Employee Recruitment and Development in Deloitte, HRM Essay Sample

Today, businesses are operating in a competitive environment to which competitive advantage is nearly attained through how well human resources are attracted, developed and retained. As such, the processes of employee recruitment and development are increasingly becoming important to organizations. Employee recruitment is the process of finding and attracting the best-qualified candidates for a job opening in a cost-effective and timely manner (Cascio, 2018). Recruitment process encompasses analyzing job requirements, attracting qualified persons to that job, screening and selecting them, hiring and incorporating them into the organization. The process of incorporating or integrating the employees into the organization is part of the human resource development. Employee development is the process of establishing a path through which personnel skills and competency levels are enhanced with the aim of achieving work efficiencies in the organization (Cascio, 2018). Through development, the employee experiences growth and climbs up the organizational ladder towards realizing the potential of his or her career. To establish a further understanding of the processes of recruitment and development, the paper examines various elements relating to these processes such as recruiting, onboarding and training of employees using Deloitte as a case study company.

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Background of the Company

Deloitte is a multinational professional services network incorporated in the United Kingdom. It is a huge professional service network and is one if the "Big Four" world accounting organizations. Deloitte provides consulting, enterprise risk, tax, audit and financial advisory services. It comprises of about 263,900 professionals in about 150 countries across various territories who have decided to cooperate under Deloitte brand to offer financial services. In the United States, Deloitte was ranked 6th as the largest privately owned organizations as of 2016. In the fiscal year 2017, Deloitte hit high total revenue of $38.8 billion (Integrated Annual Report Cooperatief Deloitte U.A, 2017).

Deloitte's Organizational Chart

Deloitte has a complex organizational chart. At the top level is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Under the CEO are several directors who head the partner member firms in different geographical areas. The directors are the owners of the branch firms. Although each member firm operates under the legal framework of that particular country, these firms operate under a common brand, client service standards, methodologies and professional standards as well as guidelines. As a result, member firms cooperate with the executive team and align their plans and strategies with those of the mother firm.

Recruitment Process

Deloitte considers employees and their talents as the most valuable asset through which value for customers is created. Ingenuity, perseverance, and quality are critical aspects pursuit by the company among its employees. Its key success factor is inclined to the ability to attract, develop and retain the right people (Integrated Annual Report Cooperatief Deloitte U.A, 2017). The company also aims to be a premier career destination with challenging and development opportunities for each employee.

Following the Deloitte's aspirations of being a career developer, the company undertakes a transparent recruitment process for its employees. The recruitment process is conducted at every member firm, but the procedures are almost the same for all member firms. Deloitte commits to the timely and consistent recruitment process for all candidates. The recruitment process is structured into some stages. However, the process may vary depending on service line (The Recruitment Process, 2015).

Usually, the recruitment process involves a recruitment manager who communicates the entire process to each candidate. The first step is screening. Candidates make their applications through an online platform. The application is received and reviewed by a talent team member who is responsible for sourcing for that particular role. The talent team member contacts the applicant within two weeks after reviewing applications. The candidate is informed of an interview which is the second step in the recruitment process.

Interviews are conducted by experienced interviewers drawn from the company. The interview is structured into steps. The first step involves a phone screen with a member of the talent team where the candidate is given a chance to inquire more about the firm and the role. After the first interview, the candidate is invited for a service line interview which is conducted by the members of the particular service line where the candidate will work. Finally, for managerial positions, the candidate may be invited for in-depth interviews regarding motivational and technical fit and is conducted by a partner from the service line the candidate is joining.

The interviews are followed by testing which involves skills based or psychometric tests as may apply to the service line or role. Where tests may not be applicable, the candidate proceeds to pre-employment checks where background and employment references and backgrounds are checked and approved. An employment offer is thus issued by the talent representative and is followed by a written offer through the email to the successful candidate.

Onboarding

Once a new employee is offered a job, he or she joins the organization. At the entry point, onboarding process begins. Onboarding is a process through which the new employee is introduced to the work environment and company culture, filling out various employment forms and learning about history and what is special about the company (Cable, Gino & Staats, 2013). Most organizations believe that onboarding is an opportunity to indoctrinate new employees into the organizational culture to build and retain talent through getting employees to understand and commit to organization's values.

