The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller – Linda

Ms. Woods ENG 252 Sec 400 October 29, 2012 Linda – A Pillar of Strength and Balance In the Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller My question for discussion is what I think of Linda, the wife of Willie Lohman in the play â€Å"uk/expressionism-and-realism-in-death-of-a-salesman/">The Death of a Salesman†. This is my response. I feel that Linda is the strongest character in the play. Everyone around her has major issues, her sons and her husband. Even in the reflections of the past her brother-in-law had his issues – greed being one of them. She represents stability, goodness and balance in this story.She can be looked at as the foundation of this family, like most strong women. This story takes place in the 1940’s when the environment or way of living was the woman stayed home and tended to the family and the husband was the provider. And we also have a male dominated, sort of male chauvinist society at that time. So being that the man was the provider, a ma n had a sense of being the King of his home. Because of this general idea, it reduced the importance or view of women and their roles. Meaning a woman’s role was less than important because the man was King.Therefore, we see the questionable, forceful and harsh tones that Willie uses sometimes when speaking to Linda which can be interpreted or misinterpreted in different ways. And when this happens we see Linda back down or just close her mouth. But it also should be noted that Willie is losing everything around him, at home he feels that is the only place he can control what is going on. Then we see Willie’s dementia coming to a serious level of illness. This is not mentioned in the story but we see something wrong with Willie’s mental state.By the evidence given in the story, we can conclude many things – guilt, dementia, pressure and stress or just getting old and not wanting to face it. We are not given a reason for this deteriation. But it is evident by the reflections Willie has and how he is stuck in the past and/or stuck in a fantasy that something very deep is going on. This story is very male dominated with the symbolic theme of women are just extra’s. We hear this thru Willy Jr and Biff. They don’t seem to respect women either. Thru out the story no one seems to listen to her, her sons and neither Willie her husband.Linda is a faithful wife, playing her role. She stands and supports her husband. You never hear her say a bad word about her husband other than him being sick. She knows what’s wrong but I don’t think she knows how to handle it. At a time when medically no one really knew about mental illness, I think she viewed it as stress driven. Willis has been reduced at his job, he doesn’t want to face he’s getting old and his sons not being productive are just a few issues that contribute to the unrest in this household.She tries to explain to her sons what is going on but the f act that Willie probably was traveling salesmen for a long time and has been away so much that he has no real relationship with his son’s. Therefore they feel no pity for him, especially Willy Jr. who lost faith in his father a long time ago. So part of them being worthless and non productive can be contributed to not having their father around while they were growing up. So they do not have any attachment to him or what is going on with him nor does Willie Jr. care because of what he discovered when his father was having an affair.They only have attachment to their mother, Linda. She loves her boys regardless and her husband but she feels her duty first is to her husband. We also conclude that Linda does not know about the affair Willie had nor does she know that Willy Jr. knew about it. All she knows is the relationship between big Willie and junior Willy has been severely altered. Clinging to the suspicion that Willie (husband) is suffering from mental deterioration she wa nts to do whatever it takes to let him just grow old gracefully and peacefully, even if it means turning her back on her children.This is not to be taken as rejection or meanness because they are grown and are not contributing anything positive to the situation or conditions that are evolving. That is evident when they leave Willie in the bathroom at the restaurant and he suffers a severe breakdown and they don’t even come back to check on him. I feel that when she unloaded on her sons and voiced all the truths that were said is her finally being fed up with all the confusion going on around her. She is fighting to stay strong, guide and stay dedicated to her husband while moving all negatives out of the way.That is a sign of strength and dedication. This is symbolic of how she is truly the foundation and the balance of this family. Willie is losing control of everything, his job, his mind, his finance, his pride, his youth, etc. and Linda sees all of this. Thus his harsh tre atment of her I do not feel is meant to hurt her. Remember a woman’s value in this era is reduced so she has no voice, no say and she abides by that. But in today’s time we would consider that disrespectful. I am considering the era of this story.But Linda stays strong and is always positive. Willie does realize he loves his wife and she loves him because at the end before he leaves to commit suicide he sends her to bed because he knows she would try to stop him from going out. And he knows she would do that out of love for him. Even though in his mind he sees this as a way of taking care of her and his sons. So in conclusion, the question remains do I believe that Linda was a dishrag? No I do not. Linda was the epitimy of a good wife, supportive, grounded, sacrificial and wise.She knew when to back down and when to be strong and speak out. She held Willie together as long as she could, until it was out of her hands. As she stated at his grave site, she truly did not u nderstand how deep Willie’s issues really were. Thru all the symbolism of this story, good and bad (the sons), rich and poor (the environment and Willie’s associates), young and old (his reflections back to his younger days) Linda was the central figure in this story representing neutrality, balance and humbleness.

