Recruitment, Selection, and Retention

Effective recruitment and selection are key to employee retention. An important measure of the effectiveness of these functions is the extent to which the organization is able to attract committed employees who remain with the organization. Many factors affect retention and, as discussed later, recruitment and selection procedures can have an impact on retention.

Further, we know that employee retention is tied to the effectiveness of orientation and onboarding procedures; therefore, we should also focus on these practices in our efforts to improve retention.

Recruitment
The goal of recruitment is to generate a pool of qualified job applicants. Specifically, recruitment refers to the range of processes an organization uses to attract qualified individuals on a timely basis and in sufficient numbers and to encourage them to apply for jobs in the organization. The success of recruitment is dependent on many factors, including the attractiveness of the organization, the community in which the organization is located, the work climate and culture of the organization, managerial and supervisory attitudes and behavior, workload, and other job-related considerations. We often distinguish between internal recruitment (which usually entails promotion or transfer from within the organization) and external recruitment (identifying applicants from outside of the organization).

Common measures of the success of a recruitment function include the following:

 Quantity of applicants

 Quality of applicants

 Overall recruitment cost and cost per applicant

 Diversity of applicants

 Recruitment time or time-to-fill

Selection
Employee selection is the process of collecting and evaluating applicant information that will help the employer to extend a job offer. To a great extent, the selection process is a matter of predicting which person, among a pool of potentials, is likely to achieve success in the job.

Traditional selection processes are based on ensuring person-job fit. In current practices, managers tend to be concerned mostly with applicant competencies, assessing whether the person has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the job. Of increasing importance is the idea of person-organization fit, the extent to which an applicant’s values match the values and culture of the organization. A great many selection tools are available, including the job application form, standardized tests, personal interviews, simulations, and references.

Retention
Among the most important healthcare workforce challenges is staff shortage, and associated with this issue are employee turnover and retention. Every organization faces different challenges in its efforts to retain valued employees. The success of a retention program depends on the ability of the organization to correctly determine the causes of turnover and to enact strategies that appropriately target these causes.

Also, the organization must recognize the advantages and usefulness of alternative retention strategies.