Small firms and the attraction of highly educated job applicants:
Exploring the role and perceived effectiveness of (web-based) recruitment
sources
Master thesis by:
Irene Bolt
University of Groningen
Faculty of Economics and Business
MSc. Small Business & Entrepreneurship
Date: 30 June 2016
Student number: s2180375
Table of contents
ABSTRACT 3
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6
2.1. DEFINING RECRUITMENT 6
2.2. THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS 7
2.3. RECRUITMENT SOURCES 8
2.3.1. CHOOSING BETWEEN RECRUITMENT SOURCES 9
2.4. DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL FIRMS 10
2.4.1. CORE AND DERIVED CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL FIRMS 10
2.4.2. INTERNAL CONSEQUENCES 11
2.4.3. EXTERNAL CONSEQUENCES 12
2.5. RECRUITMENT SOURCES USED AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS 12
2.6. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK 14
2.6.1RESEARCH QUESTION 15
3. METHOD 16
3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN AND CASE SELECTION CRITERIA 16
3.2. DATA COLLECTION 17
3.2.1. EXPERT INTERVIEWS 17
3.2.2. CASE STUDY SELECTION CRITERIA AND INTERVIEW DESIGN 18
3.2.3. OTHER SOURCES OF EVIDENCE 19
3.3. ANALYSIS 20
3.4. QUALITY CRITERIA 21
3.4.1.CONTROLLABILITY 21
3.4.2.RELIABILITY 21
3.4.3.VALIDITY 22
3.5. INTRODUCTION OF CASE FIRMS 22
3.5.1. COMPANY V 22 3.5.2. COMPANY W 23 3.5.3. COMPANY X 23 3.5.4. COMPANY Y 23 3.5.5. COMPANY Z 23 4. RESULTS 25 4.1. EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS 25 4.2. INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS 26
4.3. RECRUITMENT SOURCES USED 26
4.4. DECISION PROCESS 31
4.5 ASSESSMENT OF RECRUITMENT SOURCE EFFECTIVENESS 32
4.6 PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS OF CURRENT RECRUITMENT SOURCES 32
5. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION 35
6. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS 38
7. LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 39
REFERENCES 40
APPENDICES 44
APPENDIX A: ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES OF RECRUITMENT SOURCES 44 APPENDIX B: RANKING OF SMALL FIRMS PER SBI CATEGORY 47
APPENDIC C: SUMMARY EXPERT INTERVIEWS 48
APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW GUIDE 54
APPENDIC E: DEDUCTIVE CODES 59
APPENDIX F: INDUCTIVE CODES 61
ABSTRACT
This study contributes to literature on SMEs by addressing the research question: ‘How do small firms recruit highly educated job applicants given the (web-based) recruitment sources available to them?’. A research framework and sub-questions are developed in order to explore why and how small firms choose their recruitment sources and how the effectiveness of these sources is perceived and assessed. Evidence from a multiple case study among five Dutch small firms shows that - in line with prior research - small firms prefer to deploy recruitment sources that are under their direct control. This study updates prior knowledge by showing that small firms are deploying a broad array of web-based recruitment sources along with more traditional ‘offline’ recruitment sources. A systematic approach to the deployment of recruitment sources or assessment method used is, however, missing. The study presents several suggestions for future research and presents directions for small firm practitioners to refine their recruitment practices.
Key words: small firms, human resource management, recruitment sources, web-based recruitment
1. INTRODUCTION
Despite the fact that employment in small and medium sized firms is generally associated with higher levels of job satisfaction (Storey & Greene, 2010, p. 68), highly educated graduates in the Netherlands generally choose to work in large, well-known, and established firms (‘MKB-Nederland organiseert traineeships’, 2013). Similarly, a research project among graduates of the Dutch Master Programme ‘Small Business and Entrepreneurship’ showed that 64% the alumni had a clear preference for an occupation in small and medium enterprises, but only 14% also ended up working in a SME (Metzlar, Douma and de Haas, 2015). On the employer’s side of the interface, Dutch small firm employers have also repeatedly expressed their concerns about finding suitable staff. For example, Dorst and van Meteren (1999) reported findings from 723 small business owners and showed that finding adequate personnel was the most often mentioned personnel issue. Similarly, a more recent survey among 518 Dutch SME representatives shows that recruitment of personnel is among the three most pressing business problems (‘MKB ondanks crisis moeite met vinden van personeel’, 2014).
Prior research shows that organizational awareness is one of the most important predictors of job seekers’ early job search decisions (e.g. Cable and Graham, 2000; Gatewood, Gowan and Lautenschlager, 1993). However, unlike larger well-known firms, small businesses cannot rely on their reputation, their name, or their market share to recruit new employees (Aldrich and Von Glinow, 1991; Aldrich, 1999). Therefore, knowing more about which recruitment practices work best for successfully acquiring employees is of high relevance, especially given the difficulty that small sized employers face in finding qualified personnel.
starts with having enough applicants available for selection and hiring (Heneman, Judge and Kammeyer-Mueller, 2011, p. 205). Employers can use a number of sources to disseminate recruitment-related information to make potential job applicants aware of the organization’s career options. These sources are ‘institutions’ where job seekers congregate and act as intermediaries between the applicant and the firm (Heneman et al, 2011, p. 217-218). Recruitment sources include - but are not restricted to - paper ads, job boards, employee referrals, employment agencies and job fairs (Heneman et al., 2011, p. 234-235). Small firm research to this date indicates that SMEs prefer to use primarily informal and inexpensive recruitment sources and that employee referrals are particularly preferred (Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990; Heneman and Berkley, 1999).
However, the SME literature is currently overlooking a major development within the recruitment landscape. General research suggests that over the past years, there has been a steady rise in the use of web-based recruitment sources, including company websites, advertising services on ‘job boards’ and relationship recruiting via social networking sites1 (Lievens and Harris, 2003). The use of the Internet for recruitment has been described as offering many advantages, such as greater access to potential job applicants than traditional sources and lower recruitment costs (Cober, Brown, Keeping, & Levy, 2004). An audit by the Institute for Employment Studies among Times Top 100 graduate employers shows that almost all employers had recruitment websites (Kerrin and Kettley, 2003). In addition, a very recent survey among 2700 firms in the Netherlands revealed that 20% of the firms use social media for the recruitment of highly educated personnel in particular (Het Parool, 10 May 2016). Results of the same survey show that only 9% of vacancies are still published in traditional newspapers. With respect to the jobseekers’ side of the interface, research from the beginning of this century already indicated that college graduates view the Internet as a major source for help in locating job opportunities (Martinez, 2000). To date, however, little is known about the use of web-based sources by small firm employers and how these affect the use of traditional ‘offline’ sources. In general, research concerning ‘why’ small business owners choose a specific (set of) recruitment source(s) and how the effectiveness of these sources is assessed, is non-existent. The current research addresses this void in the literature. The attraction of a qualified workforce is especially important for small firms, since small firms are generally more labour-intensive compared to large firms (Miller, 1987). Given the enhanced importance of human resources, the small firm’s labour force plays an important role in developing and sustaining competitive advantage (Flanagan and Deshpande, 1996). Human resources that are valuable, non-substitutable and non-reproducible are particularly vital in gaining a competitive advantage for small firms (Brand and Bax, 2001). The effective deployment of recruitment sources in attracting this particular type of human resources is
therefore crucial. Because of this reason, this study will investigate recruitment sources used by small firms in their search for highly educated professionals.
