An Exploratory Investigation of Explanations for the Relative Effectiveness of Employee Recruitment Methods

Abstract

Employee recruitment has become increasingly important to managers in recent years as some occupations face severe shortages and others experience surpluses. Both types of human resource gaps place more pressure on recruitment to provide the right numbers of employees with the required knowledge and skill sets. This increased importance to practioners has led researchers to pay more attention to it as well (Billsberry, 2007; Breaugh, Macan & Grambow, 2008). Previous research suggests that informal recruiting methods (e.g., employee referrals, walk-ins) are more effective than more formal recruiting methods. Two explanations have been offered for the relative effectiveness of recruiting methods. The “realistic information hypothesis” suggests that employees recruited via the more effective methods may have acquired a greater quantity of information, more accurate information, and/or more realistic information (Breaugh, 1981; Zottoli & Wanous, 2000). According to the “individual difference hypothesis” (Saks, 2005), different recruiting methods may attract different types of applicants (Schwab, 1982). There is some empirical support for both hypotheses. Blau (1990) suggested that employees hired via different recruiting methods may be treated differently after hire. Barber (1998) reported that she could find no empirical tests of this hypothesis. Research on the post-hire treatment hypothesis is clearly needed. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial test of the “differential management treatment hypothesis.”