Meaning and Importance of Cultural Anthropology Essay

The aftermath of Globalization leaves the anthropological-cultural world not merely in pieces, as one of the most accepted anthropological analysts of the time, Clifford Geertz, postulates, but in dust: A seemingly atomized, incoherent mesh of individuals, who can’t be attributed to a specific ethnic background anymore, and who are barely representative members of the nation-states which issue their passports. By all traditional measurements, this conglomeration of individualized humans should not be able to organize its life in any orderly way. A closer look at the life-organizing forces of today reveals a growing strength of market powers as used by global business and a dwindling contribution to life-structuring issues from political and social aggregates. Ethnic groups as independent formations (if ever they could be considered as such) have become obsolete since colonialization. In the wake of globalization – the term used for the after-effects of a development that has been powered by the seemingly unlimited chance to spread out, nation states are rapidly losing their life-formatting influence. But the planet is limited, and so is the growth of all organizations running on materialistic underpinnings. When we apply any analysis of the recent conditions of this planet (with humans as a major factor) to the known concepts of culture, the results are disastrous. Without societal offers for identification as a valid member of a social entity, and, logically following, no security promise for the future, this condition of disconnectedness from any organized stability whatsoever can only lead to a fatal conclusion. A â€Å"survival of the fittest†- future seems inevitable. Surprisingly, the world doesn’t actually look like this. But what’s been happening? What is the new undiscovered organizational structure, which keeps things from falling apart into a dog-eat-dog society? Cultural theories can’t offer an explanation, nor do politics provide a satisfying answer. Natural sciences, the oracles of our last few hundred years of existence, turn their heads towards the catastrophic results of their parent societies and how to handle them, with few optimistic predictions, so far. And what of the Cultural Sciences? What is their outlook and how do they justify their right of existence, if their field of work, organized human society, doesn’t present itself as such anymore? For the Cultural-Anthropologist, or for the Ethnologist, extinction might be on the horizon – approaching at a speed concurrent with the vanishing of their subjects. How much longer will it be possible to satisfy any money-provider with rational innovations that, preferably, pay flattering tribute to the self-ascribed god like standings of the actual human race? Plainly spoken: Who will need Ethnologists, if there are no more ethnic novelties, no more ethnic boundaries and ethics? Let’s try to tackle this task with the tools of our own trade. What if new cultural ethics are emerging? Maybe they come with different ethnic boundaries. So what? And how much greater can an ethnological novelty be than news about the emergence of a new cultural group, perhaps a new cultural level or even an evolutionary step in its cultural iteration. There exists just such a group revealing itself to anyone, who is willing to see it. Sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson dubbed it the Cultural Creatives, and I believe the name is apt. Creativity isn’t a thing that can be organized. Global modern society arrived at its current point by means of organizing its relationship to its surroundings. With no more physical growth possible society is now facing the challenge of organizing in relation to itself. It – I should say – we are doing it as we speak. But we don’t notice it happening through our scientific observing eye, which is used to capture a purely material world; rather we assume by indirect empirical phenomena the possibility that a non-materialistic reality might be in existence. The tools for measurement are lacking. But human intuition serves to make it palpable. Intuitive knowledge cannot be transferred into objective matter, which would be required by the sciences, but still it can be felt. Humans have probably always felt it, but the easy option of materialistic life-organization has prohibited it from gaining much importance during the period we call Modernism. Forced to deal with the consequences of a situation, in which inner relations to one’s self with its analog connection to its environment become dominant again over the modernist dichotomy and relativistic relationship towards a surrounding. As a result more people pay more respect to their feelings and intuitions. And their lives are oriented to intuition-based knowledge once again rather than to a static, materialistic reception of the environment. This viewpoint is not abandoned either, but, â€Å"worked through† and â€Å"transcended†, now to be used as a wonderful tool whenever needed. This change on the cultural playground of the early 2000’s is palpable- feelable– for anybody who is willing to make the practical experience himself. And practical experience comes through creative participation with this life on earth, rather than through indirect and empirical participant observation, which is, unfortunately, still the most prominent tool of the cultural anthropologist. Creative participation means more than the collecting of evidence; it means creating and acknowledging its own cultural footprint, as well. The creative participant is entering into a situation with an inherent risk – the risk of becoming a part of the things that are going on around him and which are co-created by his or her presence. There is no convenient non-responsible observer position left anymore, but an interwoven entanglement with all and in everything – and this entanglement makes one able to feel what reality is about- even if one cannot put it into words, on film or even express it in thought. In such an entangled position it makes no sense to separate ones own fate and feelings from the fate and feelings of others. Those times are over, if, indeed, we ever really witnessed them before. For science to draw a true picture of true reality; of the culture one is living in, it is necessary to accept a way of recognizing the world in a more than materialistic manner. A â€Å"wind-chill-factor† of sorts needs to be built in into the static observations of today’s theories, which are stuck in their own limited acceptance of dynamism. The only appropriate approach towards cognition of culture-in-the-making seems to be through Creative Participation, where a separation between the observer and the observed is completely voided for good, where feelings and realities are shared practically and equally by all. Cultural Anthropology with its overlapping fields of interest into all sciences on campus, its â€Å"field-experience† for discovering a cultural merge first hand, and its ties to development politics, cultural exchange and education programs worldwide might be predestined to explore into a reality, which isn’t measurable, countable, or even describable – but in existence and palpable all around us.

Impacts and Contributions of the Trent Guide Term Paper

Impacts and Contributions of the Trent Guide - Term Paper Example This one-time project will remain forever since it has never been done by any other students. It will help to establish a genuine guide for the future changes within the Trent International Program. The other impact it will have is on the future international students. It will offer them a juncture to change the guide according to the real information about the Trent University and Peterborough. The impact of the project will also be on the digital technology since many students will be able to scan the guide information online before downloading it. This is an implication that online businesses such as the cybercafà © business will grow well around Peterborough. The Trent guide is useful because it is not only concerned with certain individuals but the whole society within and outside the Trent University. The Trent guide is responsible for the development of some programs, which are profitable for the international students. During the implementation and the designing processes, t he students do many types of research, as a result, they get a high level of knowledge and experience concerning the development of the project. Other new students who have an interest in developing their own projects will refer to the Trent guide project. The other contribution that this project will offer to new and other continuing students is that they will refer to it whenever they want to discover ways of developing a project.They will also learn how one handles challenges experienced in the process of the implementation and designing of the project.  

