Human Resource Management

Selection & Recruitment

Submitted by: Mujtaba Hussain, Mehreen Zulfiqar, Mashal Jumani, Shehreen Shaukat & Rashida Rafiq

Table of Contents
Introduction to Damco.................................................................................................................................. 2 1. i. ii. iii. iv. Facts about Damco ........................................................................................................................... 2 A global network of logistics professionals ................................................................................... 2 From single shipments to integrated supply chain management ................................................ 2 Environmental Responsibilities ..................................................................................................... 2 Damco Recognitions ..................................................................................................................... 3

Damcos Recruiting process .......................................................................................................................... 3 1. i. ii. iii. iv. 2. 3. 4. 5. i. Recruiting Sources ............................................................................................................................ 3 External source ............................................................................................................................. 3 Internal sources and employee referrals ...................................................................................... 3 Schools, colleges and universities ................................................................................................. 4 Unsolicited applicants ................................................................................................................... 4 Reviewing applications ..................................................................................................................... 4 Duration of the process .................................................................................................................... 5 Succession planning .......................................................................................................................... 5 Recruitment from a global perspective ............................................................................................ 5 Host country nationals .................................................................................................................. 5

The Selection Process ................................................................................................................................... 5 1. 2. 3. ii. iii. 4. 5. 6. 7. Initial Screening................................................................................................................................. 6 Completing Application Form ........................................................................................................... 6 Employment Tests............................................................................................................................. 6 Logical Index.................................................................................................................................. 6 Personality Index........................................................................................................................... 6 Comprehensive Interviews ............................................................................................................... 7 Background Investigation ................................................................................................................. 7 Conditional Job Offer ........................................................................................................................ 7 Permanent Job offer ......................................................................................................................... 7

Grand Parent Approach ............................................................................................................................ 7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Human Resource Management Page 1

INTRODUCTION TO DAMCO
Global logistics and Individual solutions
Damco is one of the worlds leading providers of freight forwarding and supply chain management services. For more than 100 years, they have been providing customers with transportation and logistics solutions that support the way they want to do business, wherever they are in the world.

Damco in Pakistan
Damco Pakistan PVT limited has its head office in Karachi with branch offices in Lahore, Sialkot and Faisalabad providing Door-to Door, Door-to-Port, Port-to-Port and Port to door services of International Transportation of goods to both Exporters & Importers of the country as well as in other parts of the world.

1. Facts about Damco

i. A global network of logistics professionals
With 9,500 professionals in over 280 owned offices around the world, Damco manages more than 2.4 million TEU of ocean freight and supply chain management volumes and more than 75,000 tons of airfreight, annually. Damco manages and serve some of the most advanced supply chains in the world in a diverse range of industries. With a relentless focus on simplifying complex supply chains, they uncover efficiency improvements that enable customers to cut their inventories, reduce operating costs, and make significant short-term savings for long-term competitiveness.

ii.

From single shipments to integrated supply chain management

Their hands-on services and strategic solutions are extensive and customized to meet customers every need. So whether its a competitive rate for an urgent shipment or a strategic partner who can identify and create short-term efficiencies and build up longterm competitiveness, their team of logistics professionals is ready to help.

iii.

Environmental Responsibilities
As a leading global freight forwarding and supply chain management company, they are highly conscious of their responsibility to protect environment for future generations. Their new Eco-efficiency strategy enables to meet ambitious environmental goals and help both customers and service providers reduce their environmental impact. They also

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share our knowledge and best practices with others throughout the industry to reduce our collective impact on the limited resources of our planet. Damcos strategy focuses on 5 main areas:
Environmental performance Responsible procurement Supply chain carbon footprint Collaboration Green product portfolio

iv.

Damco Recognitions
Damco wins SCM Logistics Excellence Award in the category Supply Chain Best Partnership Award for outstanding contributions in supply chain partnerships. Damco UK receives Clearing and Forwarding Agent of the year Award 2011 at the International Produce Limited (IPL) Logistics conference. Damco Proud Recipient of The Home Depots (THD) International Logistics Service Provider of the Year Award

DAMCOS RECRUITING PROCESS

Damco says that in here you can explore job opportunities in one of the worlds fastest growing logistic companies. Damco is always searching for energized and dedicated people. With over 9,500 employees and 280 offices all over the world, Damco has the scope to help you achieve even your most ambitious career goals.

