UNIT II STUDY GUIDE
Recruiting and Hiring
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Discuss the impact of employment law on an organization's policy on equal employment opportunity.
2.1 Explain the role of equal employment opportunity laws in recruitment and hiring practices.
2.2 Determine knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for a selected position.
2.3 Recommend a recruiting strategy that includes necessary components of the interview and
selection processes.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
2.1
2.2
2.3
Learning Activity
Unit Lesson
Article: “Good Recruitment Is a Key Driver of Productivity”
Video: How to Write a Job Description in 5 Steps
Video: HR Basics: Job Descriptions
Video: HR Basics: Recruitment
Video: HR Basics: Selection
Web pages: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (6)
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
Unit Lesson
Video: How to Write a Job Description in 5 Steps
Video: HR Basics: Job Descriptions
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
Unit Lesson
Video: HR Basics: Recruitment
Video: HR Basics: Selection
Web pages: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (6)
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
Required Unit Resources
In order to access the following video resources, click the links below.
FitSmallBusiness. (2013, October 11). How to write a job description in 5 steps [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://c24.page/5wkjmb9apw7wwrnw37kjj9fa7w
Gregg Learning. (2017, October 7). HR basics: Job descriptions [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://c24.page/8rgbr2mrs83557tm3zyfm5vyts
Gregg Learning. (2017, June 23). HR basics: Recruitment [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://c24.page/bavrwn4dbu56jbag2v2zefz83r
Gregg Learning. (2017, June 23). HR basics: Selection [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://c24.page/c2ybh2y9dcbq7h2rgfgvdcgc6d
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Ioannidou, T. (2019, August). Good recruitment is a key driver of productivity. Recruiter, 3. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bsu&AN=138072745&site=ehost-live&scope=site
MHR 6451, Human Resource Management Methods
1
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Hiring practices that UNIT
have a
negativeGUIDE
effect on
x STUDY
certain applicants. Retrieved from
Title
https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/smallbusiness/checklists/hiring_practices_negative_effect.cfm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). I’m recruiting, hiring or promoting employees.
Retrieved from
https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/smallbusiness/checklists/recruiting_hiring_promoting.cfm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Job applicants and the Americans with Disabilities
Act. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/jobapplicant.html
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Prohibited employment policies/practices. Retrieved
from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/index.cfm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). What can’t I ask when hiring? Retrieved from
https://www.eeoc.gov/employers/smallbusiness/faq/what_cant_i_ask.cfm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2017, July 25). Bass Pro to pay $10.5 million to settle
EEOC hiring discrimination and retaliation suit [Press release]. Retrieved from
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/7-25-17b.cfm
Unit Lesson
As the newly hired director of HR, you realize that there are some concerns at your organization about the
recruitment and hiring processes. The chief executive officer (CEO) also realizes and shares an update on
Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC. In one of the claims against the company, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) found that Bass Pro World, LLC allegedly had a pattern of racist hiring in locations in the
United States (Nagele-Piazza, 2017). This cost the company $10.5 million. As such, you understand that you
need more information about these processes. From past experiences, you realize the impact of making good
or bad hiring decisions. Hiring the “wrong” applicant can possibly have just as much of an impact as leaving
the position vacant. In a CareerBuilder (2017) survey, 55% of employer respondents indicated that they have
experienced negative impacts on their business due to extended position vacancies (CareerBuilder, 2017).
These reported impacts are listed below.
Productivity loss: 45%
Higher employee turnover: 40%
Lower morale: 39%
Lower quality work: 37%
Inability to grow business: 29%
Revenue loss: 26%
This cost of recruiting, hiring, and training new employees can also significantly impact an organization’s
bottom line. You realize you must fully review recruiting and hiring practices as you are getting ready to hire a
mid-level manager for a position that has been vacant for quite some time. You need to abate the impact that
the vacancy is having on the organization, but you also have to fill the position with the best person for the
job. You have to get the recruiting and hiring process right.