Unit 2 Seminar Case Management in Human Services Research Paper

Unit 2 Seminar Case Management in Human Services - Research Paper Example The environment could be anywhere a person is located and the different systems refer to various kinds of environment. The microsystem is a small unit of the immediate environment in which the person operates from like a family or classroom. The other types of systems are a bit more complex but generally describe the interaction of two or more Microsystems to form larger environments, however it is all about how the person interacts with his environment (). Clients have various strengths in the various types of systems, for example in the microsystem, the client enjoys a closer relationship with a company or business, this relationship is often so close to the point that the client can express themselves better and push for good bargains. In the mesosystem, a client has the strength of being able to put to advantage his or her part of the system, for example when a company is a client to a different company, their relationship may influence the bargaining power of the client to its advantage. Finally, interactions between a client and a business in a macrosystem environment gives the client the strength inherent in power of choice. The ability to choose between many offers is a strength that most clients apply in the macro environment quite often. Ecological models are very important in working with clients because they enrich your knowledge and experience with dealing with different situations concerning clients. Being able to understand how the behavior of a client may be shaped by the environment is one of the necessities towards business success

How the theories are used Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

How the theories are used - Essay Example The nature of theories is explained on the basis of the evaluation of the quality of the theories. They includebeing logical and having consistency internallyaccording to. Also they should be in conformity with existing data on a given topicas put forth by because a difference may occur if one of the theories is more precise than the other. Having said, consistency of data collected has to conformtothe many independent evidences and not just one foundation. This is important as it ensures that it is in close proximity in meaning if not absolutely correct. Another important aspect is that theory'spredictions should be testable since this will determine how useful the theory will be in the subject matter. The theory can be easily adopted and modified to explain new evidences and this increases the ability to be predictive over time. In addition, according to a theory should raise new questions and suppose the questions can be easily answered using the strategies involved in problem sol ving. It is argued that a good theory is one that forbids certain things from happening and therefore the more it prohibits the better it is. It is noteworthy therefore, that there are those features that would make theories desirable, need for it to be simple in its presentation, must be economical in its attempt to explain a given phenomena and finally, it should be consistent with the theories that are related.With regard to the types of theories, there are several types as illustrated below. ... make theories desirable, need for it to be simple in its presentation, must be economical in its attempt to explain a given phenomena and finally, it should be consistent with the theories that are related. With regard to the types of theories, there are several types as illustrated below. Firstly, it is descriptive theory which seeks to classify specific characteristics of groups, events or individuals by making a summary of the similarities observed in the data collected. This type of theory is useful when very little is known about the issue at hand. There are two categories in this type of theory: the naming and classification according to (Stevens, 1984). On one hand, the naming theory simply describes the features of a particular phenomenon and on the other, classification theory is more elaborate as it notes the dimensions which are structurally interrelated. These theories are commonly known as taxonomies. These theories are tested by the descriptive theory which may or may n ot use a scientific manner of data collection. The empirical method used here involves the use of open ended questionnaires or interviews, active or non active participation, hence the data may be qualitative and or quantitative. Examples of this kind of research include case studies, ethnographies and surveys. Secondly, relational theories specifies the relationship between features of events, groups and individuals. They explain the relationship between parts of a given phenomena. The development of this theory is only when the key features are known after the validation and development of descriptive theories. It answers the question what. In addition, it is generated by the co-relational research. The features of an occurrence are observed from their natural environment and the

Chinas One Child Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinas One Child Policy - Essay Example In addition, second children are subject to birth spacing of three or four years. If more children are born in the family, this will result in fines. It is reported that most families are required to "pay economic penalties and cannot receive bonuses from the birth control program (One Child Policy 2)." Privileges are given to children in one child families one of which is lower payment. China's One Child Policy is in response to the high population growth during the 1970s when an average woman gave birth to six children. The large number of children becomes acceptable as "parents traditionally relied on a large number of offspring to provide an economic security blanket (Fong 1)." Another purpose of the initiative is to help the country "leapfrog from a Third-World economy to a First-World economy by mimicking the First World fertility and educational patterns." The One Child Policy has a great impact in China. The Taipei Times report that it leaves the country with a huge shortage of women. During 1982, China's gender ratio had stayed relatively normal with 100 girls for every 108 boys.

Globalization and Poverty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Globalization and Poverty - Essay Example Consensus is there regarding the mission plan of these strategies for the eradication of poverty however the various different actors in the scenario do not agree on the framework and the methodologies in which these strategies have to be implemented for achieving the goal. According to Kanbur the reason behind this trend is the fact that the people who are at the forefront of this cause are themselves not sincere to it and are more concerned about their own interests (1093). There exists an evident difference of opinion between the two parties involved in the process of eradication of poverty in various regions of the world. The various institutions involved in the process of eradicating poverty have been divided into two groups by Kanbur, one who control the policies and play the decision making part in the process include the IFI’s, banks and financial ministries. ... itely the most pivotal in the whole scenario and must be addressed if a consensus has to be developed, so Kanbur’s analysis can be utilized to find out the root cause of the whole situation. Milanovic however argues that the ideology behind the whole process has been shaped by the IFI’s and the banks and there is nothing wrong with the whole idea of eradicating poverty but the only issue is the correct implementation of this idea which is not being done at present. Milanovic has very effectively pointed out the deficiencies of the current approach with the help of facts and figures which show that despite the continued involvement of IMF and other International Financial Institutions the results are not very encouraging. Not a single African country has managed to increase its GDP while working under the IMF and other international bodies, while some of the countries have hit new lows in their history since 1960’s. Milanovic has also mentioned the other factors w hich are responsible for the poverty of various communities living in rich economies. Europe made economic progress when it managed to attain roughly a uniform culture in all the countries and that’s why we cannot find the native culture of various regions anywhere. But the various communities like the Chinese and the Muslims who migrated to the European countries were never accepted by the native communities and were not allowed to prosper well (669). With the popularity of the concept of globalization, the international financial organizations (IFOs) are increasingly involved in determining the economic policies of countries. The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other bodies of the United Nations (UNDP etc.) have their own poverty reduction plans for different countries according to the

Research and Litereture review Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

And Litereture review - Research Paper Example In this context, the study has been undertaken among 700 Thai undergraduate students among the six different faculties and four different institutions as the sample to view the perception of varied students. Moreover, in order to compare the rate of plagiarism across the different facility, one-way ANOVA test has been performed. Also, as the study has been undertaken from the prospective of six different faculties thus, the one-way AVONA test has been conducted to measure the similarity and dissimilarity in the mean values of the statistics. Furthermore, the result of mean values derived from AVONA test helps to address the question that the rate of plagiarism differs among the faculties, which signifies that the attitudes of students towards different faculty are not similar (University of Vermont, 2014; Songsriwittaya et. al. 2009). Schrimsher et.al. (2011) conducted their study with the goal of determining the attitude of students towards plagiarism as well as misconducts in the academic activities in the context of Samford University. Additionally, this research has been conducted using the primary data collection method from 681 Samford University students with the help of close ended question in yes/no form and rating based on Likert scales. In order to derive the aforesaid aim of the research, different research questions have been framed and the responses of the survey respondents have been analyzed using the Chi square test. Chi square method for the analysis of data significantly assists in determining the differences in the attitudes of the students, which is included in the survey. Moreover, the result derived from Chi square signifies in the research that majority of the students have the perception that if one submits others written work it will be termed as an act of plagiarism. Nevertheless, it al so signifies with the test that students have extremely disregarded the high amount of cheating at Samford University. Ryan et. al.

