Recruiting: Obtaining and Retaining Employees, Article Review Example

Recruiting practices for various positions differ completely amongst industries. Between corporate recruiting and staffing agencies, methods of finding, interviewing, hiring and retaining employees are also very subjective. During bad economies with alarmingly high unemployment rates, the process of finding qualified candidates can daunting. While this does not necessarily mean that candidates are not available, it does indicate that there are many more resumes and submissions through which hiring managers must sort. As a result, this presents a challenge that can potentially cost time and money when it comes to searching for, interviewing, hiring and subsequently training new employees. Because of the risks involved with hiring on new personnel in tough economies, it is extremely important for companies to maintain diligence when it comes to hiring and retaining personnel. In the article ‘Best Practices: Recruiting and Retaining Talented Employees’ from Microsoft Office System, many assertions are made in order to provide a solid guideline for companies struggling with their current hiring practices.

The entirety of the article ‘Best Practices: Recruiting and Retaining Talented Employees’ is an excellent starting point for Human Resources departments which was designed specifically with struggling companies in mind. It takes a definitive stance on the problems that many companies are facing in regards to hiring qualified employees and then successfully maintaining them. Many of the focal points of this article are problems which routinely affect the daily operations and the long term success that companies have during tough economic times. It provides resources and alternatives for organizations to look into to help establish themselves as a competitive employer and overall financially successful company.

The point of the article itself is to help the reader determine whether or not the hiring and retention practices that his or her company is using are correct. It offers tips and advice on how to streamline HR departments’ hiring process to ensure that candidates are hired who are not only qualified, but are more likely to stay at the company. It further expounds upon how companies can determine and solidify a candidate’s excitement for and commitment level to the position before determining whether or not they should be hired for employment.

While the author and his or her qualifications are unknown, he or she specifically wrote this article to be a part of the Microsoft Office System and to aid those who utilize Microsoft’s products in a professional capacity. The viewpoint of the article takes on the approach that many company’s financial problems lay in how they approach hiring the candidates and how they subsequently treat them after the employee has begun work.

Using a combination of asserted facts and inferences to make the point of the article hit home to a variety of potential companies who might be reading it, the article approaches the problem with tact and shows true merit in its proposed solutions. To help the reader relate to the point the article is trying to make, the author brings up the fact that since September 11^th, 2001 companies around the nation have been rocked by extensive layoffs and illicit scandals.  In addition, it asserts that American citizens have become further disillusioned with their sense of security. As a result, it infers that employees across the board have been restructuring how they approach their careers and personal lives. Because of this new pervading attitude and change in perspective, employers have had to shift their business operations as well. As a result of this, business practices need to shift from focusing on tangible assets such as factories and buildings to intangible assets such as their workforce. Because 9/11 has caused employees to shift how they are approaching their careers, businesses need to shift how they treat their employees to also maximize retention and consequently their profits.

In terms of the strength of the article, the mission statement of what point it is trying to convey is extremely clear. From the beginning, the reader know that this is a how-to article aimed at businesses who might be struggling with the labor costs incurred during the hiring process for new employees and their subsequent retention. It is very definitive when it comes to emphasizing the need for businesses to rethink their approach in regards to how human resources comes into play with hiring and retaining personnel. It also has an extremely thorough follow through in not only determining what the problem probably is for most organizations, but also how they can overcome this. As a result, the article immediately engages the reader.

What really solidifies the point of the article is the fact that opinions and suggestions are not only limited specifically to the author. Thoughts, ideas and feedback from other credible sources are also incorporated into this how-to, including people such as Gary S. Becker, a Nobel Prize winning economist. These thoughts lend credence to point the author of the article is trying to make. Another winning point of this article’s effectiveness is how it elaborates the potential solutions. Instead of limiting the idea that employers need to maximize retention, it goes into further detail for how to do so. Listing options such as awarding appropriate compensation plans, looking into employee stock option plans and doing market research enables the article to further appeal to its reader and subsequently provide realistic help and advice.

