E-Recruitment

E- Recruitment or online recruitment is the use of technology in the process of attracting,selecting and retaining prospective new employees.A ready advantage of E-recruitment is that it tremendously reduces the amount of paper work involved in the recruitment process.

Many reputable organisations in Kenya are adopting the trend when it comes to job listings and search notable among them is Kenya Airways, Google(K)Ltd,Shell (K) Limited,Price WaterHouse and Coopers(who starting 2008 will no longer accept paper applications). The Public Service Commission caught up with the trend faster than many public companies by launching their online recruitment and selection database on 16 March, 2007 although the system is only usable for currently serving Civil Servants.

Another ready advantage of E-Recruitment is that certain predetermined parametres can be used to automatically sift through various CV applications and narrow down to the desired candidates.According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development( CIPD) the advantages and Disadvantages of E-Recrutments are:

Advantages of using e-recruitment are:

1. E-recruitment has the potential to speed up the recruitment cycle and streamline administration
2. allow organisations to make use of IT systems to manage vacancies more effectively and co-ordinate recruitment processes
3. reduce recruitment costs
4. reach a wide pool of applicants
5. reach a niche pool of applicants
6. make internal vacancies widely known across multiple sites and separate divisions
   provide the image of an up-to-date organisation, reinforcing employer branding and giving an indication of organisation culture
7. offer access to vacancies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week reaching a global audience
8. be a cost effective way to build a talent bank for future vacancies
9. help handle high volume job applications in a consistent way
10. provide more tailored information to the post and organisation eg case histories of the ‘day in the life’ or self-assessment questionnaire or quiz to assess fit with role
11. be spontaneous for candidates as ease of use means there is the ability for applications to be instataneous.

Disadvantages of using e-recruitment include the potential to:

1. limit the applicant audience as the Internet is not the first choice for all job seekers
2. cause applications overload or inappropriate applications if care isn’t taken drafting the job profile/specification
3. exclude those who do not want to search for a new job online
4. limit the attraction of those unable to fully utilise technology eg certain disabled groups
   give rise to allegations of discrimination, in particular the use of limited keywords in CV search tools
5. make the process impersonal, which may be off-putting for some candidates
   impact on the ‘cultural fit’ dimension of recruitment
6. ‘turn-off’ candidates, particularly if the website is badly designed or technical difficulties are encountered
7. lose out on candidates, especially if your own website is below the search engine ranking of your competitors
8. provide too little or inappropriate information, for example, corporate recruitment guidelines might not be written in a web friendly style.

Obviously their list is not exhaustive but Kenyan Companies should more readily adopt the use of E recruitment when sourcing out new employees or filling out job vacancies.This in iteslf can be used as part of the branding of the organization since progressive companies world wide have already adopted this measure.On the other hand E -Recruiting must be objective.I have many times applied for UN jobs using their online system,rarely does one get an acknowledgment nor a regret.Often times people who applied through other influences are recruited.This again brands an organisation and informs a potential employee on what to expect if appointed.So Kenyan employers please practise general ettiquette by sending acknowledgments and regrets!I know many of you dont and also update your websites and remove already filled positions.Job hunting online in Kenya is often searching through a quagmire and can be thoroughly disappointing with a lot of irrelevant websites or un useful information propping up!

On a positive trend ,today 's newspaper speaks of a plan by the Higher Eduction Loans Board to develop a web portal that will serve as an interface between fresh University graduates and Employers.Kenya's most profitable company safaricom has also established an online application system its new fresh look website.At the moment the facility is not operational though i view it as such a late attempt by a company that has such a resourceful employee base and accompanying capital.E -Recruitment is the way to go!