Advantages and disadvantages of using technology in personnel recruiting and selection

Recruitment and selection exercise is very key to any organization, getting the right person who has the talent and skills that match the job specification can be quite a challenge. Organization recruits people because of various reasons; first it might be due to expansion where the work load increases and the need for additional employees. Second is due to retirement where a replacement needs to be done and third the organization may wish to have new breed of talents and skills therefore employ some fresh people to the organization.

Organizations always want the best when it comes to recruitment, this is because when they get the best candidate for the job specification then the productivity will be high. People who have the right skills, talent and experience of the specified job perform best when it comes to job execution. Technology has changed the selection and recruitment process; it has made it to be fast, accurate and objective. Despite the positive changes that have been brought about by technology there some negativity aspects caused by overreliance on it.

Technology has made the recruitment exercise easier; acquiring information from both parties is not as hard as it used to be. The candidate can get almost all the information he or she wants about the organization prior to his employment. This includes salary packages and the working conditions he or she is likely to be subjected to. The organization can also perform various tests on the candidate through the internet these test includes aptitude test, psychometric test and others to ensure that they pick the best candidate.  Candidates can also upload their CV through the internet instead of posting it or hand delivery. There also some human resource management functions put in place which can be used to track in the progress of someone’s application, vet candidate, performance tracking and productivity monitors.

The typical recruitment process can be divided into 6 stages namely: definition of the job and specifications; definition of the ideal candidates; attracting talented candidates to apply for the job; evaluation of applicants based on competence and other parameters; selection of the suitable candidates; and the evaluation of performance during probation period with an aim to determining whether a full time employment position should be granted. Technology has made these processes quite easy and fast. Organization also saves a lot by getting the right candidate with less effort this is due to the wider reach of internet which enables a lot of applicants. Also by getting in the right candidates organization have lower turnover hence improvement on performances and productivity. Mail tracking can also assist the organization on how to design their advertisement to attract the most qualified candidate in the next recruitment processes.

 Although technology based recruitment and selection is very useful in this day and age of technological advancement it has some shortcomings.  To begin with internet access is not everywhere in the world especially in the developing countries hence limiting some people from using it. Second with internet use it is very hard to identify someone’s cognitive abilities like leadership, team spirit and others. Also human input will be needed to verify the authenticity of the documents or information submitted hence increase the cost of recruitment. It is clear that technology based recruitment is easier and quite objective organization should not solemnly relie on it because of its shortcomings therefore a good organization should embrace all the ways available for recruitment.

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