3 QUESTIONS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE and deviance Coursework - 2

3 QUESTIONS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE and deviance - Coursework Example In the United States, which supposedly has a better set of laws than states such as Colombia or Iran, there still are reprehensible violations and deviant behaviour. For example, Abu Ghraib, a former Iraqi prison, became a stellar example of the US military’s capacity for elite deviance. . There had been blatant violations of the rights of the prisoners as the photographs that leaked out of Abu Ghraib confirm. The report filed by Major General Taguba on his inspection of the institution was a graphic representation of how the prison was run (Hersh, 2004). The pictures which started the whole controversy were proof enough of the culpability of the participants. A justification given is that â€Å"it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish insurgents from citizens within the population† (Lane: 2009, 3), however it still cannot justify the level of atrocities. To the extent that US support for such regimes is based on arms rather than development, U.S. policy becomes a factor in exacerbating these wretched conditions. By 1993, yearly U.S. weapons sales to foreign nations had reached $33billion. In 1983, the United States was the primary supplier to at least twenty of the world’s nations engaged in war at that time. Also, it would appear that elite deviance in the United States is motivated by money, whilst elite deviance elsewhere, or global elite deviance can be motivated by other things, such as religion or nationalism. There are impacts on the well-being of a person who have unjustified stigmatization and these impacts are deep and profound. For example, the stigma against obese women. According to Thio, et. al., â€Å"the obese typically accept the denigration thin society dishes out to them because they feel for the most part that they deserve it. And they do not defend other fat people who are being criticized because they are a mirror of themselves; they mirror

Making decisions in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Making decisions in business - Essay Example In such context, the researcher has decided to go deep in the topic of business research in order to understand how data is being collected and how this data can be analyzed in order make valid business decision. The essay will also take example of case study regarding sales revenue in return of Facebook marketing in order to shed light how statistical calculation is used for analyzing data. But, in the first section, the essay will shed light on data collection procedure. 1.1 Collection of Primary and Secondary Data Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil (2009) pointed out that researchers should be careful while collecting data regarding given business problem because business research is significantly different from academic research. For example, business researchers should focus more on real time data such as sales revenue after integrating certain advertising measures while academic researcher focus more on historical data in the form of literature review. For a business problem, researc hers can use two types of data source such as primary and secondary. 1.1.1 Plan According to the instruction, I have been approached by marketing department of Blue Marketing in order to help them to analyze the success of the new social media (Facebook) marketing campaign which has been designed for their client cocktail cosmetics. Data sources for analyzing the success of marketing campaign can be following types; Data Sources Characteristics Validity Secondary Data Previous result of such kind of marketing that has been prepared by the company for other clients. Historical data from the company database regarding industry trend on social media marketing trend. Available business report on global social media marketing trend. Financial report of cocktail cosmetics which can serve as basal plan for understanding the resource capability of client for funding digital marketing campaign. No. of likes is Facebook page of the social media marketing campaign of cocktail cosmetics. Data s ources should not be old (not before 2011) while each data should be collected after cross checking the authenticity. Data should be collected from updated databases and previous social media advertising campaigns should be adjusted as per present condition and size of cocktail cosmetics. Number of likes in Facebook page can help the Blue Marketing to assess the popularity of the campaign. These data are being collected in real time manner hence there is no question on data validity. Primary Data Sources Daily sales revenue data, Facebook Posts (FP) and Fan interactions (FI) are three major primary data sources for Blue Marketing to analyze the performance of the designed social media campaign. Survey method can also be used in order to collect data from Facebook users regarding their opinion about the campaign. Reliability statistics should be used in order to test the autocorrelation between the sample data and data having low responses having low should be deleted in order to inc rease validity of the data. Secondary data should be collected by accessing internet sources and paid business databases while primary data can be collected by visiting the Facebook page of the campaign and customer interaction page in Facebook. Sales data can be colle

