E-Recruitment -A new facet of HRM

The paper presents the main methods used in e-recruitment and e-selection processes. The discussion of e-recruitments and e-selection methods does not, however, negate the importance of more traditional tools, based on the face-to-face interaction or on a less technologically advanced medium. The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the E-Recruitment. Also known as Online recruitment, it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. The tool can be either a job website like naukri.com, the organizations corporate web site or its own intranet. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source of recruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CVs in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements. The internet penetration in India is increasing and has tremendous potential. According to a study by NASSCOM Jobs is among the top reasons why new users will come on to the internet, besides e-mail. There are more than 18 million resumes floating online across the world. Meaning: E-Recruitment is also referred as Internet recruiting, is the use of the Internet for attracting, hiring and retaining job seekers. This involves matching candidates and validating their skills and qualifications. Introduction: Human resource is no longer considered a business requirement; rather it has distinguished itself as one of the core assets of any organization. The statement by Mr. Narayan Murthy, My Companys assets walk out of the door every evening, truly captures the dynamics of new economy. With such a great emphasis on human capital, it is critical for every organization to resort to means that offer quality recruitment solutions at competitive costs.

This is where the realm of e-Recruitment starts. The Internet is no longer just a rage; it has now become a very powerful and effective tool at everybodys disposal. E-Recruitment is simply using this tool To Hire Whom You Desire.

What is E-Recruitment strategy?

It is the integration and utilization of internet technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness of recruitment process. As usage of internet became widespread, the wave of e-Recruiting innovation was the creation of career section of corporate web sites. The early innovators achieved great success with a status of employer of choice and they mostly enjoyed the improved recruiting efficiency that comes with corporate website recruitment. By 2002, corporate website recruiting has reached close to complete adoption among the largest corporations. The mere possession of a corporate career website is no longer sufficient to differentiate a company from its competitors. Leading corporations are incorporating new and innovative solutions to maintain competitive advantages, particularly in the integration of front-end career websites with back-end data management systems to complete an e-recruitment solution.

Evolving Face of Recruitment: E-Recruitment

Conventional recruitment has always been a time consuming and paper intensive process. They also tend to stress out your monitory resources. Online recruitment agencies are looking to remove the headaches associated with finding the right person or job. Appealing to both active and passive job seekers, recruitment web sites save companies and job hunters both time and money. Online recruitment is not just restricted to specific web sites either; many major companies are using some form of e- Recruitment, enabling candidates to e-mail their CVs to the human resources department. E-Recruitment, though at nascent stage, is becoming a part of corporate strategy with increasing numbers of companies setting aside budgets for online recruitment. E-Recruitment practices -- using the Internet to find candidates for job openings -have established some roots in the business world, but are far from refined.

However, the primary benefit is clear and convincing: You can get your message out to more candidates, faster.

Why e-recruitment solutions?

Centralized platform Collects candidate information in a standard format . Consolidates data from multiple recruitment sources . Streamline workflow Automates workflow from job requisition to completion of the hiring Process . Captures and files candidate information and history for future retrieval by all users of the system. Better communication and increase productivity Shares knowledge and information between hiring team members online in real time Collaborations with colleagues to increase productivity . Less paper Electronically collects and files information to reduce paper usage. Reduce manual administrative workload. Candidates pool Locates qualified candidates within a private pool of talent with precision . Centralized database collects and provides candidate information for various units and locations. Centralized reports Provides consolidated HR reports for the entire organization

 Save cost and time Improves productivity and reduces hiring expenses in the long run

The two kinds of e- recruitment that an organization can use is

Job portals i.e. posting the position with the job description and the job specification on the job portal and also searching for the suitable resumes posted on the site corresponding to the opening in the organization .

Creating a complete online recruitment/application section in the companys own website - Companies have added an application system to its website, where the passive job seekers can submit their resumes into the database of the organization for consideration in future, as and when the roles become available.

E-recruitment methods
The main purpose of the recruitment process is the generation of an applicant pool truly interested in working in organization as a response to a job posting. The traditional recruiting methods are: print media advertising, such as job advertisements and recruitment brochures; Networking; Recruitment agencies. In addition, there are some Internet-based methods, very effective for recruiting. These recruitment methods are driven by skills. Employers describe their free positions in the skill terms, while applicants provide an extensive detail of their skill. On most sites, job seekers can post their resumes and browse through listings

