The expectations of recruiters are impossible to separate from the corporate culture in which they operate. They are in line the overall philosophy of the company in question. Let’s summarize these in a short form thus:

Recruitment of Trainees: Expectations of Indian companies

Case of Pepsi:

Pepsi is a flat organization. There are a maximum of four reporting levels. Executives here emphasize achievement, motivation, the ability to deliver come what may. As the Personal Manager of Pepsi Foods remarked “we hire people who are capable of growing the business rather than just growing with the business”. Recruiters must be capable of thinking extra ordinary, cutting the mould of conventional barriers whenever and wherever necessary. They must have a winner’s mind set and a passion for creating a dynamic change. They must have the ability to deal with ambiguity and informality.

Case of Reebok:

As Reebok’s customers are young, the company places emphasis on youth. The average age at Reebok is 26 years. Employees are expected to have a passion for the fitness business and reflect the company’s aspirations. Recruiters should be willing to do all kinds of job operations. The willingness to get one’s hands dirty is important. They must also have an ability to cope with informality, a flat organization and be able to take decisions independently and perform consistently with their clearly defined goals.

Case of Indian Hotels:

The Taj Group expects the job aspirants to stay with the organization patiently and rise with the company. Employees must be willing to say ‘yes sir’ to anybody. Other criteria include: communication skills, the ability to work long and stressful hours, mobility, attention to personal appearance and assertiveness without aggression.

Selection: To select means to choose. Selection is the process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. The basic purpose is to choose the individual who can most successfully perform the job from the pool of qualified candidates.

The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who would meet the requirements of the job and suit the organization best. The company obtains and assesses information about the applicant in terms of age, qualifications, skills, experience, etc. The needs of the job are then matched with the profile of candidates. The most suitable person is then picked up after eliminating the unsuitable applications through successive stages of selection process. How well an employee is matched to the job is very important because it directly affects the amount and quality of employee’s work. Any mismatch in this regard can cost the organization a great deal of money, time and trouble, especially in terms of training and operating costs. In course of time the employee may find the job distasteful and leave in frustration. He may even circulate ‘hot news’ and juicy bits of negative information about the company, causing incalculable negatives in the long run. Effective selection therefore demands constant monitoring of the ‘fit’ between person and the job.

Selection is usually a series of hurdles or steps. Each one must be successfully cleared before the applicant proceeds to the next. The logical selection process would normally include the following: initial screening interview, completion of the application form, employment tests, comprehensive interview, background investigation, conditional job offer, physical or medical examination, and the permanent job offer. The time and emphasis placed on each step will of course vary from one organization to another and indeed from job to job within the same organization. For example, some organizations may give importance to testing, while others may lay emphasis on interviews and reference checks. Similarly, a single brief selection interview might be enough for applicants for lower level positions, while applicants for managerial jobs might be interview by a number of people.

Placement: After selecting a candidate, he should be placed in a suitable job. Placement is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job. It involves assigning a specific rank and responsibility to an employee. The placement decision is taken by the line manager after matching the requirements of a job with the qualification of a candidate. Most organizations put new recruits on probation for a given period of time, after which their services are confirmed. During this period, the performance of the probationer is closely monitored. If the new recruit fails to adjust himself to the job and turns out poor performance then the organization may consider his name for placement elsewhere. Such second placement is called ‘differential placement’. Usually the employee’s supervisor in consultation with the higher levels of line management takes decisions regarding the future placement of each employee.

Placement is an important human resource activity. If neglected it may create employee adjustment problems leading to absenteeism turnover, accidents, poor performance etc. The employee will also suffer seriously. He may quit the organization in frustration, complaining bitterly about everything. Proper placement is, therefore important to both the employee and the organization.