West Jet Case Study Essay Example for Free

West Jet Case Study Essay Strengths The greatest strength of WestJet is their brand image. Through their superior customer service, WestJet has become one of the most trusted brands as well as Canada’s preferred airline. (Anonymous, 2011), (marketing weekly news, 2012) One of the most important strengths of WestJet is their ability to provide low fares to consumers because of their low cost structure. (Yannopoulos, 2011) A key strength for WestJet has been the ability to achieve success through a great corporate culture, and using Strategic hiring, training, and rewarding service oriented employees. They understand the importance of top-down commitment by management. (Karp, 2011), (Ostrower, 2012), (Carr, 2011) Weaknesses By only having one size of airplane, WestJet is restricted to number of flight destinations. Consumers may find alternative options such as flying from the United States of America. (Sherlock,2012) Another drawback of having one size of airplanes limits the capacity of flyers. (Karp, 2012) Opportunities There will always be a reason for people to fly whether it’s for business or pleasure and they will always look for the lowest possible cost. In fact WestJet is actually seeing fewer empty seats. (The Ottawa Citizen, 2012) Increase international growth by acquiring more Code sharing partners. (Sorensen, 2010), (Transportation Business Journal, 2012) By agreeing with Bombardier to include smaller turboprop airplane WestJet can expand into smaller domestic markets without the risk of having to increase fees. (Ostrower, 2012), (Cameron, 2012), (David, 2012) Threats With Air Canada not performing so well, the Canadian government might allow foreign up-starts into the market. (Sorensen, 2012) Surface transportation (automobiles, buses, rail transportation) could take away customers for short-haul trips. A recession might slow the amount of people travelling. (Deveau, 2011) Price of oil could increase fees. (Cameron, 2012), (Deveau, 2011) Bad weather could prevent travel to certain destination. Issues Analysis 1. WestJet has been in the industry for over 15 years and has built its reputation giving customers great value by offering low fares with exceptional customer service. 2. Face competition from Air Canada and surface transportation services. 3. With only three kinds of airplane, maintenance cost remain low but WestJet can only offer economy class and can only fly to limited destinations. 4. Even though Air Canada is the leader in this market, WestJet is the favorite among flyers because of their superior customer service and added features (i.e. Seatback TVs, Web check-in, more legroom, etc) Recommended Alternatives I suggest that WestJet go after the business traveler because this segment spends a lot of money and has a high frequency of flying. However, it should not ignore the seasonal or occasional traveler because this is the segment does contribute to the growth of the company and has helped West Jet reach the level it’s at right now. Product: * Air service to 76 destinations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. (PR Newswire Association, 2012) * Increase the size of their aircraft and add other international destinations such as cities in Europe and Asia. (Transportation Business Journal, 2012) * Expand to other domestic markets that have not been reached. (Ostrower, 2012) Place: * Online * Travel Agencies Price: * Prices vary depending season, destination, and amount of seats left on the airplane * Domestic Flight (ex. Toronto to Montreal) $155 $200 * Domestic Flight (ex. Toronto to Vancouver) $400 $500 * US Flight (ex. Toronto to Orlando) $175 $400 * Sun Destination (ex Toronto to Kingston, Jamaica) $250 $500 (All prices are quoted for the summer of 2012 through westjet.com) Promotion: * Online * TV * Radio * Billboards * Sponsorship * Loyalty or Rewards programs such WestJet Dollars. (Cropp, 2012), (Braidwood, 2012) Selection of the best Alternatives Product: West Jet should try to increase their market share by getting into the smaller domestic markets. With the agreement with Bombardier to introduce a new set of smaller turboprops (propeller planes) that consumes less fuel and seats a lower amount of passengers is a great fit. This will help West Jet to keep their operating cost low and should keep fares low for the consumers as well. Place: Web booking and travel agencies are the best places to book a flight. Online gives the consumer convenience booking while travel agencies are good for those who prefer to speak a person and/or are uncomfortable booking online. Price: As mentioned above, prices do vary depending season, destination, and amount of seats left on the airplane. With the new smaller turboprops, West Jet should be able to maintain their low fares versus their competition. Promotion: With most people booking flights online, the best promotions should be right on the WestJet.com so that they can help drive traffic to their website. In addition, have special deals emailed to current base of customers or those who book a flight with WestJet. Conclusion I believe the greatest advantage that WestJet has is a positive image from both consumers and employees, they kind of go hand in hand. Because WestJet has great incentive program for their employees, it helps drive home the idea that great customer service is number one. When your front line workers (the ones that have the most interaction with your customers) are treated well and are recognized for their hard work, the company and customer both win. I think their model of low operating costs, between smaller hubs, with only one kind of airplane was a great strategy to get them where they are now. However, I can in vision in the next 10-15 years WestJet stepping up to include a larger airplane that can travel into more foreign destinations because long-haul flights generate the most amount of money. Work Cited Canadas most trusted brands in 2011. (2011). Marketing, 116(6), 17-21. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/920212383?accountid=3455 Yannopoulos, P. (2011). Defensive and offensive strategies for market success. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(13), n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/904511236?accountid=3455 Karp, A. (2011). WestJets VALUE PROPOSITION. Air Transport World, 48(1), 46-50. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/839037396?accountid=3455 Ostrower, J. (2012, May 02). Bombardier wins WestJet order for turboprop planes. Wall Street Journal (Online), pp. n/a-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1010422700?accountid=3455 WestJet; WestJet is canadas preferred airline. (2012). Marketing Weekly News, , 1282. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/964463239?accountid=3455 Sorensen, C. (2010, May 31). READY FOR TAKEOFF: WestJets big plans to conqure air canada and then the world. Macleans, 123, 35-35. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/757889199?accountid=3455 Carr, D. F. (2011). Westjet cuts costs with crowdsourcing. Informationweek Online, , n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/896003391?accountid=3455 WestJet ranks globally as a top 10 airline. (2012, Jul 10). Canada NewsWire, pp. n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1024241175?accountid=3455 Cameron, D., Pearson, D. (2012, Jul 09). Propeller planes, fueled by economics, take off; at current oil prices, props make more sense for carriers than smaller jets. Wall Street Journal (Online), pp. n/a-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1024003999?accountid=3455 Sherlock, T. (2012, Jun 18). Millions of canadians flying out of U.S. airports. The Vancouver Sun, pp. A.1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1021240152?accountid=3455 Airlines, aviation; WestJet and korean air launch code-share agreement. (2012). Transportation Business Journal, , 109. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1015618972?accountid=3455 Deveau, S. (2011, Jan 20). Analysts split on investment merits of air canada vs. WestJet; labour talks ahead. National Post, pp. FP.14. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/846811799?accountid=3455 Canada; fewer empty seats at WestJet, air canada. (2012, Jul 06). The Ottawa Citizen, pp. E.3. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1024045691?accountid=3455

Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust

Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust Management Report Cover Sheet CIPD Management Report Utilising E Recruitment Executive Summary This Management report will look at the Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust and identify if E recruitment can help with the difficulties experienced in the Trust. Alongside a literature review of Recruitment difficulties, Employer Branding, Traditional recruitment and E recruitment, the author has conducted a benchmarking exercise in order to establish best practice in recruitment in local NHS organisations, A Process Mapping exercise to identify current practice and identify any difficulties or hold ups in the current process and a Managers questionnaire to allow the author to identify current perceptions of the recruitment service in the organisation alongside what expectations are. 1.0 Introduction The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was established in April 2002 and manages hospitals in Bury, North Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale. Serving a population of approximately 800,000, the Trust is one of the largest in the country and had an operating expenditure of over  £425 million in 2006/07. It runs services across five hospital sites: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury; North Manchester General Hospital; The Royal Oldham Hospital; Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale and employs a staff of approximately 10,000. The Trust has four divisions identified as Surgery, Medicine, Women and Childrens, and Diagnostics and Clinical Support. It also has directorates providing support to clinical services including Human Resources, Facilities, Planning, Finance, Information and Management Technology, Modernisation and Performance, Governance and Research and Development. There is a central HR function, with designated HR Managers for each division. Restructuring of this model has taken place in recent years. Recruitment is managed from the North Manchester General Hospital site and provides a central function. The local economy in which the Trust is situated is strong, with a great deal of competition from local organisations for staff. There is little competition within the NHS for staff, as Pennine is ‘the only Trust in town, in each of the 4 areas. Transport links to the Trust are generally good, although access to some peripheral sites is difficult, and car parking can be a problem, especially at the Royal Oldham site. The Trust is concerned, as many Trusts in the Greater Manchester area are, that many of its nurses will retire within the next five years and it is trying to develop a programme to get people to stay on after the normal retirement age. It also attempts to recruit as many student nurses as possible, but positions for newly qualified staff have been reduced in the last few years due to reconfiguration of services and redeployment to avoid redundancy. The Trust has a lower proportion of nursing staff from ethnic backgrounds than the local population, when comparing the 2001 Census with its workforce data; but the percentage of staff as a whole from ethnic backgrounds is higher, due to the numbers of medical staff from ethnic minorities within the Trust. The Trust works hard to recruit staff from ethnic minorities/deprived backgrounds. It has an Equality and Diversity Team who work to promote diversity within the Trust, supporting proactive recruitment where there is a concentration of individuals from ethnic or disadvantaged backgrounds. With a workforce of over 10,000 people, the average monthly cost of recruitment at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is xxxxxx. In addition the average length of time it takes to place a new employee in post is 55 days from the closing date of an advertised position to offering that position to a new recruit. Recruitment is currently a major issue in the Trust with days lost in the recruitment process costing money and reducing morale and effectiveness. At present the department is receiving a lot of pressure from the rest of the Trust and the reputation of the department is poor. This management report is being undertaken to identify recommendations that will allow the recruitment process to become more efficient and identify whether utilisation of e recruitment is a viable proposal in the Trust and whether its implementation will increase efficiency and save resources. All employers face the challenge of employing the right staff for their organisation and this often falls under a human resource arena. The recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been identified as a key challenge facing the NHS (NHS Plan 2002). High on the agenda at local, regional and national levels is the development of strategies and initiatives to attract suitable people to work in the professions, in order to ensure that services are responsive to patient needs. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment is an extensive subject with many aspects making up the area. A study by Ullman (1966) cited in Breaugh Starke (2000) was one of the first to examine recruitment sources. He found that new employees who were recruited by means of informal sources (i.e., employee referrals, direct applications) had a lower turnover rate than individuals recruited via formal sources (i.e., newspaper advertisements and employment agencies). Barber (1998) has since concluded that past research has not made a strong case for the importance of source differences. The author is interested in research into the prevalence of the sources used in traditional recruitment, which appears to be research that has not been undertaken significantly Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) identified that employers in the UK recruit over 3 million people each year, in a costly and time consuming exercise to add suitable staff to their organisation. They identify a need to ‘sell jobs to potential employees in order to ensure they can generate an adequate pool of applicants. Organisations are now facing a greater challenge recruiting rather than selecting. (Ployhart 2005) Other researchers having also identified the difficulties organisations have in attracting candidates, identifying selection will only be effective and financially defensible if a sufficient amount of applicants apply to the organisation. (Taylor and Collins, 2000) However according to Barber (1998), It is important that employers do not consider the recruitment process to be completed at this point, It continues during the short listing and interviewing stages and is only deemed as complete when an offer is made. For the purposes of this literature review the author will review thoughts and research on the initial stages of recruitment, that being the attraction of employees and advertisement of vacancies in order to recruit to the organisation, this will allow the author to include the areas of employer branding and e-recruitment in the review. 2.1 Recruitment Difficulties The Audit Commission identified that the UK labour market is currently highly competitive with unemployment at a historically low level. Employers are openly competing harder to attract and retain staff. There are also widespread reports of recruitment and retention problems across local public services, the NHS being no exception. Major concerns about shortfalls in the number of staff, and fewer younger people being attracted to work for the public sector, means there is a potential ‘demographic time bomb. It has been identified that 27 per cent of the public sector workforce are now aged 50 or over. (Gulland (2001), Audit Commission (2002)) Recruitment is also expensive, in a recent survey, CIPD (2007) identified the average direct cost of recruiting a member of staff is  £4,333; this increases to  £7750 when organisations are also calculating the associated labour turnover. They also identified that eighty four percent of organisations have reported difficulties in filling vacancies, a rise of 2 percent on the previous year. The key challenges faced by organisations in regard to recruitment have been identified from the survey as xxxxxxxxx CIPD believes that ‘effective recruitment is central and crucial to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organisation. They state that ‘successful recruitment depends upon finding people with the necessary skills, expertise and qualifications to deliver organisational objectives and the ability to make a positive contribution to the values and aims of the organisation. The Audit Commissions report (2002) also highlighted concerns about skill shortages, both in