The Effectiveness of the Internet As a Recruitment Source and Medium By Bob Van Cleave IDSc Workshop April 5, 2002 Please do not distribute or reference.

The Effectiveness of the Internet As a Recruitment Source and Medium

By

Bob Van Cleave

IDSc Workshop

April 5, 2002

Please do not distribute or reference this material without the permission of the author.

Outline

• Motivation• Definitions• Research Objectives• Recruitment Source Model and Theory• Recruitment Process Model and Theory• Web Site and Information Content Model and Theory• Source and Medium Speculations• Methodology• Results• Limitations• Conclusions

Motivation

• Growth of Internet Recruitment- 88% Companies recruit on their Homepage- “Jobs”/”Employment” 13th most popular terms at Yahoo

• Substantial history of recruitment source research

• Role of the Internet as recruitment source and medium has not been systematically researched

Corporate Web Site Recruiting

Corporate Web Site Recruiting by Global Companies, 1998 - 2001

14% 9%

57%

31%

21%12%

29%

60%79%

88%

1998 1999 2000 2001

Web Site RecruitingNo Web Site RecruitingNo Web Site

Definitions

• Source: Where job seekers aggregate

How to Determine: “How did you first learn about the job?”

Examples: Referrals, newspaper ads, walk-ins, Internet

• Medium: The firm’s Web site & information messages in support of recruitment process

• Job Seeker: Before individual applies for job

• Job Applicant: After person applies for job

• Selectee: After firm extends job offer to applicant

Research Objectives

1. Assess the Effectiveness of the Internet as a Recruitment Source as Compared to Non-Internet Methods

2. Investigate the Special Case of the Information Technology Professional in the Context of Internet Recruitment as a Source

3. Develop Grounded Theory to Improve the Effectiveness of the Internet as a Medium to Support the Recruitment Process

4. Speculate on the Relationship Between the Internet as a Source and Medium in the Context of Recruitment

Recruitment Source Model

RecruitmentSources

IndividualDifferences

InformationRealism

Post-HireOutcomes

Recruitment Source Theory

• Recruitment Effectiveness: Consequences associated with a firm’s decision to choose a recruitment source. (Rynes, Barber, Wanous, Breaugh)

• Three Classes of Variables:

1. Post-Hire Outcomes: Proximal (satisfaction with job, benefits, supervisor, employees, firm commitment;Distal (turnover, promotion, performance)

2. Individual Differences: Demographics (years of experience) and measures about job (job relocation).

3. Information Realism: Realistic Job Preview (job requirements match pre-employment understanding)

Recruitment Process Model

Three Phases of Recruitment Process:

GenerateApplicants

MaintainApplicantInterest

InfluenceJob

Choice

Recruitment Process Theory

Three Major Phases (Barber):1. Generating Applicants (Job Seeker) “Attraction”

Signaling Theory (Rynes, Turban)Person-Organizational Fit (Kristof)

2. Maintaining Interest (Applicant) “Remain Interested”

Relationship Emerging (Barber)Information Realism (Wanous)Timing of Communication (Arvey, Barber)

3. Influencing Job Choice (Selectee) “Accept Job Offer”Objective/Subjective/Critical Contact (Behling)

Relationship Development (Barber)

Web Site Design and Information Content Model

Web Site Design

Information Content

Maintain Interest

Influence Job Choice

Attraction

Web Site Design and Information Content Theory

Web Site Design

Attention (Levi, Medrabian)

Navigational Efficiency (Levi, Conklin, Fleming)

Information

Accuracy (Wang & Strong)

Relevant (Haung, Lee, & Wang)

Source Speculations

Relative to non-WWW sources,

- WWW produces more individuals that expect to stay less with the firm.

- WWW produces more individuals with less experience.

- WWW produces more individuals where the new job requires relocation.

- WWW produces more individuals with less education.

- WWW produces more individuals with better information realism.

- WWW is utilized more as a source for IT individuals.

Medium Speculations

• IT professionals will be very sensitive to the design of the Web site in evaluating whether to apply for a job.

• The Internet has not been effectively employed to support the recruitment process after the job seeker applies for the job.

Research Methodology:Source

• 996 recently hired respondents• Self-enumerated survey (mail or WWW)• Seven Twin Cities organizations• Secondary data• Used a subset of items from first study• Performed statistical tests of difference in

proportions and means using classical statistical methods.