The aims of this study are as follows:
1. To map the web-based and offline recruitment sources being applied by small firms to recruit highly-educated applicants;
2. To investigate how and why small firms choose to use or reject the use of recruitment sources;
3. To gain an understanding if and how small firms measure the effectiveness of their recruitment sources;
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
The first aim of this chapter is to clarify what is referred to as ‘recruitment’. In order to do so, a distinction between recruitment and selection is drawn in section 2.1. Additionally, an overview of the most prevalent definitions of ‘external recruitment’ that are used in the literature are provided, together with an explanation of the definition that is best suited to the current research focus. Next, the steps of the recruitment process as developed by Heneman et al. (2011) are outlined. In section 2.3, the recruitment sources available to firms and their advantages and disadvantages are addressed.
Whereas section 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 provide insights on a general level, section 2.4 is specifically focused on the small firm context. Moreover, in section 2.4 it is explained how general qualitative differences between small and large firms affect the recruitment function and empirical insights are provided concerning the recruitment sources used by small firms and their effectiveness. The theoretical background section will be concluded by the research framework, in which the presented insights of this chapter are integrated and adjusted to the current research focus.
It is important to be aware that the theory presented in this chapter is for a large part based on insights from a renowned university textbook in the field of HRM that is rather normative in nature. The reason why the insights in theoretical section mainly stem from a textbook is because no journal article is as focused on recruitment sources as the current study is. The book of Heneman et al. (2011), however, provides detailed attention to the recruitment process and the sources available to the firm.
2.1 Defining recruitment
Although the terms ‘recruitment’ and ‘selection’ are closely related, the current research focuses on recruitment as distinct from selection. The primary reason for this distinction is because both entail very different issues. Whereas recruitment is aimed at ensuring that potential employees apply for a position, selection is aimed at identifying the most suitable applicants among those who apply (Barber, 1998). Moreover, in selection, the qualifications of job applicants are matched with organizational needs and it is primarily up to the firm to determine if a match exists. With recruitment, however, it is the job applicant who assesses whether a match exists between individual needs and organizational and job characteristics (Barber, 1998). Because the focus of this study lies on practices of small firms in recruiting applicants currently not employed by the organization, this paper focuses exclusively on external recruitment.
Barber (1998) is therefore preferred: i.e. external recruitment relates to ‘those practices and
activities carried out by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees’ (Barber, 1998, p. 5). This definition covers the breadth of
activities and practices that recruitment entails and - in contrast to the definitions as depicted in table 1 - distinguishes recruitment from selection.
Authors Definition
Rynes and Barber, (1990, p. 287)
‘Recruitment involves those activities designed either to increase the number or to change the characteristics of individuals who are willing to consider applying for or accepting a job.’
Rynes, (1991, p. 429)
‘Recruitment encompasses all organizational practices and decisions that affect either the number or types of individuals who are willing to apply for, or to accept, a given vacancy.’
Breaugh, (1992, p 4.)
‘Employee recruitment involves those organizational activities that 1) influence the number and/or types of applicants who apply for a position and/or 2) affect whether a job offer is accepted.’ The definition is covering a broad array of recruitment activities and recognizes the fact that the behaviour of job seekers can be changed by recruitment efforts.’
Barber, (1998, p. 5)
‘Those practices and activities carried out by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees’
Table 1: Overview of the most prevalent definitions of external recruitment.
2.2 The recruitment process
Now that it is clear what is meant with ‘recruitment’, the current section will elaborate on the steps that the recruitment process entails, being: ‘planning’, ‘strategy formation’ and ‘searching’ (Heneman et al., 2011). More specifically, once the firm has made the decision to start recruiting for applicants, the firm addresses several planning issues during the ‘planning’ phase. These issues include for example compiling a recruitment guide, selecting a recruiter, deciding on the recruitment budget and an information system to track the process flow. During the ‘strategy formation’ phase, the firm decides on the specific pools of potential applicants to target and the recruitment sources to use. Once it is known ‘where’ - i.e. via which sources - the organization is going to draw potential applicants, the company must decide on which information to spread to potential job applicants. The message to be communicated to the potential job applicants is being compiled during the ‘searching’ phase. The searching phase is followed by efforts to prepare the attracted individual(s) for the selection process. As depicted in figure 1, the recruitment process is an open process in which information can be routed back as input to an earlier phase.
Figure 1. The recruitment process. Based on Heneman et al. (2011).
2.3. Recruitment sources
In its search for personnel, the firm must decide on institutions that act as intermediaries between the potential job applicant and the employer to ensure that a match takes place. These ‘institutions’ are referred to as ‘recruitment sources’ (Heneman et al., 2011, p. 217) and constitute the focus of this study.
There are a number of different recruitment sources available to a firm. A first distinction can be drawn between offline and online (web-based) recruitment sources. Table 2 provides an overview of the most prevalent web-based and offline recruitment sources and their advantages/disadvantages based on a review of renowned university textbooks. Table 2 is a summary of a comprehensive overview that is provided in appendixA.
Category Advantages Disadvantages
Of fl in e so ur ce s
Networking Likely to result in low cost per hire, high
quality per hire and decreased hiring time
May generate uncomfortable role conflicts and efforts to diversify the workforce might be hampered External organizations Job applicants are pre-screened and
external organizations offer access to particular groups of job seekers
Service fees are generally high and costs of establishing relationships might be considerable
Advertisements Convenient and organizations can adjust
the type of advertisement to their own recruitment goals
High costs and the risk that a large number of unqualified or
otherwise unsuited individuals apply
Recruitment events Provide direct contact with potential job applicants who are likely to be highly engaged and qualified
High costs and usually a limited number of applicants are identified
Indirect
recruitment activities
Allow both the candidate and employer to make well-informed choices about ‘fit’
Requires considerable staff time Applicant initiated (such as
walk-ins, mailing)
Direct applicants are already ‘sold’ on the organization and therefore more motivated to work for the organization
Self-selection is not necessarily the case, and low-quality applications still need to be processed by the organization
We b-ba se d sour ce s
Applicant initiated (online applications)
Direct applicants are already ‘sold’ on the organization and therefore more motivated to work for the organization
Self-selection is not necessarily the case, and low-quality applications still need to be processed by the organization Company websites Give applicants a feel of what it would be
to work for the organisation
Advertising on recruitment sites
Attracts a vast array of applicants who can be searched for using relevant key terms
The time it takes to sift through the database might not be justified, might not include passive highly qualified executives
Online networking Low contact barriers, unique connections can be set up, both active and passive potential recruits are addressed
Issues of control: online connections from other people’s networks influence the image and attractiveness of an organization
Table 2: Overview of web-based and offline recruitment sources and their advantages/disadvantages. Based on insights from renowned university textbooks and empirical evidence. For a more comprehensive overview, see appendix A.
