Importance of Recruitment and Selection of Sales People free essay sample

This infers that there can be ‘wrong’ persons; individuals who are more of a liability rather than ‘right’ persons who are assets (Fombrun and Devanna 2008). This occurs because there are differences between individuals, which influence how they perform particular jobs. Employing capable people is of vital importance and this relies on effective recruitment and selection procedures, which aims to select the ‘right’ person and reject the ‘wrong’ ones (Bridges 1994). Recruitment and selection involves making predictions about future behaviour so that decisions can be made about who will be most suitable for the job. It is a process by which the organisation will try to accurately fit the individual to the job. The internet nowadays is playing an important role in recruitment as it advertises jobs and serves as a place to locate job applicants. Better recruitment and selection strategies result in improved organizational outcomes. The more effectively organizations recruit and select candidates, the more likely they are to hire and retain satisfied employees (Anderson 2005). The purpose of this essay is to discuss the importance of recruitment and selection of sales people and finding the problems associated with selecting the wrong person for the job. Recruitment is a process of attracting individuals who might meet the specification of the job. The first stage of the recruitment process involves a systematic review of the organisations requirements (Fombrun and Devanna 2008). This is often simulated when a person leaves or is asked to leave his/her job. The organisations response is to try and find a replacement for this individual which will have simular requirements to the individual who left. However, a more systematic approach will involve reallocating responsibilities to empower other individuals. This will further expand the skills and knowledge of the individuals which will enable them to be a driving factor for the success of an organisation. There are also circumstances of where recruitment is necessary even when no one has left the organisation, for example ‘organisational expansion’. It is better for organisations to proactively decide when to recruit, rather than reacting to a departure of an employee (Algera and Greuter 1993). Following this review, a thorough analysis of the job requirements should be established, this is inferred to as job analysis phase (Arvey and Faley 2005). This is necessary because even in those situations where an individual is simply replaced, there may still be changes in job requirements, especially if the individual being replaced has been with the organisation for some time (Algera and Greuter 1993). There are a number of techniques that can be used for undertaking job analysis; this usually involves interviews and questionnaires. Using interviews, job holders may be asked to describe the main roles and responsibilities of tasks, this provides an indication of the most important aspects of the job and provides an insight into how good and poor job-holders are differentiated. Using questionnaires has been used to develop and collect data about specific jobs. The most well-established is the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) developed in the USA by McCormick et al. (1979). Once the Job Analysis has be collected an organisation, the next stage is to develop a job description and person specification. This describes what the job involves, the purpose of the job, the tasks that have to be undertaken with an outline of the expected performance standards, and the duties responsibilities of the job. It identifies the particular demands of the job and emphasises those aspects which are crucial for success in an organisation (Levine et al. 2009). Selection is the process of measuring differences between these candidates to find the person who has the best profile to match the specification of the job (Fombrun and Devanna 2008). Once you have recruited the individuals you need to select the right persons you believe are equipped for the specific tasks at hand. This is of fundamental importance and it is a crucial part to the success of an organisation. The selection of an individual with the right combination of education, work experience, attitude and creativity will not only increase the stability and quality of the workforce, it will also play a large role in bringing management strategies and planning to execution (Anderson 2005). Selecting and recruiting qualified employment candidates is an important part of growing your business. â€Å"Employee recruitment needs to be run like a business marketing campaign in that you need to identify your target audience and then find the geographic location of that audience to efficiently deliver your message†. A company should develop effective recruitment and selection practices to assemble the best staff (Anderson 2005). Poor selection processes either choosing the wrong person for your work place culture, someone who doesnt have the right skills or capability or isnt engaged with your business can be very costly. Thus hiring the right person for the job may be the most critical management decision an organisation will make (Function 2: Recruitment and selection of employees). A common mistake organizations make in selecting is not having a clear picture of what they’re looking for before beginning the process. In particular, the behaviours and psychological characteristics that makes for success in a particular job within a particular organization (Function 2: Recruitment and selection of employees). When selecting people for jobs, ask the kinds of questions that will enable you see if they fit the environment and the culture. For example, you wouldn’t want to hire an individualist type of person â€Å"I’ll do it on my own† where the culture is co-operative and team-based. You wouldn’t want to hire a person who operated best in a quiet and slow paced environment if your office resembles a newsroom or the trading floor of the Australian Stock Exchange. Similarly, a person who needs regular guidance and hand-holding won’t do well under a manager who operates with a â€Å"figure it out for yourself† philosophy. These are some of the problems you need to take into consideration when selecting the person for the job (Chanda 2010). Taking everything into account wrong decisions may alter future outcomes, a wrong decision now, can lead to long-term effects to the business financially. selecting the wrong employee is expensive, costly to your work environment, and time consuming. Whereas, selecting the right employee pays you back in employee productivity, a successful employment relationship, and a positive impact on your total work environment. Hence it can be a challenging process for sales managers to select the right sales persons for the specific job at hand (Chanda 2010). In conclusion, today’s tight labour market is making it more difficult for organizations to find, recruit, and select the right person. The competition for talent is intensifying, as there are fewer qualified applicants available. This makes it all the more important for organizations to be able to effectively attract, select, and retain quality individuals as it is a crucial factor to the success of the organisation. Employing capable people is of vital importance to the organisation as it relies on effective recruitment and selection procedures, which aim to select the ‘right’ person and reject the ‘wrong’ person. However, selecting the wrong person could lead to a burden of future benefits within the organisation. Finally, better recruitment and selection strategies result in improved organizational outcomes.