1. Recruiting Sources
i. External source
Damcos job offers are available online, on job portals (Rozee.pk) and in Dawn newspapers. According to the HR manager, they recently hired an individual for an executive post. They had given advertisement for this post in Dawn Newspaper. They also sometimes take the services of the head hunter firms which help them find the competitive applicants.

ii.

Internal sources and employee referrals

Recruiting employees through internal search and employee referrals is considered preferable due to its reliability. If the referred candidate appears to be a suitable match and sticks to the job for more than three months, then the referee is given an incentive

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as a source of motivation and acknowledgement of his contribution towards the organization.

iii.

Schools, colleges and universities

Damco welcome students that would like to have a practical insight into the company. Graduates Damco offers Graduates with a good track record, an international mindset and a handson approach an exciting and challenging career start in a truly global organization. You will have the opportunity to develop your professional skills and technical expertise from day one, through on-the-job training under the guidance of an experienced leader. Internship / Thesis If, during your studies, you would like to get a brief insight into our fast-paced global business, or you would like to include Damco as a practical research subject in your thesis then Damco is a place for you. There is no formal recruitment process for internships and student theses, but they would like to understand your specific motivation and aspiration, in order to assess whether there is an organizational need and match in future. Student Assistants Joining Damco as a Student Assistant can be a smart and effective way of gaining your first work experience. They advertise Student Assistant positions on their vacancies page, and encourage you to apply online in order to be considered. The recruitment process follows the standard procedure. Student Assistants are employed on an hourly basis, allowing you the flexibility to maximize your time with Damco, without neglecting your studies.

iv.

Unsolicited applicants
Damco generally do not accept unsolicited applications, but would encourage you to apply directly to specific positions posted on job portal.

2. Reviewing applications
At Damco, the recruitment process starts once you have submitted your application online and you have received a written confirmation, both by letter and via email. While reviewing applications best assessment tools are used to identify which applicant is best suited for the job and to make sure that the applicant is the best match for the job he or she has applied for. If the application is relevant then only the applicant will be

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invited for two short online assessment tests in order to have objective picture of its logical capabilities and personal characteristics. The above assessments will provide additional selection criteria in conjunction with your CV in order to shortlist the most relevant candidates and only short-listed candidates are invited to a personal interview.

3. Duration of the process

The entire recruitment process usually takes 4 to 6 weeks, although this can vary depending on location and position. Damco aims to get back to all applicants as soon as possible, but it is important that they have a chance to review all applications carefully. In some cases, applications will only be reviewed once the job ad has expired.

4. Succession planning
Damco being the efficient organization is very well aware of the fact that it is hard to get best applicants for the higher positions like CEO. In order to cope up with such a situation they have a policy to prepare their best existing candidates that could best suit for such positions so if the existing CEO is deceased or need replacement, they already have the applicant available to fill the vacancy. This process is termed as succession planning.

5. Recruitment from a global perspective

i. Host country nationals
In every Damco office around the world, they have local people who speak the local language and understand the local communities. In key origin markets, particularly China, they offer market-leading capabilities. As one of the worlds leading operators in emerging markets such as Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, they enable customers to access new sourcing areas, customers and business opportunities with their established network.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

Damcos HR department follows the same pattern of the selection process as studied in the course except for one step, which is omitted by them, that is Medical/Physical test. Some other variations can be seen in some steps. The different steps make them understand the skills and personality of the applicant that will be necessary and required to carry out a certain job. The following are the steps taken to select the applicants:

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1. Initial Screening
According to the HR manager, they usually get CVs of the people whose skills and qualification dont match with the job specification. So, this initial screening helps out in eliminating those applicants who cant carry out the tasks of that particular job. Screening interviews help the applicants and the employers to have an exchange of questions which result in getting the required information for both sides. The questions related to salary package, experiences and skills are asked as to how good they are in specific factors. This results in cutting down the costs because they dont have to screen all the applicants who have applied.

