The Process of Recruitment of Managers: Formal Management Education or Management Experience?

In this paper we have analyzed 228 job announcements for the recruitment of managers within two online recruitment platforms most often used in Romania, named Ejobs and Indeed, regarding two important aspects: 1) recruitment of managers depending on management experience or formal management education and 2) recruitment of management graduates. The main objective is to describe the degree the practice of recruitment of managers takes into consideration the scientific advances in the management field and the formal management education. Through the mean of an archival data analysis research strategy, we found that for the recruitment of managers the companies asked almost exclusively for experience (91.2%). The companies in our sample almost did not require the management education. Only in ten announcements the recruiters asked for a formal management educational degree. Moreover, only half of companies asked for management experience (56.1%). Technical (39.4%), industry (25.2%) and working experience (7.7%) are the other types of experience valued by the recruiters. Most companies asked for management abilities, in addition to experience, however (e.g influence), but they did not require that these abilities to be formed during a formal educational program. The future manager only should possess these abilities acquired from somewhere. The paper aims to contribute to the academic debate regarding the criteria used by companies to hire managers. In addition, the paper has a strong practical orientation aiming at improving the recruitment practice of managers and equipping the companies and organizations with management teams with adequate managerial knowledge, abilities, and competences.

Self-protecting motivation, indexed by self-threat, modifies retrieval-induced-forgetting and confidence in employment decision bias against out-group targets

Human memory is malleable by both social and motivational factors and holds information relevant to workplace decisions. Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) describes a phenomenon where retrieval practice impairs subsequent memory for related (unpracticed) information. We report two RIF experiments. Chinese participants received a mild self-threat manipulation (Experiment 2) or not (Experiment 1) before an ethnicity-RIF task that involved practicing negative traits of either in-group (Chinese) or an out-group (Japanese) target. After a subsequent memory test, participants selected their preferred applicant for employment. RIF scores correspond to forgetting of unpracticed positive traits of one target (Rp−) relative to the recall of practiced negative traits of the other target (Rp+). Enhanced forgetting of positive traits was found in both experiments for both targets. Across experiments, a significant target by threat interaction showed that target ethnicity modified RIF (an ethnicity-RIF effect). Inducing a self-protecting motivation enhanced RIF effects for the out-group (Japanese) target. In a subsequent employment decision, there was a strong bias to select the in-group target, with the confidence in these decisions being associated with RIF scores. This study suggests that rehearsing negative traits of minority applicants can affect metacognitive aspects of employment decisions, possibly by shaping the schemas available to the majority (in-group) employer. To disrupt systemic racism, recruitment practices should aim to offset a human motivation to protect one-self, when exposed to a relatively mild threat to self-esteem. Discussing the negative traits of minority applicants is a critical, and sensitive, aspect of decision-making that warrants careful practice. These data suggest that recruiting individuals should be reminded of their personal strengths in this context, not their vulnerabilities, to secure their decision-making for fairer recruitment practice.

Effectiveness of Online Recruitment Practice: A Statistical Analysis on Selected Organizations of Bangladesh

One of the prime functions of Human Resource Management is Recruitment. A recruitment process that enables a business to attract the right people for the right position. In this era of globalisation, businesses are constantly expanding. Online recruitment typically specifies the use of technological knowledge and web-based capital for inviting, screening, cross-examining and choosing the best candidates. Organisations prefer online-recruitment to reach a diverse pool of candidates with less cost and time to reduce workload. According to Khan et al. (2013), online recruitment brings effectiveness and efficiency for employers in finding the right candidates for the right positions. The main objective of the study is to measure the effectiveness of online recruitment in the context of Bangladesh so that many organisations that haven’t adopted online recruitment can be encouraged. A survey questionnaire was designed to measure the effectiveness of online recruitment from a recruiter’s perspective.

