Word of mouth recruitment
A method of recruitment still widely used. Nearly six out of every 10 jobs is filled this way. This form of recruitment is popular with small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 20 staff
Advantages
- takes minimal effort
- cuts down on both time and financial cost
- you may already be familiar with the person who you want to employ so be able to make a more informed decisio
Disadvantages
-
limited number of applicants
-
it discriminates against those not aware of the vacancy
-
narrows the pool you from which can chose
Cost
Minimal.
Length of the process
Can vary depending on whether you know of suitable candidates.
Potential for discrimination
This method of recruiting employees is discriminatory as it restricts the information about job opportunities to an 'in-group' and excludes those who are not members of the particular network.
These methods limit the pool of applicants and can restrict that pool to people who are culturally similar to, or reflect the personal preferences of, current employees or management.
"The Equality and Human Rights Commission warns against such practices where the workforce is predominantly one sex or racial group." ACAS
Conclusions
Word of mouth recruitment is possibly most suitable for very short term contracts. This method of recruitment can be cost effective, is but generally not very 'diversity friendly'.