Distribution of Respondents By All Sources

Source Frequency Relative Frequency Within Company 138 14.04 % Family/Friend 203 20.69 Campus Recruiter 170 17.33 Job Fair 31 3.16 Internet 126 12.84 Newspaper, Radio, Television 111 11.31 Headhunter 59 6.01 Self 77 7.85 Other 27 2.75 Professional Network 39 3.98 Total Respondents 981 100.00 %

Distribution of All Respondents By Job Function

Number Number Relative Job Function By Internet Respondents Frequency Accounting/Finance 10 34 29.41 % Advertising 0 2 0.00 Customer Service 2 30 6.67 Distribution 1 11 9.09 Education 6 33 18.18 Engineering 14 141 9.93 Facilities Management 0 5 0.00 Government Relations 1 8 12.50 Human Resources 2 26 7.69 Law 0 8 0.00 Marketing 4 64 6.25 Occupational Health 1 13 7.69 Office Management 13 50 26.00 Patient Care 5 64 7.81 Physician 3 19 15.79 Production Management 3 23 13.04 Public Relations 3 12 25.00 Purchasing 3 10 30.00 Research & Development 7 88 7.95 Sales 10 112 8.93 Information Technology 9 111 8.11 University Faculty 23 73 31.51 Other 6 51 11.76 %

Results: Source (Speculations)

1. WWW produces more individuals that expect to stay less with the firm.- Not significant for All and IT groups.

2. WWW produces more individuals with less experience.- Not significant for All group; IT group with more experience.

3. WWW produces more individuals where the new job requires relocation.- Not significant for All and IT groups.

4. WWW produces more individuals with less education.- All group more educated; IT group less educated.

Results: Source (Speculations)

5. WWW produces more individuals with better information realism.

- Significant for All and IT groups.

6. WWW is utilized more as a source for IT individuals

- Disconfirmed. IT group = 8.1%; All Group = 12.84%

Results: Source All Respondents

• 12.8% sourced through WWW. These individuals tended to:

- Be more educated- Receive a lower salary- Have better information realism- Find their work and job more satisfying- Feel their pay/benefits are unfair- Feel less opportunity for advancement- Feel better about the people they worked with

Results: SourceIT Respondents

• 8.1% sourced through WWW. These individuals tended to:

- Be older- Be less educated- Be more experienced- Less likely to be changing job type- Have better information realism- Feel that pay/benefits are fair- Feel less opportunity for advancement- Feel better about their supervisor- Feel better about the people they work with- Have better overall job satisfaction- Put in more effort in job- Feel their values matched the firm’s values

Results: Source (IT versus All Respondents)

IT WWW RespondentsOlderMore experiencedLess educatedPay/benefits fairNo salary differenceMore organizational commitment

Better information realismLess opportunity for advancement

Feel better about people work with

All WWW RespondentsNo age differenceNo experience differenceMore educatedPay/benefits unfairLower salaryNo commitment difference

= Better information realism= Less opportunity for advancement= Feel better about people work

with

Statistically Significant Variables: All Respondents

NOT WWW WWW P-VALUE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Percent with Graduate Degree 46.03 36.69 .048 * How did You First

Learn About Job (%) 12.84 87.16 .000 * Annual Salary (000) 49.22 55.57 .036 * INFORMATION REALISM/REALISTIC JOB PREVIEW Knew What Job Entailed 4.07 3.79 .006 * Knew Duties and Responsibilities 3.94 3.71 .034 * Overall Index 4.07 3.90 .035 * POST-HIRE OUTCOMES Work Satisfying (% Yes) 81.45 70.84 .006 * Overall Work Index 1.47 1.34 .040 * Pay/Benefits Fair (% Yes) 73.39 81.21 .062 Well Paid (% Yes) 29.27 36.89 .085 Good Opportunity to

Advance (% Yes) 50.00 58.14 .090 People Helpful (% Yes) 98.37 93.30 .000 * People Intelligent (% Yes) 97.56 90.36 .000 * People Overall Index 1.72 1.60 .004 * Overall Job Satisfaction 4.31 4.17 .067

Research Methodology:Medium

• Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin)

• Twenty IT personnel from nine firms

• Primary data

• Semi-structured personal interviews

• Recently hired (<6 months)

Results: Medium (Speculations)Sensitive to Web Site Design

-Must be Easy Finding Jobs

GENERATE APPLICANTS

POSITIVE OUTCOMES PERSON COUNT

Easy to Use 1,6,9,10,19 5 Track Progress 3 1 Structural 5 1 Easy to Find Jobs 7,8,9,10,14,17,19,20 8 Link to Yahoo/Finance 10 1 Quick Links 11 1 Easy to Apply 14 1 Links Work Properly 16 1 Permit Job Search Agent 19 1

Results: Medium (Speculations)Internet Not Being Employed Effectively

-No One Experienced Intranet CapabilityOutcomes Person Freq Have Not Seen This 4,8,9,10,12,13,14,

15,17,18,19 11 People Information Important 2,5,7,9,10,11,12,

15,16,17,19,20 12 People Information Unimportant4,6 2 Job/Work Important 2,6,7,8,9,12,14,

