Evaluating the Existing Practices of Recruitment and Selection

of ABC Bank

Dushanthi Peiris PQHRM

-22/26
Project Number: 1719

Certification of
the supervisor
I hereby recommend that the this research has been completed by
Miss D L P D B Peiris titled Evaluating the Existing Practices
of Recruitment and Selection of ABC Bank in partial
fulfillment of the PQHRM-22-26 conducted by the Institute of
Personnel Management (IPM) under my guidance and supervision.

Name of the Supervisor

: Dr Shantha Wijesinghe

Signature of the supervisor :

Date

Acknowledgements
I take this opportunity to thank my parents for encouraging and supporting me to
participate in this course. I am also grateful to the lecture panel at IPM for their valuable
knowledge and time given to us, and making this course a success.
I take this opportunity to thank my research project supervisor Dr.Shantha Wijesinghe
who guided and supported to develop this research thesis.
My sincere gratitude to ABC BANK for sharing information about the recruitment and
selection policy practiced in the organization and my fellow colleagues for supporting in
gathering data.
Finally I would like to thank all who supported me in numerous ways.

Abstract
Employees are termed as vital resource in any organization, the method of
acquiring this source would be recruitment & selection. The research
evolves around the ABC Bank which has currently faced with many
challenges in making this process a success.
The scope of the research would be to identify these issues and remedy
them. This will indeed enable the ABC Bank to adapt a systematic approach.

Content
1 INTRODUCTION

08 - 22

1.1 Background to the research

09

1.2 Overview of ABC Bank

12

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem

15

1.4 Practical Importance of the Research

17

1.5 Objectives of the Research

21

1.6 Limitations of the Research

22

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

23-38

2.1 Review of Existing Literature

24

2.2 Relevance of Existing Literature to the

Present Study

35

2.3 Contribution of the Present Research

37

3 METHODOLOGY

39-45

3.1 Conceptual Framework

40

3.2 Population

41

3.3 Sample

41

3.4 Hypothesis

42

3.5 Data Collection Methods

43

3.6 Methods of data analysis & presentation

4 REALITY OF RECRUITMENT & SELECTION

45
46-59

PROCESS AT ABC BANK

4.1 The analysis of the existing recruitment and
Selection process at ABC Bank
4

47

4.2 Problems and drawbacks of recruitment and selection

52

of ABC Bank according to the perception of employees

4.3 Problems and drawbacks of recruitment and selection

56

of ABC Bank according to the perception of employer

4.4 Other findings of recruitment and selection of

58

ABC Bank
5 New Dimensions of Recruitment & Selection
5.1 Effective methods of attracting talent

60-72
61

5.2 Effective methods of selection linked with

Competency match.

64

5.3 Importance of systematic recruitment and selection process 71

6 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

73-86

REFERANCES
APPENDIXES

List of Illustrations
No
1
2
3
4
5

Title
The person & the organization
The recruitment cycle
The breakdown of external recruitment
External recruitment process
Internal recruitment breakdown
5

Page
12
29
47
49
50

6
7
8
9

Annual staff Promotions and Transfers

Experience level Vs Resignations
Analysis of entry level staff breakdown
Internal recruitment systematic & non systematic

54
56
58
71

10
11
12

approach
Effective selection process
Reasons for new recruits drop outs
HR Hire Balance scorecard

72
76
86

INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1

This introductory chapter provides an overview of recruitment and selection

while highlighting its importance. Further it provides an entrance to the
research by introducing the problems, objectives and limitations under
study.

1.1 Background to the research

In the modern business world people are our greatest asset or people are the
competitive advantage such phrases are commonly used. This implies that employees
are the corner stone of a successful organization. Therefore a question arises as to how
organizations can gain these valuable assets; the answer is simply recruitment and
selection process. However the process should be of an effective approach since it should
not be forgotten that people can make or break an organization. The HR department plays
a vital role in this aspect since recruitment and selection is a process where potential
candidates are attracted and thereby selecting the best fit for a given vacancy. In current
competitive environment HR managers are faced with many challenges in getting this
process right hence continuous spot checks should be carried out to align this process
according to the internal and external environment changes.
Steve Crabb (2009) Managing editor of Personnel today magazine has stated;
Any organization that does not take recruitment seriously is cutting its own throat. It
must be a top priority for any business.
History of Recruitment
The inception of the recruitment concept was developed in UK during the late18th and
early 19th centuries with the industrial revolution. This created the initial need to recruit
large numbers of competent employees with abilities to work with machines. Latter on
other regions such as Western Europe, North America also identified this need. Due to
7

rapid growth of other industries such as construction, engineering and the end of Second
World War established the recruitment as an industry.
What is Recruitment?
In an online business dictionary Recruitment is defined as a process of identifying &
hiring competent candidate (from within or outside of an organization) for a job vacancy
in a most timely & cost effective manner.
Further it can be termed as an organizational activity that provides a pool of applicants
for the purpose of filling job openings.
The recruitment process can be divided in to two main sources; namely external
recruitment and internal recruitment.
A system through which current employees can be identified and considered for other
jobs in the Organization, consisting of variety career transition activities such as
promotions, transfers. can be termed as Internal Recruitment. Berry (2003)
There are many factors that effect internal recruitment and they can be listed as follows;
Recruitment policy of the organization
Cost involved in recruitment
Size of the organization and the number of employees
Organizations future plans (ex: growth, expansions etc.)
External Recruitment can be defined as the activity that generates a pool of applicants,
who has the desire to be employed by organization from which those suitable can be
selected. Lewis (1985)

The factors effecting external recruitment can be highlighted as follows;

Supply and demand of specific skills of the market
Political , Legal and economic factors
Organizations image perception by the jobseekers
What is Selection?
The selection can be termed as a process that predicts which job applicant that will be
successful if hired. Decenzo & Robbins (2005) or the method the employers adopt to
find the right person for a particular job opening. Berry (2003)
A process of discovering the qualifications and characteristics of the job applicant in
order to establish their likely suitability for the job position.
The factors effecting selection can be listed as follows;
Perception
Fairness
Validity
Reliability
Pressure
The challenges in Recruitment and Selection
Talent shortage
Attrition rate
Adhering to rigid policies and procedures (ex; Legal)
Identifying candidates competencies

The following diagram summarizes the concept of Recruitment and selection.

Source: http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~aew6/Images/persorg.jpg

10

1.2 Overview of ABC Bank

Headquartered in London, ABC Bank is one of the largest banking and financial services
organizations in the world, with over 300,000 employees spanning an international
network of around 8,000 offices in 87 countries and territories in Europe, the AsiaPacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
The rapid growth of the ABC Bank enabled to expand its operations to Sri Lanka 1892,
since then it has established 15 Branches Island wide.
The Bank employs a workforce of over 1,600 staff.

VISION
To be the worlds leading financial service company
-

Leading is expressed by preferred, admired, dynamic and a fair

deal to the customer.

To remain in the higher rank with other competitor banks

To improve morality

ABC BANK BRAND VALUES

Friendly

- Caring and approachable

Intelligent

- Well informed and alert

Open-Minded - Respect new ideas

11

 Fair

- Transparent with customers

Responsive

- Meet or exceed customer needs

MISSION
We live the brand values to passionately deliver world class customer experiences
through a dynamic, motivated and professional team which demonstrates mutual
respect whilst providing innovative solutions and continually out performing the market
to be the most sorts after financial service provider admired by all.
Products, Services & Customers
The ABC Bank provides a wide range of product & services targeting different market
segments such as mass market to high network corporate customers. The summary as to
how its main business functions are structured to achieve this task can be discussed as
follows;

Personal Financial Services

This function offers a wide range of products and services to cater to the specific needs
of our customers, which include products such as ' Premier' and ' Advance'. Also provides
worldwide access to a wide variety of services via telephone and internet.
While being the market leader for Credit cards, further provides several loan products to
cater for auto loans, education loans, professional loans and a number of different needs.

Corporate Banking

12

Provides a customer friendly transaction banking services, cash management solutions

and trade services to most of the top corporate companies in Sri Lanka, also financing
private sector infra-structure and development projects.

Technological Services
To ease the banking operations technology has been introduced to delight the customer.
Following are some of the examples automated teller machines (ATMs), chip enabled
credit cards and Easy-Pay machines. ABC Bank was also the first bank to computerize its
operations and to establish an Internet Payment Portal.

1.3 Statement of the Research Problem

Mission statement of the ABC bank emphasis on having a workforce who are dynamic,
motivated and professional hence this statement itself highlights the importance of
recruitment & selection to ABC Bank, further its implied that the management believes
that the end objective of the Bank can be achieved through having the right person doing
the right job further not forgetting the fact of been motivated.
ABC Bank is currently faced with challenges which have a direct negative impact to its
vision & mission. The challenges can be listed as follows;

Inability to attract potential candidates to fulfill the recruitment needs.

13

The ABC Bank operating environment is highly challenging hence the recruitment
and selection methods should be adopted on a timely manner to gain competitive
advantage. In current context there are many difficulties faced by ABC Bank in
attracting and selecting candidates to fill in vacancies. As a result there are delays in
sourcing the vacant positions.

Competency mismatches
There are internal conflicts, loss of productivity due to new recruits competency

mismatch.

