The Effect of Environmental Influences on Recruitment and Selection at the Sarova Group of Hotels

Abstract

Recruitment and selection is the main drive in Human Resource Management and it involves searching and obtaining a pool of potential candidates with the desired knowledge, experience and skills and for an organization to select the most appropriate people to fill job vacancies. The objective of the study was to identify the effect of environmental influences on recruitment and selection at the Sarova Group of Hotels. The factors were divided into two, as internal and external elements. Top performing organizations devote considerable resources and energy to creating high quality recruitment and selection systems. The study used the objective factor theory and equity theory. The study reviewed literature on recruitment and selection. In today's rapidly changing business environment, the competitiveness of a hotel is measured through the quality of services offered to customers, and this is through measuring the quality of service offered by employees. Thus, it is important that the best quality of employees are hired and that a well-defined recruitment policy is put in place. Managers must also learn to stay alert and devise ways of dealing with environmental influences. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population consisted of 72 senior management staff from the 9 hotel units at The Sarova Group of Hotels. However only 60 responses were received, out of the 72 questionnaires issued. This was a response rate of 83.33%. The data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires that involved both open ended and close ended questions. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the analysis which included descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviation and the findings presented using tables and graphs. The research findings showed that indeed, internal and external factors studied affected the recruitment and selection processes at the Sarova Hotels. These include working conditions, recruitment and selection policies, orientation and size, brand, reputation and image of the hotel. Also, political factors, economic, technological, legal factors and globalization. The research findings also indicated that not all environmental factors influence the recruitment and selection processes at the Sarova Hotels. For instance, culture, history and traditions, strategy, mission and objectives and societal expectations. Lastly, opportunities for growth, training and development affects the recruitment and selection. This led to the conclusion that recruitment and selection in any organization is a serious process as any organization’s success and effectiveness in service delivery depends on the quality of its workforce. This is seen from the evidence that the identified environmental factors have an effect on the recruitment and selection processes at the Sarova Hotels and that the factors are related and the extent of the effect is not very varied. The research recommends that the hotel should explore other methods of attracting potential candidates to ensure a wider pool of candidates is reached. Candidates may also be allowed to negotiate for pay/ benefits during the hiring process for retention purposes.