Recruitment is the process of creating a pool of potential employees in an organization to fulfill the human needs. It aims to attract a high performing workforce in the organization. It is a positive function persuading people to apply for work.

According to DeCenzo and Robbins, “Recruiting is the discovering of potential candidates for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies.” Similarly, according to Edwin B. Flippo, “Recruitment is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs.

Thus, recruitment is a linking activity that brings together those with job to fill and those seeking job. In addition, it aims to attract the qualified and not attract the unqualified.

The need of recruitment in any organization is because of two reasons:

1. Mobility of Human resources: It is due to transfer, promotion, retirement, resignation, dismissal, disability and death of employees.
2. Growth of business: It is due to expansion, diversification, acquisition, growth, job redesign and technology up gradation.

Factors affecting recruitment:

1. Size of the organization.
2. Employment condition in the community.
3. Labour turnover in an organization.

Sources of Recruitment:

The sources of recruitment can be classified into two groups:

1. Internal Sources
2. External Sources

1. Internal Sources: The sources within the organization are internal sources. For examples; promotion, transfer, rehires, job rotation etc.

1. Promotion: Through the information from the HR inventory and succession planning, the potential candidates that can be upgraded or promoted can be determined. Since it is a vertical upward movement effective recruitment can be ascertained through this source.
2. Transfer: Potential candidates that can be transferred are determined; this serves as an important source of internal recruitment. It is a horizontal movement, which helps the employees to expand their knowledge related to place, working method, working condition etc.
3. Rehires: Rehiring the process of reemploying the old employees having the skills and experience on related subject matters. It will be easy for an organization to handle them because they already know about the organization’s culture, style and the ways of doing jobs.
4. Job rotation: Job rotation is moving an employee in different job under hi/her level. It helps employees to acquire different skills which enhance motivation towards work.

The advantages of internal sources are as follows:

1. It helps to build good public relation.
2. It builds morale(confidence)
3. It encourages good individual who are ambitious.
4. It improves the probability of a good selection, since information on the individual’s performance is readily available.
5. It is less costly than going outside to recruit.
6. Those chosen internally already know the organization.
7. When carefully planned, promoting from within can also act as a training device for developing middle and top level managers.

The disadvantages of internal sources are as follows:

1. It can be dysfunctional to the organization to utilize inferior internal source only because they are these, when excellent candidates are available on the outside.
2. Management may lack new ideas, knowledge and enthusiasm of outside world.
3. There may be possibility of nepotism and favoritism.
4. Internal conflict may arise to get the promotion and favorable transfer within the employees.
5. Seniority based promotion may hamper the process of keeping right people at right job at right time.

2. External Sources: The source outside organization. It includes employment exchanges, private employment agencies, professional association, education institution, trade unions, and unsolicited applications.

1. Employment exchanges: Employment exchanges are usually non profit or public agencies which register and gather the list of semi skilled or skilled prospective employees. Through these agencies government gets information about the potential employees and proceeds selection process. E.g. Public service commission, education service commission etc.
2. Private employment agencies: These agencies are the potential employees data bank which not only keep the information about the prospective employees but also advertise the position, screen applicants against the criteria specified by the employer and also provide guarantee covering six months or a year as protection to the employer against the unsatisfactory performance of applicants. This type of agencies charge fees to either to applicants or employers or both against the services provided to them.
3. Professional Association: These associations have maintained the personal and professional information of their members. Usually for higher level jobs or for technical jobs like accountants, engineers, lawyers etc this source is used by the organization.
4. Education Institution: It is a source of talent and enthusiastic individuals, who generally lacks work experience. They provide a large pool of potential employees at one location.
5. Unsolicited application: