Recruitment and Selection during COVID-19
Since the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus (Covid-19) a global epidemic on March 11, 2020, governments around the world have taken various approaches to 'locking', 'social distance' and public health measures and employment and (WHO, 2020). Social or physical distance is encouraged and meetings are discouraged to prevent the spread of the disease. Traditionally, employers or recruiters have to meet with their prospective employees to evaluate the recruitment and selection of employees. This can cause the disease to spread from one person to another (Kelvin, 2020). COVID-19 poses significant challenges to workers and their families as well as the recruitment process and the future of the recruitment industry (International Labour Organization, 2020).
In times of crisis, an organization may find
itself losing key staff by either dismissing them or they decide to leave the
company due to the panic they are in (Vardarlıer, 2016). Recruitment and selection
of employees are always done when there is a shortage of labor in the
companies. However, in a crisis like this, the operations of many organizations
slow down, and therefore, instead of recruiting; organizations usually choose
strategies such as lay-offs (Kelvin, 2020).
The study of Vasa (2010) on the other hand,
organizations can enjoy the advantage of having many experienced job seekers
due to lay-offs in the labour market. Employers also find themselves in a
better position for bargaining salaries due to higher labour supply.
Video 1.0 Show the
field of high hiring demand during COVID-19, for example, Walmart, Amazon, Uber
eats, Dominoes, telecom like that,
Video 1.0: Companies that are hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some organizations
continue to recruit for areas that are considered essential. These recruitment
practices should adapt quickly to respect COVID-19 prevention measures. This
includes switching to online modes after removing travel restrictions and
preparing for safe and fair recruitment procedures (International Labour Organization,
2020).
E-recruitment, also known as online recruitment, is the use of technology and especially web-based resources for tasks related to finding, attracting, evaluating, interviewing, and recruiting new people. The purpose of e-recruitment is to make the related processes more efficient, effective, and cost-effective. Recruitment through social networks is the latest development in e-recruitment (Mallik and Arpita, 2020).
Advertising
and Attract
Online or e-recruitment uses the
Internet to advertise or 'mail' vacancies, provide job and organization
information, and allow electronic communication between employers and
candidates. The latter can apply for jobs online and can e-mail application
forms and CVs to employers or agencies. The main types of online recruitment
sites are corporate websites commercial job boards, and agency sites. Social
media as described below is also used extensively (Armstrong, 2014).
As reported by Anna Cook (2012), head of CERN’s recruitment unit, CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, has successfully made use of social media. All job vacancies are advertised on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. These networks provide more than just simple job boards and are used as communication tools to interact with audiences, candidates, and people who may not be candidates but who may want to apply. T-Mobile International has created a Facebook site for graduate recruitment (Armstrong, 2014).
Shortlisting
Online recruitment provides Hiring Managers with direct and immediate access to completed applications following the closing date. Login details can be used from home and from any PC or device and it is, therefore, possible for those with a login to access applications and shortlist remotely (Education Authority, 2020).
Interviewing and Testing
It will be more challenging
conducting face-to-face interviews within the limits set by the government to
keep people safe. The selection panel may need to complete some selection
remotely, either by teleconference or video-conference (Education Authority,
2020). They can use Microsoft Teams, Zoom social application for that. Tests
can be completed online (Armstrong, 2014).
References :
Armstrong, M. (2014) Handbook of Human
Resource Management Practice. Thirteenth edition. London:
Kogan Page.
Cook, A (2012) Social media can transform the quality of recruitment, People Management, (10) 49.
Education Authority. (2020) Guidance for Recruiting During COVID-19_FINAL.pdf [Online]Available from https://www.eani.org.uk/sites/default/files/202005/Guidance%20for%20Recruiting%20During%20COVID-19_FINAL.pdf [Accessed 4 December 2020].
International Labour Organization.
(2020) Ensuring fair recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic [online]Availablefrom https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/ed_protect/protrav/migrant/documents/publication/wcms_748839.pdf [Accessed 4 December 2020].
Kelvin, M. (2020) The Effects of
COVID19 on Human Resource Management [Online] Available from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344929867
[Accessed 4 December 2020].
Mallik, M. and Ptel, A. (2020) SOCIAL POSTING IN COVID-19 RECRUITING ERA- MILESTONE HR STRATEGY AUGMENTING SOCIAL MEDIA RECRUITMENT, Dogo Rangsang Research Journal, 10(6) 2347-7180.
Vardarlıer, P. (2016) Strategic Approach to Human
Resources Management During Crisis. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,
235(October), 463–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.057.
Vasa, H.
(2010). The Impact of Economic Crisis on HRM Practices in Estonia. Marketing
Management.
WHO (2020) Health workforce policy
and management in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic [Online] Available
from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/health-workforce-policy-and-management-in-the-context-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-response [Accessed 4 December 2020].
WXYZ-TV Detroit (2020) Companies that are hiring during COVID-19 pandemic [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6otArmZMX1w [Accessed 4 December 2020].