In sum, the dimensions for evaluation of recruitment sources that derive from table 2 are: costs, quality of the attracted applicant, speed, convenience, characteristics of the vacancy, number of attracted applicants, breadth of attracted applicants, control, and level of personal contact of the recruitment source.
2.3.1 Choosing between recruitment sources
As shown in table 2, each recruiting source has its strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the organization to identify a recruitment source or set of recruitment sources that lead(s) to a desired state of affairs. There are several models of decision-making that describe how decisions are made. It is outside the scope of this research to review each of these models, however, the ‘rational model of decision-making’ serves as a conceptual anchor for all other models despite criticism for being too unrealistic (Stanovich, 1999) and will therefore be used as a starting point. According to this model, people use a four-step rational sequence when making decisions (Buelens et al., 2011, p. 547). In the first phase of this process, a difference between the actual and the desired situation is identified. After the identification of a problem, the next step is to generate options to change the current situation. Accordingly, each generated solution is judged and weighted based on standards or criteria and a solution is selected. After the solution is implemented, the evaluation phase assesses its effectiveness (Buelens et al., 2011, p. 548).
Figure 2 shows the rational-decision making process translated to the choice for recruitment sources.
Figure 2: The rational-decision making model translated to a recruitment context.
Identifying the problem: the shortage of highly qualified personnel Generate alternative solutions: Generate sources to attract personnel Select a solution: Evaluate the sources according to criteria/standards Implement the solution: Start searching with the chosen
source(s)
2.4. Distinctive characteristics of small firms
This section outlines why it is necessary to investigate small firm HR practices as distinct from large firms, by outlining several core and derived characteristics of small firms. Sub section 2.4.2 elaborates on the internal and external consequences for HR that are the result of the outlined characteristics.
2.4.1 Core and derived characteristics of smalls firms
All sorts of small firm characteristics that are reported by small firm researchers can be traced back to the dimensions as developed by Nooteboom (1994). Nooteboom (1994) established an identity profile for small firms by means of three dimensions: small scale, personality and independence.
Small scale
First of all, existing research describes that small scale often results in a lack of (financial) resources, staff functionaries and expert knowledge (de Kok, Uhlaner, and Thurik 2006; Golhar and Deshpande, 1997). In addition, the small scale of operations of small firms is causing the internal organization to be characterized by informality, little hierarchy, short communication lines, low levels of abstraction and little incentive to document decisions (Brand and Bax, 2001; Curran and Blackburn, 2001). Large firms, on the other hand, have more management layers and use more formalized and/or systematized procedures to efficiently disseminate information across the firm (Chandler and McEvoy 2000; de Kok et al., 2006; Kotey and Slade, 2005). An explanation for the increased level of formalization as the size of the firm increases is provided by the ‘efficiency imperative’ which holds that firms that are involved in multiple large-scale transactions will formalize procedures because they can spread the cost of formalization over multiple repetitive actions (Williamson, 1975), which small firms are not able to do in a (cost) efficient manner. In addition, the (institutional) environment usually provides an external pressure for bureaucratization for large firms. Such pressures can be coercive (such as legal requirements), mimetic (such as imitating the actions of successful competitors to appear legitimate), or normative (such as acting on shared group values) (Williamson, 2000). In the Netherlands, for example, large firms are required to have a works council, whereas small firms are exempted from the requirement (Brand and Croonen, 2010). Since small firms generally have less established brands, limited market shares and limited political influence as a direct result of their small scale, small firms are confronted with lower levels of visibility and legitimacy than their larger counterparts (Aldrich, 1999; Aldrich and Von Glinow, 1991; Dannreuter, 1999; Williamson, 2000).
Personality
wish to grow their business rapidly (Gray, 2002; Hart and Oulton, 1996). Large firms, on the other hand, typically have corporate governance structures that lead to bureaucratic and ‘rationalised’ decision making, guided by a motivation to primarily maximize shareholder value (Gray, 2002; Hart and Oulton, 1996).
Independence
First of all, the potential for flexibility that is inherent to the small scale of small firms’ operations, leads small firms to be more independent and different from each other than large firms (Baron and Kreps, 1999; Brand and Bax, 2001). Additionally, whereas private shareholders or financial institutions traditionally own large businesses, small firms are generally owned by the manager(s) of the firm, providing small firm managers with greater independency from external parties (Cosh et al., 2005). In other words, independence and small scale are creating the opportunity for diversity, whereas the influence of personality is
causing diversity (Nooteboom, 1994). 2.4.2 Internal consequences
Different nature of HR practices
In comparison to large firms, prior research shows that HR practices of small firms are generally characterized by higher levels of informality and lower levels of professionalism and intensity (Caroll, Marchington, Earnshaw and Taylor, 1999; de Kok and Uhlaner 2001; de Kok et al., 2006). For example, small firms are less likely to have a separate HRM department or to employ HR professionals, given a lack of economies of scale and resources (Barber, Wesson, Roberson & Taylor, 1999). As a consequence, small firms are less likely to have staff departments forecasting hiring needs, resulting in an irregular recruitment cycle (Barber et al., 1999). Instead, small firms are generally more dependent on the small business owner in the HR process and often involve line management (Hausdorf and Duncan, 2004; Barber et al., 1999). The person in charge of HRM practices in small firms is mostly the business owner him or herself, often implying that he/she is unlikely to be able to keep up with the latest trends and developments in the HRM field (Bayo-Moriones and Merino-Díaz de Cerio, 2001). Similarly, existing research reports that small firms provide less training in personnel practices (Barber et al., 1999).
entrepreneur that make the actual difference (Brand and Croonen, 2010). Business units owned by franchisors had a significantly higher HRM intensity but scored less favourable on percentage of sick leave, share of wages and on total HR performance, compared to business units owned by independent entrepreneurs. Similarly, a study assessing the influence of HRM intensity on four financial performance outcomes within small Belgian firms showed limited impact (Faems, Sels, de Winne and Maes, 2007). The hypothesized mediated relationship between HRM intensity and financial performance was not existent for all the HR domains, including selection, training, careers, compensation and participation. Although the development of HR of some of these domains had a positive and significant impact on productivity, this effect was not large enough to substantially influence the financial health of the small businesses.
