employees because graduates lack hands-on-job experience.
Selection methods include interviewing, psychometric tests, screening and group exercises. Screening is important in the initial stages of the selection process. It enables the organization to narrow their applications to a few candidates who best fit the needs of the job (Mondy et al, 2005). The problem with this section technique is that it incurs a lot of costs in form of time and money. Selection team will require many personnel and a lot of time to sort and identify suitable candidates. Interviewing is the best selection approach which identifies the best talent from the few candidates who have passed screening. It enables the selection team to identify the attitudes, skills and talents of employees through face-to-face contact. However, it is also costly in terms of resources and time. Psychometric tests are beneficial when identifying the best cognitive candidates. Its con is that it requires intelligent staff to carry out the test.
References List
Breaugh, J.A. (2009). Recruiting and Attracting Talent: A Guide to Understanding and Managing the Recruitment Process. Alexandria: SHRM Foundation.
Mondy, R.W., Noe, R. M., & Gowan, M. (2005). Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall.