MHR 6451, Human Resource Management Methods
2
Recruitment
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
You realize that there are many options to reach potential
candidates. You need to determine who needs to be
recruited, and you should create a plan to reach the
individuals for open positions (Breaugh, n.d.). You want
candidates who will meet the organizational needs since
your new hires will impact productivity. You also realize the
importance of a diverse workforce. According to Ioannidou
(2019), a diverse team brings a broader range of
backgrounds and experiences to the table, which, in turn,
results in more innovative solutions and better-quality
decision-making within the organization. There is not one
best way to recruit candidates, and sometimes, using a
variety of strategies can increase the potential applicant pool.
Strategies such as those shown in Image 1 are commonly
Image 1: Recruitment Strategies (adapted from
used.
Naum100, n.d.)
As the HR director, you knew that you needed to avoid
having any type of disparate impact. This would happen if your recruitment process, which seems to be
neutral, had a disproportionate impact on a protected group. Even though this may be unintentional, it needs
to be avoided. If you post a requirement that a candidate must have 3 to 5 years of experience, you may be
excluding candidates in a certain age group.
Your supervisor (the CEO of the organization) asked you if it was important to ensure that your recruitment
practices were not based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, age, sexual orientation, gender identify,
national origin, age, or genetic information. You said yes, but you reminded the CEO that there are times
when you may have to consider sex, religion, age, or a disability. The CEO looked confused, so it is time for
you to explain what a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) is.
BFOQ
A BFOQ is an exception to the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which provides for a discriminatory exclusion
with the exception of race, color, and national origin (Findley, Van Buskirk, Edwards, & Belcher, 2019). An
example of a BFOQ for age may be a mandatory retirement age for airline pilots for safety and fitness
reasons. A women’s clothing designer could hire female models while a church can hire only clergy from their
own faith. There have been many cases related to BFOQ. In 2017, a server at Bob Evans was removed from
the schedule because she was pregnant, and management felt that her due date was close. The judge
determined that only her doctor could determine if she can work and if she was near her due date (EEOC v.
Bob Evans Farms, LLC, 2017). What you also want to avoid are any discriminatory practices by ensuring that
all employees who are involved in the recruiting, interviewing, selection, and hiring processes strictly follow
EEOC guidelines.
The Interview Process
As we learned in Unit I, according to the EEOC, you cannot discriminate against someone because of their
race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, or genetic information without a substantiated BFOQ
as discussed above (EEOC, n.d.). This also applies to the interview process. The focus must be on a
candidate’s knowledge, skills, and ability (KSAs).
You found out that the last time there was a job posting, there were 200 candidates. Of those candidates, 75
met the requirements in the job posting. The 75 candidates had the required KSAs.
Knowledge could include mastery in a subject area such as HR management or accounting. Skills may be
observable and quantifiable. They may include building a deck, working with Microsoft Office, or driving a
truck. Abilities are the capacity to perform and could include communication, time management, decisionmaking, and the ability to interact with a team.
MHR 6451, Human Resource Management Methods
3
As you are only one person in the HR department, what would you do if you had
to interview
people?
UNIT
x STUDY75
GUIDE
Thinking this through, you realize that you have options. For the first interview,Title
you decide to choose one of
three options:
an email interview,
a telephone interview, or
a video interview.
For the second interview, you may have 25 qualified candidates. You have several options related to the
format of this interview.
You can conduct a one-on-one interview.
You can have a panel interview.
You can conduct a group interview.
You can interview all 25 candidates by yourself.
In the final interview, you may have three qualified candidates who must meet with the CEO of the company,
either in person or on video, before there is a job offer.
Conducting the interview: Engle (2019) tells us that an interview begins with information about the
organization, including the mission. It is important to find out why a candidate is interested in the position.
Before the interview, the interviewers should have information related to educational background and work
experience, but additional clarification may be needed. Questions should be asked to evaluate problemsolving and critical thinking skills. Well-written questions will allow the interviewer to glean an understanding
of who someone is, his or her motivations, and his or her values. Questions can be behavioral-based or
competency-based. You can present scenarios that will allow you to understand what someone would do if
faced with a certain situation. During this time, interviewers should get to know the person and if the person
will be a good fit for both the organization and the job. It is suggested that you ask the candidates the same
questions. You can ask clarifying questions. It is important to give each candidate the same opportunity to
answer the same questions.
