Recruitment consultants making hiring mistakes in the recruitment process - Interview study about mistakes in a Finnish recruitment agency

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Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Business | Master's thesis

Authors

Date

2022

Department

Johtamisen laitos

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Management and International Business (MIB)

Language

en

Pages

82

Series

Abstract

Recruiting an employee is a significant investment in an organization. The recruitment process consumes valuable resources such as time and money from the organization's key members. Due to this, the recruitment process outsourcing has been one of the most grown consulting services globally. However, over 80 percent of employees with recruitment responsibilities have faced problems during the recruitment process. Even recruitment consultants are not immune to challenges in the recruitment process. In the worst case, the problems lead to a hiring mistake, meaning an unsuitable applicant is hired for a job, the open position is not filled, or the employment agreement is terminated during the probationary period by the employer or the employee. The object of the study is to fill the research gap that exists. There is no detailed academic research regarding hiring mistakes and the critical stages of the recruitment process. The importance of correct staffing, the fact that the recruitment process is vulnerable to mistakes, and the increasing amount of recruitment process outsourcing is why these themes need to be studied, especially from the recruitment consultants' point of view. This study aims to help organizations, especially recruitment agencies, achieve successful recruitment by raising awareness of hiring mistakes. The research problem is to find the critical stages of the recruitment process by answering the research question about mistakes in the recruitment process that lead to hiring mistakes. The study is a qualitative interview study, and eight employees of a mid-size Finnish recruitment agency were interviewed. With thematic analysis, the data from interviews were formed into five themes that constructed the study's main findings. Based on the excessive literature review, the theoretical framework of mistakes in the recruitment process was made, and the findings of the study were compared to the framework. According to the findings of this study, the most critical stages of the recruitment process are the specifying and the orientation period of a new employee. Unsuccessful specifying leads to an unclear profile, creating problems later in the recruitment process. Similarly, a poor orientation period might cause a newly hired employee to leave the job during the probationary period. It should be noted that recruitment consultants state that clients are the most significant variable of the process and the reason for most hiring mistakes. Failing to manage applicants' or clients' expectations, making assumptions and generalizations in assessment, and being unable to figure out applicants' true motivation are the most crucial reasons for hiring mistakes that recruitment consultants make

Description

Thesis advisor

Yli-Kauhaluoma, Sari

Keywords

recruitment, recruitment process, hiring mistake, recruitment consultant

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Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202210306284

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[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