for free, applying for jobs that interest them. Recruiters will need to focus on what applicants have to offer versus their current position title. Employers using Internet services must pay to list an opening and establish a direct link to their web site. However, fees for Internet job sites tend to be lower than for other employment sources, such as advertising and recruitment agencies. More than 30% of all recruitment advertising budgets was spent on the Internet in 2000. Firms can choose to list their openings on one of the more than 30,000 Internet job boards. Organizations may use their own corporate web site as a recruiting tool. In this case, the recommended best practices are: Provide information regarding corporate culture to allow applicants to assess their own fit with the company. Provide detailed, yet concise descriptions of career opportunities that identify upcoming projects and specify the training and development opportunities available. Modern career paths are usually more difficult to define than traditional vertical trajectories, so it will be important to discern and then communicate how employees advance through the organization. Multiple team assignments will allow employees to learn about the organization as a whole, while simultaneously developing new and valuable skills. Create an attractive site that is easy to navigate One of the most important elements of recruiting individuals will be the creation of an effective recruitment message. During the recruiting process, more information is better. Research confirms that applicants' perceive organizations as more or less attractive simply based on the amount of information they receive during the recruitment process. Existing research on recruitment indicates that the particular information applicants receive about a potential job opportunity plays an important role in determining whether they will apply for an open position. SIDES Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standard Staffing Industry Data Exchange Standard SIDES was develop in order to provide a set of standards for the exchange of information between staffing customers, staffing suppliers and intermediaries. SIDES consist of a suite of XML-

based specifications designed to support a full range of staffing processes. These standards will enable all participants in the staffing supply chain (staffing companies, hiring managers etc.) to exchange information about job requisitions, candidates, assignments, time sheets etc. electronically, and dramatically reduce the cost and cycle times of data entry and data errors. The standard is initiated by HR-XML (www.hr-xml.org), an independent, nonprofit consortium dedicated to enabling ecommerce and inter-company exchange of human resources data worldwide. The work of the Consortium centers on the development and promotion of standardized XML vocabularies for HR. HR-XMLs current efforts are focused on standards for staffing and recruiting, compensation and benefits, training and work force management. HRXML is represented by its membership in 22 countries.

E-Work integrated and HR-XML certified solution for flexible workforce

management e-Work is based on an end-to-end procurement platform for sourcing, hiring, managing, invoicing, payment and pay rolling the enterprise-wide contract workforce, named Pro-Source. In addition value added services such as cost effective payroll and compliance management of contract workforce regulations (e-Work Services) complete the offering. Pro-Source supports multi-language and currency, provides a web services based integration framework for ERP, HRMS and e-Procurement and is HR-XML certified.

E -Selection methods
Usually, it is difficult to decide where recruiting ends and selection begins. The main purpose of the selection process is to distinguish individuals on the basis of important characteristics. In a changing environment, the speed of the selection process becomes important. Selection systems that process applicants in 2-3 months fall in solving organizational needs. A cycle of 2-3 days from applicant identification to employment offer will be more suitable There are many formal selection tools available to measure applicants on the characteristics: work samples structured interviews

 Personality inventories Situational judgment tests Cognitive ability tests E-Selection is a paperless process where electronic documents and information can be quickly disseminated nationwide or worldwide. The most important methods for e-recruitment are: Electronic resumes Online assessments Online interviewing Online assessment centers Electronic resumes Applicants submit their resume using either email or the organization's website. With electronic submission, applicants can send their resumes to thousands of organizations. More than 2.5 million resumes were already online in January 2001. For experienced candidates, resumes represent an efficient way to stress on cognitive ability, job know ledge, and capacity to work. Resumes that outline position accomplishments with quality indicators represent an individual's work portfolio. Since past performance is one of the best predictors of future performance, resume information that outlines past performance will serve as a proxy measure of job knowledge and an applicant's ability to perform similar responsibilities in a new organization. Resumes will also provide education and grade point average (GPA) information. GPA represents a measure of cognitive ability, being a compound index that captures cognitive ability and motivation. Many large organizations, such as Microsoft, request GPA information from applicants.

Online assessment Previously paper-based instruments become web-viewable. Interactive forms allow applicants to access a web site, complete and summit their responses. Applicants responses are scored automatically and applicant profile is generated immediately. Online testing allows a company to offer applicants an immediate feedback concerning their potential fit with the organization. Online interviewing Most companies evaluate candidates on interviews based. Interviews can be designed to measure almost any applicant characteristic. While a structured interview measures cognitive ability, a structure interview measures interpersonal skills. The technologies used to conducts applicants interviews online are videoconferencing technology and web cams, which allow for video and audio streaming between geographically remote locations Emerging market opportunities for e-Recruiting firms include the following: Market demands are shifting to end-to-end services. Skills assessment has become a key-differentiating factor. Contingent workforce services are the next frontier of the e-recruiting market landscape. Using the power of Internet to achieve your HR goals not only increases your productivity but also saves you time and money to give you a competitive advantage. The pluses are many: Posting jobs online can cost less than half as much as Sunday newspaper postings and far less than employment agency fees. Online ads can be longer, more descriptive, written any time of the day or night, and posted almost immediately. For employers, online recruiting allows far better targeting of candidates than does advertising in general newspapers, resulting in a greater percentage of qualified applicants. In addition, because 24/7 online job hunting is private and convenient, your companys Internet presence is more likely to draw in passive job seekers high-quality candidates who may be curious to know whats out there but who have not launched all-out campaigns.

