Recruitment and hiring are two very important aspects of human resource management considering potential employees for current job roles. The difference between these two terms are unknown to many; thus, should be properly distinguished. The key difference between recruitment and hiring is that recruitment is the process of searching the potential candidates with right skills and qualifications for employment and encouraging them to apply for jobs in the organization whereas hiring is the process of offering the employment opportunity for a selected employee for an agreed fee. Companies always attempt to attract the best possible employees to ensure the success of their businesses as a dedicated and a competent pool of employees can bring a competitive advantage.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Recruitment
3. What is Hiring
4. Side by Side Comparison – Recruitment vs Hiring in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Recruitment?
Recruitment is the process of searching for potential candidates with right skills and qualifications for employment and encouraging them to apply for jobs in the organization. The aim of recruitment is to find the right person who has the ability to add value to the organization.
Recruitment can happen internally as well as externally. When a position in the organization is vacant, employees who are already in the organization can be encouraged to apply, provided they have the required skills and qualifications. This saves costs on employee induction (incorporating the new employee into the organization by preparing them to their new role) since the employee is already familiar with the values of the organization. Further, this leads to increased motivation for current employees since this assures them of higher career advancements. On contrary, external recruitment is suitable when the level of skills and qualifications required for the vacant position is not available within the company at present.
Recruitment is the first step of adding new employees to the organization and is conducted through advertising the vacancies on a number of platforms, especially in web sources. The advertisements should be clearly organized and set out all the requirements to the specific role in order to attract the most suitable candidates. Recruiting is a significant cost and is a continuous exercise; thus, it may not be cost-effective to some companies. There are recruitment agencies to which the companies can outsource their recruitment procedure and the recruitment agency will find suitable potential employees for the company.
Figure 01: Positions available should be advertised to attract new employees.
What is Hiring?
Hiring is the process of offering the employment opportunity for a selected employee for an agreed fee. Once the potential employees’ resumes and applications are received in the recruitment process, a rigorous scanning should be conducted to shortlist the potential employees. Referencing and sufficient background checks should be carried out to ensure that the prospective candidate is a correct fit for the organization. Following this, interviews that usually include a variety of tests such as screening tests and psychometric tests are carried out. If the company is satisfied with the manner in which the candidate has performed in interviews and tests, then an offer will be made to join the company.
Hiring requires the employee and the company (employer) to enter into a contract, which is the ‘employment contract’. The below details have to be included in the job description.
- Job description
- Compensation and benefits
- Leave policy
- Employment period
- Confidentiality agreement
- Termination terms and conditions
Unlike the recruitment process, the hiring process cannot be outsourced to an outside party since employment contracts and hiring procedure is confidential in nature.
Figure 02: Job interviews are conducted in during the hiring process.
What is the difference between Recruitment and Hiring?
Recruitment vs Hiring |
|
| Recruitment is the process of searching the potential candidates with right skills and qualifications for employment and encouraging them to apply for jobs in the organization. | Hiring is the process of offering the employment opportunity for a selected employee for an agreed fee. |
| Order | |
| Recruitment is the initial process of obtaining new employees. | Hiring is the final process which takes place following recruitment. |
| Time and Resources | |
| Time and resources spent per potential employee in evaluating applications and resumes are limited in recruitment. | Hiring requires extended time and resource spending per potential employee. |
Summary- Recruitment vs Hiring
The difference between recruitment and hiring is a discrete one where both are two steps in the process of obtaining new human capital to the organization. Recruitment is the initial step of the process which is followed by hiring. Both aspects are vital and the necessary time and resources should be allocated to ensure the best possible employees are selected. Recruitment and hiring process should be handled by experienced management personnel who have sufficient experience in carrying out such process.
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References:
1.”The Recruitment Process.” FlatWorld. N.p., n.d. Web. Available here. 06 June 2017.
2.”The Hiring Process: How Human Resource Managers Recruit and Hire Employees.” Study.com. Study.com, n.d. Web. Available here. 06 June 2017.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Jobs Help Wanted” by Innovate Impact Media (CC BY 2.0) Flickr
2. “Interview” by Alan Cleaver (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr