Unique challenges faced by smaller organizations during recruitment and selection process

The significance of small-scale businesses cannot be stressed enough. They improve the efficiency of domestic markets and facilitate long term economic growth by the effective use of resources (Ofori and Aryeetey, 2011). When we talk about aviation, what usually comes to our minds are the biggest airlines in the world, such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Qantas. However, there are other smaller airlines that are making a profit as well. Cinnamon Air, for example, is a domestic airline in Sri Lanka that has found its own market niche in the country and been successful for the last 10 years.

Although many of the common issues faced in the recruitment and selection process apply to any HR division of a company, smaller firms often have to deal with some unique issues of their own (Breaugh. J, 2009). One of those issues is that they are less visible to job seekers than larger companies (Breaugh. J, 2009).  For example, Cinnamon Air which operates on domestic routes within Sri Lanka is often faced with a similar issue since Sri Lankan Airlines, the international airline, also recruits frequently. When applying for a job in an airline, be it cabin crew, engineering or even piloting, job seekers tend to naturally be attracted to the larger airline in the hopes of achieving a higher salary and greater privileges with better packages. Therefore, smaller firms must have a strategy to overcome this issue and be able to attract the most qualified candidates, especially when competing with larger firms in the same market. One such potential strategy is the use of a greater variety of recruitment methods, such as campus recruitment (Kanu, 2015). In Sri Lanka, there are great number of institutions that provide courses in aviation-related fields, from engineering to cabin crew training to pilot training. Cinnamon Air can maintain a close relationship with these institutions and notify them of any job vacancies and in turn, be notified back with potential job-seeking students. In such a way, such companies are able to recruit suitable candidates for the job.

Another issue faced by smaller firms is the common misconception around job seekers that smaller firms are less attractive places to work that larger firms (Kanu, 2015). Job seekers tend to believe that a larger firm offers a well-maintained office cubicle with state-of-the-art technologies to handle with. In aviation as well, potential aircraft engineers believe that since Sri Lankan Airlines maintains larger aircrafts, they will naturally have larger hangars with sophisticated equipment for maintenance, which is usually the case. However, smaller firms can take the initiative of communicating the unique attributes of working for them. For example, since there are lesser number of staff, there tends to be a closer relationship among work colleagues and a more family-oriented atmosphere, when compared to larger firms, where social contact is kept to a minimum and a more bureaucratic style leadership is maintained (Carroll et al., 2019). In addition, the job that you perform has a greater impact and more pronounced result, since a smaller number of people are involved in a particular job or project. As a result, there is a greater sense of job satisfaction when compared to working for larger companies. Smaller firms also offer more non-monetary rewards, such as more flexible working hours and more generous time-off policies (Kanu, 2015).

Another common challenge is the lesser number of job applicants and less job offers for a particular opening than for larger firms, due to less awareness among job seekers (Carroll et al., 2019). However, being a small firm, companies can take advantage of the situation by making the process of applying for a job easier. One of the methods is to develop a personal relationship with each job seeker and giving them the option of emailing the job application directly. Also, creating a more user-friendly company website that accepts resumes online also boosts the number of vacancies for a job opening (Kanu, 2015). Simple gestures like these often go a long way in attracting a large number of candidates.  These methods cannot be easily adapted by larger companies since the HR department is much more sophisticated (Breaugh, 2009).

Putting theory into practice- applying Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in recruitment and selection

The end result of an effective recruitment and selection process in any company must be to have attracted and hired the most suitable candidate for the job. People tend to leave their job and seek a new one for various reasons (Kaur, 2013). Why do job seekers reject some job offers and accept others? It all comes down to an individual’s needs. Some may be looking for better pay or better working conditions. Others, on the other hand, might have more realized dreams and needs, which take the form of rising up in their career (Kaur, 2013).  

        

                                    Figure 01- Maslow’s hierarchy of candidate needs for job ads

Source - (Kelly, 2018)

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943, is a theory in psychology which demonstrates various human needs. Often portrayed as a pyramid, it shows the most fundamental needs at the bottom where the need fulfilment starts and gradually rising to the apex (Benson and Dundis, 2003). The theory suggests that an individual’s basic needs need to be met before they become motivated to achieve higher level needs (Jerome, 2013). Therefore, the HR department of a company must realise the various life goals and needs of candidates and tailor the recruitment process in order to fulfil the needs of candidates.

Starting from the base is the psychological needs of a job seeker, which are considered as the universal human needs, which must be fulfilled first (Benson and Dundis, 2003). When a candidate is job hunting, this directly corresponds to the pay rate- the nature of the job must match the salary offered. This is the first step in attracting the right candidates for the vacancy. Therefore, companies must provide attractive salary offers for the vacancy advertised. In addition, the company must consider external factors such as cost of living within the company’s location. Sri Lankan Airlines, for example, has a reputation of offering attractive salary offers for job vacancies, and is, therefore, able to attract even the most passive candidates to apply for a vacancy.

