Employee Recruitment and Selection Policy Sample
The Employee Recruitment and Selection Policy outlines the procedures for attracting and choosing external job candidates. It emphasizes a well-structured, discrimination-free hiring process. The policy provides guidelines for job postings, selection stages, feedback, and potential offer revocations.
This Employee Recruitment and Selection Policy template is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs and should be considered a starting point for setting up your recruiting policies.
This Employee Recruitment and Selection policy should include:
- Process overview: Explanation of the recruitment and selection process, from identifying the need for an opening to making an official job offer.
- Job posting guidelines: Details on posting jobs internally, creating job descriptions, and ensuring clarity and consistency in job ads.
- Selection stages: Description of standard hiring stages, such as resume screening, phone screening, and interviews, with flexibility to add or remove stages as needed.
Employee recruitment and selection policy template
Policy brief & purpose
Our employee recruitment and selection policy describes our process for attracting and selecting external job candidates. This recruitment policy sample can serve as a rubric that our recruiters and hiring managers can use to create an effective hiring process.
We are committed to our equal opportunity policy at every selection stage. Hiring teams should aim for a well-planned and discrimination-free hiring process.
Scope
This recruitment and selection policy applies to all employees who are involved in hiring for our company. It refers to all potential job candidates.
Policy elements
What is the recruitment and selection process?
Generally, hiring teams could go through the following steps:
- Identify need for an opening
- Decide whether to hire externally or internally
- Review the job description and compose a job ad
- Select appropriates sources (external or internal) for posting the opening
- Decide on the selection stages and possible timeframe
- Review resumes in company database/ATS
- Source passive candidates
- Shortlist applications
- Proceed through all selection stages
- Run background checks
- Select the most suitable candidate
- Make an official offer
Stages may overlap. Hiring managers may remove/add steps as appropriate. The first five stages are mandatory in every hiring process.
Posting jobs internally
Hiring managers can post a job opening internally before starting recruiting external candidates. If they decide to post internally, they can:
- Set a deadline for internal applications
- Communicate their opening through newsletters, emails, word-of-mouth or an Applicant Tracking System’s automated emails
Creating job descriptions
Hiring managers can create job ads based on full job descriptions of each role. Job ads should be clear and accurately represent the open position. They should include:
- A brief description of our company and mission
- A short summary of the role’s purpose
- A list of responsibilities
- A list of requirements
- How to apply
The job ad’s style should be consistent with our company’s unique voice. It should be addressed to ‘you’ in a polite and engaging tone. Jargon, complicated phrases and gender-specific language should be avoided.
Employee selection stages
Our company has a standard hiring process that may be tweaked according to a role’s requirements. Our standard process involves:
- Resume screening
- Phone screening
- Assignment
- Interview
Hiring managers may choose to add/remove stages depending on the role they’re hiring for. For example, they can add the following selection stages/methods:
- Assessment centers
- Group interviews
- Competency/Knowledge or other selection tests
- Referrals Evaluation
In most cases, the stages of resume screening and interview are compulsory.
Interview feedback
Recruiters/ hiring managers should always inform candidates they interviewed that they decided to reject them. Leaving candidates in the dark can be damaging to our employer brand.
Also, we encourage hiring managers to send interview feedback to candidates. They should first though check with HR to make sure they won’t invite legal action. Being brief, respectful and keeping feedback job-related are the general rules for writing feedback emails to candidates.
Revoked offers
In case when a formal has to be revoked, the hiring manager and human resources department should draft and sign an official document. This document should include a legitimate reason for revoking the offer. Legitimate reasons include:
- Candidate is proved to not be legally allowed to work for our company at a specific location
- Candidate has falsified references or otherwise lied about a serious issue
- Candidate doesn’t accept the offer within the specified deadline (deadline must have been included in the offer letter)
Hiring managers and HR must notify the candidate formally as soon as possible.
| Disclaimer: This policy template is meant to provide general guidelines and should be used as a reference. It may not take into account all relevant local, state or federal laws and is not a legal document. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy. |
Further reading
- Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
- Recruitment and Selection (University of Glasgow)