2. Completing Application Form

When the HR department is done with the initial screening, they are left with those applicants whose education, expectations, skills and experience match with the job specification and job description. Then, those left applicants are required to provide required information about them by filling out the application forms given by the company.

3. Employment Tests
In Damco, the applicants are required to appear in two tests:

ii.

Logical Index
This test comes under the performance simulation tests. It is mostly concerned with assessing the IQ of that individual. In addition, managerial questions are also asked if that job requires making some managerial decisions. The main purpose of taking this test is to assess how well the applicant can utilize his mind to come up with the best possible solutions which can benefit the performance of the company and help it to increase the profits.

iii.

Personality Index
This test assesses the personality of the individual; this helps the HR manager to analyze whether the applicants personality will match with the nature of the work he is supposed to do. For Example, if any job requires him to interact with the customers continuously and that individual is socially introverted, he wont be able to do the job properly.

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4. Comprehensive Interviews
In Damco, the structured interviews are held to assess the applicants further. They dont use behavioral interviews or realistic job preview. Its good for company if they arent holding all sorts of interviews because it depends on the requirements. If they dont have such requirements, where the behavioral interviews and realistic job preview help, they dont need to incur heavy costs incurred while carrying out those interviews.

5. Background Investigation
In Damco, the job related information is collected mostly for the applicants of high level designations where there are more responsibilities and decision making processes are very frequent. Background investigation is also done for the middle-managers but it doesnt require more information. This is mostly concerned with how the applicant performed on the previous job, whether he was outstanding, average or poor performer. In case of employee referrals, the employees that refer for any applicant is also approached to collect information regarding that applicants pervious job performance and other necessary information which is required for assessing the applicant.

6. Conditional Job Offer

According to manager, this conditional job offer is given for sometimes, the employees need time to join the company, and they cant be available from the days the employers want. A mutual investigation is done at this stage. He is made as a contingent worker till he meets the conditions like the background investigation turns out to be in favor of the applicant.

7. Permanent Job offer

This permanent job offer is given after all the negotiation is done and the conditions are made to be completed. This offer is given and the applicant gets an option of accepting or rejecting it. The applicants try applying in more than one organization at the same time, so if he has already joined some other organization which he thinks is better than Damco, he may reject it.

Grand Parent Approach

The company uses grand parent approach in which the interview is held by the HR manager first. When the HR manager is satisfied with that applicant and selects him for further assessment, then the hiring manager of the specified department takes his/her interview. For example if the applicant has applied for any job which is related to the

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marketing department, when he is selected by the HR manager then he is supposed to be assessed by the marketing manager. The final decision is taken by the manager of that specified department.

CONCLUSION
The study of the methods, techniques and processes of recruiting and selecting the employees in Damco shows that there are various concepts that are learnt in the course, are actually implemented in this company. Some variations were also observed in carrying out some tasks like the pre-employment tests, which are conducted by the HR department, are not mentioned in the course. Overall, many of the concepts are driven from the course. This variation can be analyzed as a good part of any organization because they have to implement the concepts of HRM according to their own requirements. If they consider some concepts as irrelevant for their organization, they can be omitted by the organization because every process contains huge amounts of costs with itself which can affect the profits of the organization badly. In addition to the cost factor, there is another factor and that is skills and expertise of the employees. This can lead to the wastage of the skills and expertise of the employees if they are directed in the wrong direction which is again harmful for the profits of the organization.

RECOMMENDATIONS
They hardly hire someone for the higher level posts from outside the organization. Most of the time, they prefer internal sources for such posts. It would be better if they use external sources for the higher positions because it would help them add diversity of ideas into the organization. In selection process, assessment centers help the employers to assess the applicants in a better way than other options because they are required to role play those designations. The employers can get a better idea of how they will be performing given tasks. Addition of this test into the selection process can improve the quality of selection process but the aspect of cost should always be considered. If the cost of this test is more than the outcomes, then addition of this test isnt preferable. Medical examination can be beneficial because it will help the employer to select those individuals who are healthier and can utilize their skills more efficiently. This can also lead to reduction of the costs incurred while paying the compensations for medical treatment.

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