High attrition rates among new recruits

Recruiting an employee is a vital process hence if the recruitment and selection tools
are ineffective there is a high possibility of hiring a wrong person to do the job.
Therefore as a result of this there is high attrition among the new recruits since they
were not exposed to the real job profile. This indeed will have adverse impacts on
ABC Bank. Further the correction of such errors would be very costly.

Lack of motivated staff due to poor practices of career growth opportunities.

The resourcing is a tool to retain best performing employees by developing them to

take up future job roles. Its a cost effective approach comparing to recruitment. Due
to poor current practices the employees of ABC bank are de-motivated. The
investment made through training and development is not linked to the resourcing.
The effectiveness of recruitment and selection process will have an impact on the
sustainability of ABC Bank and the above discussed challenges highlights that the bank
will have serious issues in sustaining its business if not remedied, Therefore carrying out
a research on evaluating the existing practices of recruitment and Selection of ABC
Bank will indeed be beneficial for ABC Bank to overcome these challenges and to gain a
high competitive advantage.

14

Therefore recruitment and selection process is a challenging task since it deals with
people who will make or break an organization. Hence this research will indeed add
value to ABC Bank.

1.4 Practical Importance of the Research

Recruitment is rarely a leisurely process. When a vacancy arise the HR department & the
respective line managers work together in identifying the suitable candidate. Hence the
process should be streamlined to source in an effective and an efficient manner. Since
each new employee can be a crucial part of organizations strategic plan if recruited
successfully.
ABC Bank operates in highly competitive environment hence employees play a vital role
in sustaining the competition hence effective recruitment and selection practices are
essential for ABC Bank.

15

ABC Banks recruitment and selection process faces many difficulties.

Talent acquisition
Expensive & budget
Time constraint
Employee Retention
Managing low attrition rate
Therefore understanding the above issues and remedying them ABC Bank can gain many
benefits. Adopting effective methods the following practical benefits can be gained and
they can be discussed as follows;
Strengthened employer branding
The use of systematic recruitment & selection methods will create a positive relationship
between employees & the ABC Bank hence this will enable to create the employer of
choice concept.

Enhanced access to hidden potential

The current labour market is multi-skilled hence use of systematic tools will enable to
identify the hidden potential & to select the best competent candidates to perform the job.
Cost reduction
The wrong hiring decision will have direct & indirect cost hence by adopting systematic
recruitment & selection methods will overcome this cost factor.

Improves efficiency

The ABC Bank provides financial service to its customers and currently there is a severe
competition employees should be highly engaged in their job roles. The right candidate

16

at the right job will increase the efficiency further having proper resourcing methods will
increase motivation levels which will result in increase efficiency levels.

Employee turnover decline

The systematic recruitment will enable the new recruits to understand about the job
further having effective resourcing methods will be a retention tool for employees. ABC
Bank is a service oriented organization therefore it invests largely to train its employees
therefore if the new recruits leave the Bank it will be of a waste and will be left behind
the competitors. Hence ABC Bank can reduce the turnover by adapting systematic
recruitment and selection methods.

Gains competitive advantage

The employees are the asset that enables to gain competitive advantage in a service
sector organization hence the recruitment and selection methods should be effective to
select the best method to source a vacancy.

Increase profits , quality and business reach its full potential

Similar to any other organization ABC Bank also looks at increasing profit margins.
Having a competent workforce and with high motivation levels will directly result in
achieving increased profits and quality. Also adopting systematic methods will reduce the
cost of rehire. This is aligned with the ABC Banks strategy.
HR can focus on strategic aspects & Improves alignment of the recruitment
function with company strategy
The effective recruitment and selection methods will select the best candidate to perform
the job hence the business lines can carry out the tasks smoothly. In a case if the recruited
candidate has a competency mismatch HR will need to look at rehiring for the same
position hence this duplication of work will reduce the time to focus on strategic aspects.

Career opportunities and employee retention

17

The systematic methods should focus on careers and not jobs this indeed will be a
retention tool for ABC Bank.

The recruitment and selection process should be given due consideration since the wrong
hiring decisions will create negative impacts to ABC bank, Hence they can be
highlighted as follows;

Loss of productivity

The ABC bank deals with financial related service hence employees should have high
productivity levels. If the competencies mismatch the employees will no be in a position
to perform the allocated task hence it will create a loss in the productivity.

Missed opportunities

The financial service industry is a highly competitive market therefore ABC bank should
have the required competent workforce to grab each opportunity. However if the
employees have poor competencies, poor motivation new opportunities will be missed.
As an example if a front line staff member lacks skill in sales there can be lot of missed
cross selling opportunities. Therefore right person should be doing the right job.

Dissatisfied customers

The Financial service sector competes with each other on the service they provide.
Hence if the right person is not in the correct place it might create dissatisfaction to the
customer.

Lowered employee morale

18

There are many factors effecting employees performance such as competencies to

perform the job, motivation etc. considering external recruitment the new recruits should
have the required competencies to perform the job, also for existing employees there
should be career opportunities. Hence lack of systematic recruitment and selection will
reduce employee morale. As an example if a front line employee is de-motivated about
the career it might create dissatisfied customer experiences.

Loss of competitive edge

The employees are the valuable asset in ABC Bank, and this is the tool to gain
competitive advantage among the competitors. Therefore to survive the competition there
should be a competent workforce and a motivated workforce. Therefore employee
retention is also vital in this aspect hence its essential for ABC bank to maintain proper
recruitment and selection methods.

Carrying out the research for evaluating recruitment and selection practices in ABC Bank
will enable to attract and retain the best candidates therefore by increasing productivity
of the ABC Bank. This will contribute to the national economy. Further it will benefit the
ABC Bank to remedy the current challenges.

1.5 Objectives of the Research

The research on existing practices of recruitment and selection of ABC Bank will focus
on the following objectives and they can be discussed as follows;
General Objective
To introduce new effective methods of recruitment and selection to ABC Bank

Specific Objectives

19

 To study the existing recruitment and selection process.

To study the problems and drawbacks of recruitment and selection according
to the perception of employees and employer.
To identify effective methods of attracting talent to source external and
internal vacancies.
To identify effective methods of selection thereby to gain a better competency
match.
To emphasis the importance of having a proper recruitment and selection
process.

1.6 Limitations of the Research

The ABC Bank is very keen in data confidentiality. Therefore there were
restrictions when gathering information however the relevant details were
obtained through analyzing the policy documents, in-depth interviews.
The ABC Bank currently has a workforce of 1600. For the research purposes
a sample of 50 representing each employee grades were taken in to
consideration. Generally a 30% of the population should be taken as a sample

20

however in this research its less than the general standard, therefore the
findings needs to be extended to the entire bank based on the sample of 50
employees.
The researcher lacks knowledge on statistics hence there were limitations
when presenting data in statistical manner however Microsoft excel was used
to generate graphs, tables to present data.
The recommendations and solutions will be mainly targeting the operational
environment of ABC Bank; hence there can be limitations when applying it
for other organizations however this can be taken as a guide since the process
has been critically analyzed.
The time constraints of three months to complete the full research project.

LITERATURE
REVIEW
Chapter 2

21

This Chapter focuses on the literature aspect of recruitment and selection. It

will critically analyze the existing literature and thereby highlighting how
the present study would be differentiated.

2.1 Review of Existing Literature

Human resources professionals / experts have written large number of literature
highlighting the importance of effective recruitment and selection practices;
McMahon (2007) has carried out a research along with Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development (CIPD) on recruitment and selection focusing on how to get the
process right.
The research has highlighted the following aspects;
Recruitment and Selection has been defined as an activity that attract genuinely
suitable candidates and to examine their competencies carefully in order to fill in
the existing vacancies.
The recruitment and selection process needs to be managed carefully since people
are the valuable assets in an organization and recruiting unsatisfactory staff
makes the stability of the organization questionable.
The recruitment and selection process should be done in a consistent, correct and
on timely manner.

22

 Further has discussed the key steps of the recruitment and selection process that
should be followed in order to gain competitive advantages. The following are the
steps discussed;
o Human Resource Planning
Forecasting labour needs to achieve organizational objectives.
o Job Analysis , Job Description & Job Specification
Job analysis is an essential foundation for recruitment and selection. The job
analysis mainly comprises of Job Description (JD) which is a statement of job
duties, objectives and environmental background of the job and Job specification
(JS) deals with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to perform the job.
o Sources of recruitment
Based on the job opening the source of recruitment should be decided. The
research has discussed pros and cons of selecting different sources hence prior
selecting the source these aspects should be looked into.
o Selection Interviews & Tests
A selection interview has been described as a forum where the candidates
relative suitability for the job is assessed by the organizations representatives.
Therefore the study has revealed the importance of the professionalism of the
interviewer (by providing training) to tab the suitable candidates and also
encourages to use structured interviews.
The selection test should directly assess the capabilities of the candidate to
perform the job. The researcher has discussed various tests such as personality
test, assessment centers to arrive at the right selection decision.
o Reference checks
23

The organizations should also take adequate steps to check on candidates

suitability by conducting pre-employment checks, medical checks, criminal
checks etc. This will enable the organization to retain a good corporate image.

