The recruitment process plays an important staffing role. It helps companies identify, screen, and hire competent staff (Abbasi et al., 2022). At times, an effective recruitment process faces problems, such as a high turnover rate, when other staffing functions like training, compensation, and performance evaluation are not properly executed (Lavoie‐Tremblay et al., 2022). Therefore, human resource officers in charge of various staffing duties need to collaborate to make sure the hired applicants work in a conducive environment, thus addressing the high turnover rate. For this reason, it is substantially true to claim that Pat selects the right graduating seniors with the needed characteristics defined by trait approach theory. Therefore, it is true that the retention problem raised by the upper management is unrelated to his recruitment criteria, and it might be caused by other staffing issues like poor compensation. Pat needs to re-design his recruitment process in such a way he uses other selection tools besides interviews.
Question One
Pat is selecting the right characteristics in the people he hires for the credit analyst position. He is right because the trait approach theory claims the secret of hiring outstanding employees lies in trait identification (Warren et al., 2023). Trait identification is a staffing concept that requires recruitment to evaluate job applicants’ competency against a task’s traits. Task traits refer to the skills required to successfully finish a prevailing work. Therefore, Pat is hiring competent applicants since he screens their qualifications against the skills required to perform the duties and responsibilities associated with the credit analyst’s position. For example, Pat hires university graduates with analytical and technical analysis skills since these skills are useful for executing fiduciary responsibilities (George, 2015). He also selects applicants that manifest commitment and willingness signs since credit analyst positions require staff that exhibit work ethics. Lastly, he hires applicants with strong interpersonal skills, which enables them to serve the clients professionally. Pat is indeed an excellent recruiter.
Question Two
The retention problem raised by upper management may be unrelated to Pat’s recruitment criteria. Pat uses task-oriented recruitment criteria to screen the most competent graduating seniors to fill credit analyst vacancies (George, 2015). As a result, the newly hired job applicants’ turnover rate opts to be low i.e. less than 10%. Therefore, there could be other reasons to be blamed for the turnover rate (25%) among the newly hired job applicants. Underserving wages and salaries, bulk work, poor leadership, cultural diversity issues like discrimination, and lack of job autonomy and training are other factors that might blamed for the high turnover rate (Lavoie‐Tremblay et al., 2022). The upper management should stop blaming Pat for the low retention rate, instead, the upper management should conduct detailed research that aims at identifying the exact cause of the high turnover rate.
Question Three
There is always the best approach to executing a task. Therefore, if I were Pat, I would design an elaborate recruiting process that will leverage other screening tools besides interviews (George, 2015). Specifically, amplitude tests, resume sorting, cognitive tests, and referral screening are the extra selection tools I would use besides interviews to evaluate the best-graduating seniors (Abbasi et al., 2022). Remarkably, these selection tools would help me hire the best applicants with the needed skills, namely analytical and technical, interpersonal, computer, and work ethics. Also, I would proceed to use these selection tools to screen applicants with excellent leadership skills, thus honoring the upper management’s wish for work with staff possessing leadership skills. Besides using such an elaborate recruiting process, I would proceed to spare a few vacancies slots that would be filled with applicants with at least one year of working experience. In summary, Pat needs to strengthen his recruitment process and consider hiring candidates with a working experience background.
Conclusion
The trait approach theory affirms that Pat is hiring the right candidates. He hires candidates with task-oriented skills like interpersonal and work ethics. Therefore, the retention problem raised by the upper management is not caused by Pat’s recruitment procedure, rather it might be caused by other staffing issues, such as lack of training and poor compensation. Notably, Pat can leverage other selection tools like amplitude tests to strengthen his recruitment criteria.
References
George, B. (2015). Discover your true north. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rxCeCAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=George,+B.+(2015).+Discover+Your+True+North:+Becoming+and+Authentic+Leader,+Hoboken,+NJ:+Wiley+and+Sons.+ISBN:+9781119082941&ots=8eIsTY-kS8&sig=SFb621ETks6eMU7OsUf_cRgzAh8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=George%2C%20B.%20(2015).%20Discover%20Your%20True%20North%3A%20Becoming%20and%20Authentic%20Leader%2C%20Hoboken%2C%20NJ%3A%20Wiley%20and%20Sons.%20ISBN%3A%209781119082941&f=false
Warren, M. T., Galla, B. M., & Grund, A. (2023). Using Whole Trait Theory to unite traits and state mindfulness. Journal of Research in Personality, 104, 104372. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S009265662300034X
Lavoie‐Tremblay, M., Gélinas, C., Aubé, T., Tchouaket, E., Tremblay, D., Gagnon, M. P., & Côté, J. (2022). Influence of caring for COVID‐19 patients on nurse’s turnover, work satisfaction, and quality of care. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(1), 33-43. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jonm.13462
Abbasi, S. G., Tahir, M. S., Abbas, M., & Shabbir, M. S. (2022). Examining the relationship between recruitment & selection practices and business growth: An exploratory study. Journal of Public Affairs, 22(2), e2438. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pa.2438
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