Different nature of jobs
With respect to the employee’s side of the interface, employment within small firms is generally characterized by fulfilling multiple roles and responsibilities, whereas employment within large organizations is often characterized by performing primarily specialist tasks (Messersmith and Guthrie, 2010). Related to this, employees of small firms more often work in entrepreneurial projects (Schmelter, Mauer, Börsch and Brettel, 2010) and typically perform multiple roles with less clear boundaries regarding the respective job role responsibilities than (May, 1997). The work atmosphere of small firms is typically informal, personal and characterized by open communication (Julien, 1998).
2.4.3. External consequences
The limited legitimacy and visibility that small firms generally have may create a barrier to obtaining sufficient personnel. Also, job seekers’ employment related decisions are likely to be based on evaluations of large firm practices, which are more powerful and likely to influence industry norms (Williamson, 2000). In addition, large organizations often develop strong exchange relationships with relevant organizations such as colleges and trade associations, leading them to be more visible to potential job applicants than small firms (Stinchcombe, 1965). As a consequence, small firms are often excluded from being perceived as primary sources for employment (Thomas, 1989).
4.5 Recruitment sources and their effectiveness
This section provides a review of the current small firm literature on the recruitment sources used by small firm practitioners. Insights regarding offline and web-based recruitment sources will be addressed separately, followed by a critical assessment of the existing literature.
Offline recruitment sources
sources (Hornsby and Kuratko, 1990; Heneman and Berkley, 1999). In recruiting for recent graduates, Barber et al. (1999) show that, in addition to the sources as mentioned above, small firms are also likely to use external agencies. Large firms, on the other hand, are more likely to use sources related to campus placement (internships and campus placement visits) in recruiting for recent graduates.
In the study of Hornsby & Kuratko (1990) ‘employee referrals’ is rated as most effective, although differences between ratings are small. It remains, however, unclear what company representatives mean with ‘effectiveness’. As recognized by Heneman and Berkley (1999) ‘effectiveness’ is in fact a multiple outcome measure. More specifically, Heneman and Berkley (1999) investigated applicant attraction practices and their linkages to four outcome measures including: applicants/vacancy, days-to-fill, acceptance rate and retention rate and advise firms to tailor the recruitment sources to the outcomes that are most important to them. More specifically, the results of a hierarchical step-wise regression indicate that firms should use walk-ins, employee referrals, newspaper ads and past applications if a vacancy needs to be filled quickly. However, if the primary concern is to generate relatively large numbers of applicants for a vacancy, the data suggest making use of temporary help agencies.
Web-based recruitment sources
Research with respect to web-based recruitment use in small organizations is very scarce. To our knowledge, Hausdorf and Duncan (2004) are the first and only. The study shows that small firms are less likely to have their own website and are less aware of the existence of job boards. However, all companies with websites, regardless of firm size, use these to advertise for positions. Lastly, management level of the position advertised seems to be a criterion for the deployment of web-based sources. Across all firms, it was found that Internet usage for recruitment declines as the management level of the vacancy increases.
Critical assessment of existing literature
It is striking to note that only four relatively old (i.e. from or before 2004) high quality articles2 address the recruitment sources used by small firms, making it likely that current knowledge is out-dated. On top of this, the descriptive nature of existing research leads to several inherent shortcomings. First of all, the majority of studies do not provide information about how the use of recruitment sources differs among contextual variables such as the candidate profile searched for (e.g. education level and required skill level). In addition, only a limited number of recruitment sources are to date included in these studies, leaving part of both offline and web-based sources not being investigated. Also, it remains unclear what
company representatives mean with ‘effectiveness’, how effectiveness is assessed or if the
presented outcome measures are actually applied in practice. A further limitation of current research is that web-based sources are investigated in isolation from ‘offline’ sources.
2 Articles published in journals from the SOM-list, see:
Therefore, it remains unknown how web-based recruitment sources affect the use of more traditional ‘offline’ sources. For these reasons, the current study contributes to the literature in three ways: 1) by researching both offline and web-based recruitment sources in recruiting for highly-educated personnel; 2) by investigating how and why organizations choose to use or reject the specific use of recruitment sources and 3) by exploring which measures are actually applied in practice to assess recruitment source effectiveness.
2.6. Research framework
The literature presented in section 4 demonstrates that hiring qualified personnel is especially important for small enterprises in view of their inherent characteristics. In order to ensure that firms have a pool of applicants to choose from in the first place, organizations can deploy a range of ‘offline’ and ‘web-based’ recruitment sources. During the decision process that precedes the choice for (a set of) recruitment source(s), alternative sources are considered and weighed out according to company-specific criteria. The firm can use different metrics to assess the effectiveness of a particular source and can use this information to adjust the choice for a particular (set of) recruitment source(s).
As recognized by Brand and Bax (2001), all sorts of forces that are not directly controllable by the firm continuously affect both the supply of and the demand for labour. Examples of important external factors include demographic trends, labour legislation, skill levels as the output of a society’s educational system and, in general, all values and institutions related to labour and the organisation of work (Brand and Bax, 2001, p.10). Examples of forces that influence the demand side of labour include technological developments, economic forces (e.g. the business cycle), legislation, and socio-cultural tastes.
Integration of the obtained insights leads to the research framework as depicted in figure 3. This framework serves as a foundation for the design of the primary data collection method (i.e. semi-structured interviews). Each component of the research framework will be addressed in detail, to see which recruitment sources are used, how they are chosen and how their effectiveness is assessed in a real-life context. Additionally, information regarding the external and internal developments that influence the HR function enables to position the results into context.
Figure 3: Research framework.
External developments Internal developments De ci si on pr oc es s re cru it m en t s ou rc es (Ph as e 1, 2, 3) Recruitment sources used (along with a
recruitment message)
Assessment of effectiveness
2.6.1 Research question
With this framework as a starting point, the current research will answer the following research question:
How do by small firms recruit highly educated job applicants given the (web-based) recruitment sources available to them?
As explained in the introduction this research has multiple aims, leading to the following sub- questions:
Which web-based and offline recruitment sources are being applied by small firms to recruit highly educated applicants?
How and why do small firm practitioners choose to use or reject the use of recruitment sources?
How do small firm practitioners measure the effectiveness of their recruitment sources?
3. METHOD
3.1 Research design and case selection criteria
Because case study research is especially appropriate for answering ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions and allows for incorporation of phenomena in their real-life context (Cooper and Schindler, 2011; Yin, 1994), a case study design is best suited for the particular aims of this study. Other, more quantitative approaches are able to analyse only a small set of variables and deliberately separate a phenomenon from its context. Case studies, however, make an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon within its context possible. Because evidence from multiple cases is often regarded as being more robust and more compelling (Herriot & Firestone, 1983), a multiple-case study design is chosen over a single-case design.