Harvard Business School (2002) has conducted a research on hiring best employees. In
this study Bradford Smith a recruitment consultant for US Companies has stated good
hiring decisions create foundation for more effective performance by employees, teams
and company as well, and a bad hiring decision drag down performance and are painfully
expensive to correct.
This research has summarized the hiring process in to five key steps;
Defining job requirements
The recruitment team and other business partners who are involved in the recruitment
process should be clear about the job role, its requirements.
Recruiting
The suitable source should be decided to create a suitable pool of qualified candidates.
Interviewing
The interview process should be designed in a manner to exchange relevant information
between the interviewers and the candidate. In order to gain a better understanding of the
job and the candidates capabilities.
Evaluating the candidates
Once all the candidates have been interviewed the interviewers should conduct an
objective evaluation for each applicant. Use of decision making matrix will create an
unbiased hiring decision.

24

 Making a decision and offer

The final step would be to making a final decision on the selected candidate who will be
able contribute most to the organization and then provide a reasonable package.
In a summary it states that hiring is a business process consisting of set of activities that
turn inputs into outputs. The input would be various information about the job and
selection tools as are used as processors thereby identifying competent candidate who
will be the output of the process.
Visconti & Brounstein (2004) has done a study in India on effective recruitment
strategies. The recruitment process is viewed as a challenging process irrespective of
been a public sector or a private sector organization. The labour market has become more
multi-skilled, diversified and demanding hence job seekers are willing to change jobs to
gain more experience in different fields. Hence its essential that the recruiters should be
smart and competent to grab the best talent from the market.
The research has suggested marketing approach for recruitment. This approach believes
that more information given about the organization, the job role to the prospective
candidates it will ease the recruitment process.
Further it has done analysis on recruitment sources and derives at the following sources
as effective. They can be listed as follows;
Use of community organizations more involvement in the community.
Networking and employee referral schemes
Job fairs
Duke (2005) a research has been conducted on Recruitment targeting multinational
companies in developed countries. The recruitment process is viewed as a way of
purchasing an asset to the company.

25

It highlights the ill effects of bad hire such as higher absenteeism, internal conflicts and
lost production time. Recruiting the right people is critical for the success of the any
business since employees are the most expensive asset. Therefore there should be
systematic recruitment and selection methods are essential for the stability of the
company.
Phil (1996) the research has focused on recruitment and selection aspects of
organizations in developed countries.
Recruitment is viewed as an art more than a science since it deals with people who are
termed as vital resource in an organization.
The success of the recruitment and selection process will depend on the awareness of the
candidate and the organization about the job opening. Hence the parties should be very
clear on the requirements. These requirements can be summarized as follows;
a) The Job Seeker should be clear on
The duties and responsibilities assigned to the position
The type of person who is the idle candidate
Other factors such as working conditions , remunerations and benefits
b) The Organization should be clear on
The need of the job role
Job analysis and thereby derive at job duties and people skills
Time and cost constraints
The recruitment method to be used to source
The selection tools that will enable to identify the most suitable candidates.

26

Therefore having flawless information flow between the parties will create a win-win
situation and will make the recruitment and selection process efficient and effective.
Brown and Swain (2009) have conducted a study in the UK based companies on how to
deliver an excellent recruitment practice.
It states that the three Rs recruitment, retraining and retention of high caliber, well
motivated staff is the main differentiator of good workplace. Hence to achieve this state
the recruitment should be handled with care by placing the right people in the right job.
This study has developed a recruitment cycle and it can be elaborated as follows;

Client acquisition

Candidate management

Recruitment Strategy

Candidate attraction
Source: Brown and Swain (2009)

Candidate Management
Its a process in detail, starting with evaluating candidates, interviewing and identifying
their ability to be selected for a job vacancy.
The first point when an application is sent any of the following actions should be taken to
manage the candidates. They are Rejecting, Re-direct or Hold for future. Hence this will
give a picture of the available labour market.

27

The next step would be to interview the candidate. The following structure has been
proposed.
W - welcome and rapport (put the candidate at ease)
I - introduction (discuss about the company the job role in brief)
G - gathering information (to gain a better understanding about the candidate)
G - giving information (if convinced further information such as salary discussed)
S - selling and closing (To ensure that the candidates have a positive feeling about the
process and the company)
Client acquisition
This step involves finding the best recruitment solution. As an example the process can
be outsourced or to consult a consultant.
Recruitment Strategy
Based on the organizations future plans the recruitment strategy should be developed.
Hence the recruitment strategy should forecast the required manpower needs. It should
be aligned and reviewed the organizations plans.
Candidate attraction
The effective and new sources should be adopted by organizations to attract competent
candidates. Such new methods can be listed as follows;
Talent bank development
Headhunting
Develop in-house talent databases
Sponsorships
Online, word-of-mouth networking
28

 Advertising through Job boards, flyers etc.

Maitland (2005) has done a research on manpower planning and recruitment analyzing
UK leading companies.
The research emphasis the importance of having systematic recruitment and selection
process in an organization since it has a direct impact on the stability of the company and
indeed its the success behind the top companies.
Based on the findings it has stated the solid foundation for a successful recruitment
process would start of with having a detailed and accurate job analysis. This will consist
of job descriptions and job specification. This phase will eliminate duplication of job
roles and also will question necessity of the job. Hence it will enable to streamline the
work processors. Therefore ones a solid foundation is set it will be an easy task to
identify the correct match to fill in the vacancy.
Further it emphasizes of selecting the best and the right candidate to the job since it will
have positive impacts for HR function and to the organization. These benefits can be
discussed as follows;
(a) Benefits to the organization
High productivity
Gains competitive advantage
High Return on investment
(b) Benefits to HR departments
Focus on strategic HR aspects
Gain trust from the other business lines
Ability to maintain job satisfaction and motivation
29

 Ability to maintain low attrition rates

Armstrong (2008) has carried out a study on HR recruitment practices based on

professional

experience

and

CIPD

standards

(Charted

Institute

of

Personal

Development).
The studies stated that the overall objective of an effective and efficient recruitment and
selection would be to hire quality employees to satisfy HR and company needs, in a
timely and a cost effective manner.
A wrong hire may have huge cost component attached and it has been discussed under
direct and indirect cost. The direct cost would be the cost of rehire, training, productivity
loss where as indirect cost would be cost of bad customer service, missed sales
opportunities etc.
Therefore due to strict financial budgets and further HR to move in to strategic role the
recruitment and selection process should be done in a strategic and systematic manner.

Hayes & Ninemeier (2004) has done a study on how to find the right people for an
organization targeting on hospitality industry. Its viewed that ability to recruit, select
and retain a skilled and a motivated workforce is one of the most critical aspects of an
organization.
Therefore HR strategies should be aligned to sustain the organization in the long run.
Therefore the study has emphasis the capabilities of HR personnels who should be
trained prior to carrying out this process since its a vital process in an organization.

30

The HR personnel who are handling recruitment and selection process should be capable
of the following;
Recruit the most qualified applicants
Establish policies and procedures that allow the best applicant to be selected
As a summary the study emphasis on the following concept Employers should hire and
train employees for careers and not for jobs. Therefore the process should be
constructed in a manner to achieve this objective.
Dessler (2008) in his text book has discussed the recruitment and selection process. It
emphasis that systematic recruitment and selection process is essential for an
organization since wrong hire of a person, high attrition, waste time with useless
interviews, lack of competent staff are negative impacts that can rise due to non
systematic recruitment and selection hence proper consideration should be given.
According to Dessler a systematic recruitment and selection process will consist of the
following and they can be summarized as follows;
Human resources planning / forecasting labour needs -There are many factors that
effects forecasting such as;
o Decisions to upgrade the quality of products or services, or enter into new
market.
o Projected turn over
o Quality and skills of your employees
o Financial constraints
o Trend analysis
Job Analysis

31

This step provides information about the job role and also helps to understand the
characteristics of a person who will be performing the respective job. Hence this will be
a guideline for the HR managers to source the vacancies.
Job analysis can developed through questioners, observations, process charts etc.\
Recruitment
At this phase attracting a pool of candidates for the open positions will be carried out.
There are factors affecting this step which can be listed as follows;
o Recruitment efforts should be aligned to companys strategic plan
o Identifying the source of recruitment according to the job profile
o Non recruitment issues and policies such as competitive rewards
o Provide accurate and relevant information about the job so that interested
parties can apply
o Firms image
o Labour laws prevailing in the country
Further the sources of internal recruitment such as rehiring and succession planning has
been discussed. Also external recruitment sources such as online recruitment, advertising
recruitment agencies are been discussed. These methods have been highlighted as
effective recruitment sources.
Selection
The wrong hire can have ill effects on company performance, high cost and legal
obligations. Therefore effective methods should be practiced. There are different
selection methods such as structured interviews, test, assessment centers etc.
Intelligence test, personality test and achievement test are some test that can be used in
the selection process.
32

As a summary the systematic recruitment and selection process is a business priority that
should not be neglected.

2.2 Relevance of Existing Literature to the

Present Study
The existing literature has been beneficial to the present study in various aspects; they
can be discussed as follows;

In relation to Subject Matter

To understand the recruitment and selection concepts
The existing literature has defined recruitment and selection in various contexts. It
provides many thinking angles and examples. Also it provides a framework as to how it
can be done effectively.
The literature enabled to understand in depth by going in to roots of the concepts of
recruitment and selection. The in-depth knowledge gained was used in the real world
scenarios by customizing according to the need.
Therefore the existing literature laid a solid foundation to the research.
To understand the importance and its application in various contexts

33

The literature reviewed has discussed recruitment and selection practices adopted in
various countries targeting different work groups. Also it discusses about the positives
and negatives of the practiced methods.
This enabled to understand the importance of having effective methods of recruitment
and selection process to an organization. The positives of effective methods as well as the
negatives of non systematic methods of recruitment and selection are been discussed in
depth. Therefore this information was used to emphasis the importance of recruitment
and selection.

