Is  there  an  ethical  role  for  Human  Resource  practitioners,  today  when   

undertaking  recruitment  and  selection?  

With  an  array  of  economic  pressures  and  increased  competition,  many  people  are

trying  to  achieve  more  by  reducing  resources  and  reducing  funds.  Usually  a  firm

deal  with  stakeholders  who  are  customers,  suppliers,  employee,  employer.  Due  to

deal  the  different  stakeholder,  business  ethics  is  gradually  becoming  a  concerned

issue,  even  in  human  resource  management.  The  fundamental  ethical

responsibility  in  the  field  of  human  resources  focuses  on  two  principal  obligations:

the  responsibilities  of  employees  to  employers  and  organizations,  and  the

responsibilities  of  employers  to  employees  (MA  Razafiarivony,  2003).  As  a  result,

it  is  essential  to  recognize  that  the  HR  profession  can  play  a  crucial  role  in

pressures  for  and  against  change  in  organizations.  CIPD  (2017)  shows  that  human

resources  as  a  profession  have  unique  advantages  that  can  incorporate  principled

decisions  into  day-­to-­day  business  practices.  It  means  human  resources  may  face

challenge  assumptions,  individual  values  and  priorities,  and  exploring  universal

goals  to  bring  the  organizations’  values  to  life  from  each  part  of  daily  work.  In

considering  whether  or  not  human  resource  practitioners  have  an  ethical  role  in

the  contemporary  business  environment,  this  essay  is  based  on  practical

recruitment  reflection  to  illustrate  that  human  resource  practitioners  have  an  ethical

role  from  the  perspective  of  undertaking  recruitment  and  selection.  The  argument

is  presented  in  three-­part  with  the  recommendation.  The  first  part  will  state  the

human  resource  practitioners’  ethical  role  of  ensuring  information  consistency  in

recruitment  and  selection.  The  second  part  will  illustrate  the  equality  of  making

interview  question  in  recruitment  and  selection.  The  last  part  will  focus  on  the

importance  of  ethical  role  when  human  resource  panel  group  are  making  the

decision.

Ethics  have  a  vital  role  in  the  recruiting  process  and  affect  employee  turnover.

Although  there  are  laws  to  protect  certain  people  during  the  hiring  process  and

help  to  maintain  professional  ethical  standards  when  hiring  employees,  HR

professionals  still  face  difficulties  beyond  these  principles,  which  is  information

consistency  in  recruitment.  The  ethical  role  of  Human  resource  practitioner

ensures  information  consistency  in  job  description  will  have  an  enormous  impact

on  employee  turnover.  An  honest  job  description  will  build  a  trust  bridge  between

employer  and  employee  in  the  first  stage  of  recruitment.  Evidence  from  SHRM

(2012)  shows  that  it  is  crucial  for  HR  professionals  to  consistent  all  information

throughout  the  recruiting  process.  Placing  incorrect  Job  ads  for  positions  will  cause

dissatisfaction.  In  considering  practical  recruitment,  a  job  description  contains  a

significant  amount  of  information,  including  skill  requirements,  job  offer,  working

conditions,  location  and  the  primary  purpose  of  the  job.  Faced  with  such  important

information,  information  asymmetry  could  mislead  candidates  and  cause

dissatisfaction  in  future.  Herzberg’s  (1966)  two-­factor  theory  suggests  that  work

itself  lead  to  satisfaction.  That  shows  the  healthy  relationship  between  real  work

itself  and  job  satisfaction.  A  job  description  is  the  first  step  for  potential  employees

to  understand  job  information,  if  employees  are  recruited  due  to  inaccurate

information,  they  will  be  disappointed  and  result  in  the  turnover.  Although  some

arguments  claim  that  inconsistent  management  rather  than  inconsistent

information  causes  the  major  of  employee  turnover.  Laser  (1980)  argues  that  many

operations  are  lacking  written  job  descriptions,  have  inadequately  defined  work

roles  and  standard,  but  the  lower  supervision  plays  a  significant  part  in  turnover.

Poor  supervisors  may  be  inconsistent  in  their  behavior  and  lead  to  turnover

retention.  However,  inconsistent  management  is  essentially  information

asymmetry.  A  job  description  is  both  a  method  of  information  presented  to

candidates  and  a  reflection  of  whether  HR  practitioners  deeply  know  internal

understanding  of  the  company  without  limitation.  If  HR  practitioners  are  delivered

incorrect  information,  it  will  cause  information  error,  resulting  in  an  inaccurate  job

description.  Marchington  et  al.  (2016)  reveal  that  manager  behaves  inconsistently

when  implementing  HR  policies,  also  have  little  respect  for  HR  work,  and  they  view

