Abstract:

The recruiting process is at the heart of a building a sound workforce. Through the recruiting process, organizations can ensure the appropriate alignment from an individual job fit to a cultural or organizational fit perspective (Chatman, 1991; Edwards, 1991; Kristoff, 1996; Tepeci & Bartlett, 2002). The initial impression an individual has of the organization is typically based on the experience during the interviewing phase. It is understood that the recruiting process is a two-way street for the individual and the organization. Recent experiences by job seekers currently in the market have led to a concern about sound human relations principles and the not-so-positive perceptions of the organizations that are being left with job seekers.

The social media aspect is critical to recruiting and interviewing millennials. Within the industry, there seems to be an increased emphasis on making sure that the interview questions for millennials are those that help the host organization determine the interviewee's career goals, work style, and work environment in which they are most motivated and productive. Of course this is aligned with the whole fit issue (and especially around work-life balance which is of utmost importance to millennials). Also millennials ask way more questions about the work environment or culture, prevalent leadership or management styles, benefits, commitment to corporate social responsibility and service than previous generational candidates. There is a lot of emphasis on using technology as part of the recruitment process, and many HRM professionals are increasingly looking for ways to engage candidates throughout the process..

In short, the talent management process continues to receive more and more attention as organizations and HRM professionals recognize millennials and others are interested in working with organizations that have a reputation or brand for being good corporate citizens, put employees and customers first, and respect the environment. HRM professionals must recognize that their market for new hires will cross generations.

There is an art and science to the recruiting process and infrastructure. The examples we will provide as part of this presentation will reveal implications for the human resources departments of organizations and that careless interviewing techniques can leave the candidate with a negative perception of the organization. There are important lessons to be learned as the human resources field embraces differences associated with having multiple generations in the workplace, and particularly attracting and retaining those within the millennial generation.

References:
[1] Chatman, J. (1991). Matching People and Organizations: Selection and socialization in public accounting firms, Administrative Science Quarterly, 36 (September), 459–84.
[2] Edwards, J. (1991). Person-job fit: A conceptual integration, literature review, and methodological critique. International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6, 283-357.
[3] Kristof, A. (1996). Person-organization fit: An integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications. Personnel psychology, 49(1), 1-49
[4] Tepeci, M. & Bartlett, A. (2002). The hospitality industry culture profile: a measure of individual value, organizational culture, and person-organization fit as predictors of job satisfaction and behavioral intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 21(2), 151-170.

Keywords:

Human Resources, Millennials, Interviewing.