Data Collection Methods

To develop questioner
The existing literature enabled to develop a framework on recruitment and selection.
Based on the essential elements of an effective recruitment and selection the questioner
was developed.
To conduct interviews
The existing literature was used to conduct interviews to question the process in depth, to
emphasize on the important aspects also to validated, cross check the practicality of the
adopted methods.

In relation to proposing Recommendations

Compare & understand best practices of recruitment & selection.
As discussed previously the existing literature provided various examples of effective
recruitment and selection methods used in different contexts. Hence these were reviewed,
compared and adopted to ABC Bank operating environment.
34

 To look at the practical application of different recruitment & selection

methods
There are various tools that can be used for recruitment and selection. When selecting
tools it should be effective and efficient further it should be feasible to introduce to ABC
Bank and should support in long run. Therefore existing literature was used as a guide to
achieve this objective.
To introduce best practices.
As mentioned above the existing literature provided a large number of best practices
adopted by organizations also provided new tools developed. Therefore these were used
as a framework/ guidelines when introducing best practices to ABC Bank.

2.3 Contribution of the Present Research

The above discussed literature indeed highlights the importance of having systematic
recruitment and selection methods in an organization since employees are the vital
resource.
The existing literature has its limitation when applying to ABC Bank. These limitations
can be in different forms. As an example the studies have been conducted in developed
countries thus there are different environmental factors such as economic policies, legal
polices that will influence the adopted methods. Its not feasible to adopt such methods in
ABC operating environment may be due to high cost, technology barriers.
As an example developed countries use online web based test (example: SHL) and in
developed countries IT literacy is high also the resources are readily available. To apply
this method in ABC Bank operating environment will be questionable since its still a
developing country further IT literacy skills are still poor. Therefore such methods even

35

though termed as best practices might not be feasible in the ABC Bank environment.
Thus the research will look at these aspects and thereby introduce methods that can be
adopted by ABC Bank in long run.
There will be high competency levels in a developed country hence organizations might
have to adopt complex recruitment and selection methods. However this might not be a
requirement since ABC Bank is operating in a developing country. The competency
levels will differ from a developed and developing country. Therefore the research can be
used to develop simple models / processors to suite the needs of ABC Bank.
In developed countries for recruitment and selection a large allocation of money is
provided hence they can utilize this to test and adopt the best methods of recruitment and
selection. However this luxury is not provided for ABC Bank since the budget allocation
is very stringent. Therefore this research will enable to adopt new cost effective methods
of recruitment and selection to ABC bank taken above in to consideration.
Also the studies have been carried out in different time frames due to globalization the
best practices can be shared in a rapid manner therefore with time and other external and
internal factors change the relevancy might be questionable.
As mentioned ABC Bank is operating in Sri Lanka which is a developing country hence
the application of the above literature is limited. Further factors such as culture,
economy, political will influence the operating environment. As an example the culture
of ABC bank operating is more of a reserved hence when carrying out interviews the
style of questions may differ from a developed country. Also the political influence
through trade unions needs to be considered as an example when introducing new
methods of recruitment and selection the ABC Bank will have to discuss it with the trade
union to get the support hence the understanding of the parties might create conflict due
to political pressure compared to a developed country.

36

Taking these factors in to consideration new processors can be developed to overcome

the above highlighted limitations. This will enable to add new knowledge to HRM field
also it can be extended to other developing countries.

METHODOLOGY
Chapter 3
Recruitment
&
Selection

Selection
methods
This Chapter focuses on the methods adopted
to achieve
the objectives of

research. It will discuss about the variables, sample&and the methods of data
Attraction
of Talentto the research.
collection
in relation

Competency match

3.1 Conceptual Framework

Effective source should be used to
attract & recruit in timely/cost
effective manner

The current workforce is

Multi-skilled hence there should be
effective
Selection tools to spot the
37
right candidate for the job.

3.2 Population
The ABC Bank has a workforce of 1638 and operates across the island consisting of a
head office, operational centers based in Colombo and it is also linked to a branch
network.
The head office bank population can be categorized under Executives, Clerical staff,
Contract staff and Support staff.
Staff Category at Head Office

Count

Executives

220

Clerical staff

140

Contract staff

190

Support staff

10

TOTAL COUNT

560

38

3.3 Sample
The research will focus on the head office staff only due to time and resource constraints
hence the head office staff count of 560 will be taken in to consideration.
Out of the head office staff count a sample of 50 was selected using the stratified
sampling method.
The below diagram summarizes the head office target population & the corresponding
Strata for each staff category.
Staff Category

Target Population

Head Office

(Head Office)

Strata

Executives

220

20

Clerical staff

140

12

Contract staff

190

17

Support staff

10

560

50

TOTAL

3.4 Hypothesis
The following hypothesis will be tested.

39

 A systematic recruitment & selection process is essential for ABC Bank to sustain
in the competitive environment.
Employees are the vital resource to gain competitive advantage hence the process should
be systematic to retain same.
To attract potential candidates & retain employees effective methods of
recruitment & selection tools are essential for ABC Bank.
The current labour force is multi skilled hence there should be effective selection tools to
filter the best choice.

3.5 Data Collection Methods

The data collection methods are mainly divided into two main sections namely primary
data and secondary data.
For the research in relation to ABC Bank the data collection methods can be discussed as
follows;
Primary sources
o ABC Bank recruitment and selection policy
o Questioner
o In depth Interviews
o Focus group discussion.

Source

Purpose

Information expected to be cover

ABC Bank recruitment & To understand the current

The existing recruitment & selection

selection policy

practices.

recruitment & selection methods

The perception of the Employer.

40

Questioners

In-depth Interviews

To understand the perception of

The positives & negatives of the

employees about the current

existing recruitment & selection

recruitment & selection practices.

policy based on the employee

(Targeting a large number of

perception.

employees)
To understand the current

The existing recruitment & selection

recruitment & selection methods.

practices.

To understand the perception of

employees & employers about the

The positives & negatives of the

current recruitment & selection

existing process based on the

practices.

perceptions.
Information expected to be cover

Source

Purpose

Focus Group Discussions To look at the practicality of

Identify recruitment & selection

adapting the new recruitment &

methods that will suit the needs of

selection methods for ABC Bank

ABC Bank based on the employee,

employers perception

Secondary sources
o Internet
o Books
o Journals
o HR records
o Other similar organizations

Source

Purpose

Information expected to be cover

41

Internet

To identify new methods of recruitment &

Comparison to understand best

selection globally

practices of r & s.
New effective methods of r & s.

Books &

Literature Review.
To find the existing literature & compare with New methods of recruitment and

Journals

the current practice and introduce best

selection.

practices

Literature review
Importance of recruitment &

Other similar

selection
To analyze the new recruits, existing
Records such as exit interviews, HRIS can be staff that is leaving due to
used to identify & understand the positives / frustration.
negatives of the adopted recruitment &
selection process.
To understand the internal
recruitment process effectiveness by
analyzing the promotions &
transfers.
Gathering information about similar
To look at the practical application of

organizations

competitive organizations as to how they

different r & S methods & to

carry out R & S.

introduce best practices.

HR Records

3.5 Methods of Data Analysis & Presentation

The current workforce of ABC Bank exceeds 1600 hence for research purposes the head
office staff count were taken in to consideration. Therefore the stratified sampling
method was selected.
In a stratified sample the sampling frame is divided into non-overlapping groups or
strata, e.g. employee category. Samples of 50 were selected including from each strata.
Then the distribution of questioners, in depth interviews were all done based on this
sampling method. Therefore the responses received covered view points of each
employee category.

42

The data received was analyzed based on each employee category, their experience
levels, etc.
The presentation of data has been done using graphs, tables, pie charts and flow charts.

Reality of Recruitment & Selection process at ABC Bank

Chapter 4

4.1 The analysis of the existing recruitment and

selection process at ABC Bank
43

The recruitment needs will arise from the strategic plan as well as due to staff
resignations, promotions or transfers. Therefore when a vacancy is communicated to HR
department will decide how it should be sourced.
The existing practices of recruitment and selection of ABC Bank can be analyzed as
follows;

External recruitment & selection

The bank widely uses external recruitment as a method to fill in the vacancies. ABC
Bank mainly recruits 3 types of employee categories, they are

Executive staff

Clerical Staff

Contract staff

The annual recruits breakdown can be elaborated using the below graph. Therefore its
evident that external recruitment process plays a vital role in the ABC Bank.

Figure: 1

44

The external recruitment process adapted to source each staff category can be discussed
as follows;
Contract Staff
This category is also termed as fixed term contract staff since they are taken for 1, 2 or 5
year contract period. The current practice of the Bank would be to provide contract staff
member within 2 weeks from the request received date.
Generally ABC Bank gets a considerable amount of postal CVs. Hence these are mainly
used to source these vacancies. Further employee referrals are also considered.
The HR Representative will pre-screen the CV to evaluate the application as against the
basic screening criteria. Upon been successful at that stage the next would be phone
screening. The potential applicants are been contacted to check their interest and
suitability to perform the job.
The successful candidates are then been called for an initial HR interview. Next the
successful candidates are been interviewed by the respective line managers to check their
suitability for the job. Upon been successful at these stages the candidate is then been
offered employment.
Clerical staff
This staff category is offered permanent employment; the HR department will require to
provide a clerical staff member within a period of 4 weeks from the request received
date.
The general postal CVs, employee referrals and online applications are considered to
source these vacancies. A similar approach of screening and selection as discussed under
contract staff category is adopted for clerical staff as well.