HR  professionals  with  disdain,  which  result  from  adverse  communication  and

information  asymmetry.  That  means  the  inconsistency  communication  will  make

human  resource  practitioners  miss  department  changes,  lead  to  information

inconsistency  in  recruitment  and  selection.  Therefore,  in  order  to  avoid  information

inconsistency  result  turnover,  it  is  crucial  to  building  corporate  communication

between   human   resource   practitioners   and   managers.   The   following

recommendation  probably  applies  to  solving  the  ethical  issue.  Using  procedures

to  enhance  consistency.  According  to  Schreiner  (2017)  claims  that  working  to

establish  a  workplace  in  which  policies,  procedures,  and  practices  are  consistent

can  increase  employee  understanding.  Make  sure  to  communicate  both  the  “why”

and  “how”  for  creating  standards  and  providing  templates  to  use  in  day-­to-­day

activities  to  eliminate  confusion.  In  conclusion,  human  resource  practitioners  have

an  ethical  responsibility  to  make  sure  information  consistency,  it  is  necessary  to

build  standard  procedure  to  enhance  consistency,  or  it  will  have  a  direct  impact  on

employee  turnover  in  the  future.  So  far  this  paragraph  has  focused  on  information

consistency.  The  following  section  will  discuss  the  human  resource  practitioners'

ethical  role  on  the  equality  of  making  interview  question.

Equality  is  a  crucial  issue  that  affects  all  workplaces,  no  matter  their  size,  location

or  occupation.  Human  resource  practitioners  have  a  responsibility  to  design

interview  question  equally  for  everyone  at  a  broad  view  scale.  In  order  to  be  able

to  compare  candidates  after  the  interview  process,  a  consistent  approach  should

be  used  for  each  interview.  All  candidates  should  have  the  same  opportunity  to  be

asked  identical  questions.  These  questions  should  be  based  on  job  descriptions

and  the  skills,  qualities,  and  experiences  required  for  the  role.   Evidence  from

Kursmark  (2017)  claims  that  the  fair  hiring  law  is  designed  to  provide  adequate

protection  to  each  candidate  during  the  interview  and  selection  process,  all

candidates  should  be  carefully  planned  and  interviewed  to  ensure  equal  treatment

for  all  applicants.  In  considering  the  process  of  making  question  list  in  practical

recruitment,  even  if  faced  with  candidates  from  different  backgrounds,  it  should  be

asked  the  same  question  related  to  the  position,  rather  than  arbitrarily  change  to

ask  what  human  resource  practitioner  want  to  know.  While  some  voices  show  that

whether  the  interview  question  is  same  or  not,  it  will  not  have  a  strong  impact  on

organization  management,  especially  in  Asia.  Partrick  (2016)  points  out  that  the

concept  of  face  (miànzi)  defines  all  business  relations  in  China,  Chinese  HR  likes

to  use  different  questions  to  interview  a  person's  emotional  quotient  during  an

interview  to  evaluate  whether  the  candidate  has  "mianzi"  to  deal  with  relationship

(“guanxi”)  in  the  workplace.  However,  due  to  the  changing  nature  of  work  under

globalization,  the  economy  is  also  continually  merging,  multinational  Enterprise  is

gradually  growing,  the  strategic  integration  of  culture  and  development  at  the

international  level  that  involves  the  consistent  identification,  development  and

strategic  deployment  of  high-­performing  and  high-­potential  diplomatic  employees

on  a  global  scale.  The  interview  is  an  opportunity  for  candidates  to  get  their  first

impression  of  the  business.  Therefore,  faced  with  cultural  differences,  establishing

a  fair  and  unified  recruitment  benchmark  is  very  necessary  for  potential  candidates

regardless  of  the  country.  As  mentioned  in  the  text,  the  interview  questions  in  some

countries  are  flexible,  while  the  modern  global  society  needs  to  recruit  talents  at

an  international  equality  scale.  The  following  recommendation  probably  applies  to

solving  the  issue.  Enhance  HR  understanding  of  recruitment  laws  and  cultural

differences  in  different  countries.  According  to  Schaffer  Associates  (2015)  shows

it  is  illegal  for  employers  to  raise  issues  related  to  the  protected  class  in  the  fair

employment  law,  such  as  race,  gender,  nationality,  religion,  military  status,  age  or

relationship.  Therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  train  cultural  and  hiring  policy  courses

before  creating  interview  questions  in  each  recruitment.  In  conclusion,  on  the

environment  of  globalization,  to  pursue  the  long-­term  development  of  the  company,

human  resource  practitioners  have  an  ethical  responsibility  to  design  interview

question  equally  for  everyone  on  an  international  scale.  Having  defined  the  ethical

role  of  human  resource  practitioners  on  interview  question  making,  now  move  on

to  discuss  non-­  discrimination  during  human  resource  panel  group  decision  making.  

Despite  the  fact  that  equal  employment  opportunity  legislation  gradually  regulates

diversity  management  in  the  workplace,  Ethical  issues  in  employee  selection  have

not  been  widely  studied.  Human  resource  practitioners  play  a  crucial  ethic  role  in

anti-­discrimination  when  deciding  for  selection.  Lowry  (2006)  claims  that  HR

practitioners  play  a  more  significate  role  in  the  selection  of  talent  based  on  the

company  and  have  more  responsibilities  and  autonomy  in  decision-­making.

