Evolution of Human Resource Management
This paper will be discussion on using video while recruiting new employees in the company and the implications of the human resource specialists who take up these measures (Joshi et al. 2020). In simplest word, human resource management means managing people of an organisation so that the business can reach up to its full potential. In order words, the human resource management enhances the performances of the existing employees as well as the employees who will join the organisations in the near future. The human resource management have developed throughout the years. Industrial revolution, trade unions, scientific management, behavioural science and human relations have helped in shaping this brand management to its evolute form. This paper will be focusing on the recruitment procedure and specific recruiting using videos; and along with it, opportunities and challenges will also be analysed.
In this era of digitalisation, companies are focusing more on recruiting new candidates through using virtual means (Pandita 2019). While recruiting new employees the human resource managers usually concentrate more on attracting talent and selecting on its basis. This means that the candidates who has the most potential must be approached and their selection criteria must be aligned with the need of the employer. This in result will help the company grow as well as the employees will be able to utilise and enhance their skills.
According to Proost, Germeys and Vsnderstukken (2021), interviewing candidates using video technologies are currently heavily accepted by human resource managers all over the world. As the world is moving forward, video technologies are also developing further. As a result, their adaptability is also increasing. This is helping the recruiters of different companies to use the said technologies while hiring new candidates. This change in the recruitment process took place mainly after the viral outbreak of covid-19 pandemic. Since, 2020, governments all over the world had put a stop on social gathering and physical distances have been maintained (Khanna et al. 2020). In situations like this it is practically impossible for an in-person interview to take place. Now, as companies around the are operating and developing, their need for hiring new candidates are also rising. In a situation like this, the human resource managers could not sit idle just because face to face interview was not feasible. Henceforth, they started to adopt virtual interviewing process.
Now then, according to the human resource planning, upcoming HR requirements depends on the current HR capacity (George 2017). In other words, the human resource department of each firm draws up the plans and objectives of the organisation for future prospects. Then an inventory gets prepared and upcoming demand-supply scenario of the organisation gets analysing. Depending on this the existing workforce gets assessed and if there is a need, new candidates are recruited. The online mode of recruitment has debunked the misconceptions of virtualising the interview process and evidences are proofs that it has been successful so far for the most part. For example, the companies post about the job openings on virtual sites and social platforms and from there the candidates apply for the job openings. Then, after the potential candidates get shortlisted the final round of interview and selection gets done.
Virtual Recruitment in the Digital Age
While discussing video technology in recruitment and selection, the entire phenomenon can be sub divided into two parts. The first one the candidate or individual’s perspective and the second one is the recruiters’ perspective. From the candidates’ perspective, the use of video in recruitment process has enabled them to attend any interview from even remote location. In that way, if they get selected then only then they have to move in to the location of the organisation. Thus, it is lesser hassle for them. Moreover, academic researchers have shown that using the virtual method for the interviewing process creates a positive experience for the candidates (Bombaro, Howard and Kozlowska 2016). The main reason behind this is that while the interview happens in-person the candidate gets to only discuss work related matter with his potential employer. On the other hand, virtual interview enables him to get an insight on the technological advancements the company has the capability to adopt in order to become better than its competitors. If a candidate gets short listed in two companies and if for one, he can give the interview through videoconference and for the other one he had to physically travel by disrupting his schedule, naturally, he will choose the former one.
Next comes the organisation, managers and human resource departments’ perspective. In a study it was seen that nearly 63% of corporate organisations use videos as their recruitment and selection procedures (Black and van Esch 2020). As mentioned before, virtual means enable the companies to reach out to their shortlisted candidates irrespective of their location and time zones. In other words, this expands their domain of operation and their selection option gets expanded than the other organisations who only rely on face-to-face interviews. Next, using video as the mean of recruitment process reduces the cost of selection process by a healthy amount, because it saves a lot of time for the recruitment executives and in part of the administration internal call or travel costs also get reduced. Furthermore, using video conferences for the recruitment process enhances and speeds up the candidate screening procedure. Lastly, the competitive streaks get maintained between the companies as videos are the latest technology in case of recruitment and selection.
As the scientific management theory states, if the management of the organisations adopt scientific measures, then the hard work turns to smart work and the productivity of the organisation as whole increases (Braverman 2020). In order to achieve maximum workplace efficiency, Frederick Taylor suggested that the completion of tasks depended on how the team leaders can simplify the tasks assigned to their subordinates; and the use of videos are the proof that the recruitment process can be simplified and productivity can rise.
From this above discussion, the opportunities of using video in recruitment process can be summed up (Buchenscheit, Moser and Muller n.d). In case of the employers the scope expands as the geographical barriers close down; time and cost both are spent in a lower proportion; advertising the job openings enables for the companies to get more exposure in the virtual platforms; lastly, according to the filters available on the virtual portals the employers and recruiters can sort the candidate list as per their preference. In case of the candidates the opportunities are namely feasibility of job application, specified search of the desired job roles, wider opportunities, lesser hassle due to non-travel scenarios, prompt responsiveness and enhanced experience.
However, the video usage in recruitment possesses some challenges along with benefits (Patel et al. 2020). Firstly, on the recruiters’ part, the geographical cost although reduces, the accessibility cost rises as video conferencing interview requires higher end technological advancements; then, sometimes it has been seen that the candidates are acting casually because the interview is not in-person; lastly, there are usually several profiles on the job posting platforms and the recruiters have to put up with the hassle to select the genuine profile from there. On the candidates’ part, the main challenge is not adequate internet connection which makes the interview troublesome and the recruiters might lose their patience. Then there is the scenario where there is privacy issue while accessing the job posting portals and the non-responsiveness of the company.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that, in present times the human resource managers are adopting technological advancements and conducting interviewing online. If the candidates get selected, then only they are getting physically present in the job site. This in result helping both the company and the candidates to avail a well-constructed mechanism of recruitment and selection. However, along with opportunities there are certain threats which are becoming troublesome. The future prospects must therefore focus on eliminating the obstacles to create a sustainable environment of the entire interview, selection and recruitment processes.
References
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