Introduction:
Organizational performance has been considered as a broad concept with the prolific similarities about efficiency, competitiveness, productivity and effectiveness. On the other hand references to human resource productivity have been a larger concern for social researchers as well as economists. The extraction of desired output from the workforce is identified as one of the generic pitfalls faced by management.
Hence the formidable linkages among HRM activities and organizational performance have been brought forward by many theorists. The contributions of plausible HRM practices and policies to the improvement of organizational performance in the context of all functional departments and core business functions are imperatively observed. Furthermore, the increasing levels of competition could also be accounted for the proliferation of concerns related to the acquisition of higher market share and increased volume of sales of competitors.
Technological advancements, globalization and a variety of industry and business environment-specific factors could also be accounted as profound influences on the HRM strategies followed by organizations. The educational industry has also been subject to the plausible impacts of globalization thereby relying on the acquisition of students from foreign and domestic jurisdictions. The facilities for capitalizing on economies of scale could be aptly utilized by the educational institutes by obtaining a higher influx of foreign students. The following report considers the case of Queensland University of Technology in Australia which has potential capabilities for providing educational services in the disciplines of engineering, general studies, architecture, building and chemistry.
The organization faces substantial competition from peers due to the drastic evolution of the Australian education sector thereby inviting concerns about recruiting a competent workforce. The report presented below reflects on a brief overview of QUT, identification of the HRM issue, the factors such as organizational reputation, labour supply or demand and demographic issues and the recruitment strategies followed by the organization.
Identification of the issue:
The Queensland University of Technology has progressed a long way in the domain of the Australian education sector as it has been through a history that can be traced long back to 1849. Initially, the institute was founded as the Brisbane School of Arts which was dedicated to drawing classes, lectures and public debates which gradually branched into the domains of technology, business studies, general studies, architecture and other academic disciplines. However, the critical assessment of the specific HRM function of recruitment for improving the performance of organizational objectives in the case of QUT is prominently observed owing to the increasing competition and the implications for the organization to improve its image by providing higher scholarships and incentives to interns and foreign students. The operations of QUT are expanded over its three campuses hence the recruitment of an efficient workforce for facilitating international students with viable opportunities to accomplish exposure, global knowledge and experiential information.
Concerns for a diversified workforce are also observed profoundly in the case of QUT according to the existing competitive scenario that can be catered to by appropriate modifications in the HRM strategy about recruitment. Finally, the market analysis predicts opportunities for increasing the number of campuses across Australia thereby impinging on the requirement for modification in the recruitment strategy followed by the organization presently.
The identification of specific factors that affect the recruitment process alongside helping in the formulation of specific strategies that could improve the outcomes of the recruitment process is a mandatory requirement for QUT to address the competitive situation posed for the organization.
Factors affecting recruitment:
Organizational image:
The concerns for organizational reputation in the specific industry are considerably impactful on the strategic performance of the organization especially in terms of core business functions such as marketing and recruitment. The impact of organizational image on the HR function of recruitment can be validated on the grounds of the requirement for an appealing image to attract a competent workforce. The dimension of organizational image is perceived as a formidable indicator of the applicant’s interest in accomplishing employment in the concerned organization.
The definition of organizational image has been generically illustrated as the global impression of the enterprise perceived by people along with the prominence of flexible structures about information and beliefs about the organization. The organizational image is reflective of the overall reasoning derived from the interrelationships among employees, applicants, customers and investors and is often perceived as a guideline for categorization, storage and recalling data about the organization. The profound impact of organizational image on the psyche of applicants could be perceived in the early stages of recruitment wherein the applicants are vaguely aware of the primary job description and organizational attributes.
This creates implications for applicants determining the attractiveness of an organization based on its general image. Therefore quality as well as quantity of the applicant pool can be significantly affected by the organization’s brand image alongside indicating profound implications for long-term impacts in the subsequent stages of the recruitment process. The final decisions of applicants could also change based on their impression of the organizational processes during the recruitment strategy.
Reflecting on the case of QUT, the organization has a formidable brand image in the Australian education sector with a formidable expanse across three campuses and a wide-ranging assortment of academic disciplines. The student strength of QUT as well as the potential strengths of the organization such as community reputation and efficient infrastructure could be accounted as noticeable contributors to the organizational image thereby implying positive implications for the HRM strategy about recruitment.
Demographics:
Queensland University of Technology must also consider the implications of demographic issues which could alter the recruitment process outcomes. The foremost threat identified from the internal audit of the company is the risk of losing experienced staff. However, the organization has to reflect critically on the impact of the demographic issue of an ageing workforce since most of the experienced staff in the university are above the age of 55.
Therefore, the concerns for acquiring candidates with equivalent competencies that can address the position of the retiring workforce are observed as crucial factors influencing the recruitment strategy of the university.
