What Are HRM Recruitment Policies? (Importance And Stages)

Updated 22 August 2023

Employees are a valuable asset to the successful functioning of any organisation, which is why companies are often eager to hire candidates that can boost their productivity. Organisations achieve this by developing a solid recruitment policy that clearly states their values and promotes consistency in the recruitment process. Knowing about the various stages and importance of an effective hiring policy can help you improve and streamline the recruitment process for your own team. In this article, we discuss the meaning and importance of recruitment policies, ways to create one and various stages involved in the recruitment process.

What are HRM recruitment policies?

Recruitment policies in human resource management (HRM) are procedures and practices used in hiring new talents that have the relevant experience, skill set and qualifications needed to boost the productivity of an organisation. Most of these policies have two crucial aspects— the selection of employees and their induction. Selecting entails choosing the best person for a particular job position and induction is assigning the chosen person to a specific post. The success of an organisation largely depends on its hiring processes and recruitment policies, and having the right strategies can help build an effective human resource environment for talent acquisition.

Tips for creating an effective recruitment policy

Here are some guidelines you can follow to create an effective recruitment policy:

have a precise and clear strategy to implement a recruitment policy
make efforts to ensure that the recruitment policy is unbiased and fair
state the guidelines to be followed by the HR team for each aspect of hiring, like selection and induction procedures
define the responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders during and after the hiring process
provide clear job descriptions and mention your specific requirements to attract the right talent
focus on hiring the ideal candidates for each role according to the recruitment policy
understand a candidate's merit, their values and whether they would make a good fit for the organisation
state the guidelines for the approval of the candidate from the selection stage to the next stage
make use of the workforce and organisational resources during the time of the hiring process
state the policies for the recruitment of temporary employees and consultants
focus on building a diverse and innovative workforce
have a time duration and plan of action for the closure of a vacancy
establish the terms of conditions of employment for candidates employed with your organisation
prepare an induction program for the new employee

What is the importance of recruitment policies in organisations?

The following points explain the importance of having a recruitment policy:

Talent acquisition

One of the primary reasons organisations can benefit from an effective hiring policy is that it allows them to attract the right talent for their workforce. The first step is writing an accurate job description that clearly explains the job requirements and describes the qualifying conditions for suitable candidates. The HR team posts these job descriptions in relevant job groups, online portals and social media pages to ensure potential employees know about the vacancy. Good recruitment policies clearly describe this primary step, as it is crucial for hiring suitable candidates to drive company growth.

Consistent and fair operations

A good recruitment policy allows the organisation to be consistent and fair in the hiring process and encourages practices that ensure consistency and equal participation. Hiring managers rely on predetermined criteria to select candidates at all stages of the recruitment process. This includes having the same employers and hiring managers during all interviews and using a set of pre-decided questions to each candidate while giving them equal time to respond.

Each organisation can ensure fair policies in various ways, but uniform treatment of candidates can help you hire skilled talent for your organisation. If a candidate has been subject to unfair treatment, ensure that you take the required action and give them a fair chance to show their skills and expertise. This increases the candidate's confidence in the organisation and allows you to assess each candidate's profile objectively.

Legality

A good recruitment policy abides by the legal practices and guidelines for employment contracts and the hiring practices of new employees. Legality in recruiting policies also ensures that the organisation conducts the hiring process fairly and transparently and the selectors and recruiters are aware of these policies. The correct legal practices guide the various recruitment stages to check there is no discrimination against employees based on their nationality, marital status, age or religion.

For example, depending on the job type, geography and the organisation, specific industries avoid using terms like young and energetic in their job descriptions to attract the right talent. This practice also enables the organisation to become more inclusive and diverse. It is also advisable for newer organisations to research and check with competitor companies to know industry trends and avoid using terms that could have a possible backlash on the Internet.

Credibility

Credibility or employees' faith in your company is the most significant achievement for any business venture or organisation. Good employee practices and hiring policies can ensure that candidates trust the organisation, their vision and the ways of operation. You can build credibility right from the job description process. If you list specific steps of the application procedure, the applicants can be sure about the legitimacy of the job.

You can build trust with the employees using effective recruitment policies. Here are some ways to do so:

identify the primary responsibilities of the position
communicate your expectations clearly and effectively
deliver policies that consider employee interests and improve the overall employee satisfaction rate
promote an equal and inclusive workplace by including fair practices in your operations
train your HR team well on effective action-taking and enforcing disciplinary measures
hold supervisors accountable
get employee feedback regarding your recruitment and employment policies
create an induction program that covers all the required basics
stay connected to potential future candidates through outreach activities

Transparency

Transparency is the ability to stay honest throughout the recruitment phases and ensure that all relevant stakeholders in the recruitment process, from HR to department head and the line managers, follow the process reasonably. Being transparent also allows the employers to be confident of the recruitment outcome, as fair practices can help them attract suitable and skilled candidates for various job positions. Transparency also ensures that candidates can ask for feedback on their application if they are not happy with the outcome.

Another way to make the organisation more transparent is by taking responsibility and conveying every candidate's job outcome to them efficiently, using email or postal means, to keep them updated throughout the process. This ensures that candidates engage in open communication during all stages of the application process.

What are some stages involved in the recruitment process?

Here are the following stages of requirement that can benefit from having a hiring policy:

Posting jobs internally

Before hiring candidates becomes an external procedure, organisations post jobs internally to look for qualified candidates for various job positions. Employees often send these vacancies to people in their network and find the right talent. Employers set a deadline when posting jobs internally and communicate these openings through newsletters, emails, word-of-mouth or automated messages.

Writing job descriptions

When employers do not find a suitable candidate inside the company, they write job descriptions with their requirements and find the right talent externally. The hiring managers create job ads based on the full job descriptions of each role and accurately describe the open position. A good job description briefly describes the company and its mission, a summary of the job role, a list of responsibilities and requirements, and steps to apply.

Selecting potential candidates

When the company receives applications from candidates, they begin the process of employee selection. The hiring process can vary with every organisation but typically involves resume screening, phone screening, a written test or assignment to test the domain proficiency and the interview. Hiring managers may also add or remove certain aspects of the employee selection process depending on company needs and job requirements.

Giving interview feedbacks

This stage is a crucial part of the hiring process, which involves giving performance feedback to all the candidates who appeared for the interview. Whether the outcome is positive or negative, hiring managers are to inform the candidates of the result of their application. The general rule for writing feedback is to stay brief, encouraging, respectful and keep the input job-oriented.

What Are HRM Recruitment Policies? (Importance And Stages)