Abstract

The study set out to examine the effect of recruitment and selection policies on organizational performance in the case of Njieforbi enterprise Buea., (a) To identify the type of recruitment and selection policies and procedures at Njieforbi enterprise Buea, (b) To find out some of the challenges in recruitment and selection practices at Njieforbi enterprise Buea, (c) To make recommendations on how to improve on recruitment and selection practices.

From these objectives, two research questions were formulated and hypotheses state in both null and alternative forms were equally formulated. The study adopted the case study research design with a sample of 11 management staff that is the management staff of Njieforbi enterprises Buea, through a Purposive sampling technique and stratified random sampling. The study used a questionnaire for data collection.

Result of the study revealed that Njieforbi enterprise Buea has policy guiding the recruitment and selection of employees, also it was revealed that, in most cases, the recruitment and selection processes at Njieforbi enterprise was often influenced by socio-cultural factors. In addition, the null hypothesis was rejected in favour of the alternative hypothesis. It was, therefore, concluded that performance appraisal has a significant effect on the growth and development of an organization.

The study recommends that management should improve both the financial and non-financial rewards/compensation in the organization relative to those of its competitors. This would strengthen the position of the company in attracting and retaining the best talents.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The evolution of recruitment and selection of employee can be dated back to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome through the way in which people wrote things down about themselves to give a potential employer, initiating the concept of a CV. However, the birth of modern recruitment as we know began in the 1940s as the result of the second world war.

The calling of soldiers to war left a gap in the work-place a solution was born; the employment agencies began to advertise for a member of society who was not called into military service, to fill the vacancies in the workplace left by those who went to war (Kerryn, 2018).

By the 1950s people were creating resumes depicting their current personal profiles and skills. The main focus of the recruiter then was to ensure that candidates were satisfied and found employment. However, by 1970 along with the booming economy, there was a shift of focus, recruiter began to work for the client as an increasing amount of corporate and expanding businesses began to outsource the hiring needs of the employment agencies.

The main tool for recruitment were bulletin boards, which slowly led to advertisements in newspapers. Recruitment depended extensively on word of mouth and face to face applications. The storage of information was a challenge as agencies would have to store files and achieves masses of CVs written on paper, making applications difficult to access and sort through.

With the invention of the computer, arrived applicant tracking systems and candidate database which made storage and accessibly of the CVs much easier for the recruiter. By the mid-’90s, with the arrival of the world-wide-web or internet, recruiters were treated to the users of online classifieds and jobs advertising as well as an online database.

The concept of head-hunting became more popular and the focus on skill apparent. With the growth and improvement of the internet as an accessible research tool, recruiters start to use online job portals as a resource to access the candidate’s CVs. Today “Pnet” and “career junction” are popular resource used in South-African recruiters for exposure to thousands of CVs. Since 2010, more people are using social networking sites to recruit staff as well as apply for jobs.

Throughout the history of recruitment, one aspect remained the same; it always changing. The attracting, screening and selection of candidates in whatever circumstance or period, using whichever tool available has always had the same purpose, placing a candidate in a vacancy and the environment in which this has taking place has been changing and evolving since 1940 and will continue to do so.

the history of recruitment in Cameroon can trace back to the colonial period. when the German annexed Cameroon, they need free and cheap labour to work in their plantations, the employment the European used in recruiting their work in Cameroon was based on physical power and resist diseases.

When Cameroon gain its independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s the came up with laws that govern the recruitment of an employee in an organization.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Despite the existence of the best policies in recruitment and selection of employees, some organizations and managers resort to unconventional ways in recruiting and selecting their employees.  For example, in some organizations, The CEO may single-handedly appoint an employee to a key position in the company without recourse to any laydown policy.

This usually results in square pegs in round holes or people in positions they are not qualified for or have no knowledge about. For example, an unqualified accountant who was hired because of his affiliation with the CEO of a company may negligently record or post transactions wrongly causing financial damage to the customers.

Such actions may open-up the company to legal sue and high compensation claims (Gomez- Mejia, 2007). Such practices hurt business organizations with most of them collapsing. Some organizations may even go bankrupt due to bad recruitment and selection decisions.

Employing a large number of employees do not guarantee high company performance, because if such employees have little skills and knowledge, their productivity will be low and their contribution will be minimal (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007).

On the other hand, where a company is able to hire qualify, skilful and talented staff, all other things being equal, the employees will be effective and productive in their job, and the company will be able to produce to meet its customers demand and operational schedules.

Mistakes in the recruitment process can have serious consequences for companies ‘survival and success. (Storey et al., 2009). Contrary to this premise and as cited above, information from the Cameroon National Institute of Statistics (2006) reveals

that underemployment in the country which stands at 68.3% is a product of corruption and discriminatory practices by some employers. Recruitment policies often include issues about considering internal applications, developing existing employees, handling and processing applications in a fast and proper way, not exaggerating or making false claims in the job advertisement and not discriminating in any way (Stredwick, 2000).

The high rate of underemployment in the country is an indication that most recruitment strategies are flawed. Nowadays, many organizations are collapsing, while others are not able to meet up with the ever-changing business world. Thus this researcher, therefore, intends to investigate the effect of effective recruitment and selection policies on an organizational performance case study of Njieforbi enterprise Buea.

1.3 Research Question

The following questions serve as the basis for the stated objectives:

(a) What type of recruitment and selection policies and procedures exist at Njieforbi enterprise Buea.?

 (b) What are some of the challenges in recruitment and selection practices at Njieforbi enterprise Buea.?

(c) How can effective recruitment and selection practices be improved at Njieforbi enterprise Buea.?

1.4 Objective of the study

The main objective of the study was to examine the effect of effective recruitment and selection policies on organizational Performance in case of Njieforbi enterprise Buea.

1.4.1 Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of the study are:

(a) To identify the type of recruitment and selection policies and procedures at Njieforbi enterprise Buea.

 (b) To find out some of the challenges in recruitment and selection practices at Njieforbi enterprise Buea.

(c) To make recommendations on how to improve on recruitment and selection practices.