EFFECTS OF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESSES ON ORGANISATION'S PERFORMANCE

1.0 Introduction

This part of the study presents the background of the study, the basis upon which the study was made (problem statement), significance and purpose of the study as well as study objectives and research questions as per Recruitment and Selection processes at Spedag Uganda.

1.2 Background to the study

Recruitment and Selection are vital processes for every successful organization because having the right staff improves and sustains organizational performance. The effectiveness of an organization's selection system influence bottom-line business outcomes, such as productivity and financial performance a dream for any organization like Spedag Uganda.

Spedag Uganda is a Swiss founded Freight Forwarding and Logistics Company which is part of the M+R Spedag Group of companies of Switzerland with offices and agents worldwide. Spedag Uganda located on Plot 3-11 Buvuma Rd Luzira, was founded in 1998, and is one of the top three Logistics firms in Uganda. It acts also as a regional office under the Spedag East Africa. When founded, the Spedag East Africa Organization consisted merely of three offices in Kampala, Mombasa and Dar-es-Salam. Over the past ten years this has evolved into an organization with over 300 employees in seven countries of the East African region. Today, new offices in Rwanda, Burundi, and Southern Sudan as well as in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been added to the three original countries of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. On the other hand, Spedag Uganda has got offices at all the border points and it is represented in all the great lakes countries including Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Sudan.

The main office of Spedag East Africa is located in the headquarters of the M+R Spedag Group in Switzerland, and the regional office in Uganda is responsible for the operating needs on the African continent as Spedag East Africa is also where it has its largest business in the entire region at this backdrop. The company's main purpose is to offer project logistics, and it has been involved in moving cargo for major contractors and projects in Uganda like the Owen Falls Dam, Bujagali. Their clientele cuts across from projects to manufacturing, traders, embassies and NGOs, but also give attention to the small time traders. Apart from operating as freight forwarder, Spedag Uganda also acts as a carrier, warehouse operator, ship agent, husbandry agent, ship broker, and clearing agent as well as all additional and ancillary activities and services offered, undertaken and carried out by a competent workforce that must be carefully hired through an effective recruitment and selection process.

In the operations of any organization, recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength organisations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. Accordingly, Recruitment and Selection are conceived as the processes by which organizations solicit, contact and interest potential appointees, and then establish whether it would be appropriate to appoint any of them (Sisson, 1994).

Recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process but there is a difference between the two. The recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation whereas selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.

Similarly, the basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation whereas the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organisation. The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process, which is the final interviews and the decision making, conveying the decision and the appointment formalities.

Recruiting is seen as a “positive process of generating a pool of candidates by reaching the ‘right’ audience, suitable to fill the vacancy” (Leopold, 2002), On the other hand, he stated that once these candidates are identified, the process of selecting appropriate employees for employment can begin. This means collecting, measuring, and evaluating information about candidates’ qualifications for specified positions. Selection therefore, is a process that involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.

Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the selection, which helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection process. Therefore, organizations use these practices to increase the likelihood of hiring individuals who have the right skills and abilities to be successful in the target job, and better recruitment and selection strategies result in improved organizational outcomes.

The more effectively organizations recruit and select candidates, the more likely they are to hire and retain satisfied employees. In addition, the effectiveness of an organization's selection system can influence bottom-line business outcomes, such as productivity and financial performance. Hence, investing in the development of a comprehensive and valid selection system is money well spent. Recruitment and Selection are vital processes for a successful organization, having the right staff can “improve and sustain organizational performance” (Petts, 1997).

As much as recruitment and selection is the first step towards creating the competitive strength the organization, Spedag Uganda doesn’t accord it the attention it deserves. Since recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews, at Spedag Uganda is always done irregularly. Instead of first identifying vacancy, preparing job description and person specification, advertising the vacancy, managing the response, short-listing, arranging interviews, and conducting interview and decision making as it would be, the practice at Spedag Uganda is different. What normally happens at Spedag Uganda is that you only see people hired in positions without going through the formal recruitment and selection procedures.

The basic purpose of recruitments and selection is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the organisation, by attracting more and more employees to apply in the organisation as well as to choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organization which process must be based on merit or technical knowhow but at Spedag Uganda the practice is technical know who. Those who are well known to the bosses are the main beneficiaries in this recruitment and selection process.

Also to the fact that most of them don’t go through the proper recruitment and selection procedures, the hired are not always the best suited for most jobs at Spedag Uganda, which has created a number of cost implications for the company and negatively affected its effectiveness. It is therefore, against this background that the researcher decided to undertake a study entitled “The effects of recruitment and selection on organizational effectiveness. A case study of Spedag Uganda”.

1.3 Statement of the problem

The effectiveness of an organization's selection system influence bottom-line business outcomes, such as productivity and general performance however this remains like a dream at Spedag Uganda because of hiring process being done haphazardly. It is a common practice at Spedag Uganda of not to follow a proper recruitment and selection procedure overshadowed by the principle of technical know-who – the well connected. Consequently, this has led human resources’ problems and cost implications for Spedag Uganda like ineffective performance, employees’ low morale and lost business opportunities because of the incompetent staffs. Conflicts among Spedag Uganda staffs is a common practise as well as higher levels of labour turmover rates that has seen customer satisfaction levels declining steadily, number of complaints rising and customer turnover rates increasing at Spedag Uganda, a trend that must urgently be reversed.

1.4 Aim / Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of recruitment and selection processes on Spedag Uganda organizational effectiveness.

1.5 Objectives of the Study

The following study objectives directed this research;

Main objective:

To examine the effects of recruitment and selection processes on organizational effectiveness of Spedag Uganda.

Specific objectives:

1. To examine the recruitment and selection policy of Spedag Uganda.
2. To analyse the recruitment and selection process of Spedag Uganda.
3. To assess the effects of recruitment and selection on the organizational effectiveness of Spedag Uganda.

1.6 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the effects of recruitment and selection on the organisational effectiveness of Spedag Uganda?
• What is the recruitment and selection policy of Spedag Uganda?
• How is the recruitment and selection process of Spedag Uganda?
• What are the effects of recruitment and selection on the organizational effectiveness of Spedag?

1.6 Scope of the Study

Subject Scope:

The study focused on how recruitment and selection and affects organisational effectiveness in Spedag Uganda one of the top three Logistics firms in Uganda.

Geographical Scope:

The study was conducted at Spedag Uganda, Plot 3-11 Buvuma Rd, Luzira Kampala the regional main office with the highest number of staffs, major functions, and source of secondary data necessary for this study as compared to the other offices and branches.

Time Scope:

The study will cover a period of 1998-2011 since it is the period that has been marked by an increased number of freight forwarders, carriers, warehouse operators, ship agents & brokers, and clearing agents as opposed to prior 1998 when this sector was a monopoly of Government and a few private companies i.e. Intraship and Panalpin but today, there are over 200 players.

1,8 Significance of the Study

The following are the relevance of this study:

1. The study will be helpful in the streamlining of Spedag Uganda recruitment and selection policies and programmes into an effective one that can influence its efectiveness.
2. The study will provide Spedag Uganda with a recruitment and selection handbook manual on how to hire the best employees in is employment process.
3. The study will highlight the significance of an effective employment system to other firms in influencing organisational effectiveness, and provide them with a handbook on how to carry out successful recruitment and selection process.
4. The study will provide literature for further research studies for IUIU students and others in the field of recruitment and selection in the Ugandan perspective.