The Use of Einternal and Word-of-Mouth Recruitment Methods

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Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill: Research Methods for Business Students, 6th edition, Additional Case Studies Case 2a The use of internal and word-of-mouth recruitment methods A few years ago Mark and Phil thought it would be fun to work together on a piece of research. They also hoped it would benefit their continuing development as researchers. Mark’s research background (strength) has its origins in the recruitment and subsequent mobility of labour. His research methods skills emphasise the quantitative approach, although he had undertaken a variety of qualitative research projects. Phil’s strength is as a mainstream HRM academic with an bias towards understanding the processes of everyday HRM. His research methods skills are mainly qualitative. Unlike many students Mark’s and Phil’s research area was one in which they were aware of the literature. However, despite this, they were in a similar situation to many students. They wanted to undertake a new piece of work that would excite them and be of some practical benefit to organisations. In the early 1990s Mark had carried out a survey of recruitment methods used by local authority employers. This had built on and developed research he had undertaken as part of his doctoral thesis approximately 10 years earlier. While discussing the findings in the coffee shop Phil agreed to take a more detailed look to see whether there was anything of practical significance for managers. During discussion a few weeks later an issue that they felt was fascinating emerged. Throughout the previous decade there appeared to have been a dominance of internal and word-of-mouth recruitment. Internal recruitment is where recruitment is restricted to an organisation’s existing employees. Word-of-mouth is where recruitment relies on the organisation’s existing employees to tell other people in their social networks about the vacancies.

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