terms of basic skill levels in the workforce, and in the key leadership, management and specialist skills that are needed. Previous research from the Audit Commission which showed that, on average, a new recruit performs at only 60 per cent of their productive potential when they are first appointed, reaching 100 per cent only after they have been in a post for a year, makes recruitment in these areas and adequate delivery of services harder to manage. In their extensive report on public service recruitment, they identify the way the employers can maximise their recruitment practices. They advised Informed, quick and professional responses to job advertisement enquiries are essential for maximising applications; routine monitoring of recruitment will ensure that recruitment initiatives are driven by the bigger picture rather than just the latest concern; success in addressing diversity issues are to be achieved through efficient, effective targeted recruitment campaigns based on knowledge of the target community; and any initiative to attract a specific group of staff will benefit from being profession-led and in partnership with HR. Audit Commission (2002) Effective recruitment practices and policies are recognised as making a significant contribution to an organisations success, according to Plumbley (1990). He states it is not simply about placing suitable candidates into jobs, but also about building an adept and flexible workforce in order to meet the organisations changing and demanding needs. The first stage of recruitment and selection is to be able to attract an adequate number of appropriate candidates. Prospective employees do not select the organisation they wish to work for on the foundation of job and organisational characteristics such as location, and organisational structure alone. 2.2 Employee Brand The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to organisations spending more time, effort and resources on developing their recruitment brand and expanding the range of advertising methods used, to try and attract quality applicants from as broad and diverse a pool possible. Studies show that the organisations image, reputation and identity plays a vital part in attracting suitable talented applicants (Cable Turban, 2001; Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, 2004; Lievens Highhouse, 2003). Identifying that in order for the corporate brand to be more successful at attracting suitable candidates there is an importance in promoting and monitoring that brand. Fombrun, (1996) agrees with this stating the reputation of an organisation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors that can affect the probability of potential applicants choosing to apply to work for it. In the same way, organisation reputation has been found to be an important influence on applicants decisions of whether they fit with an organisation and want to join it (Rynes et al., 1991). This researcher has also showed that applicants utilised information on how informative and the ‘recruiter friendliness as an indicator of how an organisation treated its employees. Fombrun (1996) expands this argument to identify that reputation is of particular concern to applicants seeking employment in knowledge-based institutions, such as universities and hospitals, because of the intangibility of the services these organisations provide. Whilst Turban et al. (1998) also found that applicants perceptions of the specific attributes of a post were influenced by their evaluation of the organisation, even if they had been interviewed and were successful. The importance in private/commercial organisations reputation in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff has been well documented in literature, for example: (Turban, 2001) and Cable and Graham (2000), Gray and Ballmer 1998)), there has however been comparatively little consideration on the impact of reputation for public sector organisations. Most people in the course of their life have a need to use the services the NHS provide, some more than others and health is an important issue, not only on a personal level, also in the political arena. The NHS is the UKs largest employer, so many of the UK population are at present working in it, with a great number more many having done so at some point in their lives. In brief, the NHS has a wide range of different stakeholders, who may feel they have a vested interest in the quality; provision of services and ultimately, the reputation. People have varied, and very personal experiences of the NHS and this could mean image and reputation are therefore difficult to manage. The Audit Commission study (2002) study showed that public sector staff think that their image in the eyes of the public would discourage potential recruits from entering the NHS. The study analysed a broad sample of the national press to see if the evidence supported this perception. Analysis showed that plenty of stories are told and while coverage is extensive, the picture of public sector work presented to the reading public is bleak. Of the former public sector workers surveyed, 68 per cent thought that the image of their former profession would discourage people from entering that job. Only 9 per cent thought the opposite that the image would encourage people to enter. The NHS is such a well-known organisation that carries out specific roles in society, that when considering a career in the NHS people often have an idea regarding an occupation they would like to pursue. The GTI (2006) conducted a survey to establish the major determinants that influence applicants in their choice of employer. The results show that for 22% of student nurses and doctors, the reputation of a prospective employer (often influenced by media coverage) is a key factor in determining their aspirations. They identify that word of mouth can be damaging to an employers reputation. If employers get things wrong, it can really affect the way they are viewed by potential employees as over half of the survey respondents have shared their bad experiences with their peers. So for some people the images and reputation of the NHS may be crucial to their decision of whether to work for it. 2.3 Traditional Recruitment Methods Traditional recruitment methods are the way that an organisation announced a job opportunity to the marketplace through a classified advertisement, a job fair, an external recruiter, or other media. Any candidate who happened to see the announcement would submit his or her CV, ring the company for an application form or submit a letter of interest. Lievens and Harris. (2003) stated in the past, job searching was a more time-consuming activity. A candidate who wished to apply for a job would need to first locate a suitable job opportunity, which often involved searching through a newspaper or contacting acquaintances. After locating potentially suitable openings, the candidate would typically have to prepare a cover letter, produce a copy of his or her resume, and mail the package with the appropriate postage. Arboledas, Ferrero and Vidal (2001), presented some examples of recruitment methods that organisations have traditionally used. These were identified as newspaper advertisement, faxed/mailed resumes, recruitment agencies or the use of headhunters. Galanaki (2002) also identified all these methods and defines them as ‘traditional recruitment methods. This idea of traditional methods can also be found quoted in numerous HR texts, which have sections dedicated to recruitment and try to identify best recruitment practices. The authors of such texts include Cole (2004), Rayner and Adam Smith, Armstrong (2007) and Mullins (2005). This was supported by a further IDS study in 2006 that reported that to maximise their chances of appointing the best candidate, many organisations have utilised a combination of online and traditional approaches In 2004 Softworld HR and Payroll identified in a study, that 24% of respondents envisaged e-recruitment entirely replacing all traditional methods of advertising in the future, however 76% of the practitioners surveyed, see it as an additional tool to allow the widest possible range of applicants to be accessed. Traditional methods also identify the use of recruitment agencies in the way of recruiting staff, Recruitment 2020 difficulties in recruitment agency etcc†¦ According to an IES study (2005), recruitment agencies remain confident that the growth in e-recruitment technology will not eliminate their role in the process, as many organisations lack the time and expertise to carry out these tasks. Many organisations, especially smaller ones may also lack the technology to carry out their own recruitment online. With the low unemployment that currently exists the task of finding quality candidates will remain challenging and this may prompt organisations to continue to use agencies, in particular, for specialised, senior or difficult to fill positions In the 2007 CIPD recruitment and retention survey, it was identified for the first time in the UK; corporate websites have broken even with local newspapers advertisements as the most common method of recruiting candidates. 