17,18,20 10 People > Job/Work 5,9 2 People < Job/Work 12,17 2 Organization Chart 2,15 2 Information Technology 2,5,14,17 4 Projects 5,8,17,19 4 Career Paths 5 1 Where Firm is Going 4 1 Show Too Interested if Access Too Often 4,14 2 Have Access Before Interview 5,11,13,19 4 Nice Touch 8 1 Access To Internal Job Openings 9 1 Pictures/Video of Work Environment 10,14 2 Benefits Important 10,11,14,15,19 4 People: Experience>Education 11 1 Education at Group Level Only 12,13,18 3 Great use of WWW Technology 13 1 Job Grade Details 13 1 Benefits > Others 14 1 Work Environment > Others 16 1 Attrition Rate of Employees 16,18 2 People: Degrees, Names 16,17 2 Jobs That Match 17 1 How Long Been With Firm 18,19 2 Projects > Others 18 1 Work > Others 19 1 Project > People 20 1

Results: Internet as Medium

ANTECEDENTS OF ATTRACTION Available Jobs Job Descriptions Easy to Navigate Company Information Ease of Applying Appealing Web-Site

FACTORS FOR MAINTAIN INTEREST Feedback Content of Feedback Online Testing Company Information Access to Internal Job Postings Access to People

FACTORS FOR INFLUENCE JOB CHOICE

Complete Benefit Profile Short-Term Work Plan Office Descriptors Access to People Short-term Training

ATTRACTION

MAINTAIN INTEREST

INFLUENCE JOB CHOICE

Example of Data: Relevant Information in Support of Influence Job Choice Phase

POSITIVE OUTCOMES PERSON COUNT Salary Reports 6,8,17 3 Prospects for Promotion 7 1 Prospects for Raises 7 1 Benefits 7,8,9,10,14,15 17,18,19,20 10 Rules for Job 7 1 Email Addresses of Personnel 10,17,19 3 Chat Room to Post Questions 10 1 Short-term Work Plan 11,12,15,18,20 5 People 13,16,18 3 Full Intranet Access 13,20 2 Electronic New Hire Packet 13 1 Training 14,15,18,20 4 Compensation 15 1 Job Objectives 15 1 Office Location/Details 16,29 2 Policies for Changing Jobs 19 1

Results: Internet as Medium Including Intranet Access and Timing

ANTECEDENTS OF ATTRACTION * Information -Available Jobs -Job Descriptions -Firm Information * Web-Site Design -Easy to Navigate -Ease of Applying -Appealing Web-Site

FACTORS FOR MAINTAIN INTEREST * Before Applicant Interview -Intranet Level 1 * After Applicant Interview -Intranet Level 2

FACTORS FOR INFLUENCE JOB CHOICE

* Before Selectee’s Decision -Intranet Level 3 * After Selectee’s Decision -If Yes: Intranet Level 4 -If No: Evaluation

ATTRACTION

MAINTAIN INTEREST

INFLUENCE JOB CHOICE

Some Grounded Tentative Conclusions

• Feedback: 85.7% satisfied with reply within one day.• Online Testing: 60% satisfied if <30 min.• Applicants want to be able to check the status of their

application.• Level 1: Information useful for interview• Level 2: Work-group focus: projects completed,

technologies employed, people• Level 3: Individualized focus/personalized

information: their benefits, training, work plan; contact list for selectee questions.

• Level 4: “Full” access.

Relationship Between Internet as Source and Medium

Internet As A Source: Dependent Variables (DV)

Internet As A Medium: Independent Variables (IV)

Relationship: Can Medium (IV) Explain/Predict Source Results (DV)?

Example Relationship:

IT at 8.1% and All at 12.8% (% Sourced WWW)

Is there an explanation or hypothesis concerning the Internet as a medium that could explain or predict why this source result occurred? One could hypothesize that: IT professionals found the Web sites of the hiring firms in the source study to be unattractive or unappealing because of certain Web site characteristics. Because these undesirable features were observed, the IT job seekers concluded that the IT organization of these firms are not delivering on leading-edge technology. This feedback provided such a strong signal to the job seeker that he/she decided not to apply.

Limitations

• Self-reported measures• Twin Cities geographical area• Current labor market• No access to job seekers; job applicants that

withdrew; or selectees that said no• No long-term data on employee turnover or

performance• Small number of IT professionals sourced through

the Internet.

Conclusions

- Source effects confirmed; good baseline established- More educated (Internet as source)- Lower salary (Internet as source)- Less opportunity for advancement (Internet as source)- Information realism (Internet as source)- IT professionals may not be adopting as quickly the Internet as a recruitment source- Intranet Access for Phase 2 and 3 (Personalization)