Meeting Candidate's Needs Through Recruitment Process

As we have already discussed, recruitment of employees refers to the ability of an organization to attract a suitably qualified pool of candidates for a vacancy in a cost-effective manner (O'Meara & Petzall, 2013).

However, if the offer made by the organization is to be accepted, they should posses a holistic understanding of the potential candidate’s needs.

In this connection, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs discusses one of the best known conceptualizations of human needs in an organization. Maslow theorized that individuals have five types of needs and these types are activated in a hierarchical manner (Kaur, 2013).

The needs are aroused from the bottom layer to the highest, such that the lowest need layer should be fulfilled before the next order need is triggered and the process continues (Benson and Dundis, 2003).

                               Figure 4 : Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

                                              Source : Sadri & Bowen, (2011)

Physiological needs

Before an individual thinks of his career development or contribution to the economy at large, certain basic needs have to be met such as food, shelter, water. As such, this level directly corresponds to the pay rate of potential candidates and while offering the job, the organization should ensure that the offered wage or salary is adequate for the candidate to make a living (Kaur, 2013).

The institution in which I am employed, offers considerable amount of pay considering the cost of living, travel costs to the designated office.

Safety Needs

This depicts the second level in the hierarchy and it is assumed that the same is activated once all the physiological needs are met (Jerome, 2013).

Employees do not intend to be cogs in a wheel and therefore it is necessary to stress on the investment during the recruitment process itself, that the organization is making a substantial long term investment on the candidate. This would enable the candidate to develop a sense of job security (Kaur, 2013).

Further it is vital that the organization takes health and safety measurements for the well-being of the employees such as conducting onsite health screenings, mental health days and the hirers may emphasize on such programmes during the recruitment process.

Belonginess and love needs  

The third level of needs are triggered when the individuals expect the acceptance and belonginess from others and to affiliate with them. For an organization to be successful, it should have a common corporate culture which binds diverse people together. Therefore, during the recruitment and selection process, it is important to emphasize the opportunities one would be directed to, if chosen (Benson and Dundis, 2003).

For an example, Recruitment committee can stress on the opportunities that would be provided to the candidates with regards to social gatherings, team work and other team activities of the firm.  

Esteem Needs

As the fourth level in the need hierarchy, once the bottom three layers are fulfilled, any individual would tend to go for the next layer, which gives an additional validation by others for their hard work (Kaur, 2013).

The management or the recruitment team should ensure to discuss throughout the recruitment process on the positive approach given by the organization with regards to the achievement of their current employees.

For an example, the company in which I work, recognizes the best employee of the month and publish their names along with photographs on ‘wall of fame’. Such practices can be discussed with the potential candidate during the recruitment, so that he/she will feel appreciated.

Self-Actualization needs

The top layer of the pyramid; Self- Actualization needs represents the potential and current employees reaching their full potential. It is evident that self-actualized employees represent valuable assets to the company as they learn new things, take risks and way more confident in what they do (Benson and Dundis, 2003).

And in the process of recruitment, the managers should make an effort to understand the ideas and views of the potential candidate on the ability to create organizational change, their risk appetite towards new things and the interest in education and growth potential.

As discussed above, the organizations should work their way up the hierarchy of needs in order to choose an enthusiastic candidate as the best fit for the organization. It is worthless to concentrate on self-esteem needs of current and future employees if the organization is not offering them with an adequate amount of pay and safety environment.

References,

•  Avneet Kaur, (2013). Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Applications and Criticisms. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, [online] 3(10), pp.1061-1064. Available at: https://www.ripublication.com/gjmbs_spl/gjmbsv3n10_03.pdf
•  Benson, S. and Dundis, S. (2003). Understanding and motivating health care employees: integrating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, training and technology. Journal of Nursing Management, [online] 11, pp.315–320. Available at: https://www.qub.ac.uk/elearning/media/Media,264500,en.pdf [Accessed 12 June. 2020].
•    Jerome, N. (2013). Application of the Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory; impacts and implications on organizational culture, human resource and employee’s performance. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, [online] 2(3), pp.39-45. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b0bc/c8ca45193eaf700350a8ac2ddfc09a093be8.pdf
•    O'Meara, B. and Petzall, S., (2013). Handbook of strategic recruitment and selection: a systems approach. Dec ed. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.
•  Sadri, G. and Bowen, C., (2011). Meeting employee requirements: Maslow's hierarchy of needs is still a reliable guide to motivating staff. Industrial engineer.