Apart from the issue of an ageing workforce, the university faces the formidable requirement for addressing the concerns of diversity in the workforce. The increasing number of international students and the accessible opportunities for leveraging economies of scale can be considered as a viable rationale for introducing diversification in the workforce. Diversification has to be aligned with the existing organizational HRM framework for accomplishing feasible outcomes such as offering opportunities for international students to become comfortable with the new educational environment by interacting with teachers from their native countries.
Labour supply and demand:
Labour supply and demand can be assumed as significant dimensions of workforce planning which refer to the estimation of the particular characteristics of the requirements of educational institutes and the features of the candidates in the labour market. The promising indicators such as the levels of educational qualification and the demarcations of male and female labour supply available in the market could be utilized by QUT to determine the prospects for designing its recruitment process.
The demand for labour is perceived as high in the case of QUT with the essential characteristics of experience and post-graduate educational qualifications. Furthermore, the implications of gender and cultural diversity could also be noticed formidably in the case of labour supply and demand and their impact on the HRM function of recruitment in QUT. The labour market is also accountable for certain regulations and legislations that refer to employment laws and policies. QUT has to comply with governmental regulations and trade union policies to provide appropriate remuneration and benefits to the workforce.
A critical reflection on the labour supply and demand factor in the context of the HRM strategic changes in QUT for recruitment function suggests that the university faces profound limitations concerning the dimension of experience in the workforce which is difficult to replace and would be a formidable demand characteristic.
Recruitment strategies:
The implementation of strategic HRM practices has been formidably noticed in the case of short-term scenarios that imply detrimental consequences for the organizations. Therefore, the application of recruitment strategies according to varying organizational requirements can be associated with the case study of QUT to obtain viable process outcomes. The organization can consider the two distinct forms of recruitment strategies such as branding and advertising. Branding would be inclusive of the improvement of the employer’s identity that is reflective of plausible opportunities for accessing the desired candidate pool for recruitment.
The generic definitions of an employer brand as depicted in the literature refer to the intangible agreement between the organization and the people or particular attributes which dictate the attractiveness of the organization. The significant outcomes of the employer branding initiatives can also be assumed as reasonable contributors to the development and propagation of organizational culture in the marketplace.
The branding of the employer is also associated with the long-term implications for the development of perceptions and awareness of employees as well as stakeholders indicating the presence of supporting outcomes. The acquisition of viable platforms for the recruitment of potential employees and helping the existing employees to associate better with the organizational image could also be perceived as notable outcomes of employer branding. The necessity for employer rebranding can be perceived in the dynamics of the organizational environment such as demographic changes, variable attitudes towards work and the transition of structure of human resource competencies.
The concerns for factors such as demographic issues and their impact on the recruitment strategy can be addressed through the rebranding and introducing relevant modifications such as decreasing the working age population which can refer to improvement in the outcomes for recruitment and retention of appropriate employees in the organization. QUT should also consider the application of employer branding to leverage the competencies of the same to address the consequences of globalization.
The realization of the target customer segment of the university is aligned with the concerns from the globalization of the education industry and Australia’s flexible policies for international students to acquire education which attracts foreign students. Therefore employer branding would have to be realized from the scope of improved information and communication technologies that could help in the realization of effective branding for the different campuses of the organization leading to comprehensive outcomes in recruitment. Competitiveness observed in the Australian education sector from the external audit suggests the validity of considering the recruitment strategy of employer branding.
The essential dimensions of talent management could be integrally associated with the impact of employer branding that implies the acquisition of flexible opportunities for retention of talented employees i.e. experienced teachers in this case. Furthermore, transparency is also accounted as a promising outcome of employer rebranding that could assist stakeholders as well as potential applicants to obtain a lucid impression of the organizational image.
Development of an employer brand could be subject to the utilization of distinct measures such as advertising and merchandising which refers to the customer side. In the context of the recruitment process, the creation of an employer brand is largely reflective of the value proposition of the organization to employees.
This suggests that the unique value proposition could be flexibly communicated to employees and potential applicants. External marketing of employer brands has also been perceived as a notable recommendation for improving the recruitment strategy of the Queensland University of Technology.
Advertising is the mandatory ingredient required for the efficiency of strategic performance of the recruitment process since it is accountable for access to a larger share of the talent pool available in the labour market of the Australian education sector. The proliferation of technological advancements can be utilized to the advantage of QUT’s advertising process to leverage the facilities of online promotion and communication opportunities for accomplishing desired outcomes in response to the competitive scenario presented for the university.
Conclusion:
The report presented an overview of the strategic management of the HRM practice of recruitment in a case study organization, Queensland University of Technology. The description of the organizational background and rationale for the strategic HRM issue faced based on the external analysis of the organization has also been provided in the report. The report also illustrates the factors that could influence the recruitment strategy thereby impinging potential impact on the HRM framework of QUT. Finally, the report emphasizes the implementation of an employer rebranding strategy that could be complemented by the utilization of advertising as an external marketing source and accto ess a wider talent pool for the recruitment function of HRM.
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