Ethics in Recruitment

An ethical organization gives necessary credence to its brand as an eminent employer. As a result, applicants tend to be more trusting. It has a positive impact on the applicant experience and the recruitment metrics. It also lays the necessary foundation for a lasting relationship with an employer.

Let us take a tour of some unethical practices that exist in recruitment. 

1. Retracting offers made during a campus visit
2. Charging an applicant for placement services
3. Sharing questions of selection tests or confidential information with the applicants
4. Selections based on referrals and non-merit-based criteria.
5. Misleading or non-existent job descriptions or both
6. Discrimination of applicants is not only unethical but also illegal

Many of these may not be illegal but are not morally correct. Imagine a student’s plight waiting to join an organization after graduation, and then the offer is rescinded. It demoralizes an applicant and can also severely harm the credibility of the brand irreversibly.

Immorality in any form dilutes the applicant experience and dents the employer brand.

Ethics is a system of moral principles that are driven by an organization and individual conscientiousness. In recruitment it concerns with what is good for all the stakeholders of the recruiting process.

Enabling Ethics 

In real-time, recruiters are expected to produce results in a fiercely competitive environment. Therefore, the organizations must provide them with the necessary support. If the war for talent has to be won, necessary investments in the right tools and processes have to be fostered in a reassuring culture of competence to create an unbeatable employer value proposition. 

Fail-Safe Hiring adopts a candidate centric approach with a framework of ethics at its core, a framework that drives the importance of commitment, consciousness, and competence.

The Fail-Safe Hiring philosophy that encourages Ethical recruitment

The recommendations in Fail-Safe Hiring lend itself to Ethical recruitment. It has the propensity to quell any acts unethical in nature.

Fail-Safe Hiring emphasizes the importance of Ethics through the Recruiter’s Oath and philosophy on Respect for Recruitment.

Respect for Recruitment reflects the pride that a recruiter must have about the profession. Second, it reminds the recruiter that the recruiter’s action impacts the lives of people and the responsibility associated with the trade. Third, it stresses the sanctity associated with the tenets of recruitment. Fourth, it underscores the importance of evolving into a human being and a competent professional. Finally, it prescribes that the recruiter must be the change the recruiter wishes to see.

The Recruiter’s Oath defines the DNA of an endearing and enduring recruiter,   emphasizing the importance of empathy, sensitivity, responsibility, integrity, efficiency, competence, alacrity, objectivity, transparency, communication and relationship.

The recurring theme of Fail-Safe Hiring is the Responsibility to stakeholders

The Fundamental Responsibility: Revisiting the Foundations

A primary aim for all business organizations is to add value to their stakeholders. In the corporate sector, this translates to making a profit.

The fortunes of organizations are dependent on the employee who works in these organizations. An organization is as good as the people it employs. Hence great care is required to recruit the right person for the right job. The damage that a wrong recruit can cause can be severe, and sometimes an opportunity is lost irreversibly.

The fortunes of the applicant are also affected by the actions of the recruiter. Therefore, the recruiter must be conscious that the recruiter is dealing with the life and career of the applicant. Consequently, it is essential to take adequate care and ensure that the applicant gets the right job.

The recruiter has a great responsibility. The recruiter can ill afford to put the applicant or the organization at risk.

A resume that adversely affects the fortunes of an organization is a NO.

A job opportunity that endangers an applicant’s career is also a NO.

Jack Welch’s quote about competitiveness resonates with ethical behavior

Integrity must be the foundation of competitiveness. Excellence and competitiveness aren’t incompatible with honesty and integrity.