In order for firms to qualify for case selection, the firms had to employ between 20-50 employees. This restriction was made for two main reasons. First, organizations with fewer than 20 employees are likely to use ‘ad-hoc’ applicant attraction practices and may have had little recent experience in filling vacancies. Second, the maximum size was limited to 50 because it is a cut-off consistent with the definition of a small firm by the European Commission (2003). The number of employees employed by the firm was identified through information on the number of employees provided on the company website or by asking the firm representative. For this measurement, the nature of the employment relationship was of minor importance, given the current research focus. Every employee of a firm has to be recruited, regardless of the type of contract or number of FTE’s, for example.
3.2 Data collection
3.2.1 Expert interviews
Five expert interviews were conducted in the preparation for the actual case research. In the search for interviewees, the researcher identified experts from different professional fields to gain a broad understanding of relevant HR developments and terminology. Sampling of the interviewees was based on ‘convenience’. Although a convenience sample is criticized for being low in reliability, it is still a useful procedure to gain ideas about subject of interest (Cooper et al., 2011) and therefore suited the aim of the expert interviews. Accordingly, the sampling procedure was unrestricted, except for the criterion that the interviewee’s profession had to be related with human resource management. Four of the experts were identified either by reference from the thesis supervisor or the expert him/herself, also known as ‘snowballing’ (Cooper et al., 2011). Contacting the ‘Ondernemersklankboord’ resulted in the participation of a fifth expert. The most relevant outcomes of the expert interviews for this particular research focus are displayed in table 3. A summary of the expert interviews is presented in appendix C. Expert 1 Researcher in the field of innovation in the hospitality sector Expert 2 Small business owner in the hospitality sector Expert 3 Owner of a temporary work agency Expert 4 Representative of ‘MKB-Noord’ Expert 5 ‘Ondernemers-klankboord’ advisor Ex te rn al d ev el op m en ts Small firms in the hospitality sector face difficulties in attracting highly educated personnel due to competition from other sectors with more attractive employment conditions and a negative image of the hospitality sector as a source for employment. Job seekers increasingly demand for a better work/life balance and more often switch between jobs; due to recent labour legislation developments, hiring personnel is expensive and therefore unattractive for small business owners in particular. Scarcity of personnel in technical/IT sectors in the Northern part of the Netherlands because 1) potential applications move to the Western part of the Netherlands and 2) because there is a mismatch between educational programmes and job positions available; increased flexibility of labour market due to the economic crisis.
Digitalization has made a lot of jobs redundant and resulted in a
mismatches between educational
Re cr ui tm en t s ou rc es Recruitment sources are chosen based on a general impression of their effectiveness due to a lack of HR-related knowledge; social media is increasingly being used for recruitment purposes, but there is a need for knowledge about how to use these sources effectively; in recruitment-related communication, the advantages of working in a small business are insufficiently communicated. Adoption of web-based recruitment sources varies between firms and requires specific knowledge, which the majority of small business owners generally lack. Lack of knowledge on how to exploit social networking sites for recruitment purposes; hiring temporary workers is attractive for firms with temporary ‘projects’ and is therefore especially suitable for construction firms.
Firms hit by the financial crisis are less likely to hire personnel and more likely to ‘lend’ temporary workers; lack of strategic personnel planning within small firms; the role of
networking for recruitment purposes has become more important; lack of visibility of small firms as potential employers for highly educated
professionals.
Firms hit by the financial crisis are less likely to hire personnel and more likely to ‘lend’ temporary workers; costs and reach are the most important decision criteria in choosing recruitment sources; recruitment-related paper ads are no longer used; recruitment firms become an option if the candidate sought for is extremely scarce; small business owners are increasingly using social media as a tool to network online in particular.
Table 3: Most important outcomes of the expert interviews.
3.2.2 Case study selection and interview design
included in the study as well. The core business of the case firms and several key HR-related characteristics are introduced in section3.5.
With the selected sampling technique, it is possible that firms facing acute problems with recruiting personnel ‘self-select’ themselves in the study, because they have a greater interest in participating than firms without recruitment-related problems. As will be discussed in more detail in the results section, the case firm do indeed all face difficulties in finding adequate personnel. However, this ‘self-selection bias’ is partly counterweighted by two case firms that do not perceive this difficulty to be an acute problem. To be more specific, one of the firms is not directly in need of new personnel and is only passively ‘looking around’, whereas the other case firms perceives this difficulty just to be ‘the reality’.
After completion of the literature review and expert interviews, the researcher established a framework of the relevant topics to address during the interviews (see section 6 of the theoretical background). Accordingly, open questions that related to the research framework, the firm and the background of the interviewee were established. In addition to developing the interview guide, interview codes were deducted from the literature and added below the corresponding questions. The deductive interview codes aimed to help the interviewer with bringing up relevant probing questions and served as a preparation for data analysis. The interview guide (see appendix D) was reviewed several times by the thesis supervisor and adjusted accordingly. Further refinements were made after completion of the first case interview. Both the expert and case study interviews were semi-structured interviews, which ensure that important areas which researchers already have an idea about are addressed in a similar way across different settings, but leave room for follow-up questions to understand the situation under investigation (Cooper and Schindler, 2011). Given the multiple-case study design, the importance of context and the fact that the researcher already had an idea about the important aspects to address during the interview, semi-structured interviews were preferred over structured or unstructured interviews. Case study data was mainly gathered trough interviews with the small business manager, HR manager or both. Whenever applicable, an interview with a marketing and communication representative was scheduled as well. In case of company X and Y, it was not possible to schedule a face-to-face interview with all of the interviewees. Instead, three company representatives answered their interview questions by e-mail.
3.2.3 Other sources of evidence
In te rv ie w E -ma il c on ta ct Va ca nc y te xt s So ci al n et w or ki ng si te s Re cr ui tm en t-re la te d doc um ent s Co m pa ny w eb si te Co m pa ny Z Co-owner responsible for recruitment and selection n.a. One vacancy published on the company website Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
Strategic HR-plan Background information Co m pa ny Y Co-owner responsible for HR Admin of the social networking sites and website and the business owner
n.a. LinkedIn n.a. Background
information Co m pa ny X
HR-officer Admin of the
social networking sites and website Two vacancies published on the company website Facebook and LinkedIn n.a. Background information Co m pa ny W Business owner; marketing and communication advisor n.a. Six vacancies published on the company website Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Infographic with tips for
social media use
Background information Co m pa ny V HR-manager; communication and marketing advisor; advisor n.a. Two vacancies, published on the company website Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Draft of a strategic HR-plan for 2016-2018 Company ‘DNA’ booklets for customers and employees Background information
Table 4: Overview of data sources.