Ambiguous practices and conflicting interests: why immigrants end up in uncertain employment

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate why many immigrants end up in uncertain employment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes a qualitative case study of three nursing homes in Oslo (Norway), which investigates immigrant employment and recruitment-related practices. Practice theory is used as the theoretical and methodological framework. The study takes an ethnographic approach and combines participant observation, semi-structured shadowing, qualitative interviews and document review.FindingsThe recruitment practice, as it is accomplished, is different from the practice that is prescribed in the formal recruitment policy. The configuration of the recruitment-related practices locks in the recruitment practice and reproduces the social order. The net effect of the recruitment-related practices is that immigrant employees remain in uncertain employment.Research limitations/implicationsA practice-theoretical approach, analyzing organizational practices as they are accomplished in space and time and not as isolated activities defined by their purpose, provides a richer understanding of the complexity and connectedness of organizational practices. Combining practice theory and institutional perspectives, the paper demonstrates how normative and regulative mediators order and align related practices. The study demonstrates the importance of examining the configuration of practices to understand how the net effect of related practices affects those who dwell in them, in this case immigrants pursuing secure and stable employment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the field of diversity management by using practice theory to explain why measures for enhancing immigrant employment may not have the intended effect because they are interwoven in a nexus of practices with conflicting interests that (un)intentionally undermine the measures.

Seven-step framework to enhance practitioner explanations and parental understandings of research without prior consent in paediatric emergency and critical care trials

BackgroundAlternatives to prospective informed consent enable the conduct of paediatric emergency and critical care trials. Research without prior consent (RWPC) involves practitioners approaching parents after an intervention has been given and seeking consent for their child to continue in the trial. As part of an embedded study in the ‘Emergency treatment with Levetiracetam or Phenytoin in Status Epilepticus in children’ (EcLiPSE) trial, we explored how practitioners described the trial and RWPC during recruitment discussions, and how well this information was understood by parents. We aimed to develop a framework to assist trial conversations in future paediatric emergency and critical care trials using RWPC.MethodsQualitative methods embedded within the EcLiPSE trial processes, including audiorecorded practitioner–parent trial discussions and telephone interviews with parents. We analysed data using thematic analysis, drawing on the Realpe et al (2016) model for recruitment to trials.ResultsWe analysed 76 recorded trial discussions and conducted 30 parent telephone interviews. For 19 parents, we had recorded trial discussion and interview data, which were matched for analysis. Parental understanding of the EcLiPSE trial was enhanced when practitioners: provided a comprehensive description of trial aims; explained the reasons for RWPC; discussed uncertainty about which intervention was best; provided a balanced description of trial intervention; provided a clear explanation about randomisation and provided an opportunity for questions. We present a seven-step framework to assist recruitment practice in trials involving RWPC.ConclusionThis study provides a framework to enhance recruitment practice and parental understanding in paediatric emergency and critical care trials involving RWPC. Further testing of this framework is required.

Sustainability of United Nations Recruitment: An Empirical Analysis of Recent Vacancy Advertisements of United Nations Specialized Agencies

This paper examines the sustainability of recruitment in the United Nations (UN), the largest global inter-governmental organization working on sustainable development. It investigates the sustainability of UN recruitment on three main dimensions: remuneration and job stability; meritocracy and fairness; cost and efficiency, with the data from recent vacancy advertisements of two UN specialized agencies. The analytical results suggest that being different from the existing knowledge of UN recruitment, the job stability in UN as shown by the data is higher due to the large proportion of staff vacancies and long-term job contracts. The remunerations to UN job incumbents are high, not only because of the widely-known attractive packages which are provided referring to the highest remuneration levels of national civil service, but also due to the subsidies of working in hardship places. Also, it is found that UN specialized agencies have developed detailed competency frameworks for recruitment to ensure the meritocracy. However, due to the essential monitoring procedures, UN recruitment is often lengthy and costly. Therefore, in the dilemma of meritocracy, fairness, and efficiency in recruitment, efficiency is not highly emphasized in UN recruitment practice, in comparison with meritocracy and fairness. Practical recommendations for improving sustainability of UN recruitment are provided, but more evidence and implications are to be provided by future research. Key Words: United Nations; Recruitment; Sustainability; Meritocracy; Efficiency