As online recruitment sites continue to multiply in numbers these value-added services may well prove crucial to their long time survival. Although eRecruitment addresses the initial phase of job hunting and applications the challenge is to go beyond the virtual value, and prove the value of the initial contact. One industry, which has most logically impacted by the e drive, is IT industry itself. E-Recruitment for IT organization has another facet to it: Use of software solutions for effective and efficient recruitment. Recruiters in an IT company, use software solutions for not only searching the best skilled candidates but in the hiring process also. Recruitment in an IT organization is different from other traditional ones in methods of selection & training. Since IT companies recruit in large numbers, recruiters in these companies always keep looking for solutions, which can save them, time and effort; while at the same time provide them with the best talent. Resources Companies Use In Their Recruitment Processes: Resume Scanners: Extensively used by the recruiters down the board. By pre defining the requirements, the scanner can filter out those resumes, which do not meet the criteria. Job Sites: These are a good source for getting quality database of skilled candidates. Consultants: They provide the professionals to the organizations based on the skills and the experience desired by the company. Recruitment consultants have also recognized the benefits of online recruitment, but maintain their core strength as a consultancy firm. Although consultants intend to extend its web services, online recruitment offers the company an additional way to find the raw material [people]. But the real value to both employer and job seeker is the additional procedures it offers. These will get the company resource, but is that professional tested on what he claims to be an expert. Having the wrong people in the wrong job means poor productivity, lost opportunity and directly hits the bottom line even before the cost of recruiting replacements is considered. The first wave of Internet recruitment - posting vacancies on the net in the same way as advertising them in a newspaper - did not improve the process of selecting the right person for the job. In

fact, by delivering a wider range of candidates, the Internet channel added to the workload of over-stretched human relations (HR) departments. But how to manage this? The answer lies in Online Skill Assessment solutions. These Online Skill Assessment Solutions are used for screening the IT professionals and cutting down the time and effort wasted in calling the right professional for the interview. Besides e-recruitment such solutions may also help in Employee Evaluation, Training Evaluation and Certification Exam Preparation. These Online solutions also help in initial screening of the IT professionals by way of efficient and effective delivery of the technical and aptitude tests. Now, recruitment websites are also adding tools for selecting and assessing candidates and automating the processes that in the past monopolized HR time. One of the first processes the Internet has automated is application sifting. Ironically, the burden of sifting has been compounded by the web itself. There are millions of CVs and resumes available via the web, far more than any potential employer ever had access to before, or could possibly digest using traditional processes. Increasingly, sites are providing online testing services to allow employers to get an idea of a candidate's technical skills. Most practitioners think that, far from replacing face-to-face interviews, online technical tests will complement them - the results can be used to generate a list of questions for the live interview, for example. Many online recruitment companies are using testing and assessment on the internet to target so called passive applicants, who have put their CVs and resumes online, but are not actively looking for a job. The market today is flooded with solutions for e-recruitment making in difficult to decide and choose the best suitable option. Look for solution providers, who provide: Online test delivery with NO/minimal MANUAL EFFORTS. High quality assessment content for various IT technologies. Time simulated testing environment. Comprehensive organization wide reports. Deliver questions in different order to each candidate by creating randomized tests.

 Option to conduct on-premise tests in the controlled environment and off-premise tests over the Internet for remotely located candidates. There are many benefits both to the employers and the job seekers but the erecruitment is not free from a few shortcomings. Some of the advantages and the disadvantages of e- recruitment are as follows:

Advantages of E-Recruitment are:

Lower costs to the organization . Also, posting jobs online is cheaper than advertising in the newspapers. No intermediaries. Reduction in the time for recruitment (over 65 percent of the hiring time) . Facilitates the recruitment of right type of people with the required skills . Improved efficiency of recruitment process . Gives a 24*7 access to an online collection of resumes . Online recruitment helps the organizations to weed out the unqualified candidates in an automated way. Recruitment websites also provide valuable data and information regarding the compensation offered by the competitors etc. which helps the HR managers to take various HR decisions like promotions, salary trends in industry etc

Disadvantages of E-Recruitment
Apart from the various benefits, e-recruitment has its own share of shortcomings and disadvantages. Some of them are: Screening and checking the skill mapping and authenticity of millions of resumes is a problem and time consuming exercise for organizations. There is low Internet penetration and no access and lack of awareness of internet in many locations across India.

Organizations cannot be dependant solely and totally on the online recruitment methods. In India, the employers and the employees still prefer a face-to-face interaction rather than sending e-mails Conclusion: The discussion of e-recruitments and e-selection methods does not, however, negate the importance of more traditional tools, based on the face-to-face interaction or on a less advanced technological medium. In many cases, traditional approaches may not be feasible, requiring the use of the new techniques. Last but not the least remember Recruitment is not hiring the best among those knocking at your door; rather its a quest to enroll the right candidate in your human capital, transcending all barriers with the help of latest technology.

References
1. Heneman R., Greenberger D. (eds.)- Human Resource Management in Virtual Organization , Information Age Publishing Inc., 2002. 2. www.hr -xml. org 3. www.ework.com

E-Recruitment -A new facet of HRM

-From Preethi.M USN: 4ps10MBA29 III sem, MBA [HR] PGDOMS, PESCE Mandya

-TO Prof.Mahesh dept. of HRM PGDOMS,PESCE Mandya

Submitted on: Date: 03/11/2011