Sources of Recruitment

Recruitment is referred to as the process which involves searching for potential candidates and influencing them in order to fill the vacant positions in the organisation. The purpose of recruitment is to find qualified candidates for the development of the organisation.

Sources of recruitment refers to various modes of connecting with the job seeker for completing the task of finding potential employees. In simple words, sources of recruitment is the medium through which communication regarding the vacant positions is made aware to the prospective candidates.

There are generally recognised two sources of recruitment, which are internal and external sources. Let us discuss these sources in detail in the following lines.

Internal Sources

Internal sources of recruitment refers to the recruitment of employees who are already a part of the existing payroll of the organisation. The vacancy for the position can be informed to the employee through internal communication.

There are different types of internal hiring in the organisation and they are as follows:

1. Promotion: Promotion is referred to as the change of designation of the employee. It involves shifting of the existing employee to a higher position within the organisation and providing that employee with more responsibility and a raise in pay.

Promotion helps in motivating the other employees of the organisation to work hard so that they also become eligible for promotion.

2. Transfer: Transfer refers to the shifting of an existing employee from one department to another department in an organisation.

3. Employee Referrals: It can happen that the organisation in an effort to cut down costs on hiring is looking for employee referral. The employees are well aware of the job roles in the organisation for which manpower is required. These employees will refer potential candidates by screening them based on their suitability to the position.

4. Former employees: Some organisations have the provision of hiring retired employees willing to work part time/full time for the organisation.

Advantages of Internal Sources

Following are the advantages of the internal sources:

1. The organisation saves money on hiring programmes which translates to higher revenue for business.

2. It makes selection and transfer of employees very easy.

3. Internal source of recruitment serves as a morale booster for the existing employees.

4. It provides a sense of loyalty towards the business which results in improved productivity.

5. As existing employees will be aware of the working pattern of the organisation, therefore it will take much less time for the re-hires to get adapted to working conditions.

Disadvantages of Internal Sources

Following are some of the disadvantages of the internal sources:

1. Internal recruitment causes reduction in the morale of those employees who are not selected or considered for appraisal.

2. It discourages capable persons from outside to join to work in the company.

3. It can lead to conflict if one employee is selected for promotion, while the others are not considered.

External Sources

External sources of recruitment seek to employ candidates that have not been recruited anytime before in the organisation.

Introduction of fresh talent among the workforce leads to growth and development of the business.

Following are the some of the external sources of recruitment:

1. Advertisement: Advertisements serve as a great source of information regarding any job opportunities. This type of source is used for recruitment of middle level employees, or high level employees.

2. Employment Exchanges: Employment exchanges serve as a source of recruitment for the people as it is run by the government.

3. Employment portals: In this age of technology, development in the field of hiring has taken place. Nowadays many employment portals are open where one can find information about job openings.

4. Educational Institutions: Educational institutions also serve as a good source of recruitment as many students or say resources will be available at once under one roof.

5. Recommendation: This can also be a good source of recruitment as an existing employee will be able to provide better recommendation for other candidates.

Advantages of External Source

Following are some of the advantages of external sources.

1. It helps in availability of proper skilled labour.

2. There will be availability of new ideas from employees hired using external sources.

3. The employees join as knowledgeable persons which reduces the training time required for new hires.

Disadvantages of External Source

1. It can lead to unhappy employees as the existing employees may feel that they deserved an opportunity for growth.

2. It can lead to lack of cooperation between the new hires and the existing employees.

3. It is a lengthy process where the employee needs to appear for many rounds.