45

The process adapted to source clerical and contract staff categories can be summarized
using the below diagram.

Sources of
attracting
talent

Preliminary
application &
phone screening

Initial HR
Interview

Final Interview
with business
Line

Postal
Employee Referrals
Online *

Selection methods

Job Offer

(* for clerical staff)

Figure: 2

Executive staff
Executive staff recruitment the process should be managed to provide staff within 6
weeks from the request made.
To attract talent newspaper advertisements, Recruitment agencies / Head hunters will be
considered for executive search. The applications received are then passed to the
business line to short list. Ones this process is finalized HR will be notified to schedule
initial interview with the business line and HR then based on the outcome the final
interview with the functional head is organized. The successful candidates are then been
offered employment.
However depending on the job role presentations, numerical and verbal test are
introduced to the selection criteria and the decision is taken by the business line and HR
doesnt proactively use these. Hence the interview is the sole selection tool for selecting
executive category employees as well.

46

Internal Recruitment & selection

The internal recruitment process is carried out mainly through transfers, promotions and
change of contract. The below diagram provides an annual summary of the adopted
internal recruitment methods to source the vacancies.

Figure: 3

Attracting Internal Applicants

The ABC Bank uses two main methods to communicate and attract internal applicants.
The clerical staff job vacancies are advertised using internal communication system such
as lotus notes will be sent to all staff that is linked to the communication system. Then
the applicants who are interested are then required to send the CV to HR department.
Then HR passes the CVs to the line manager who has the vacancy.

47

A system called Jobs Tracker is used to circulate vacancies for executive staff category.
The applicants can login to this system and view the advert details, also using the same
system they can apply for the advertised job vacancies. The Line manager can directly
login and view the applications and short list them on the system. Hence the candidates
will be able to track the application status on their own.
Transfers
This method of internal recruitment is used fill in Clerical and executive staff vacancies.
As discussed above the clerical job vacancies are advertised using the lotus notes and
ones HR forward the CVs to the Line manager they will short list and inform to the HR
department. There is no HR policy document that provides guideline for short listing or
doesnt request for any justification.
HR will then schedule interviews with the line for the short listed candidates further HR
will not get involved at these interviews. Upon line selecting the candidate HR will
facilitate staff transfer.
The executives vacancies are linked to the Jobs Tracker system ones the job advert has
been uploaded the interested employees can apply. The line manager can view the CVs
using this system and also short listing is done on the system. Similar to the transfer
process the HR department doesnt set guidelines for short listing or request justification
from the line managers. Hence the system is updated stating short listed or rejected. The
system does allow to add comments for reason for rejection however HR doesnt
emphasis this to the Line.
Ones the Line manager gives the short listed candidates HR will schedule the interviews
and also if the line request they will use presentations and test as selection tool. The HR
representative will be a part of this process.

48

Promotions
The same process of executive transfer is adopted when clerical staff applies for
promotion however the screening process will slightly be different since there is
additional element called eligibility.
The HR department has a standard policy document setting out criterias for the clerical
staff to be eligible for promotions. The criteria will focus on the experience level; the
appraisal rating and also a list of qualifications are included. Hence apart from the
prescribed list any other qualification will not be taken in to consideration. The appraisal
rating plays a vital role is been eligible if the staff member has got a poor rating he / she
will not be eligible to apply for the vacancies.
The same method adopted at the Executive staff transfer process is adopted since
executive staff has different bands hence it can be of a parallel move or a promotion.
Comparing with Clerical staff promotion process there is no eligibility criteria and even
though the staff member has got a poor rating still he / she would still be eligible for the
promotion.
Change of Contract
The above method is used to source clerical job vacancies. The ABC bank has a policy
where a contract staff member after completing two years can apply to the position of a
clerical staff. The HR will again conduct an interview to check on the suitability of the
employee to move in to the clerical grade. Upon been successful at this process they can
apply for any clerical vacancy that has been advertised.

49

4.2 Problems and drawbacks of recruitment and selection of

ABC Bank according to the perception of employees
The employees perceptions were obtained using questioners, interviews and focus group
discussions and below are identified problems and drawbacks of existing recruitment and
selection process;
Lack of information about the current job vacancies
As mentioned above the internal adverts are circulated using internal email system called
lotus notes and its not accessible for all staff. The contract staff doesnt get this facility
hence they will not have an opportunity to be updated with the current vacancies.
The clerical job vacancies are advertised using this method hence the target group is
contract staff as well as clerical staff hence due to inaccessibility 32% of the target
population will not apply hence there is a frustration among the employees as well as
organization is not tapping its full potential.
Jobs tracker drawbacks
The employees can apply for any suitable job vacancy if they meet the requirements of
the job role. However in the event been rejected there is no systematic approach to know
for the reason for rejection. Since HR doesnt set any guidelines or request for
justification Line mangers are vested with power to carry out this task. Hence this creates
frustration as to been rejected without any reason. This might result in losing experienced
workers.
Drawbacks of the eligibility
The eligibility criteria sets out a framework in relation to educational qualifications,
experience levels and appraisal ratings the rational behind the selected qualifications and
how it will be superior against another qualification is questionable. As an example the
current process compares a certificate qualification which consists of 6 subjects and a

50

degree. Also the actual work performance is not been considered. These indeed are issues
and will affect employees performance and also the Banks performance will be affected.
Bias selection process
According to the employees the selection process is not systematic since its only an
interview thats been used hence staff are earmarked. Further HR doesnt set out any
guideline for screening process. The HR records also reveals the same since staff are
been identified for job roles within the same function.
Annual staff Promotion Analysis

100
80
60
40
20
0

Staff count

within the same

function

from a different
function

92

24

Figure: 4

Figure: 4
51

Staff Development issues

This aspect is also linked to the above since when cross functional movements of staff
are not encouraged the Bank will not grow its talent. Also will create frustration and
limited scope for employees develop their career. Hence such environment creates reason
for staff attrition.
Lacks employees involvement in the recruitment & selection process
HR department doesnt obtain any feedback from the employees, at least the new recruits
perception is not looked in to. Hence the process has not been able to adapt to any new
changes.
In an interview conducted with a new recruit revealed that candidates wait for hours to
start the initial interview which indeed damaged the first impression and also questions
the effectiveness of the recruitment process. Had HR obtained feedback from these
parties they can improve the process.
HR staff Lack knowledge on the business
The HR staff doesnt have a framework to match the skills with the job role, since it was
revealed that at the phone screening and the interview contradicting facts has been given
hence applicants have been mislead.
Sources of recruitment
Employees feel that the methods we attract candidates can be further improved such as
employee referrals this is not marketed well by HR. Also adverts are more of traditional
where as it can be done in a more creative manner.
Lack of a systematic competency match approach
The job roles and the employees competencies are not taken in to consideration hence
wrong selection decisions are made. Due to this approach employees are faced with great
difficulties and further disturb the smooth operation of processors. Hence there is an
increase of attrition levels due to mismatch of competencies.

52

4.3 Problems and drawbacks of recruitment and selection of

ABC Bank according to the perception of employer
High Attrition rates among new recruits & high cost of recruitment
The ABC Bank is currently facing high attrition rates among the new recruits when
analyzing the reasons major causes were lack of knowledge about the assigned job duties
and also candidates been underemployed.
Due to the attrition levels among the new recruits ABC Bank has to rehire for same
position hence a huge cost is incurred.
This reveals the drawbacks of the existing recruitment and selection process, the below
diagram further establish these facts.

Experience Levels

No of Resignations

0 Months 2 Months

37

3 Months 5 Months

28

6 Months 8 Months

22

8 Months 12 Months

18

Figure: 5
53

Use of Ineffective sources to attract talent

The ABC Bank maintains standard time lines to provide different staff categories
however there are delays due to inability to source candidates. The traditional sources are
yet been used and the feasibility of adopting new methods are yet undiscovered. This
indeed is a large drawback.
Lack of talented staff & retention
The selection process is not linked with competency match hence the staff are not
performing the right job, further the development scope is narrow.
The line managers lack knowledge on selecting employees hence the actual potential of
employees is also not revealed. Especially the promotion process which moves staff in to
the next level is now faced with many challenges since the selected staff doesnt have the
capabilities. Therefore the selection process should be reviewed.
Rigid policy

54

The flexibility of the recruitment and selection policy is at a low level due to trade union
and internal policies hence to experiment new methods or introduce new methods cannot
be done easily. This indeed is a major drawback to align the process to new methods.
Career Progression of Contract staff
The bank recruits a large number of contract staff for various business processors. They
are also been groomed and given training to meet the business expectations. Therefore
this is a ready made source to cater the needs of clerical staff vacancies. However this is
not taken in to consideration hence these staff leaves the organization.
The recruitment and selection process has not been fine tuned to focus on this long run
aspect hence this source is not been utilized .The current recruitment and selection
process is such that it only focus on numbers and not the potentials of candidates.
Therefore to consider them to move to the next level is questionable.
The below diagram provides an overview of the entry level staff categories and when the
clerical staff vacancies arise the contract staff can be used to fill in the vacancies if the
recruitment process had been effective.