3.3. Analysis
inferences from data to their context (Krippendorf, 1980, p. 21). More specifically, this involved assigning essence-capturing words or short phrases (i.e. ‘codes’) to relevant textual data (Saldana, 2015). The steps of content analysis derived from the University of Leicester (2009) were followed (see appendix G). To prevent the results from being neither comparable nor cumulatively contributing to theory, researchers are advised to use existing conceptualizations in content analysis as their starting point (Krippendorf, 1980). Therefore, the existing literature was examined for existing concepts and categories in terms of which the research data could be described, also known as ‘deductive codes’. The deductive codes and their description are presented in appendix E. The inductive codes are presented in appendix F.
After completion of the coding rounds, the analysis focused on representing the general developments within the case firms. Accordingly, a company background was written. The next step aimed at a gaining a deeper understanding of the recruitment sources used, the decision process that preceded the choice for the recruitment sources deployed and the (measures used in the) assessment of their effectiveness. This was achieved by the development of data displays, which help to organize the data in a way that permits for conclusion drawing (available on request). Lastly, conclusion drawing/verification is deciding on ‘what things mean’ (Croonen, 2006). Verification can vary from addressing field notes to a review among other researchers or efforts to replicate findings (Miles and Huberman, 1994). In this study, a review of the coding output has been carried out by means of discussion with the thesis supervisor. In addition, the multiple case study design of this research allows for verification of the results of one case to the other.
3.4 Quality criteria
3.4.1 Controllability
Controllability requires the study to be described in such a way that others are able to replicate it to see if similar outcomes are reached (van Aken, Berends and van der Bij, 2007) and requires results to be presented as precisely as possible (Swanborn, 1996). Controllability of this study is addressed by 1) describing the research process in detail in this chapter 2) transcribing the interviews in a way that is closest to the actual recording and 3) providing the interview guide and other research documents in the appendices. Since the interview transcripts and coding output are extensive in size, these have not been included in the appendices. These are, however, available on request.
3.4.2 Reliability
supervisor to see if the deductive codes covered the literature and if the inductive codes and coding followed each other logically. The use of explicit procedures for data collection, analysis and interpretation or ‘standardization’ is another way in which reliability of a study is improved (van Aken et al., 2007). With regard to the current study, the establishment of a research framework based on the current literature, an interview guide and instructions for coding and guidelines data analysis all serve to standardize the research process. ‘Data triangulation’ (Yin, 2003) or combining multiple sources of evidence, is another way in which the reliability of a study is increased. The results of this study are based on a combination of interviews with either one or multiple company representatives, HR-related documents, vacancy texts and information provided on the company’s website and/or social media channels.
3.4.3 Validity
‘Validity’ refers to the relationship between a research result or conclusion and the way it has been generated. A result is valid when it is justified by the way it has been generated (van Aken et al., 2007). In order to improve validity of the research, multiple sources of evidence are used. The interviews with representatives of the cases formed a large part of the evidence, which was complemented with other sources of evidence, such as strategic HR plans, vacancy texts, information from company websites and social networking sites. A threat to validity is the possibility that data are incomplete or inaccurate when describing phenomena (Robson, 2002). Therefore, all the interviews were audio recorded and transcribed in a precise way. The steps taken to standardize the research process (e.g. the establishment of a research framework, an interview guide and instructions for coding and analysis) also serve to justify the way in which research results are generated.
3.5 Introduction of case firms
3.5.1 Company V
3.5.2. Company W
Company W, founded in 1996, is a provider of multiple IT services and products focused on business process optimization for agricultural enterprises and SMEs. The firm is currently employing 10 employees within supportive functions and 55 employees within operational functions. Between 2000-2008, the company grew from 8 employees to 70 employees. During the economic downturn, the number of employees decreased to a total of 50 employees. The responsibility for recruitment is assigned to business unit managers, one employee in the administration department and the general director. An external HR-advisor consults company W on HR-related issues in general, whereas the marketing department is responsible for recruitment-related external communication.
3.5.3 Company X
Company X is an accountancy and advisory firm located in the province of Groningen, specialized in providing services for the agricultural sector. A smaller number of clients include small and medium sized enterprises in a broad array of sectors, starting entrepreneurs and private clients. The company is currently employing 45 employees, of which 8 are performing administrative functions. Although no vacancies were officially published between 2013-2015, the firm is now actively looking for (assistant) accountants and an advisor. The HR function is centralized to one HR officer, who works closely with the general management team in making important HR-related decisions.
3.5.4 Company Y
Company Y is a facility firm for both residential and commercial construction, founded in 1973. Selections of clients include housing associations, municipalities, hospitals and educational institutions. Company Y is located in the city of Groningen and is currently employing 26 employees, of which 8 include temporary workers or independent professionals without employees (ZZP). 22 employees are operational staff with a background in engineering and 4 employees perform administrative tasks. During the financial crisis (2007-2013), 10 out of 27 employees were discharged from the company. Over the past two years, the company is experiencing recovery of market demand, which in turn created a need for additional staff. In the past year, the company has been recruiting for one or more project leader(s). The responsibility for hiring personnel is centralized to the general director, who works closely with fellow owners of the company in designing the recruitment process. 3.5.5 Company Z
4. RESULTS
In line with the structure of the interview guide, the results on external and internal developments influencing the case firms are described first, followed by results on the recruitment sources used, the decision process preceding the choice for recruitment sources, the recruitment source assessment criteria and the perceived effectiveness of the recruitment sources. In addition to presenting general findings, striking single firm findings are described.
4.1 External developments
The economic crisis during the period 2008-2013 is an external development that impacted the recruitment function of the majority of the case firms. In case of company X, no active recruitment efforts were made during these years. Company W and Y were forced to reduce their number of employees, whereas Company Z recruited to a lesser extent than before the onset of the economic downturn. At this point in time, the case firms are all experiencing growth in market demand and are recruiting for employees. Attracting adequate highly educated applicants, however, is found to be difficult for each of the case firms. The case firms indicate a shortage of professionals with the required skill levels as the major reason for this difficulty. This particular difficulty is especially prevalent in the search for highly educated professionals that are also highly experienced. Due to their specific skill levels, these highly experienced professionals are likely to be already employed and not actively looking for a job.
[scarcity of qualified personnel]. “Er zijn weinig mensen die kunnen wat wij zoeken.. (…) dus met dat
perspectief, het aanbod is gewoon heel klein. Maar je vraagt dus iemand die al een hoog niveau heeft in de techniek, en bedrijfskunde. En een aanvullende opleiding. Daarbij genomen dat informatiebeveiliging is geploft qua interesse.” – Company V
[scarcity of qualified personnel]. “Ehm, het is lastig om de juiste mensen op de verschillende functies te
vinden. Dan hebben we het over echte softwaremensen, systeemontwikkelaars, dat is een lastig traject zeg maar.” (…) Nou, ehm, schaarste in de markt. Ja.” – Company W
With respect to less experienced professionals or recent graduates, Company V and Z indicate that the skills levels as the output of the educational system do not match with the characteristics of their vacant position, creating an additional difficulty in finding adequate personnel.
