Sara L. Rynes and Daniel M. Cable (2001), Recruitment research in the 21st century: moving to a higher level. Complete Handbook
of Psychology, Volume 12: Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, Walter Borman, Daniel Ilgen and Richard Klimoski, eds., pp. 55-76. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
This article presents a review and critique of progress (or lack thereof) in recruitment research and a call for further study. The authors recommend inductive theory building based on descriptive research to insure that hypotheses are relevant to the real world. They present a model in which the external environment, organizational
characteristics and institutional norms affect recruitment activities, processes and outcomes; activities and decisions affect outcomes independently and through their impact on recruitment processes.
Much research in recruitment prior to the 1990s focused on decision-making by individuals, neglecting the impact of organizational characteristics. The job seeker’s response to an organization’s size, location, reputation, culture and human resources policies began to be explored in the 1990s. Corporate image as seen by potential employees is an important factor in attracting a high quality work force. Several studies showed that students entering the job market had a more favorable impression of a company if it was familiar to them. Profitability and corporate social performance also correlated positively with student assessments of corporate reputation. The association of such corporate performance measures with choices of job seekers needs to be examined. The effectiveness of strategies to improve organizational image and possible interactions with other organizational characteristics needs to be studied. Some studies have attempted to link attractiveness to potential employees with specific kinds of information about the company, but more research is needed.
Methods of recruitment have changed with developing technologies such as the Internet. Use of innovative recruitment techniques to attract high performers should be explored. Concentration on an individual level of analysis has obscured the role of organizational characteristics. Corporate qualities influence the ability to attract the work force that the company needs.