Recruitment & Selection

Finding and hiring the right employees is essential for business success. This lesson covers the recruitment and selection process, including the difference between internal and external recruitment, and the methods businesses use to select candidates.

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What Is Recruitment?

Recruitment is the process of identifying a job vacancy, attracting candidates, and selecting the best person for the role.

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The Recruitment Process

graph TD
    A[Identify the vacancy] --> B[Write job description and person specification]
    B --> C[Advertise the vacancy]
    C --> D[Receive and shortlist applications]
    D --> E[Interview and assess candidates]
    E --> F[Select and appoint the best candidate]
    F --> G[Provide induction training]

Key Documents

Document	Purpose
Job description	Outlines the duties, responsibilities, and conditions of the job
Person specification	Describes the skills, qualifications, experience, and qualities needed
Application form	A standard form completed by all applicants
CV (Curriculum Vitae)	A document prepared by the applicant summarising their skills and experience

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Internal vs External Recruitment

Feature	Internal Recruitment	External Recruitment
What it means	Filling a vacancy from within the existing workforce	Hiring someone from outside the business
Methods	Internal notice boards, intranet, staff emails	Job websites, recruitment agencies, newspapers, social media
Advantages	Cheaper and quicker; candidate is known; motivates staff	Wider pool of candidates; brings new ideas and skills
Disadvantages	Limited pool; may cause resentment; creates another vacancy	More expensive; takes longer; candidate is unknown

When to Use Internal Recruitment

• When the role requires deep knowledge of the business.
• When a loyal employee deserves promotion.
• When the business wants to save time and money.

When to Use External Recruitment

• When new skills or perspectives are needed.
• When no suitable internal candidates exist.
• When the business is expanding and needs additional staff.

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Selection Methods

Once candidates have applied, the business must select the best person. Common selection methods include:

Method	Description	Advantages	Disadvantages
Interviews	Face-to-face, phone, or video conversation to assess the candidate	Allows assessment of personality and communication	Can be subjective; candidates may perform badly under pressure
Assessment centres	A combination of tests, group exercises, and interviews over a day or more	Thorough assessment of multiple skills	Expensive and time-consuming
Skills tests	Practical tests related to the job (e.g. a typing test, coding challenge)	Directly measures ability to do the job	May not reflect performance in the actual job
Psychometric tests	Tests measuring personality traits, aptitude, and reasoning ability	Objective; reduces bias	May not capture the full picture of a candidate
Trial periods	The candidate works for a short time before a final decision	Shows real job performance	Time-consuming; candidate may leave

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Factors Affecting Recruitment

Factor	Impact
Budget	Larger budgets allow for wider advertising and more thorough selection
Nature of the job	Senior roles may require headhunting; junior roles may use job boards
Location	Businesses in areas with low unemployment may struggle to attract candidates
Industry	Some industries face skills shortages, making recruitment more difficult
Business reputation	Businesses with a strong employer brand attract more and better applicants

Exam Tip: Recruitment questions may ask you to advise a business on whether to recruit internally or externally. Consider the nature of the vacancy, the skills available within the business, the budget, and the importance of fresh perspectives.

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Summary

• Recruitment involves identifying a vacancy, attracting candidates, and selecting the best person.
• Job descriptions and person specifications guide the recruitment process.
• Internal recruitment is quicker and cheaper but limits the candidate pool.
• External recruitment brings fresh talent but is more expensive and time-consuming.
• Selection methods include interviews, assessment centres, skills tests, and psychometric tests.
• The choice of recruitment and selection method depends on the budget, nature of the job, and business needs.

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UK Case Study: Greggs Recruitment — Hiring 25,000 Bakers and Shop Staff

Greggs plc, the Newcastle-headquartered bakery chain, operates over 2,400 shops across the UK and employs around 32,000 people. Maintaining and expanding this workforce requires a huge, continuous recruitment operation — Greggs typically hires 8,000–10,000 new staff every year to cover turnover and new-store openings.

Recruitment at this scale requires careful process design, strong employer branding, and a steady pipeline — especially in a post-Brexit labour market where hospitality and retail labour supply has tightened significantly across the UK.

The Greggs recruitment process:

1. Identifying vacancies — area managers forecast staffing needs based on store rotas, holiday cover, new openings, and expected turnover. Vacancies are then logged in the central recruitment system.

2. Job description and person specification — roles are standardised across the chain. A typical "Team Member" job description covers serving customers, preparing sandwiches and bakery items, operating the till, and maintaining hygiene standards. The person specification emphasises a positive attitude, reliability, and customer-service mindset rather than prior experience — Greggs trains on the job.

3. Application and advertising — Greggs advertises on its careers website, in-store notices, Indeed, Facebook Jobs, and through job-centre partnerships. For flexible hours roles, posters often target local communities and students. Greggs does NOT typically use expensive recruitment agencies for hourly-paid roles, because the volume would make that prohibitive.

4. Selection — the process is streamlined: an online application, then a short in-store interview with the shop manager. For shop manager and assistant manager roles, selection is more thorough, including an assessment day with role-play and competency-based interviews. Greggs has moved much of its process online via "video applications" for speed.