Figure: 6

55

4.4 Other findings of recruitment and selection of ABC Bank

Further the questioner, interviews and focus group discussions revealed the following
problems and drawbacks of the current recruitment and selection process.
Standard selection criteria for all the jobs
The selection process doesnt vary with the job role as a sole method interview is used as
a tool which can be a subjective.
Currently the bank recruits for sales jobs & after the appointment they are been given
training. At this point there is a large drop out due to inability to perform the assigned
tasks, hence this is evident that the selection tools are ineffective and it should be
customized according to the job role.
Capability of HR Staff handling the process
The findings revealed that HR staff handling the recruitment & selection process has not
been given adequate guidance or training.
Currently the external recruitment process is burdened upon a new employee who joined
the Bank recently and who is a school leaver hence the ability to drive this vital process
is questionable.
Further there is no formal training provided to the HR officers to carry out the selection
process such as interviews. Hence the effectiveness of the process is limited. As a whole
the recruitment and selection process has not be given the due recognition.

56

Also there are many instances where line managers have transferred staff without
informing HR, this itself shows the drawbacks of the existing process.
Lack of training given to Line managers in relation to recruitment & selection
process
The line managers are been involved in selection process however there has been no
formal training given to them. The trend is such that newly appointed executives are
burdened to get the staff numbers to their respective department hence the focus might be
more on the number than the quality of recruits.
Lack of Systematic candidate tracking system
The ABC Bank maintains a basic excel sheet database to track external applications and
when a vacancy arises there is no method to filter the potential candidates. Hence the HR
needs to ones again go through each application.
Further the jobs tracker system is used only for executive vacancy hence it has a limited
scope even though it can be extended to other staff categories.
Attraction of talent
The ABC Bank has its own website and there is a separate section allocated for HR this
has not been utilized. The traditional methods are still been used widely.

57

New Dimensions of
Recruitment & Selection
Chapter 5

58

5.1 Effective methods of attracting talent

The method to attract talent externally or internally will depend on the following factors;
Will it reach the right people, Will it reach the right number and will it reach the right
price if the answer yes to all then the perfect source has been selected.
Considering the below factors will also contribute to determine the success of a selected
recruitment source. The advert should be planned and it should have contain information
such as company summary, the job title , duties , personal specification , location ,
rewards and the method to apply. Further an advert should be eye catching, logical, non
discriminatory and concise.
There are many sources to attract talent external and internal and they will have its
positives and negatives. It can be analyzed as follows.
Sources of External Recruitment
Source
Employee

Advantages
By providing relevant information

Disadvantages
The success will depend on how

staff they can act as recruiters.

well its promoted within the Bank.

Employer branding can be done

By confining the scope other

through the existing employees.

potential candidates might be left

Referrals

59

out.
Highlights employees satisfaction
since they are introducing others

Might create imbalance situation

to join the Bank.

among staff categories.

Saves time and cost.

Posters

Cost effective method.

Will be successful for entry level

job positions.
Limited

information

will

be

available hence the actual role

Newspaper

Reaches large numbers quickly.

advertisements

might not be understood.

Unsuitable candidates will also
apply hence time can be wasted.

Cost effective.
The advert should be eye-catching
to attract candidates since there are
many hence the traditional methods
might not attract talent.
Advertising in Reaches the specific sector of Infrequent publications hence there
Professional / expertise.

can

Technical

applications.

Journals

be

delays

to

source

Relatively inexpensive.
More

flexibility

to

advertise

Recruitment

compared to newspapers.
Ability to attract high potential Few options to select as head

Agencies

candidates.

hunters.

(HeadHunters)

The ability to provide applicants Is a costly process.

in short time frames which is cost
effective.

Depends heavily on the accuracy of

the advert slight wrong information

60

It gives employer the chance to be can mess the entire process.

exposed

to

professional

recruitment methods

They can produce staff who are

likely to stay only for a short time

Ability to get the applications span, since they can be back again
screened hence the Bank doesnt headhunted for other vacancies.
require to spend time for the
initial process.

Potential candidates who are not

been head hunted may be excluded.
Risk of confidential information

Internet

Attracts

large

number

been shared with competitors.

of This is relatively a new to the

applications.

recruitment process hence there

can be resistance.

Saves time and cost due to lack of

administrative tasks.

Has limited scope to source high

level appointments.

Easy to attract as well can be used

to

screen

applications

hence Lack of access to Internet.

unsuitable applications can be

easily eliminated.

Risk of data confidentiality.

Easy access to job seekers and

standard application forms can be
developed.
Job

fairs

/ Opportunity to meet large number

Large portion of administrative

Walk-in

of candidates in a short period of work is involved.

Interviews

time. Also enables to discuss and

share more information about Time can be wasted with
current jobs.

unsuitable candidates.
61

Sources of Internal Recruitment

The following can be used as sources to attract internal applicants.
Job posting
Opening the job vacancy to all employees. It will consist of the attributes of the jobs,
qualifications and department.
Qualification Inventories
Manual or computerized records listing employees education, career and development
interest, special skills etc this can be used for internal recruitment decisions.

5.2 Effective methods of selection linked with

competency match.
The selection process is vital since this will enable to filter and approach the right
candidate to perform the job. There are many selection methods used in the current
context and can be discussed as follows.

Interview
This method enables to find out about candidates attitudes, behaviors and skills or to tap
information they possess. The Selection interviews can be conducted in many different
ways such as;
Biographical Interview
This explores the interviewees past experience and the future behavior is predicted using
this past experience. This is a semi structured process.

62

The main limitation is the difficulty of linking the interview information to job relevant
criteria. Hence this might allow the interviewers subjectivity to creep in to the selection
decision.
Behavioral Interview
This approach focus on behaviors relevant to effective performance of the job. This more
of an objective approach directly link to job demand. The responses are evaluated using
rating scales.
Situational Interviews
In this approach a hypothetical job related questions and a standard set of examples are
used for evaluation. Its a highly structured process. However it might limit the
candidates creativity
Combination
A mix of all three approaches are used to overcome individual limitations hence based
on the job role a combination approach can be used.
Success of an Interview
Its recommended to use more than one interview and interviewer to overcome
interviewers bias and subjectivity. Therefore depending on the job role the interview
process can be customized. Further to sustain the effectiveness of the interview the
following five point plan can be introduced.
1. Impact on others
2. Acquired qualifications
3. Innate abilities
4. Motivational aspects
5. Ability to Adjust

63

Psychometric Testing
This selection method is used to gain an understanding of an individual in order to
predict future behavior. There are different forms of test practiced however they should
be in a manner to retain valid and reliable.
Personality Measurement / traits
This test looks at the characteristics of individual behavior as to how they react and also
the interaction with the surrounding environment.
Attainment Test
This enables to assess the current skill level in specified areas.
Motivational style test
This assess what an individual wants out of a given work situation and how they will
deals with day to day business operations.
Integrity Testing
The overt aspect of the test asses the attitudes and past integrity behaviors. The covert
assess the specific personality traits in relation to integrity.
The current trend is to adopt online testing tool since many test can be combined
together. As an example SHL has developed customized online testing tools which
consist of Verbal reasoning, Inductive reasoning, Numerical reasoning, Calculation,
Checking these can be used to different staff categories according to the job role such as
verbal reasoning for Marketing staff and Numerical reasoning for finance staff.

There are many benefits of adopting psychometric testing, such as;

Maximize performance by improving accuracy of selection.
Improving employee retention by better matching individuals to jobs.
Avoid financial and personal cost associated on both sides with poor recruitment
decisions.
Effective career management since individuals aspirations are matched to the job.

64

Assessment centers
This selection tool uses a multiple exercises and multiple assessors to evaluate the
candidates suitability for a given job role. An assessment centre will consist of the
following.
Written simulations such as case studies , reports
Interactive tasks such as group discussions, role play and presentations.
Criteria based interview
The use of variety of activities will enable to overcome the limitations of each adopted
method. However the success of this method will depend on the assessors been trained
on this and also the different methods are matched to the job related competencies.
This is a costly and a time consuming process hence widely used for executive job roles.

Competencies & Selection

The term competency has been defined by Boyatzis (1980) as a capacity that exist in a
person that leads to behavior that meets the job demands within the parameters of the
organizational environment and that in turn bring about desired results.
Competencies can be blended to the selection process in many ways such as
As a selection criteria
To attract and filter applicants
To assess applicants
As benchmarks for decision making
As a criteria for monitoring the selection process

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Use of competency as selection criteria

Identify the competencies that are crucial for effective performance of the job this
can be done with the business line managers and existing job holders.

Identify competencies that might be used to distinguish between applicants who

are equally suitable on the critical competencies / desirable competencies

Enables to identify the generic behavior of the job role.

Use of competencies to attract candidates

This can be done through including competency information as a way of indicating the
type of person the organization is keen to attract.
As an example a customer service representative operates as a part of a team, providing
support. The role is challenging and ability to present information in different formats in
a timely manner is essential for the job role.
This provides a good understanding about the job role and it will question the candidate
to check if he/she can perform the job. Hence this will enable to attract potential
candidates.
Use of competencies to filter candidates
The competencies can be incorporated to different forms of questioners and based on the
response the candidates can be filtered out effectively. Such methods would be;

Open format questioner

The questioner will request the candidates to provide examples as to how they have used
each job critical competency. The below is an example for this method.
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Competency: Leadership
Q. Provide instances where you had to manage and develop other staff. In the same note
what were the challenges you faced and the final outcome.
There are few drawbacks on this method since the quality of the examples will be
difficult to quantify, a time consuming process. Further the rater can be bias due to
inability to interpret.