Evidence  from  Nhung  T.  Nguyen  (2013)  points  out  that  employee  selection  is  an

interesting  area  to  consider  when  making  suitable  employment,  and  in  this  area,

you  can  view  the  role  of  ethics  in  decision-­making.  It  is  vital  importance  that

candidates  are  to  be  selected  based  on  merits,  applicants  are  to  be  hired  based

purely  on  qualities  such  as  knowledge,  skill,  and  ability  in  accordance  to  need  of

the  organization.  In  considering  the  process  of  panel  group  decision  making,  one

of  the  candidates  come  from  different  country,  age.  Hiring  decision  making  relies

only  on  relevant  and  job-­related  Information.  Human  resource  practitioners  should

stand  in  a  fair  and  objective  perspective  to  make  talent  selection  with  non-­

discrimination  on  religious,  culture,  race,  gender,  sexual  orientation  or  age.  While

some  arguments  claim  that  employees  who  share  common  religious  beliefs  or  of

the  same  nationality  at  work  can  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  work  efficiency.

Meyer  (2012)  argue  that  in  an  ideal  work  environment,  employees  and  employers

with  the  same  religious  belief  do  not  conflict  with  each  other.  Gerdeman  (2017)

points  out  that  employer  favor  men  not  because  they  are  prejudiced  against

women,  but  because  men  perform  better  on  average  at  specific  tasks.  However,

as  the  society  progresses  and  pluralistic,  the  qualities  of  the  talent  are  continually

improving,  employers  may  hire  employees  from  different  countries  and  religious

backgrounds.  Therefore,  the  negative  impact  of  cultural  conflicts  will  become  lower

and  lower.  Moreover,  data  from  Easton  (2015)  shows  that  the  number  of  Chinese

women  accounts  for  51%  take  the  high  position  in  senior  exclusive  management,

About  21%  ladies  in  the  approximately  550  listed  companies  hold  important

positions  on  the  board  of  directors.  Therefore,  outstanding  female  talents  are

continually  strengthening  under  social  progress.  Talents  should  be  selected  by

work-­related  ability  rather  than  objective  biases.  To  address  the  problem  of

discrimination  in  the  talent  selection  on  the  workplace,  the  Human  resource

department  should  design  HR  practices  can  into  formal  HR  policy,  HR-­related

decision-­making,  and  the  enactment  of  HR  policies  and  decisions  with

discrimination.  According  to     Stamarski  et  al.,  (2015)  suggest  that

discrimination  in  organizations  can  be  seen  in  HR  practices  that  affect  employee

hiring,  training,  compensation,  and  promotion.  Therefore,  implementing  the

discrimination  HR  policy  in  the  recruitment  process  can  gradually  solve  this

problem  from  the  beginning.  In  summary,  recruitment  or  hiring  process  is  the  vital

step  in  selecting  human  resource  into  an  organization.  Human  resource

practitioners  have  an  ethical  role  in  selecting  talents  equally  when  making  the

decision,  it  will  highly  impact  on  the  successful  performance  of  the  organization

and  avoid  discrimination  from  the  early  stage.

In  general,  due  to  the  economic  globalization,  ethical  has  become  a  significant

concern  in  the  company.  Ethical  culture  is  essential  to  help  companies  shift  their

focus  from  short-­term  profits  to  long-­term  sustainable  development,  ensuring  the

organization  can  benefit  from  shareholders.  Human  resource  practitioners  take  an

essential  role  in  dealing  with  ethical  issues.  This  essay  starts  with  three  different

views  of  recruitment  and  selection  to  evaluate  there  is  a  noble  role  for  human

resource  practitioners.  In  the  first  part,  human  resource  practitioners  have  an

ethical  responsibility  to  ensure  information  consistency,  it  is  necessary  to  build

standard  procedure  to  enhance  consistency,  or  it  will  have  a  direct  impact  on

employee  turnover  in  the  future.  So  far  this  paragraph  has  focused  on  information

consistency.  In  the  second  part,  human  resource  practitioners  have  an  ethical

responsibility  to  design  interview  questions  equally  for  everyone  on  an  international

scale.  Having  defined  the  ethical  role  of  human  resource  practitioners  on  interview

question  making,  now  move  on  to  discuss  non-­  discrimination  during  human

resource  panel  group  decision  making.  In  the  third  part,  human  resource

practitioners  have  an  ethical  role  in  selecting  talents  equally  when  making  a

decision;;  it  will  advance  the  performance  of  the  organization  and  avoid

discrimination  from  the  early  stage.  These  three  views  demonstrate  dialectically

that  human  resources  should  have  ethical  responsibilities  when  undertaking

recruitment  and  selection.  If  human  resource  practitioners  implement  ethical  role

in  each  stage  of  recruitment  effectively,  then  it  will  affect  the  exceptional

performance  of  the  organization  in  the  long-­term  development.