Human Resource Management

HR Management: Recruiting Employees
Recruitment is a complicated process; this is because the recruitments efforts should be aligned with a firm’s strategic plan. Also, some recruitment procedures are more efficient and superior than others in regards to the candidates being recruited and the resources allocated in conducting the process. The success of the recruitment process is affected by both internal and external factors. Internal aspects affecting recruiting include consistency of the company’s recruitment efforts in regards to its strategic goals, the lower level jobs are easier to fill when compared to the highly skilled jobs since the number of qualifications required is fewer. Some of the external factors include a limited supply of employees and lower numbers of qualified people; this means that as companies continue looking for qualified employees, the number of people with the required qualifications keeps declining.
Increasing challenges to effective recruiting have made companies turn to previously untapped talents pools. One of the groups that firms are trying to attract is single parents; this is achieved by providing appropriate working hours to help the workers from this category create a suitable work-life balance. Companies are also encouraging older workers to continue working for them even after they reach the retirement age; this is because they already have the required skills and experience. The other option is the minorities and women, though they may lack the necessary skills, firms attract this group through providing training before they can start working.

Another category is the welfare-to-work recipients where companies apply for federal grants to provide training programs for welfare-to-work beneficiaries. The last group of individuals is the disabled people who can bring vast experience and knowledge to organizations.
Human Resource Selection: Predicting Future Job Performance
The selection process in recruitment is aimed at identifying the employees that have the necessary skills, ability, and knowledge required to perform a particular job; this can also be described as the process of determining the likelihood of a candidate becoming a high performing employee once selected. Various techniques are used to determine this; some methods are more effective than others. Successful selection criteria must be valid predictors of job performance. For example, if the candidates are required to take an intelligence test, the employer should be capable of indicating that a certain level of intelligence is needed.
One of the selection criteria used is the use of application forms. The information provided in the forms cannot be used solely to make a hiring decision. However, it can be used to determine applicants that do not possess the minimum qualifications. The second selection tool is the use of reference checks; this is only applicable if the candidate has made it to the final rounds of the selection process. The information provided can be incorrect since people that give references are unlikely to include negative information. The third method is the use of background checks which are used to verify information provided by the candidate. The fourth technique is the use of test; this is a more effective in the selection process. Aptitude tests are designed to assess how a candidate can learn new skills while achievement tests evaluate the applicants existing knowledge on skills. The last criterion is the use of interviews where each candidate is asked a similar sequence of questions. Interviewing is useful as it ensures consistency in the selection process and the making of comparisons based on the responses provided. It is essential to get as much information about the candidate as possible to make the best hiring decision.
Retention Management
Retention management in an organization is conducted to ensure continuous improvement in performance; the type of turnover can determine this. Turnover can either benefit or make a company incur additional and unnecessary costs. One of the extra expenditures created by turnover includes separation costs. Under this category, exit interviews may be conducted to determine why the employees left and the company also losses productivity and revenues after a workers quit. In situations where the firm terminates an employee, the company may face lawsuits based on the discharge. Organizations may also decide to reduce the number of workers through downsizing, in such a scenario, the company has to pay unemployment premiums if the workers do not secure other jobs immediately. The second category of costs created by turnover is the replacement cost. Companies have to spend on hiring temporary employees after the permanent ones quit. Other added costs include recruitment and training costs.
Employees may quit for various reasons such as dissatisfaction, personal decisions or conflicts. One of the benefits of turnover is the displacement of poor performers. Also, when hiring new workers, the individuals may bring new knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics that impact the organization positively. After employees leave, the reorganization process is made easier (Kammeyer-Mueller, 2015). Turnover may also result in labor cost savings where employees who quit are not replaced; this is because some workers may resign from positions that do not need replacements. Also, when employees with higher tenure leave, they can be replaced with people who require much lesser salaries. For a retention management program to be effective, the benefits attained by turnover must exceed the associated costs. For example, if it is beneficial to hire new staff members, the company should not allocate high budgets in the employee retention programs.

Reference
Kammeyer-Mueller, J. (2015). Retention Management. YouTube. Retrieved 1 February 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_m5WbAMFwU&feature=youtu.be