5.4 Evaluating recruiting policies

To evaluate recruitment policies, the concept of a yield ratio is often used. This calculates the efficiency of recruitment practices by taking the number of hirable individuals resulting from a recruitment policy divided by the total number of individuals recruited by the same policy (Kulik, 2004). This equation is outlined below:

$\text{Yield ratio}=\frac{\text{Number of hirable individuals}}{\text{Total number of recruits}}$

For many companies, this number can vary enormously, depending on the image, size and business of the company. However, it is still an extremely useful measure as it offers insight into the ability of a recruitment policy and whether it needs to be modified. A company like Microsoft may receive thousands of applicants simply based on the image that the firm carries, distorting its yield ratio without telling anything about the effectiveness of their recruitment strategies.

No matter how a company decides to recruit, the ultimate test will remain the ability of a recruitment strategy to produce viable applicants. Each manager will face different obstacles in doing this; however, it is important to remain concise and objective when searching for potential applicants. It is important to remember that recruiting is not simply done at a time of need for an organization but rather is a yearlong process that constantly maintains a talent pool and frequent contact with candidates.

Selective hiring

By Kristen Giacchino and Emily Gray

In recruiting, it is beneficial to attract not only a large quantity of applicants but a group of individuals with the necessary skills and requirements for the position. After obtaining a large, qualified applicant base managers need to identify those applicants with the highest potential for success at the organization. According to Pfeffer and Veiga, selecting the best person for the job is an extremely critical piece of the human resources inflow process (Pfeffer&Viega, Putting People First for Organizational Success, 1998). Selective hiring helps prevent the costly turnover of staff and increases the likeliness of high employee morale and productivity.

In order to evaluate the fit, it is important for managers to create a list of relevant criteria for each position before beginning the recruitment and selection process. Each job description should be associated with a list of critical skills, behaviors or attitudes that will make or break the job performance. When screening potential employees, managers need to select based on cultural fit and attitude as well as technical skills and competencies. There are some companies, such as Southwest Airlines , based out of the United States, who hire primarily based on attitude because they espouse the philosophy that you hire for attitude, train for skill . According to former CEO Herb Kelleher, “We can change skill levels through training. We can’t change attitude” (O'Reilly&Pfeffer). After determining the most important qualifications, managers can design the rest of the selection process so that it is in alignment with the other human resource processes.