INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Selection of staff involves the systematic assessment of candidates for a position based on their skills and experience, training and qualifications, employment record, references and, traditionally, their presentation at interview. The process of selection is, therefore, a very important investment in the long-term future of an organization. Staffs are one of an organization’s greatest assets and the costs of not selecting well are very high. Each organization should develop a set of systematic, formal procedures for the selection of staff so as to ensure fairness and equality to candidates as well as effective and appropriate selection for the organization. Recruitment involves drawing up a job description, person specification, application form and advertising the position. The organization will then receive applications and this is when the task of selection begins. Selection is a two-way process (Clarke, 2008).

• It gives management the opportunity to select well, by deciding on the basis of all the information gathered which person is most suitable for the position.
• It gives candidates the opportunity to get further information about the job, the organization and what might be expected of them so that they can be clear that this job is suitable for them.

The purpose of selection is to measure the candidate’s:

• Competence to effectively perform the specific requirements of a job over a period of time
• Ability to communicate and work co-operatively with future colleagues in teams and within the organization overall
• Ability to work on own initiative if necessary.

Every organization is made up of employees, and before employees are recruited, information pertaining to them is obtained, processed and analyzed after they have applied to determine their qualification for employment into a given position. For every position, there are certain skills and qualifications needed. The performance of the individual is a function of employee ability, motivation and opportunity: Human Resource Management (HRM) is a term that has been in use for over two decades now and it is a unit with the responsibility of short-listing eligible applicants to become staffs of a given firm. It was previously referred to as personnel administration and it is a vital part of every organization (Clarke, 2008).

To effectively assess job applicants, organizations should have an employment screening and short-listing management system for ensuring a fair and consistent approach. This system should be designed up in accordance with anti-discrimination legislation and an organization’s own equal opportunities guidelines. With the increasing effect of globalization and technology, organizations have started to use information systems in various functions and departments in the last decades. Human resources management is one of the departments that mostly use management information systems. HR information systems support activities such as identifying potential employees, maintaining complete records on existing employees and creating programs to develop employees’ talents’ and skills. HR systems help senior management to identify the manpower requirements in order to meet the organization’s long term business plans and strategic goals. Middle management uses human resources systems to monitor and analyze the recruitment, allocation and compensation of employees. Operational management uses HR systems to track the recruitment and placement of the employees.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Employment screening and short-listing is a complex task. Several organizations lack automated system that will enable them to carry out the task of recruitment. The traditional flat file organization is still in use and this makes the management and retrieval of information pertaining to recruitment difficult to manage. Manual system of short-listing employees is very costly and also time consuming, due to the time wastage on sorting applicants’ resumes. These problems are ever nagging and awaiting solutions in the process of recruiting and selecting personnel. It is in view of this that this study is conducted to develop an automated staff recruitment management system.

1.3 Aim and objectives of the study

The aim of the study is to develop an Employment screening and short-listing management system. The following are the objectives of the study.

• To develop a system that can be used to register job applicants details
• To implement a system that the database of applicants can be screened based on the defined criteria for screening.
• To implement a system that can be used to shortlist qualified applicants.

1.4 Significance of the study

The significance of the study is that it will reveal the relevance of automated employee screening and short-listing system and the need for its adoption by organizations. It will help Seyang construction company solve the present challenges they are facing in handling applications by providing a software system that processes the application of different applicants and shortlists the qualified. It will also save them time and cost of recruiting. In addition, other scholars seeking for valuable information on the subject will find this research material relevant.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study covers employment screening and short-listing management system, using Seyang Construction company as a case study. It is limited to short-listing based on academic qualification and position applied for.

1.6 Organization of Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Application  A formal and usually written request for something such as a job, a grant of money, or admission to a school or college

Employment  The condition of working for pay

Human resources  The field of business concerned with recruiting and managing employees

Management  The organizing and controlling of the affairs of a business or a sector of a business

Recruitment  To enroll somebody as a worker or member, or to take on people as workers or members

Short-list  To put somebody or something on a final list of candidates for a position or award.

Staff  People who are employed by a company or an individual employer