At Deloitte, however, onboarding is a little unique. Once the new employee is offered the job, he or she is emailed an outline of the onboarding steps. On reporting to the company, the new employee is directed to the service line where his or her role is and is introduced to a buddy who will take care of all the concerns of the new employee (The Recruitment Process, 2015). The mate will introduce the new employee, answer all his or her questions and slowly integrate into the role.

The seemingly unique way of onboarding new employees at Deloitte appears to deviate from the obvious traditional onboarding process where a newcomer is usually required to immediately adopt the company's values. In this new approach, Deloitte allows employees to socialize with their workmates and establish a new perspective. This approach conforms to new methods of onboarding as suggested by Cable et al. (2013) where the focus is to encourage new employees to express their unique strengths and perspectives on the job from the beginning and frame their work as what they can best do. Cable et al. (2013) believes in "personal identity socialization" which can be enhanced by onboarding through mates rather than the human resource managers. Peer onboarding makes the newcomer feel comfortable and integrate quickly into the organization's framework.

Often, depending on the onboarding approach, the new employee's 30, 60, 90 days may be characterized by anxiety as the newcomer experiences new working environment and relationships. Onboarding plays a critical role in ensuring that the new hires begin to add value to the organization quickly (DBM & HCI (2011).

At Deloitte, the first 90 days are structured into transitions especially for managerial positions. In the first 30 days, the newcomer is expected to connect with important stakeholders, establish hypothesis regarding critical issues needing attention and establish how to best operate within the organization. Overall, the first 30 days are for the new employee to marinate. In the next 60 days, the newcomer is expected to further connect with stakeholders, build an initial plan to socialize with stakeholders and familiarize with capabilities. By the end of 90 days, the newcomer is expected to be ready to execute all his or her tasks.

Training

Training is a process or a program through which employees learn specific skills or knowledge aimed at enhancing their current roles to achieve high efficiency within the organization (Cascio, 2018). Training helps develop talent and retain the right people to execute the mandate of the organization.

At Deloitte, training is based on the premise that the company is in business with the intention to deliver smart business solutions, innovation and support success of clients. In attaining this goal, skilled employees and inspired leadership are required. Therefore, rich learning and development opportunities are provided during the entire work life. Training is chosen based on the employee's role and service line. Based on the role, there are technical learning programs, skill training courses and management and leadership development programs. Technical learning programs are crafted to ensure that the employee develops necessary "tools" for the role and sustain a knowledge base required to execute responsibilities in that line of business. Skills training courses develop personal qualities and skills needed for particular part of the service line whereas the management and development programs including coaching, presentation techniques and communication and sales help managers develop leadership skills (Life at Deloitte, 2018). These programs are mostly delivered at the organization's Academy, Deloitte University, conferences and day-to-day mentoring processes.

Training ought to take the form of a continuous mentorship throughout the employee's career. In fact, employees who are mentored have increased chances of career success due to sustained development support (Balu, 2016). Mentors act as trusted and critical advisors who offer a sounding board for day-to-day issues at the working experience and provide alternative perspectives on problem identification and solving. Mentoring process helps the employees attain their goals as well as those of the organization (Balu, 2016).

At Deloitte, training assumes mentoring processes as the employee persists in the company for more than five years. The company has a framework known as the "Emerging Leaders Development Program" through which employees from under-represented populations are linked with mentors sent from partner, principal or director level. The mentors commit at least two years of mentoring to the individuals with the aim of helping them shape their careers at the company. For other employees, Deloitte Academy offers them challenging and innovative programs for learning opportunities.

There are various supports for career development at Deloitte. Employees are provided with formal learning, exposure, experiential learning and environmental learning support opportunities (Professional Development, 2018). Also, technology tools are availed for employees to learn. For example, analytic tools reduce time spent in rote tasks such as scouring documents and help them maximize time spent in working alongside clients and applying insight.

There are both formal and informal mentoring systems. Informal mentoring systems entail working with a mentor to identify and develop an individual in areas of strength, examining performance, providing advice and development during entire career (Professional Development, 2018). This is done locally by creatin...