CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The evolution of recruitment and selection of employee can be dated back to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome through the way in which people wrote things down about themselves to give a potential employer, initiating the concept of a CV. However, the birth of modern recruitment as we know began in the 1940s as the result of the second world war. The calling of soldiers to war left a gap in the work-place a solution was born; the employment agencies began to advertise for member of society who were not called into military service, to fill the vacancies in the workplace left by those who went to war (Kerryn, 2018).

By 1950’s people were creating resumes depicting their current personal profiles and skills. The main focus of the recruiter then was to ensure that candidates were satisfied and found employment. However, by 1970 along with the booming economy, there was a shift of focus, recruiter began to work for the client as an increasing amount of corporate and expanding businesses began to outsource the hiring needs the employment agencies. The main tool for recruitment were bulletin boards, which slowly led to advertisements in newspapers. Recruitment depended extensively on word of mouth and face to face applications. The storage of information was a challenge as agencies would have to store files and achieves of masses of CVs written on paper, making applications difficult to access and sort through.

With the invention of a computer, arrived applicant tracking systems and candidate database which made storage and accessibly of the CVs much easier for recruiter. By mid-90’s, with the arrival of the world-wide web or internet, recruiters were treated to the used of online classifieds and jobs advertising as well as online database. The concept of head-hunting became more popular and the focus on skill apparent. The growth and improvement of the internet as an accessible research tool, recruiters start to use online job portals as a resource to access candidate’s CVs. Today “Pnet” and “career junction” are a popular resource used in South-African recruiters for exposure to thousands of CVs. Since 2010, more people are using social networking sites to recruit staff as well as apply for jobs.

Throughout the history of recruitment one aspect remained the same; it always changing. The attracting, screening and selection of candidates in whatever circumstance or period, using whichever tool available has always had the same purpose, placing candidate in a vacancy and the environment in which this has taking place has been changing and evolving since 1940 and will continue to do so.

the history of recruitment in Cameroon can trace back during the colonial period. when the German annexed Cameroon, they need free and cheap labour to work in their plantations, the employment the European used in recruiting their work in Cameroon was based on the physical power and resistance diseases.

When Cameroon gain her independence from France and Britain in the early 1960s the came up with laws that govern the recruitment of an employee in an organization.

1.2 Statement of problem

Despite the existence of best policies in recruitment and selection of employees, some organizations and managers resort to unconventional ways in recruiting and selecting their employees.  For example, in some organizations, The CEO may single handedly appoint an employee to a key position in the company without recourse to any lay down policy. This usually results in square pegs in round holes or people in positions they are not qualified for or have no knowledge about. For example, an unqualified accountant who was hired because of his affiliation with the CEO of a company may negligently record or post transactions wrongly causing financial damage to the customers. Such actions may open-up the company to legal sue and high compensation claims (Gomez- Mejia, 2007). Such practices hurt business organizations with most of them collapsing. Some organizations may even go bankrupt due to bad recruitment and selection decisions.

Employing large number of employees do not guarantee high company performance, because if such employees have little skills and knowledge, their productivity will be low and their contribution will be minimal (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2007). On the other hand, where a company is able to hire qualify, skillful and talented staff, all other things being equal, the employees will be effective and productive in their job, and the company will be able to produce to meet its customers demand and operational schedules.

Mistakes in the recruitment process can have serious consequences for companies ‘survival and success. (Storey et al., 2009). Contrary to this premise and as cited above, information from the Cameroon National Institute of Statistics (2006) reveals

that underemployment in the country which stands at 68.3% is a product of corruption and discriminatory practices by some employers. Recruitment policies often include issues about considering internal applications, developing existing employees, handling and processing applications in a fast and proper way, not exaggerating or making false claims in the job advertisement and not discriminating in any way (Stredwick, 2000). The high rate of underemployment in the country is an indication that most recruitment strategies are flawed.

Nowadays, many organizations are collapsing, while other a not able to meet up with the ever changing business world. Thus this researcher therefore, intend to investigate the effect of recruitment and selection policies on organizational performance case study of Njieforbi enterprise Bamenda.

1.3 Research Question

The research seeks to answer the following questions

1.3.1. The main research questions

How does selection and recruitment polices affect organizational performance

1.3.2. Specific Research Questions

The following questions serve as basis for the stated objectives:

(a) What are the effects of recruitment and selection on organizational performance at Njieforbi enterprise Bamenda.?

 (b)what are the effects of recommendation and improvement on organizational sperfoemance at Njieforbi enterprise Bamenda.?

1.4 Objective of the study

  1.4.1 Main Objective

The main objective of the study was to examine the effect of recruitment and selection policies on organizational Performance in  Njieforbi enterprise Bamenda.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of the study are:

(a) To identify the effects of recruitment and selection on organizational performance at Njieforbi enterprise Bamenda.

(b)  To determine the effects of recommendation and improvement on organizational performance at Njieforbi enterprise Bamenda.