Competency rating questioner

In this method the candidates are allowed to rate themselves against the behavioral
aspect linked to the competency. The below is an example for this method.
Q. Rate how often you do the following (key 1 = usually, 2 =Often, 3= rarely, 4 =never)
Share your learning experience with other team members
Proactively seek information to do your job
These must be carefully designed to avoid bias decisions and be easy to understand.

Forced choice questioners

This method provides applicants to select an option from a pair of statement which is
linked to desirables and undesirables aspects of the organization. The below is an
example for this method.
Q. Select the best statement that describes you;
(a) Interacts frequently with team members & help to develop team members
(b) Complete own tasks before helping other team members
Use of competencies to assess applicants

67

The competencies can be in included to the following selection tools hence the decision
can be effective.
Interviews
The competencies can be included to structured interviews by employing clear and
relevant criteria.
Work sample Test
This can be used for mass recruitment by focusing on job specific competencies. As an
example for an administrative job a sample report can be given to rate attention to detail,
following instructions.
Simulations
A real world scenario can be given to the candidates through role plays, group
discussions to check on their capabilities to face such instances. This will be useful to
select competent staff for front line job vacancies.
Use of competencies to monitor the selection process
The link of competencies to selection process will provide the following positive aspects
to the selection process. They are namely;

Prevent unfair selection decisions

Improve the effectiveness of selection decisions

Fairness

Evaluate individual capabilities against the job requirements.

The use of competencies will enable to make best selection decisions and it can be
summarized using the below diagram developed by Tom Probert (2001).
Job Demands

Poor job
Performance
Ideal
Balance
Bored
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Capability

5.3 Importance of systematic recruitment and selection

process
The recruitment and selection process is essential for ABC Bank & such process
should be designed and carried out in a systematic manner. This indeed will provide
many benefits to ABC Bank.
The below diagram can be used to highlight the importance of adapting systematic
recruitment process.

Internal
Recruitmen
t

Non Systematic
Approach

Systematic
Approach

Encourages Potential employees

to take up future job roles.

Poor employee morale.

Favourism and biased selection
decisions.

Builds morale / Motivation.

Improves the accuracy of good
selection since past performance
can be verified.

Job dissatisfaction and it will

also lead to high attrition levels.

Cost effective.

Risk of losing good employees to

other competitor organizations.

Easily adapts to the organization

and its change.

Negatively impact the

performance of the bank.

Can be used as a development

tool.

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External Recruitment
This process deals with external job market hence been systematic is essential. It will
create a good perception about the bank. From inception the process should be
managed effectively since the first impression will last in long term employment.
There is a tendency if any bad experiences are faced it will be spread around hence
this will be treat for future recruitment needs therefore its evident that the process
should be methodical.
The below diagram can be used to highlight the importance of adapting systematic
Selection Process in an organization.

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Increase
Productivity
Right person
doing the right
job.

Builds a Strong
employer
brand

Effective
Selection
Process

Competitive
advantage
enables to get
the best
employees.

Increase
Validity &
Reliability this
will eliminate
bias

Saves time &

money since it
reduces the cost
of rehire

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Conclusions
& Recommendations
Chapter 6

72

6.1 Conclusions
A systematic recruitment and selection process is essential for ABC bank or any other
organization.
The study revealed that the existing recruitment and selection process adopted by ABC
Bank is ineffective due to many reasons which have already been addressed. Due to this
there are many challenges faced by ABC Bank and to overcome these challenges the
process should be changed.
ABC Bank is a financial sector organization therefore due to severe competition to retain
the market share has become challenging. Hence the method to fight back would be to
focus on the service this is directly linked with employees, from new recruits to existing
employees. Therefore a wrong hiring decision and also due to poor internal recruitment
dissatisfied employees can make or break this market share. Hence this clearly affects the
Banks performance.
The status of the objectives can be summarized as follows,
To study the existing recruitment and selection process.
The ABC Bank recruitment & selection policy document was reviewed and the
discussion with the process owners led to a better understanding of the existing process.
Therefore an in depth knowledge was acquired.
To study the problems and drawbacks of recruitment and selection according
to the perception of employees and employer.
The developed in-depth knowledge about the existing process enabled to understand the
issues and drawbacks of the existing process from both perceptions. Questioners, focus
group discussion enabled to achieve this objective further.

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 To identify effective methods of attracting talent to source external and

internal vacancies.
The secondary data sources were mainly used in this aspect. The recruitment sources
were analyzed by highlighting its positives and negatives hence in a given scenario based
on the recruitment need the ABC Bank can analyze and select the best method to
proceed.
To identify effective methods of selection thereby to gain a better competency
match.
The selection tools were discussed in line with the competencies. Therefore the benefits
of this merge were highlighted. Further the new selection tools that can be used were
discussed along with the positives and the drawbacks hence the effectiveness of each
method can be ascertained.
To emphasis the importance of having a proper recruitment and selection
process.
The secondary data enabled to understand the importance of having systematic
recruitment &selection process in its operating environment.

The benefits of a

systematic approach and also the negatives in the absence of a systematic process have
been highlighted.
To introduce new effective methods of recruitment and selection to ABC
Bank
The in-depth study of the existing process along with the analysis of effective
recruitment and selection processors enabled to identify the loop holes. Therefore taking
both aspects in to consideration new effective methods can be introduced.

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The Hypothesis tested

A systematic recruitment & selection process is essential for ABC Bank to sustain
in the competitive environment.
The recruitment and selection process adopted by ABC Bank is a non systematic
approach and its evident by analyzing the reasons for new recruits to move away from
the bank within the first few months.

The
ABC
Bank is
a
service
sector

organization hence when the new recruits are leaving the organization it a negative
impact on the service level. This might be crucial in retaining competitive advantage.
Therefore the systematic recruitment and selection approach will reduce the attrition
level and thereby the bank can focus on more strategic aspects. This indeed will enable
the bank to gain competitive advantage.

To attract potential candidates & retain employees effective methods of

recruitment & selection tools are essential for ABC Bank.
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The data collection methods revealed that ABC bank adopts traditional ineffective
methods of recruitment and selection. Hence as a result wrong hiring decision are made
since from inception the process has been targeting wrong segments and further the
ineffective selection tools used. Considering the internal recruitment process similar to
the external process there is no effective methods in place. Therefore there is requirement
to introduce effective tools to carry out the task hence the hypothesis targeted at the use
of tools are also established.

The recruitment and selection are interlinked. The success of the entire process will
depend on these elements hence the Bank should give sufficient care to this process since
it deals with the employees who are the livewire of the Bank.

6.2 Recommendations
76

The main objective of this research is to introduce a new effective methods recruitment
and selection to ABC Bank. This can be done through the recommendations.
Internal Recruitment & selection Process
As discussed the main methods of recruit internal would be transfers, promotions. Hence
the following can be introduced to increase effectiveness.
Transfer Process
The transfer process can be more of a flexible approach by giving options such as short
term assignment up to 3 months, a job swap with another colleague for a fixed period, or
to move permanently to a different role.
An in-house built system or quarterly surveys can be used to gather information about
the preferences of staff to move in to other business functions. Therefore this will enable
to develop staff cross functionally which indeed is a competitive advantage. This
approach can be extended to all staff categories. Further to overcome communication
gaps this can be implemented in the intranet where every staff member has access, also
there should be regular notes from HR encouraging staff to apply.
Upon gathering this information HR can then work with the line managers to facilitate
these movements and an interview along with an HR representative can be used to select
the best candidate to perform the job.
Promotion Process - Clerical to Executive category
This process should be carried out twice a year to select a pool of clerical staff who will
be ready to take over executive promotions. The promotion process can be designed as
an assessment center.
To be eligible the HR department will need to do a study considering the overall bank as
to ascertain required qualifications as examples CIMA , CIM etc after gathering this

77

information it should look at the local context it should check if there are other
alternatives for these qualifications such as SLIM for example. Due to high cost of the
foreign exams these alternatives can be done. However the HR department should make
sure that these are up to the required standard further the process should be reviewed to
eliminate and change new qualifications. Hence by including both the local and foreign
exams will indeed give feasibility to the criteria.
The selection process can be done by Assessment Centre which will include the
following:
Numerical/Verbal Tests
Capability Based Interview (CBI)
Presentation on a given topic
Group Discussion
Performance rating of last two years

-30%
-20%
-10%
-10%
-30%

Numerical/Verbal Tests
All employees will have to sit for the Group Standard ability tests in numerical and
verbal reasoning.
Capability Based Interview
Through the capability based interviews, employees will be assessed against the Banks
six capability clusters.
Driving Business vision and Brand
Business Judgment
Leading Performance
Customer Drive
Working with Others
Drive, Commitment and Personal Development
This will be done through a set of questions designed for each capability and the
examples employees provide for questions.
Presentations

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Employees will have to do a presentation on a given topic after the preparation.

Employees will be assessed on the structure and flow of the presentation, conceptual
clarity displayed confidence and the ability to handle the questions raised after the
presentation.
Group Discussions
The employees will be put into teams and each team will be given a case study to
analyze. Each individual will be assessed on the ability to initiate others, ability to
generate ideas, clarify thoughts, the ability to energies others and the compromise he
makes on others views.
Those who obtain 60% and above for this process will qualify for the promotion pool.
Others will have the opportunity to re-apply after a year. All the vacancies will be
advertised internally and the employees in the promotion pool will qualify to apply for
these vacancies.
Promotion Process within the Executive category
Similar to the clerical category concept a pool of talented executives can be developed.
This can be done through using following tools.
Work simulation test
Case studies
Numerical / verbal reasoning test
Further the performance rating should be satisfactory to be eligible also HRIS can be
used to obtain an understanding about the staff members educational, career aspects etc.
Upon scoring 60% and above they will be entering the pool.

External Recruitment & Selection Process

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The following can be introduced the increase effectiveness of external recruitment of

ABC Bank.

Calculating the yield ratios of recruitment

This indicates which recruitment sources are most effective at producing qualified job
candidates. The % of applicants from a particular source that make it to the next stage in
selection process is considered.
Therefore when a recruitment need arises the HR department should consider the above
aspects and then attract talent form suitable sources.

Calculating costs of recruitment

This is a simple calculation which provides valuable information to managers about the
utility of different approaches to and source of recruitment. Further provides informed
decisions about both controlling the cost of recruitment and increasing its effectiveness.
As an example Average source cost (SC) per hire (H) can be calculated as follows.
SC = AC + AF + RB + NC
H

Where total monthly expenditure of

AC = advertising cost
AF = agency fees
RB = referral bonus paid
NC = no cost hires walk-ins, postal
H = total hire

Training organizational recruiters

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The recruitment team should be trained and should possess a good understanding about
the characteristics required for the job and also be competent, dynamic and enthusiastic.

Conducting realistic job previews

This approach informs all applicants about all aspects of the job. This indeed will result
in the following;
1. Improved employee job satisfaction
2. Reduce voluntary attrition
3.

Enhanced communication through honesty and openness

4. Realistic job expectations

Effective talent attraction sources
The ABC Bank should focus on moving out from traditional sources hence online
recruitment for example can be adopted. As mentioned before it has its own external
website therefore this can be used as a main source, Also currently there are many
websites that provides assistance for recruitment in affordable corporate packages as an
example Topjobs website can be used to advertise vacancies and also it provides
mechanisms that can be customized for short listing purposes. Moving in to these sources
will reduce the administrative work. Also promoting employee referral scheme would
indeed be an effective source.
The use of social networks such as LinkedIn is a latest source to attract competent
candidates.
Recruitment & selection of contract staff
The recruitment for these categories of staff are done frequently. The HR department can
analyze as the main sources and attract accordingly. These staff category can be absorbed
to clerical category hence taking this aspect to consideration the selection decisions

81

should be made. As an example the forced choice questioner can be used this will
provide an understanding about the candidate competencies this can be useful for
targeting future job opportunities. Hence its vital that recruitment focusing on quality
rather than mere numbers.
Recruitment & selection of clerical staff
As mentioned above upon selecting effective sources the candidates should be then
screening effectively prior to making the job offer. In addition to interviews other
selection tools such as psychometrics test can be used.
Also the screening process should be linked to the job role as example work sample
method for an administrative related jobs and simulations for sales related jobs.
Recruitment & selection of executive staff
Mainly for this category head-hunting would be an ideal option and the HR department
should work with the business line and get the exact requirements of the job and then
share same with these agencies to source competent candidates.
The selection process should use at least 2 3 tools in identifying the correct candidate.
Tools such as competency based interviews, case study approach and numerical / verbal
reasoning test can be used.

The recruitment and selection process of ABC bank can be effective by aligning to the
new methods discussed.

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Further the steps for right recruitment can be summarized as follows. These seven steps
can be set as a framework for ABC Bank.
1. Understanding the Requirement
There should be clear holistic view of the job specially the job description and job
specification further understanding other surrounding factors will enable to understand
further.
Example: Why the vacancy is there? Is it a new vacancy or a replacement? If it is a
replacement, what are reasons the previous employee on that position left the job or
shifted or promoted?
2. Analyzing the position and team situation
After understanding the requirement, the team set up can be taken in to consideration,
this might be critical for executive level employees.
3. Sourcing the right person
The output of the above two steps can be then considered when looking for the right
person.
4. Gathering basic information
Upon attracting the applications the next step would be to obtain basic information.
Depending on the vacancy the information should be evaluated to check on the basic fit
for a job role.
As an example if its a night shift the gender preference will be an important therefore
gathering such information from the inception would be a value addition to the entire
process.

83

5. Interviewing
The interviews should be structured in a manner to collect and understand the candidates
following aspects.

Body Language
Facial expressions
Speech
Attitude
Habits

6. Presenting profiles to management

The HR upon short-listing candidates should present same to the line managers along
with a selection. Therefore prior to shearing profiles HR should make sure that the
candidates fulfill the basic requirements of the job role.
7. Recruiter as a sales person
Recruiters role can be similar to a sales person. Since the process involves selling jobs
to a right candidate and again selling the right candidate to the management.

The continuous development of the process can be sustained by adopting the balance
score card approach. As explained in the below diagram.

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HR Hire Balance Score Card

Source: http://www.strategy2act.com/images/balanced-scorecard-sample.gif

REFERENCES

85

Books
Wayne F Cascio (1989), Human Resources Planning Employment & Placement.
Gerard V Mc Mahon (2006), Recruitment & Selection How to get it right.
Steve Kneeland (2005), the things that really matter about hiring people.
Lori Davila & Louise Kursmark (2005), How to choose the right person for the
right job every time.
Iain Maitland (2005), Manpower planning & recruiting.
Lilly M Berry (2003), Employee Selection.
Alam S Horowitz (2000), the unofficial guide to Hiring & firing people.
Chris Duke (2005), Interviewing & Recruiting.
Penny Hackett (2003), The selection Interview
David Hayes & Jack Ninemeier (2004), 50 one minute tips for recruiting
employees.
Stephen Taylor (2003) , People resourcing
Jane Newell Brown & Ann Swain (2009), The Professional recruiters handbook
Delivering excellence in recruitment practice.
Gary Dessler (2008), Human resource management
David A Decenzo & Stephen Robbins (2005) , Personnel Human resource
management
Michael Nieto (2006), An introduction to Human resource management and
integrated approach
Michael Armstrong (2008), a handbook of Human resource management practice.
Robert Eden Borough (2005) , Assessment methods in recruitment selection and
performance
Whiddett & Hollyforde (2003), Practical guide to competencies how to enhance
individual and organizational performance.

Websites
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http://humanresources.about.com
http://www.slideshare.net
http://www.younghrmanager.com
http://www.hsbc.lk
http://www.cipd.co.uk/default.cipd
http://www.ehow.com
http://www.businessdictionary.com

APPENDIXES
87

Questioner on Recruitment and Selection of ABC Bank

Purpose
This questioner is developed for an academic research. It's based on the ABC Bank
recruitment and selection process.
**Please note that your responses will be treated with strict confidentiality.
Name
Department
Grade
Experience Level
(0 6 months / 6 12 months / 12-24 months / 24 months & above)
SA - Strongly Agree, A - Agree, TA - Tends to Agree, D - Disagree,
Disagree

SD - Strongly

Recruitment
Do you think that the recruitment process is effective?
(Methods of attracting candidates ex: Postal , Referrals etc)
Reason/s for the selected option

TA D

Are you informed about the current job vacancies?

Reason/s for the selected option
Selection
Does the details provided at the interview match with the
actual job you were selected?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that your skills, knowledge and attitudes are
matched to the current job you perform?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you have a job description which describes your role and
responsibilities?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that the selection process if fair?
Reason/s for the selected option
88

SA A

SD

Do you think that the internal recruitment (Promotions /

Transfer) selection process is fair?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that staff are been developed to take future
job roles?
Reason/s for the selected option
Recruitment & Selection
Do you think that the promotion eligibility criterion is
fair?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that HR recruits quality staff?
Reason/s for the selected option
Have you / the department has faced recruitment delays?
Reason/s for the selected option
Are you looking for other external job opportunities?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that the HR staff are competent in handling
the recruitment & selection process
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that the new recruits have the basic skills,
knowledge and correct attitude to perform the job?
Reason/s for the selected option
Do you think that the recruitment & selection process
adopted by ABC Bank is effective?
Reason/s for the selected option

Positive aspects of Recruitment & selection of ABC Bank

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External Process

Internal Process

Selection Process

Suggestions for Recruitment & Selection for ABC Bank

External Process

Internal Process

Selection Process

Any other comments

Thank you!

Target Questions used at Interviews (ex: HR personnel's)

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1. What are the challenges faced when attracting talent (recruitment delays)
2

How does the HR department prepare for the recruitment and selection process

Does the HR staff / Line managers are educated about the process? If 'yes' how its
been carried out

How often does the organization recruit people (explained etc)

How is the recruitment and selection process reviewed and how often does it been
done?

What is the involvement of the business line in relation to recruitment & selection
process? As an example is there a process to evaluate the job profiles with the
changes required?

What the career progression methods for the existing employees?

How does the staff turnover reflects the recruitment process

91