Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, COMS 404

REALISTIC RECRUITMENT

(CHAPTER 7)

BEFORE YOU READ…

Before you read…

• Reflect on any time you have been an applicant for a new position

• Remind yourself of how you felt building a résumé

• Explore what you know about how organizations recruit potential employees

Applicants

May intentionally exaggerate or even invent skill sets in order to get hired

“Stretching” the truth

Employers

May intentionally mislead applicants on working conditions, hours, etc. to recruit best employee

COMMUNICATION DURING RECRUITING

Such behavior can have negative SHORT and

LONG term consequences for both the individual and the

organization

Dissatisfaction, inability to perform job duties,

investing time into employee that may need to fire, cultural

ramifications…

Applicants are not the only ones who might misrepresent themselves, the organization may.

Traditional recruitment (Wanous, 1992, “selling” an organization)

MISREPRESENTATIONS

There are two actions for traditional recruitment1. Positive characteristics

Things insiders find dissatisfying about the organization are NOT communicated to the applicant

Positive characteristics are accentuated

2. Distortion Features that are advertised may be distorted to make

them seem more positive Organizations can lose employees and their

investment Once hired, applicants might feel:

Disappointed, have unmet expectations, low job satisfaction, turnover

This leads to increased costs for organizationsThink about it…

Can you relate to this scenario?

Three principles to evaluate ethics of organizational communication by Kreps (1990)

1. Organization members should not intentionally deceive one another.

2. Organization members’ communication should not purposely harm any other organization member or members of the organization’s relevant environment.

3. Organization members should be treated justly.

ETHICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Human Costs

Turnover (voluntary or involuntary)

Low satisfactionDecreased

commitmentSelf-esteem, self-

effi cacy

Financial Costs

TRADITIONAL RECRUITMENT

Turnover costs Separation costs Replacement hiring

costs Training new hire costs Low productivity and

business costs

What are companies doing to check applicant’s claims?Background checks

Check references Check records/certifications

Hire withinRely on trusted referrals and contactsReviewing social media sites before off ering

APPLICANT MISREPRESENTATION (SOLUTIONS)

Think about it…What would you find if you Googled

yourself? Give it a try! See what potential employers may find. Put your first and last names in quotes for the most accurate search: “Jill

Smith”

Realistic Job Preview Providing an accurate (both positive and negative) view of

the relevant aspects of the job and of the organization

REALISTIC RECRUITMENT(WEITZ, 1956)

RJPLower

Expectations

Increase Met

Expectations

Increase Satisfactio

n

Increase Performanc

e

Reduce Turnover

Does the RJP seem like it would combat traditional

recruitment issues?

The applicant can SELF-SELECT out of the recruitment process due to mismatched needs/abilities

Remaining applicant pool SHOULD have people who believe they are a good match

Works best when offered very early in the recruitment process AND if the information provided is realistic.

RJP: SELF-SELECTION

RJP provides an opportunity for applicants to develop coping mechanisms for negative aspects of organizational life

RJP: VACCINATION

Think of this as a medical vaccine. Medical vaccines introduce weak doses of a

disease/virus into the body to allow the immune system the

opportunity to build up resistance to the disease and prevent an onset of it in the

future

What sorts of negative

aspects of organizational

life can you think of?

RJPs are constructed after a thorough analysis of the job and the organization are performed.

They are presented in a variety of ways:

THE MEDIUM OF THE RJP

VIDEOSAdvantages• Consistent• Multimedia• Professional

VIDEOSDisadvantages• Expensive• Time-consuming• Easily dated• Not interactive

WRITTENAdvantages• Consistent• Inexpensive• Easily changedDisadvantages• Ignored• Not interactive

VERBALAdvantages• Persuasive• FreeDisadvantages• Difficult to control

• Inconsistent• Credibility/Consistency

Phillips’ (1998) research has shown that RJPs presented before the job off er is accepted have stronger relationships with important outcome variables, such as job performance.

An RJP can be administered during any of the following points of the hiring process: When the applicant first makes contact about the job

opening After the job offer has been made but before the job is

accepted After the newcomer starts the job

The construct strategy is perhaps most relevant to the move from traditional recruitment to realistic recruitment.

ADMINISTERING AN RJP

REALISTIC RECRUITMENT

Consider w

hy applicants

may embellish their

application materials.Consider why

organizations engage in traditional recruitment

practices.

Personally reflect on your experiences applying for positions and/or hiring

others.