DISCUSSION: RECRUITMENT
Discussion: Recruitment
Hannah Wallace
Masters of Business Administration, Liberty University
BUSI 643: Workforce Planning and Employment
Dr. Mary Jo Odom-Dull
February 4, 2021
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DISCUSSION: RECRUITMENT
Targeted recruitment is utilized by organizations to attract specific segments of the labor
market wherein candidates with specific qualifications or characteristics pertinent to a
specialized job are likely to exist (Henemen III, Judge, & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2019, p. 211).
This approach is favored over open recruitment in that it allows organizations to narrow down a
pool of job applicants by conveying a specific message to a particular audience (p. 211). The
particular audience most often sought after in a targeted recruitment strategy consists of
individuals who have traditionally been underrepresented in the workforce such as minorities and
women (Webster et al., 2020, p. 706). Through the specification of the recruitment message and
prospective employee an organization intends to hire targeted recruitment is considered a fair
recruitment strategy. Indeed, a study conducted by Wille and Derous (2017) revealed that the
perceived fairness of a targeted recruitment strategy by both targeted and non-targeted
prospective employees is largely dependent upon the specific wording of a recruitment message
(p. 537). The study concluded that targeted recruitment messages specifying both surface-level
characteristics (e.g. gender and ethnicity) and deeper-level attributes (e.g. abilities and values)
have a greater chance of attracting the intended applicant than recruitment messages solely
specifying surface-level characteristics (p. 536).
However, despite the intentional detail given within a targeted recruitment message, a
targeted recruitment strategy can still produce negative reactions from those who are not
consistently being targeted (Webster et al., 2020, p. 707). In a series of studies conducted by
Webster et al. (2020) results indicated that non-targeted prospective employees perceived a
higher level of disadvantage and potential negative impact on organizational career advancement
opportunities than did targeted prospective employees (p. 716). Yet, the choice between utilizing
open or targeted recruitment does not have to be an either/or decision, but can be a utilized
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DISCUSSION: RECRUITMENT
simultaneously to achieve organizational recruitment goals. For example, an organization may
use an open recruitment strategy for less critically defined positions and a targeted recruitment
strategy for more necessary specialized positions (Heneman III, Judge, & Kammeyer-Mueller,
2019, p. 212). In combining recruitment strategies organizations can convey a more inclusive
image to prospective employees and ultimately limit negative perceptions of unfairness in an
organization’s hiring process (Webster et al., 2020, p. 708). After all, regardless of the
recruitment strategy pursued by an organization prospective employees will ultimately “pursue
employment with organizations when they feel their societal identity will be affirmed” (Wille &
Derous, 2017, p. 535).
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DISCUSSION: RECRUITMENT
References
Heneman III, H., Judge, T., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. (2019). Staffing organizations (9th ed.).
McGraw-Hill Education.
Webster, B. D., Smith, A. N., Kim, J., Watkins, M. B., & Edwards, B. D. (2020). Recruiting
(dis)advantage: Men’s versus women’s evaluations of gender-based targeted recruitment.
Sex Roles, 83 (11/12), 706-721. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s11199-020-
01138-w.
Wille, L., & Derous, E. (2017). Getting the words right: When wording of job ads affects ethnic
minorities’ application decisions. Management Communication Quarterly, 31 (4), 533-
558. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1177/0893318917699885.
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