Resourcing Talent

Resourcing Talent Report Adrienne Westerdale Attracting and retaining a diverse workforce is very important; there are many organisational benefits for doing so. People of different ages, genders and cultures will bring new skills and ideas to the organisation. A diverse workforce can help to inform companies of new or enhanced products and services as well as open up new market opportunities. It can improve market share and broaden an organisations customer base. CIPD defines managing diversity as â€Å"valuing everyone as an individual- valuing people as employees, customers and clients†.Location is a factor that can affect an organisations approach to attracting talent; there are lots of people that will look for work close to their homes to avoid commuting or even relocating. This could become a problem for organisations especially if recruiting for a specialised position such as engineers; it could be that they have advertised the vacancy locally and haven’t had a suitable applicant so will need to look further afield. It may take a little longer to fill the position which could increase the work load for other employees.Again this would have an effect on the organisation as it could lead to employees taking time off due to stress. Salaries would be another factor that can affect the approach to attracting talent. By offering a high salary you are more likely to receive more applicants for the position, however, the company can only offer a specific salary for a specific role. The organisations reputation has a massive affect, maintaining good relationships with employees will help create a good reputation. Offering your staff good benefits and salaries as well as treating them fairly with respect will encourage them to speak highly of the company.Good news travels fast which will attract potential employees to the organisation, however, if you don’t look after your employees you will find it hard to gain their respect which could resu lt in loosing staff. The recruitment methods a company use can determine who they attract when recruiting. There are many things to consider when deciding which methods to use; we must look at the costs of different methods. Advertising can be very expensive, magazines especially. For a black and white quarter page advert a company can look to pay as much as ? ,100 and up to ? 7,650 for half a page. This can also affect an organisations approach to recruitment and selection; as advertising is very costly most companies will be limited to where they can advertise a vacancy which may not attract the appropriate candidate. Recruitment Methods Email: Recruiting through email can be an effective way to recruit internally as everyone within the organisation has access to it; however, there are chances that some employees may not pick their emails up in time to apply for the position.It could also cause conflict if only certain people are sent the email encouraging them to apply for the va cancy and others within the company aren’t. Notice boards are also used to advertise vacancies internally; there are advantages to these as everyone can see them. Most people will take a look if something new is put up; the advert will have to be bright and bold to attract attention. Notice boards don’t always attract the appropriate candidate and employers can find that most of their applicants are unsuitable for the position.A successful way of recruiting internally would be through talent planning/management; this way the employee has the chance to learn all aspects of the business at different levels while progressing. Methods of external recruitment can be through recruitment agencies; a variety of different external agencies can be employed to undertake some part of the recruitment process on behalf of employers. The good thing about using agencies is that they do all the work for you.They will advertise the vacancy as well carry out a short interview with any ca ndidates to identify if they are suitable to apply. The only downside to using this method is the cost; some private agencies will charge a fee. Some companies may also use the job centre as a method of recruitment; however, some employers are reluctant to use them despite the fact that unlike recruitment agencies they offer free advertising. This is partly because the clientele is mainly comprised of unemployed people, who are perceived to be unskilled or low skilled and therefore inappropriate for many jobs.The recruitment function of an organisation is affected and governed by a mix of various internal and external forces. The internal are the factors that can be controlled by the organisation, whereas the external factors cannot. Examples of internal factors would be: * Recruitment policy * Size of the firm * Cost of recruitment * Growth and expansion Examples of external would be: * Supply and demand * Labour market * Unemployment rate * CompetitorsOther factors that will affec t an organisations approach to recruitment and selection can be the effectiveness of the interview; most interviews will be made up of a panel of interviewers from specific departments of the organisation, it is important to ensure that all panel members are trained in interview techniques. You should make sure you carry out thorough preparation and know the candidate’s background while asking competency based questions linked to the person specification. Allowing sufficient time for the interview is very important and always gives the candidate chance to ask any questions.References can affect the approach to recruitment and selection; Stephen Taylor says â€Å"Like interviews and application forms, it is very widely used but has been found to be of limited value by researchers. As a predictor of job performance it has low validity and has often been found to contain more information about its author than about its subject† (Resourcing and Talent Management, Stephen T aylor. P242) a great deal of time and effort is put in by some employers to chase up references to find that they have little practical value.It is very rare that negative or semi-negative references are made; however, most employers now have a policy of only providing factual information and make no comment about an individual’s suitability at all. The law have made it difficult for employers writing references to know for certain that what they will write will be confidential as unsuccessful candidates now have the right to ask for a copy of their references. Inductions The purpose of an induction is to ensure the effective integration of a new employee into the work place.As well as the usual orientation, a new starter needs to understand the business, where their role sits within the set up and what’s expected of them, as well as being quite clear regarding their terms and conditions of employment. A good induction programme should leave no room for confusion or la ck of understanding and should, therefore, induce a feeling of â€Å"belonging†. The employee should then integrate well into the team, have high morale, achieve optimum productivity and therefore be able to work to full potential. In other words- job satisfaction.For the employee it means that all bases are covered and their trained and introduced properly. It also means that all employees receive the same, consistent experience when joining. It ensures that they aware of the company policies and procedures as well as the company ways of working and vision. â€Å"The main reason is that new employees who have undergone an effective induction programme are likely to be competent performers at their jobs more quickly than those whose induction was scanty or non- existent. † (Malcolm Martin and Patricia Jackson, 4th Edition.P110) â€Å"Also, the former group are less likely to leave the organisation at an early stage than the latter group (this phenomenon is commonly kn own as the ‘induction crisis’ and signifies a dissatisfaction with the job or the organisation or both). (Malcolm Martin and Patricia Jackson, 4th Edition. P110) There are certain subjects that should be covered during the induction; employees need to be informed of the organisations products, services, markets and values, terms and conditions of employment for example; pay, hours of work, holidays and sick pay and pension schemes.During the induction employees will be made aware of the physical layout of the organisation along with their rules and procedures, they will also be told of the background and structure. These subjects will put across using different training methods. On the job training will include: * Demonstration/ Instruction- This is showing the trainee how to do the job. * Coaching- This is a more intense method of training that involves a close working relationship between an experienced employee and trainee. Job rotations- This is where the trainee is given several jobs in succession, to gain experience of a wide range of activities (eg. A graduate management trainee might spend periods in several different departments). * Projects- Employees join a project team- This gives them exposure to other parts of the business and allows them to take part in new activities. Advantages of on the job training are that it’s most cost effective as there are no external training courses to pay for and employees don’t need to be given a day release to attend them.It also means new employees are training alongside real colleagues so get an actual feel for how their working day will run. There are disadvantages however to on the job training; employees may pick up bad habits from those who have been with the company for a long time there is also the potential for disruption to production. The learning environment might not be conductive when carrying out on the job training. Off the job training will include: * Distant learning * D ay release * Self-study * Block release course- This may involve several weeks at college.Advantages of off the job training are that a wider range of skills and qualifications can be obtained, employees can learn from outside specialists and experts. It could also mean that employees can be more confident when starting the job. Disadvantages are that it is more experience; companies may need to pay for not only the training course but also for transport and accommodation depending on the location. It could mean lost working time and potential output; once they start the job they may need some further induction training. A big disadvantage to external training courses is the timescales in which they are done.You may book an employee onto a course but will have to wait a couple of weeks for them to attend; this will prevent them from their starting their role. People who will take part in an induction would usually be managers, HR professionals and any trainers depending on the posit ion. Inductions don’t need to be a very formal process but it needs to be properly managed. ACAS run practical training courses to equip managers and HR professionals with the necessary skills to deal with employment relation issues and to create a more productive work place environments.