Adom Agencies, for many years, have relied on a single recruitment method. That is, to advertise positions in the Daily Graphic. Advertisements were placed in this publication one time, and interested candidates were instructed to contact the company to request an application package. The application package included a letter detailing how to apply for the job; a brochure about the company; an application form; and a copy of the company’s development plan for the next three years. Other local companies in the area also used the Daily Graphic for recruitment, but in addition, they placed advertisements in other local newspapers as well as on a web site for their vacancies. Some even launched a page on their organisation’s web site to enable candidates to download all of the application information. As part of the selection process, candidates submitted an application form along with contact information for two people who could provide references, and returned the information to the appropriate department head.

Once the closing date had passed, designated staff members reviewed the applications independently and graded them A, B or C (where A is the highest mark and C is the lowest) based on the candidate’s ability to meet the selection criteria. The panel would then convene to discuss the A-rated application forms and agree on a list of candidates who would be invited to attend a selection day. The staff members assessing the applications were usually heads of departments from the relevant subject area. Training was not offered to panel members to help them to select the best candidates. Before the selection day, references would be requested for all candidates. Copies of the references would be provided to interview panel members; employment offers were based on the receipt of satisfactory references.

The agenda for the selection shows that the organization relied on two selection methods for all of their vacancies—an informal and formal interview. The first (informal) interview was led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and an administrator. This was used to learn basic information about the candidate and to review the information on the application form. The second interview was more detailed and explored a wide range of issues with the candidates. The panel consisted of the CEO, HR manager, Head of Department and a Senior Officer. Due to time constraints, panel members were usually unable to meet in advance, so they developed their interview questions independently. Although the CEO chaired the interviews, they were rarely carried out in the same manner and the questions lacked a high level of consistency. Also, no formal scoring system was used.  At the end of the interviews, there was a panel vote to see which candidate should be offered the job. This often led to a heated debate about candidate strengths and weaknesses.

Required:

a. Suggest two (2) alternative sources of recruitment that will ensure that the best candidates are recruited. Please explain your choices. 

b. Judging from the case, in what ways can the selection process be improved? 

c. Discuss five (5) biases you can identify about the selection process of Adom Agencies.