ToyCo’s Recruitment and Selection Effectiveness

Executive Summary

This report aims at discussing recruitment and selection processes in the context of the company ToyCo described in the offered case study. It is stated that human resource management is the field that covers different aspects of the work with people the consideration of which helps to create high standards, succeed in performing the established duties and functions, reduce the staff costs, and promote effective management of people in a company.

Any organization is based on the combination of several theoretical issues that are applied to practices. The report should help to comprehend that people have to learn more about such theories as the human capital, resource-based view, and social exchange to understand their possible mistakes and the improvements that they can offer to their companies. There are many objective, subjective, and critical conflict factors that create new theories for recruitment.

Some of them are discussed in the report and investigated in terms of the case study about ToyCo, one of the well-known toy manufacturers. Gordon Bennet is the managing director, who tries to treat each worker properly and provide people with the same opportunities and working conditions. Still, the case study shows that even the most tolerant conditions may lead to the mistakes that influence the quality of the company’s work.

Introduction

Human resources is one of the main assets that may influence the overall performance of a company, cooperation of employees, and the development of consumer-employee relationships (Cania 2014). Several steps should be taken to promote a successful integration of HR strategies, and recruitment is one of the essential parts of this process. The role of recruitment and selection (R&S) cannot be neglected within the processes of leading, managing, and developing people because the correctness of the choice predetermines several positive organizational outcomes (Ree & French 2010). Companies and their leaders should comprehend that organizational development and behavior depend on the way of how people understand and complete their duties; therefore, HR planning, its complements, and properly chosen R&S models should be taken into consideration with their strengths and weaknesses.

ToyCo is a well-established toy manufacturing business with a leader, who fails to understand his workers from time to time (Michell 2011). The case study that is analyzed in this paper introduces several representatives of the company with their strong and weak characteristics. For example, Gordon Bennet, the managing director, is not satisfied with the costs that should be spent on the development of the company and starts thinking about the possibility to “recruit cheaper freelance designers from around the world connected by the web” (Michell 2011, p. 3).

Perle Marrie, the chief designer, uses her imagination and talent to introduce new toys and entertaining ideas. Still, now, she is worried about her last failure with Action Rabbit and its possible impact on her future. In comparison to Perle, Herbert Parrot earns less as a design engineer. He stays tolerant, patient, and supportive to all workers in the company. Each member of a team has their principles that become the main challenge in the development of effective teamwork.

In this report, the task is to investigate and discuss the process of managing recruitment and selection, its organizational peculiarities in the context of one particular company, ToyCo, and the theories that can be applied to the company to offer an effective action plan with several recommendations on how ToyCo may solve its problems and introduce a good performance.

People Management and Recruitment and Selection Processes

Many researchers identify recruitment and selection as a crucial element of human resource management in organizations regardless of their size, goals, and location (Durai 2010; Fowinkel 2010). If a manager makes a mistake while choosing people at the initial stage of the company’s work, the outcomes of such cooperation can be unpredictable. In the case study, the managing director introduces the strategy according to which it is possible to “source the most cost-effective staff in the most cost-effective locations” (Michell 2011, p. 3). Even though ToyCo is in need of certain changes in the sphere of people management, recruitment, and selection, the company’s director focuses on the necessity to achieve the stable staff cost and reduce staff-related expenditures without a certain attention to such points as HR planning, the identification of HR planning components, and a variety of aspects that may be associated with different R&S models.

The success of recruitment and selection depends on many factors, and the cooperation between the managers of different departments is one of the issues that should be considered (Gusdorf 2008). In the case study, the relations between the managing director and other directors and designers seem to be rather tolerant. However, as soon as some misunderstandings take place, Gordon Bennet, as the managing director, reminds all other employees about the fact that he is the boss, and his opinions remain to be more crucial for the company than the opinions of other people (Michell 2011). It seems like the company lacks knowledge about HR planning and it complements the identification of which can facilitate the work of the whole company.

Human resource planning is the process that helps to analyze and identify the need for people and the existing availability of people meeting the strategic organizational objectives and standards (Flynn et al. 2015). HR planning is a chance any company is provided with to check if there is a required number of people, or if these people have the required capabilities and can use them at the right time and in the right places. The mistake that the managing director of ToyCo made once was the inability to consider all the components of HR planning and the failure to forecast staffing needs, evaluate supply, and find out the required balance between supply and demand. Flynn et al. (2015) explain that any HR planning process should be “strategically aligned, purposeful, measurable, and documented” (p. 55).

These elements cannot be neglected as soon as a vacancy is noticed until the candidate demonstrates their skills regardless of the sphere of life chosen by the company. Recruiting and selecting people is the process that defines the stages with the help of which qualified applicants can be attracted to jobs open in the company. The only challenge that ToyCo faces is the necessity to explain why open jobs take place, and which workers will be replaced. However, in this report, it is necessary to explain the process of recruitment and selection of employees regarding the existing theories and applications. In the following section, the theoretical aspect of recruitment and selection will be covered.