Of course, there are some practices that should be avoided in an interview. An interview should never be
rushed, and the interviewer should not speak more than the candidate. Do not present an unrealistic
representation of the organization or the job. Even if the interview is not going well, be respectful. An
interviewer represents an organization and should always act professionally.
Pre-employment inquires: You may decide that a pre-employment inquiry is necessary before someone is
hired. It is important to make sure that these are related to the specific job duties. This is supported by the
EEOC, which has determined that there is a general rule for pre-employment inquires. The information
obtained and requested through the pre-employment process should be limited to those essential for
determining if a person is qualified for the job; information regarding race, sex, national origin, age, and
religion are irrelevant in such determinations (EEOC, n.d,).
Selection Process
You want to select the best candidate for the position. By asking relevant interview questions, you get to know
the candidate. The candidate has the required KSAs, meets the expectations on the job description, and
seems to be someone who will fit in with the culture of the organization. References have been contacted,
and credentials as well as educational background have been verified. You have used valid, defensible data
to make your decision. You know it is illegal to have any selection process that is discriminatory in nature. As
the director of HR, you understand the importance of Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) when selecting a qualified candidate
for the position.
Disparate impact: An employer cannot have selection criteria that disqualifies employees based on race,
color, sex, religion, or national origin. To determine if the hiring process has had a disparate impact, the
EEOC has established the four-fifths rule. This is based on the ratio of job applicants to those hired to do the
job. For example, let’s say that 60 people apply for a position, 40 of which are male and 20 of which are
female. Five females and 30 males are hired. To determine if this meets the four-fifths rule, you would divide
MHR 6451, Human Resource Management Methods
4
the lowest past rate (female) by the highest past rate (male). As you can see below,
results
in disparate
UNIT xthis
STUDY
GUIDE
impact because 33% is less than the 80% required to equal four-fifths.
Title
You are now ready to develop recruitment and hiring processes. In this unit, the focus was on understanding
the importance of equal employment opportunity and its impact on the processes. In Unit III, you will be
developing a compensation strategy for the candidate who will receive your job offer.
References
Breaugh, J. A. (n.d.). Recruiting and attracting talent: A guide to understanding and managing the recruitment
process. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-andexpert-views/Documents/Recruiting-Attracting-Talent.pdf
CareerBuilder. (2017, April 13). The skills gap is costing companies nearly $1 million annually according to
new CareerBuilder survey [Press release]. Retrieved from http://press.careerbuilder.com/2017-04-13The-Skills-Gap-is-Costing-Companies-Nearly-1-Million-Annually-According-to-New-CareerBuilderSurvey
EEOC v. Bob Evans Farms, LLC, W. D. Pa. no. 15-cv-1237 (2017).
Engle, P. (2019). Tips for successful interviews, hiring. Industrial & Systems Engineering at Work, 5(4), 20.
Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bsu&AN=135423299&site=eds-live&scope=site
Findley, H. M., Van Buskirk, D., Edwards, T., & Belcher, W. (2019). Is discrimination legal: It depends on your
business. Proceedings of the American Society of Business & Behavioral Sciences, 26, 219–230.
Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bsu&AN=136244379&site=eds-live&scope=site
Ioannidou, T. (2019, August). Good recruitment is a key driver of productivity. Recruiter, 3. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bsu&AN=138072745&site=eds-live&scope=site
Nagele-Plazza, I. (2017, August 10). Bass Pro to pay $10.5 million to settle hiring discrimination claims.
Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employmentlaw/pages/bass-pro-$10.5-million-hiring-discrimination-claims.aspx
Naum100. (n.d.). Hiring and recruiting concept [Graphic]. https://www.dreamstime.com/hiring-recruitingconcept-work-desk-flat-design-objects-workplace-isolated-white-background-sign-vacancyinscription-re-image156782752
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Prohibited employment policies/practices. Retrieved
from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/index.cfm
MHR 6451, Human Resource Management Methods
5
Purchase answer to see full
attachment