Introduction
Today the analysis of forms and methods of organizing the activities of international companies is becoming a typical direction. The analysis of management in international companies is important to conduct in the stage of development, to demonstrate the various changes during the different phases. Human resources management occupies the central position in the control of any organization, and international companies are no exception in that matter. Personnel are the main strategic resource of any enterprise. Knowledge, abilities and skills of the employees, along with their professional experience to a large extent predetermine the enterprise’s possibilities in using its resources and the final results of its activities. Thus, the leader should have the knowledge of HR management theory, correctly using its main regulations, recommendations and conclusions in the practical aspects, constantly studying the leading experience of Human resource management of the top international companies. This paper addresses the analysis and the evaluation of the effectiveness of recruitment and selection strategy in supporting employee retention in an international context.
Analysis
Along with the international markets of goods and services, the international labor market is becoming more and more powerful, where it is not only a sum of the national markets, but represents new and qualified development of the labor market in the conditions that strengthen the processes of internationalization. The formation of the international labor market is evidence that the processes of the world integration along with going in the direction of technology and development, these processes affect the social and labor relations field. The points of such affect are first of all, the international enterprises which operate in different parts of the world.
Recruitment
Recruitment and selection are the main two terms when it comes to hiring new employees. Recruitment could be considered as implementing strategies to attract and generate a pool of qualified specialists, whereas selection is the process choosing appropriate candidates with relevant qualifications for jobs in the company.
In analyzing the factors that might play the role in attracting new talents such aspects could be considered:
- Corporate social responsibility – a factor that is used to demonstrate the attractiveness of the employer, where according to the international business report, implementing corporate social responsibility can act as a stimulus for the recruitment and the retention of qualified employees. When the employees can witness the results of their hard work and their deposit in the company’s success, it serves as main base of the attraction of the employer.
- Required qualification – The availability of adequate systems of search of suitable qualification. Efficient plan and clearly formulate requirements for the qualifications can help finding specialists, and correctly determine their position in the company, along with developing their potential in the right direction. A corporate site can act as the main communication tool, serving as the vacancy advertisement for potential employees of all levels, giving a real presentation about the environment that the employee is going to, and at the same time informing them about the corporate values of the company.
- Further talent development – The concern about the employees’ professional growth, can strengthen the personnel loyalty along with giving the opportunity within the company to raise employers for leading positions.
- Using appropriate tools of selection – Using appropriate collaborative efforts of HR management and third party agencies to develop a selection criterion based on the individual aspect of each labor market within the company’ set of corporate values. Using the case of HSBC it can seen that the usage of recruitment companies is accepted, such as “Qualifications and Curriculum Authorities” where HSBC made a feedback stating that “ … the cornerstone of which is our success in hiring, retaining and developing junior talent.”
All of the aforementioned aspects form a certain brand for the company in the field of HR companies and the labour market in general. As there are companies that are negatively perceived in the labour market due to constant complaints from the employees. Thus, combining all the factors, the brand of the company and its reputation attracts the potential employees, forming the pool from which the process of selection occurs.
In the example of HSBC an international bank corporation, it can be seen how implementing a web site to inform about the available vacancies and their requirements are integrated with informing about the values of the company and establishing “diversity” in international context as central to their brand. In required qualification sector and further talent development, establishing “graduate recruitment center” on the internet is one example of implementing this strategy along with localizing each center based on the region of the recruitment.
Retention
Retention of employees becomes a main factor for all employers, as in developing their potential the process of recruitment becomes easier. Experienced employees – are the best advertisement and the least expensive method of recruiting new specialists.
The loss of personnel creates obstacles for the business in general, as it raises the loading on the rest of the employees and HR management division. International companies should have effective strategies of retention in order to prevent the negative effects of loosing valuable specialists.
