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IA successful employment staffing program involves hiring the right people with minimal lead time. For the best results, get everyone in your organization involved in hiring. Make it a high priority for all. The most popular methods to recruit employees are listed below:
Internal Job Postings often yield the best candidates to fill the open position. Filling positions with internal candidates encourages career growth, professional development and cross training of employees. It's a big morale boost if your employees perceive that they have growth potential within the company. They will be less likely to leave the company. Post job openings on a share folder, a server, or the old fashioned way, a bulletin board (the kind that hangs on the wall). A few positions you won't want to post...those in which you have a specific candidate in mind, typically Senior Management positions. Avoid doing this too often or your employees will loose confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the internal transfer system and they will perceive favoritism, a big demotivator.
Employee Referrals are the best source of external candidates. There's a strong motivation for employees to refer good candidates lest they feel responsible for referring someone who turns out to be a poor performer. Also, employees tend to know others in the same field, either through professional associations, or by having worked with them at previous companies. To encourage referrals, a large majority of companies pay bonuses to employees who refer candidates who are eventually hired. Referral bonuses typically range from $100 to $1500, with the higher bonuses being paid for employees hired into positions that are difficult to fill. With a $3500 to $4500 average cost per hire, this is a bargain.
Employee referral programs work best when employees are enthusiastic about their work and their employer.
Newspaper advertisements (as the classified section of the San Jose Mercury News on Sunday or Monday attests) are overwhelmingly popular. Newspaper advertising typically generates a large applicant flow, although the quality of applicants is not always the best (nonetheless, it only takes one good applicant to fill a position).
College Campuses are another very popular recruitment source. New college hires are generally enthusiastic and eager to learn. They are typically more accepting of idiosyncrasies in organizations than experienced hires. Colleges, universities, and technical schools are generally eager to schedule businesses to come on campus for interviews. (See also the section on Recruiting College Students.)
Contract Recruiters are becoming much more prevalent. In recent years, there has been a dramatic trend in downsizing support organizations and relying on external sources (outsourcing) to provide support services. This is especially true of recruiters. Today only about half of high tech firms (more for larger organizations, less for smaller organizations) retain a full-time recruiting staff. The void is filled by Human Resources Generalists, and especially contract recruiters. Because contract recruiters are not employees of the company, they can be brought on-board or released quickly. This is an advantage to the company because recruiting is a very cyclical function. Contract recruiters command a higher pay rate than in-house recruiters, even considering that they do not receive benefits. Their hourly rate can range from $50 to $100 (or higher). As a rule of thumb, contract recruiter costs should be less than 10% of the annual salaries of the employees that they recruit.
Employment Agencies (Headhunters) have been used by almost all organizations, at least occasionally. Employment agencies are typically used to recruit candidates for top management positions and other positions that are difficult to fill. Employment agencies offer some unique advantages. They can typically conduct a confidential search, and deliver candidates quickly (depending upon the size of their candidate pool). Their disadvantages include cost (20% to 30% of the hired candidates annual salary), and a high turnover of placements (hiring the candidate in your organization does not remove them from the headhunter's candidate pool).
Job Fairs can be very effective. A job fair is an event sponsored by a "job fair" company who charges a fee to participating employers. The "job fair" company will typically advertise in local media to attract qualified applicants. Silicon Valley has a very popular "Westech Career Fair" targeting technical positions. It is held approximately every other month, and attracts up to 250 employers and thousands of applicants. Hiring managers can meet multiple candidates and conduct on-the-spot interviews. Because the applicants may be interviewing with multiple employers, it is imperative to respond quickly with invitations for in-plant interviews of qualified candidates. If a job fair results in just one hire it is usually cost effective.
The Internet has quickly become a very popular source of employment advertising. This source is quickly growing in popularity. Currently employers can post their openings to any of several newsgroups for free. A popular newsgroup in the San Francisco Bay Area is "ba.jobs.offered." Most employment advertisement firms can also post the jobs on the Internet, however, they charge a fee. The following web site provides a good index on internet recruiting: http://www.webd.alink.net/metrohr/recruit.shtmll
Minority and Handicap Sources are used by more than half of the organizations (more prevalent in larger organizations, less in smaller organizations), often to fulfill an Affirmative Action Plan obligation. Examples of Minority or Handicap sources include Project Hired, Goodwill Institute for Career Development, and Mexican American Community Services, etc.
State Employment Agencies provide an abundant source of applicants for predominantly lower skilled positions. About two-thirds of organizations use state employment agencies.
Rehires are another excellent source of candidates. Often employees leave only to find that the grass wasn't greener at their new company. Call them after a month or a few months and you might be surprised about their willingness to return. At a minimum, it will keep the door open to a possible future return.
Part-time employees are utilized by almost all companies. A growing number of candidates are only willing to work part-time. Therefore this can be a valuable source of employees if the business situation allows for part-time employment.
Other Sources:
Employee referral contests (significant prizes to those who successfully refer the most candidates over a period of time)
Billboards
Open houses
Radio
Television
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