[mismatch between education and vacancy characteristics] “We creëren gewoon heel veel rapporten, je
moet goed kunnen schrijven. Dat zijn aspecten die je echt op WO zeg maar ontwikkelt..om het zo maar even te zeggen. Ehm, en je moet verstand hebben van IT en je moet verstand hebben van security. Er zit ook een stukje bedrijfskunde in, bestuurlijke informatievoorziening accountancyaspecten. (..) Dat kun je bijvoorbeeld niet in een HBO-opleiding kwijt. (..) Dus, ja. De markt ontploft, mensen zijn heel druk bezig om opleidingen wel in te richten, maar het sluit niet helemaal 100% op elkaar aan zeg maar.” –
Company V
[mismatch between education and vacancy characteristics] “Ik vind dat er weinig kandidaten zijn die
heel graag dat mensen ook die affiniteit met het IT-domein, ICT domein en het e-governance Internet, dat ze dat meebrengen en die is maar…beperkt in studies komt die terug”.– Company Z
4.2 Internal developments
Each case firm is experiencing growth in market demand, resulting in a need for additional personnel. As a reaction to the shortage of skilled labour that the case firms face, the case firms have all made adjustments to their recruitment practices. Company V, for example, is currently making efforts to adopt a more professionalised approach to recruitment. More specifically, company V is currently compiling a strategic HR plan for the years 2016-2017, whereas recruiting used to involve asking around the network of the company and its employees. In addition, both company V and Z have introduced incentives (e.g. a financial bonus or an iPad) to stimulate their personnel to make employee referrals. With respect to company X, the company has adjusted its search profile in the search for an advisor, implying that recent graduates are now also able to apply for this position. On top of this, the HR-officer of company X indicated that because the company has had a recruitment stop during the financial crisis, she is actually ‘reinventing’ the recruitment function by trying out different recruitment sources. Company W started to explicitly look at the possibilities of social media and external recruiting agencies in recruiting for personnel.
Lastly, due to the rise of Information and Communication Technology, company Z is now recruiting for consultants with focused backgrounds as well. Before the importance of IT-based services for its clients, the company was able to hire employees with more generalized backgrounds in business administration and psychology for example. In addition, Company Z remarks that its (potential) clients have become more critical on their external expenditures as another consequence of the financial crisis. As a result, company Z has become more stringent in its selection of employees to increase its competitive position.
4.3 Recruitment sources used Offline recruitment sources
Table 5 provides an overview of the offline sources used by the case firms. As shown in this table, the most often-used offline recruitment sources are ‘networking’ and ‘internships’.
Table 5: Overview of offline recruitment sources used.
Offline recruitment sources
Case firm Network Internships External agencies (recruitment
The term networking is a broad term for different internal and external activities including for example asking around personal networks (all firms) and asking employees to make employee referrals (all firms). In addition, company Z organizes business drinks for recruitment purposes. Although these drinks are not being promoted as a recruitment activity, the firm does have the indirect aim to meet potential candidates. In order to meet high quality candidates, employees of the firm are asked to invite professionals from their own network to these drinks. Another variation to network activities is performed by case firm V. In order to extent its current network, company V has established shortlists of potential job candidates with whom there is a weak link for which a personalized invitation for a job interview is created.
The main advantage of networking for the case firms is that high quality applicants are often attracted. The ‘quality of the attracted applicant’ is therefore a major criterion for the selection of recruitment sources.
[quality of the attracted applicant] “Ja, of als iemand uit het eigen netwerk komt dan heb je al, dan is er
al een soort van voorselectie geweest, want een collega draagt pas iemand aan als ie zelf ook denkt van ‘ja, deze moeten we erbij gaan halen’. – Company Z
[quality of the attracted applicant] “Je kent zo iemand vaak al redelijk goed. Dat is het dan meer, dat je dan weet wat voor vlees je in de kuip hebt. Vooral als het om projectleiders gaat komt dat zo precies. Als je iemand niet kent is het toch afwachten. Je kunt met elkaar om tafel zitten en een goede indruk van iemand hebben, maar de ene praat heel goed en de ander zegt misschien bijna niks en daar krijg je dan niet zo’n goede indruk van, maar is misschien wel een hele goede kracht. Dus dat netwerk is heel erg belangrijk en betrouwbaar.” – Company Y
In addition to networking, four of the case hire interns for the recruitment of recent graduates. For case Y, hiring interns for recruitment purposes is not the primary aim, but a beneficial side effect. Internships offer the firms a chance to get to know an individual and to see if there is a ‘fit’ between the intern and the employer. For company Y, internships offer the firm to more easily ‘shape’ individuals to the particular characteristics of the business, because interns are often young and have still much to learn. Internships are therefore suited in attracting less experienced highly educated professionals.
A major explanation for the preference for networking and internships provided by the case firms is the importance of ‘personal fit’. Personal fit between the job candidate and the firm is something intangible, i.e. it is hard to sense without personal contact. The small scale of the firm provides a further explanation for the importance of personal fit. Since each individual employee represents a substantial part of the workforce in small firms, each additional employee has a relative greater impact on existing group dynamics than in large firms making it more important that there is a fit.
[personal fit] “Ook omdat we, het profiel wat we hebben best wel, wat misschien op papier niet een heel
scherp profiel is, maar wel wat we in ons hoofd hebben, wat we zoeken en hoe we de gesprekken ingaan, dat dat iemand moet zijn die qua opleiding, tweetaligheid et cetera goed zit, maar ook vooral qua EQ gewoon heel goed aansluit bij ons bureau.” - Company Z
Only two of the case firms use recruitment agencies to attract potential job candidates. For company W, the advantage of using recruitment firms is that these firms are closer to the pool of job seekers, allowing these firms to more quickly find applicants. Company W does remark, however, that there are many quality differences among the recruitment firms and that it is hard to evaluate the quality of a firm before entering a collaboration with them. For company Z, recruitment agencies are able to introduce highly qualified applicants to the firm. This is because these firms invest time to get to know the firm and accordingly, are well able to assess the suitability of job applicants. This contrasts the experience of firm X and V, who indicate that recruitment firms are impersonal.
[Impersonal] “Dus eh, en en dat is ook nog weer een tussenpersoon. Wat ik ook wel merk, kijk als zij
(de potentiele kandidaat) benaderd worden dan worden ze benaderd door een recruiter, dan weet je dat.