Recruitment and Selection Theories in the ToyCo Context

The integration of HR planning and a particular business plan is a complicated process that depends on how well people may comprehend the theoretical aspects of this work (Francis, Ekwoaba & Ideh 2012). Cable (2013) offers three implicit theories for recruitment: objective factors, subjective factors, and critical contact. Each theory is a significant contribution to how recruitment research may be conducted.

Objective factors theories were used to underline the role of different attributes to the recruitment process such as pay, location, working schedule, etc. In the case study, the managing director plans to move to Headington and close the Mexican factory to cut costs (Michell 2011). These factors can be objectively measured and influence the prediction of job choice. The supporters of subjective factors theory prove that emotional and psychological needs are more important in the process of recruitment. The image of the organization should play an important role in making subjective decisions (O’Meara & Petzall 2013).

Unstructured employment interviews are preferable in terms of this theory. During these interviews, the company may gather enough information about potential candidates, and the potential employees can learn more about the conditions under which they have work. However, Gordon does not want to provide new designers with high salaries even if he is aware of the fact that the required creative skills are not cheap. Therefore, there is a third type of theory in the context of which employees and directors can find alternative solutions that may be not covered by subjective or objective factors theories.

These critical contact theories help the applicants to gather enough information about the recruiting companies and offer the companies the opportunities to improve their images and identify their goals during the direct contact with potential employees (Harold, Uggerslev & Kraichy 2013).

These theories can be applied to ToyCo as soon as Gordon or any other person, who is going to interview candidates should use the already developed image of the company and underline different motivational factors without focusing on the need to reduce the staff costs (Michell 2011). Gordon’s main task is to check the readiness of people to work under the conditions offered but not to share true reasons for why new people are required. At the same time, old employees should be informed about the new goals and strategies defined by the company.

Three economic theories can be used to promote the recruitment process in the company: the social exchange theory, the human capital theory, and the resource-based view theory. The essence of the resource-based view theory lies in the necessity to introduce the company’s resources as valuable, rare, and costly to imitate (Armstrong & Taylor 2014). Candidates should prove their worth and underline that their skills and capabilities are better than those demonstrated by other people, and the company should not demonstrate their fascination of the skills gained by the candidates but provide people with a portion of confidence that their skills and achievements can be appreciated.

In the case study, Gordon faces two possible problems regarding this particular theoretical framework. On the one hand, he has several valuable employees, who have already demonstrated their inabilities to follow the instructions, come in time, and share their opinions in an appropriate way (Michell 2011). On the other hand, Gordon does not want to lose the employees, who have already learned the policy of the company and know-how to complete their functions meeting the production standards in the company. This dilemma should be solved in the recommendation section.

The second theory is based on human capital according to which all employees are defined as fixed capitals to business within the frames of which the company can stay competitive (Marimuthu, Arokiasamy & Ismail 2009). This theory explains how different people in the same organization can contribute their knowledge and skills to the development of the company and the enhancement of the organizational capabilities (Armstrong & Taylor 2014).

Finally, the social exchange theory can be used to guide recruitment and selection successfully because it helps to comprehend the behavior of an organization (McGregor et al. 2010). It explains the current obligations the participants of the company-employee relations should take into consideration (Wymer & Lees-Marchment 2005). ToyCo may use this theory to explain that if “the organization treats employees with respect, dignity, and trust, the employees will develop a feeling that they owe the organization big time” (Akingbola 2015, p. 45).

Conclusion

In general, the overview of the company and different theories that can be applied to the recruitment and selection processes shows that ToyCo has many strong and weak aspects. On the one hand, the company identifies its goals and focuses on the changes that should be made. On the other hand, the managing director is not ready to treat all employees the same way even if he tries to behave well. It is possible to say that the case study introduces not a very strong leader, who comprehends what should be done to the company clearly.

Gordon Bennet has already developed certain relations with some members of his team and neglects the fact that some workers do not meet the requirements set by the company. Still, their potential and abilities may cover the shortages that can be observed by other department managers (like the example when the financial director informs about organizational violations made by the design engineer and the sales director). To avoid the development of similar problems and misunderstandings between employees, the following action plan with recommendations can be offered.

Action Plan and Recommendations

The human resource department of the company ToyCo should undergo several changes to make sure the company has clear goals and enough employees, who can use their skills and abilities, to promote the development and success of the company.

1. It is suggested to focus on the conditions under which employees should work. There should be general standards and regulations for all employees. If the manager does not want to lose the employees, who are late regularly or violate other organizational rules, it is possible to create a system of fines so that people could comprehend the outcomes of their behavior.
2. It is offered to promote the development of hierarchies in the company. It is not a secret that there are experienced employees and beginners. The experienced staff should be offered to become a symbolic curators for beginners. In case the results lead to positive changes, the beginners may have not too high salaries, and the experienced staff can gain some additional benefits and stay motivated to work hard.

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