While the article was extremely thorough in its determination of the problems at hand and their potential solutions, at times the sentence structure was discombobulated and nonsensical. Trying to get through certain parts was slow; some sentences and phrases had no discernable point and seemed more like filler than anything of relevance. Another shortcoming is that while in some instances the author did well in expounding upon what they meant, other times they did not tie in the relevance. For instance, the article cited several points and indicating that these points were all interrelated, but the author bypassed the description is to why they were, which left the reader to wonder how that connection was even made.

Aside from several sentences scattered throughout the article being confusing, the overall point of the work was very good. It offered an argument that was strongly supported and was very clear in the point it was trying to make. It successfully identified the problem as being companies’ lack of willingness to shift from different priorities and realizing the importance of focusing on the workforce. By listing these, if the reader was a business executive, it gave him or her a way to not only maximize hiring practices, but also how they as a company can discern themselves from the competition as an employer of choice.

For the most part, the article was well written and well thought out in terms of its opinions on the source of problems and potential solutions. It identified a problem that companies are facing today; finding a qualified workforce on a much shorter budget, which is a very real challenge many organizations are facing. However, at the same time this was clearly written at a point where jobs were outpacing the amount of employees available; currently the market is looking at a trend where employees are the ones outpacing the jobs. Regardless, the point it makes is nonetheless accurate in emphasizing that good hiring and retention practices are crucial to a stable business.

Of the entire article, only two points in particular stand out as being potentially arguable.  On a sideline of the article, an assertion is made that HR departments should outsource less strategic functions like benefits, compensation and administration. This suggestion is very questionable in the sense that doing so would quite possibly counteract the assertion that companies need to initially focus on the employees rather than the profits. Additionally, outsourcing can be timely and costly; completely counterproductive to what the rest of the article is trying to help companies improve upon. For outsourcing compensation especially, this completely diverts away from the company taking a personalized approach of individualizing and personalizing their interactions with their internal staff.

While it does a thorough job of offering information on how to improve upon retention practices, it places virtually no importance upon how to improve hiring practices. Making sure that companies are taking the correct approach to sourcing, interviewing and hiring the right candidates is also crucial to the enhancement of overall operations.

The information that was given within this article is extremely important to management of various business operations because it offers a completely unbiased and objective option as to what companies may be doing wrong. It takes information that has been accumulated over the past nine years and puts it in a very relatable narrative that can provide extremely practical solutions for problems that companies might be facing. The solutions offered are simple and diverse. It is not an article which only points a finger, but it also offers solutions which companies can instantly implement. It also does not alienate readers because it treats the problem as if it is one which is universal. It does not pick out specific players who are guilty of neglecting certain aspects of their business. Instead, it takes an economical approach to explain the shortcomings and applies them to the majority of large corporations.

Someone reading this article can take this information and directly compare it to what they are currently doing within their organization. With this comparison, he or she can determine whether or not something is already being done which is similar to the proposed solutions or not. With that information, he or she can also determine if the solutions are applicable in their ability to be successfully applied to his or her company. From here, a person can then determine whether or not he or she would need to change anything within his or her own department and compare it to what was being done beforehand. With information being made available from these two different approaches, the person can then determine which implementation is more successful for how his or her business operates. It can then subsequently instill a sense of confidence that something is being done to recognize and maximize everyone’s talents and contributions.

Regardless of the circumstances in which a particular company finds themselves, whether or not they are successful in their business endeavors is entirely contingent upon how they analyze market trends and whether or not they react accordingly. Different companies operate with different standards, and as a result successful operational models might not always be interchangeable amongst businesses. However, with the assistance of articles like “Best Practices: Recruiting and Retaining Talented Employees”, companies at least can find footholds to try out as they continue to explore ways to expound upon their current organizational successes.

Works Cited

“Best Practices: Recruiting and Retaining Talented Employees.” Microsoft Office System and Your HR Organization. 1-5.