Dat voelt niet 100% lekker. Je denkt dan van ‘oke, jij doet je werk hartstikke leuk en je doet net alsof je geïnteresseerd bent in mij.” – Company W
[Impersonal] “Ik word weleens benaderd door een bedrijf uit Almelo ofzo. Die sturen me dan zo een cv
op. Dan denk ik ‘je kent ons helemaal niet’, er wordt niet eens een telefoontje aan gewaagd. Dat is vaak we zetten het weg.” – Company X
In line with findings from the expert interviews, labour legislation developments made Company Y more reluctant to hire personnel and more likely to rely on temporary work workers. This finding contrasts the preference of the other case firms, who are all hiring instead of ‘lending’ personnel.
[Reluctance to hire personnel] “Het is allemaal vrij gecompliceerd als je vast personeel hebt en je moet ervan af om wat voor reden dan ook, dan is dat niet eenvoudig. Dan kies je eerder voor een tijdelijk contract of een uitzendbureau.” - Company Y
The results of this research provide two explanations for this finding. Regarding case firm Y, a large group of qualified construction workers became available via temporary work agencies, since these workers lost their permanent position as a result of the economic crisis. In contrast, the type of workers that the other case firms are looking for are unlikely to be temporary workers.
[audience being targeted] “Dat klinkt een beetje fout, maar als je op dit moment als security
specialist..en je hebt geen werk..dan doe je iets fout.” – Company V
for employees. Deploying temporary workers is providing case firm Y with the advantage of flexibility and accordingly, less financial risk. The results of this research therefore show that the ‘level of project-based work’ and ‘audience being targeted’ are major decision criteria for the use of temporary work agencies.
Web-based recruitment sources
In addition to networking, internships and external agencies, every case firm is using web-based sources for recruitment purposes, as displayed in table 6.
Web-based recruitment sources
Case firm Company Website
Branch website
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Job boards Other
V x x x x x W x x x x x x X x x x x x x Y x Z x x x x
Table 6: Overview of web-based recruitment sources used.
The results show that the use of the company’s website and social media channels for recruitment purposes is limited to posting vacancies on these platforms, in order for these vacancies to be findable online as well. No particular strategy for the use of the companies’ own web-based channels for recruitment purposes is formulated. Strikingly, case firms X, Y and Z have not established guidelines for social media use in general. Company V and Z have established some guidelines for social media use, but these are not specified to recruitment- related goals.
[Informal and not specified to recruitment-related goals] “Nee, formeel is er niet veel vastgelegd. We
zijn nu eigenlijk pas sinds een jaar pas serieus bezig met social media. Nee, we weten wel, kijk op maandag delen we nieuws van de agrisector, op dinsdag MKB. Dat is wel echt vastgelegd. Dat is altijd hetzelfde.” – Company W
The interviewees of Company V are wondering if their employees are even aware of these general social media guidelines:
[unawareness of social media guidelines]“J: Ja, we hebben op intranet wel een richtlijn voor het
gebruik van social media. Daar kwam ik zelf ook pas achter toen ik hier kwam. S: wat zegt die richtlijn dan? J: Nou, bijvoorbeeld het niet noemen van klantnamen in een tweetbericht, ehh terwijl we wel natuurlijk op de website hebben we wel cases staan waar klanten in vermeld worden, dus ehh klanten moeten expliciet toestemming geven om, om ehh vermeld te worden als je het hebt over een case en ehh. En ehm.. gebruik van hashtags, zijn ook richtlijnen over van ‘hey welke hashtags gebruiken?’ ‘Wat is de schrijfwijze?’. Dat soort dingen staan er in. Waarvan de vraag is dus of de medewerkers daarvan op hoogte zijn.” – Company V
[provision of information] “Dus op dit moment is het eigenlijk gewoon nog nieuws delen en dat kan op
alle vlakken zijn en dat wordt gewoon he op de website gezet en dat wordt ook gewoon via eigenlijk alle kanalen gedeeld.” – Company V
[provision of information]:“Wat voor soort berichtgeving wordt er per online kanaal geplaatst? Gerichte nieuwsberichten” – Company X
[provision of information] “Website, LinkedIn en Twitter zijn voldoende om informatie te verzorgen
voor (potentiele) klanten. En geeft voldoende mogelijkheden om nieuws te brengen. LinkedIn is vooral voor relatiebeheer en "informeel" contact, op de website vooral wie wij zijn en wat wij kunnen. Maar ook waar we mee bezig zijn. Twitter is veelal voor tussenstanden van projecten in uitvoering en het gereedkomen.” – Company Y
In addition, the idea that scarce professionals are not reached through the companies’ web-based channels is another reason for the absence of a recruitment-related strategy for their web-based channels. Instead, more direct and personalized recruitment sources are preferred. The ‘audience being targeted’ is therefore an important criterion for the strategic use of web-based channels for recruitment purposes.
[audience being targeted] “Ehm, het gaat hier ook veel meer via het netwerk en ook omdat ehm het
IT-netwerk niet zo heel groot is in Nederland en mensen elkaar..ehm, vaak wel kennen.” – Company V
[audience being targeted] “Wij zijn toch wat minder op social media gericht. We zitten toch meer in
de intiemere zone. Uitbreiden van je netwerken.” - Company Y
[audience being targeted] “Misschien is Facebook inmiddels wel een instrument om wel ook echt aan de
top van de kandidaten te vinden, een paar jaar geleden was dat in ieder geval niet zo. Wij doen daar verder niets mee. Het zijn misschien onterechte aannames, dat ik dus denk dat degenen die van de universiteit komen, dat die daar ons op volgen, maar op die doelgroep hebben we geen schaarste. We hebben schaarste op de doelgroep 6-8 jaar ervaring” – Company Z
Case firm X and W are using the largest number of web-based channels for recruitment purposes, based on the idea that by using a broad array of channels a large group of people are informed about the firm’s job offer. In addition, job boards are deployed to ensure that a group of active job seekers is reached as well.
[targeting] “Omdat je dan echt een groep bereikt die gericht aan het zoeken is, die zouden we een
vacaturesite in de gaten houden denk ik. Maar je hebt niet de groep die net actief zoekt, maar die wel getriggerd zou kunnen worden als ze horen dat er een vacature is. Dan heb je een wervingsbureau nodig, omdat die ze in beeld heeft. Of inderdaad de social media, dat je op die manier beide groepen mensen bereikt.” – Company W
Furthermore, case firms W and X publish vacancies on branch websites. The main advantage of these websites is that a specific target group is reached. This in turn, is making it more likely that high-quality professionals apply for the vacant position. In addition, the website ‘consultancy.nl’ provides an indirect benefit for recruitment purposes for case firm Z. The company specific information that is published on this website provides company V with name recognition benefits.