Different factors that might affect retention of the employees in an international dimension:
- International reward system – “Values are predictive of behaviour and if the policy is counter-cultural it will either simply be rejected locally, or be modified in a way which the organization did not intend, or even worse apparently adopted but operated on a totally different set of behavioural and decision rules. The international HRM manager needs to know which HRM policies are values free and which are values linked.” (Sparrow 1999, p.105)
- Effective occupational pension schemes – This factor is important specifically for the international market as different local policies implement different schemes in that direction. In any case this aspect, in general plays a major role as staff retention device. As stated in “Occupational pensions and employee retention” by Stephen Taylor “the presence of a defined benefit pension should act to deter individual, economically rational employees from leaving an employment unless they are compensated for so doing with a considerably better paid position and membership of a comparable pension scheme.” (p.249) Following HSBC the usage of advanced payment schemes cannot be overrated” HSBC’s defined benefit scheme is one of the biggest in the private sector, with 104,000 members and assets of £10.5 billion. The changes do not affect the 30,000 pensioners and 57,000 deferred members of the scheme.”
- Support – Although the companies should offer competitive level of payment and good social packages, the employees rarely leave the company exclusively due to the payment level. Often it is because of the loss of interest and the relation between them and the employers. Thus the employer-employee relation should be based on mutual understanding and full support.
The Role of recruitment and selection in supporting retention
The basic idea of the influence of recruitment on retention is that, in selecting an employee the employer is paying further attention recruiting who is more likely will stay in the company. “If you are careful whom you recruit, then there is a better match between recruits and company and you are more likely to retain them.” (Denton 47) Thus, it could be said that such factor as the employee vision on future collaboration with the company should be considered when recruiting and selecting potential employees. The way the employer interest the employer during recruitment is a major step in determining the possible patter of him working in the company. The role of the recruiter is to convince the employee that he would be appreciated and valued, and at the same time to make sure that he would be a part of the company. Thus, successful recruitment and selection can reduce employees’ turnover and support their retention.
Selection Methods
Analyzing the recruitment and retention strategies, the selection methods of a company mostly are based within the context of their implemented strategies. In analyzing the case of HSBC several tendencies could be followed:
- Brand attraction- mentioning the position of the company along with information such as the employer awards, attracts only the employees who are seeking top positions, filtering the unqualified using the brand..
- The reliance on experience and diversity–where according to career’s section at HSBC’s website “Valuing diversity is an integral component in achieving our corporate strategic objectives.”
In the same manner the selection itself goes through various stages such as:
- Resume selection – The employees are filtered out through requirements, qualification and geographical diversity.
- Background check- This stage is mainly is used to confirm the information in the resume of the potential employee.
- Screening- Confirmation of the geographical preferences and the salary negotiation.
- Interview – The final and the most important step in the selection procedure. Reaching this stage does mean an interest of the employer, where the remaining part is a test of personality and character.
It should be mentioned that in the case of using a recruiting agency, the first three selection methods are usually omitted by the employer.
Conclusion
The problem of personnel’s recruitment and retention is of the key problems for modern companies. The company should acknowledge this problem on the local and the international level. National boundaries are no longer an obstacle for qualified specialists. The issues of recruitment and retention of personnel should be positioned as central in all management decisions. HR is becoming a strategic function and thus should be presented on the highest levels in any organization, independently of their size, activity type or experience.
Works Cited
Denton, D. Keith. Recruitment, Retention, and Employee Relations: Field-Tested Strategies for the ’90s. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1992. Questia. 2008. Web.
Hosking, P (2008) HSBC rewrites the rules for its pension scheme. Web.
(2008) HSBC Graduate Recruitment website. Web.
(2008) Careers. Web.
Sparrow, Paul R. “6 International Rewards Systems.” In International HRM: Contemporary Issues in Europe, edited by Brewster, Chris and Hilary Harris, 102-119. New York: Routledge, 1999. Web.
Taylor, S (2000) Occupational pensions and employee retention Debate and evidence. Employee Relations. 22 (3) 246-259.
(2008) Corporate Social Responsibility – a necessity not a choice for privately held businesses – press release. Web.
Mary Curnock Cook , M (2008) Developing the framework. Web.