Once a candidate is satisfied with his basic need, the safety needs take precedence and dominate behaviour (Jerome, 2013). Therefore, during the recruitment process, the company must emphasize the value of investment of a potential employee in the company. This corresponds to having a permanent job after a one-year contract, offering medical insurance and providing company transport being among some of the attractive offers that can be mentioned. Staff at Sri Lankan Airlines are all being provided with company transport with no added cost. In addition, staff are able to claim medical bills for hospitalization needs. These fulfil one’s safety needs.

After both the psychological and safety needs are met, the third human need comes into the picture- social needs, which is the sense of acceptance and belonging among social groups. Company culture- the values and beliefs that bind diverse people together-plays a large part in fulfilling a candidate’s social needs (Abulof, 2017). One good example of promoting the company culture is to invite prospective candidates for a social gathering at the workplace, and give them the opportunity of mingling with current employees. Sri Lankan Airlines takes a different approach of fulfilling current and future employees’ social needs by highlighting their vision and mission on the front page of their website as well as on billboards throughout the office premises. This strategy emphasizes the importance of teamwork as well each individual’s role in achieving company goals.

Once a candidate has the confidence that his basic needs, security and social needs are met, he begins to look for self-esteem needs- the additional validation by others around (Jerome, 2013). McDonald’s for example, uses a ‘wall of fame’ approach for their most valuable employee of the month, in recognition of his dedication and hard work. Moreover, during the recruitment process, companies can emphasize the opportunities for personal development in the way of training offered. Therefore, it is crucial that the company makes the candidate feel special during the recruitment process even before the job offer.

Self-actualization needs are at the top of the hierarchy of needs, realized when all other needs are met (Jerome, 2013). It represents an individual’s realization of achieving his full potential. During the recruitment process, companies can emphasize the ways a potential candidate can make a noticeable difference once he has joined the company, both internally and externally. To achieve this, companies must extract the hidden talents of candidates and look for talents that can be beneficial for the company in the long run (Benson and Dundis, 2003).

Companies must realise that in order to attract and retain current and future employees, the basic needs of every individual needs to be fulfilled before moving to safety and social needs (Benson and Dundis, 2003). If a candidate is not offered a decent salary, it wouldn’t matter if he is given medical claim coverage or the opportunity to exercise creativity. By working the way up of a prospective candidate’s needs, the company can be sure of employing the most suitable person for the job.

  

Conclusion

An unbiased and fair recruitment and selection process will not only reduce employee turnover for the company but would also improve productivity and in the long run bring profits to the organisation (Argue, 2015). Based on the factors affecting recruitment, it is of utmost importance that the HR department of a company decide on the most suitable source of recruitment. Companies investing their time and money on a comprehensive recruitment and selection process will have a competitive advantage when it comes to hiring the most suitable candidates for a job. By selecting and hiring the most professionally suitable candidate for the job, the company can have a sustainable competitive advantage (Argue, 2015).

List of references

• Abulof, U. (2017). Introduction: Why We Need Maslow in the Twenty-First Century. [online] 54(6), pp.508–509. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-017-0198-6 

• Argue, M. (2015). The Importance of the Strategic Recruitment and Selection Process on Meeting an Organisations Objectives. Master of Business Administration General Management. [online] Available at: https://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/2873/mba_argue_m_2015.pdf?sequence=1 

• Benson, S. and Dundis, S. (2003). Understanding and motivating health care employees: integrating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, training and technology. Journal of Nursing Management, [online] 11, pp.315–320. Available at: https://www.qub.ac.uk/elearning/media/Media,264500,en.pdf [Accessed 2 Oct. 2019].

• Breaugh, J. (2009). Recruiting and Attracting Talent. SHRM Foundation , [online] Available at : https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/Documents/Recruiting-Attracting-Talent.pdf

• Carroll, M., Marchington, M., Earnshaw, J. and Taylor, S. (2019). Recruitment in Small Firms: Processes, Methods and Problems. Employee Relations. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241844183_Recruitment_in_Small_Firms_Processes_Methods_and_Problems 

• Jerome, N. (2013). Application of the Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory; impacts and implications on organizational culture, human resource and employee’s performance. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, [online] 2(3), pp.39-45. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b0bc/c8ca45193eaf700350a8ac2ddfc09a093be8.pdf 

• Kanu, A. (2015). How Do Recruitment and Selection Practices Impact Small and Medium Enterprises Performance in the Construction Industry in Sierra Leone? Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, [online] 6(5). Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ccc9/803dc68adc41b0179a956d238d26f639de95.pdf 

• Kaur, A. (2013). Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Applications and Criticisms. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, [online] 3(10), pp.1061-1064. Available at: https://www.ripublication.com/gjmbs_spl/gjmbsv3n10_03.pdf 

• Kelly, R. (2018). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Candidate Needs (for Job Ads). [image] Available at: https://blog.ongig.com/job-ads/maslows-hierarchy-of-candidate-needs-for-job-ads 

• Ofori, D. and Aryeetey, M. (2011). Recruitment and Selection Practices in Small and Medium Enterprises: Perspectives from Ghana. International Journal of Business Administration, [online] 2(3). Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.916.5777&rep=rep1&type=pdf