2.4 E-recruitment E-Recruitment is identified as ‘the use of Internet technology to make the job of recruiting staff more efficient and effective, when used together with traditional recruitment methods; the benefits derived from e-recruitment can be considerable. (E-recruitment Best Practice Guide 2007) Internet usage in recent years has seen the recruitment process transformed. Online recruitment, internet recruitment, web-based recruiting and e-recruitment are terms used to describe the use of the internet to recruit potential employees, and mediums to conduct other elements of the recruitment process. We will use the terms interchangeably in this report. E-Recruitment is becoming a significant part of the recruitment strategy of a wide range of organisations worldwide, in addition to becoming an increasingly popular method for job seekers in searching and applying for jobs. According to Schreyer McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to â€Å"The recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents The traditional method of recruitment has been revolutionised by the emergence of the Internet. In the past few years, the Internet has dramatically changed the face of HR recruitment and the ways organisations think about the recruiting function. There is predicted to be a continued dramatic growth in recruiting and hiring via this medium in future years. The utilisation of e recruitment by organisations has seen a general upward trend according to Berry (2205). 93% of organisations were using their corporate website to advertise job vacancies in 2005, compared with 72% in 2002. It would seem that e-recruitment has already been implemented in many organisations from small companies to large organisations. These organisations are already using e recruitment to advertise jobs and accept CVs on the Internet, and also communicating with the applicants by e-mail. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey it was identified that eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use of e-mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also said they are actively advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online applications. A survey by the public appointment service in Ireland in 2006, relating to e recruitment in Irish organisations, has also identified a high level of current or intended future use of e recruitment, this being identified as an area forming an important part of the Irish recruitment strategy. Lievens and Harris (2003) have identified the following methods of using the Internet to attract candidates, acknowledging that approaches are continually changing. †¢ Company websites Advertising posts and providing information to candidates through the company website. The facility to apply online is often also provided. †¢ Job Boards Commercial general purpose recruitment portals, (e.g. Yahoo!, Monster.com) and specific industry job boards. †¢ Online Searching Recruiters searching online sources such as company websites/professional chat sites. to identify candidates who may not be actively looking for a position. †¢ Relationship recruiting Using the internet to build and maintain long term relationships with passive candidates, through using internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to e-mail regular updates about careers and their fields of interest. Kerrin and Keetley (2005) have suggested that the reasons for many organisations to introduce e recruitment have been recruitment cost reduction, speedier processes, access to a wider pool of applicants and better employer branding. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006,  it was also identified that the key drivers for e-recruitment were; reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). It was also noted that over a third of respondents believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. This has been firther supported by the IRS Employment review 2007. Reduction in costs E-Recruitment enables employers to reduce advertising costs and remove their dependency on recruitment agencies. Technology in online recruitment is not expensive and the hours saved in the pre-selection process gives hr staff more time. Administration can be significantly reduced in most organisations. This can prove to be particularly important when recruiting high volumes of staff or when receiving high volumes of applications. (DTI 2006, Guertal et al 2007) Cappeli (2001) calculated that ‘it costs only about one-twentieth as much to hire someone online as to hire that same person through †¦ other traditional methods. This can be achieved through significantly reducing advertising costs and by reducing recruitment related administration according to Elkington (2005) An IDS HR Study in April 2006 identified how the Internet now plays a significant role in recruitment activities of employers. The report examined the use of corporate and third party recruitment websites and identified they are being used to reduce advertising costs and tap into a more diverse candidate base. They also identified that technology is streamlining the application process with the encouragement of online applications, linking into sophisticated application tracking systems and allowing organisations to measure the success of attraction methods. IDS state that over 70% of adults utilise the Internet, and employers are using this medium to attract and recruit much more frequently. They identify significant cost savings for employers and reduced time taken to fill vacancies, but are keen to point out the wariness of employees in missing out on potential candidates and feel that traditional recruitment media is set to retain and important role, particularly when recruiting locally or hard to fill jobs. Grout and Parrin, authors of the book, ‘recruiting excellence agree with this assessment by IDS. In an article for HR Director (2006), they identify that online recruitment can improve efficiency by the reduction in man hours involved in the process, and help employers reach a wider and larger audience of jobseekers. They also recognise that it can be a valuable part of a recruitment process, in addition to traditional press advertising and the use of agencies (dti, 2005) Kerrin and Keetley (2005) however, have stated, that the full cost savings are often only realised if the whole recruitment process is carried out online. Reducing time-to-hire With e-recruitment you can cut the time taken to recruit by as much as 75% and recruit the right employees more quickly into the organisation. Time is also saved by spending less time tracking, communicating with and screening applicants. Online recruitment allows the sharing of best practice and improving the consistency of recruitment processes across the organisation. The Public Appointments Service survey showed that a reduction in administrative workload (cited by 49% of respondents), and reduced timescales for hiring (cited by 40% of respondents), were key drivers in the decision to implementing e recruitment. Hogg (2000) stresses a shorter recruitment cycle can be gained by the speed at which several steps of the recruitment process are carried out online. Elkington (2005) supports this and has identified that the immediate posting of jobs online and the effortlessness of completing online application forms and e-mailing CVs to an organisation has made these steps much faster. Moving further into the recruitment process the short-listing process can be accelerated by routinely aligning applications dependent on prearranged criteria (CIPD 2005). Applications can be progressed within minutes rather than weeks, saving both recruiters and job applicants time. Widening Talent Pool Internet tools that enable employers/recruiters to reach a wider pool of potential applicants and to fill positions faster with less cost to the organisation are obviously advantageous in such a competitive environment. Online advertising opens up a wider candidate pool, by providing 24/7 access to job seekers, at local, national and international locations, thus providing a better chance of finding the right candidate (CIPD 2005 1). As job seekers become increasingly more web literate and the growth of broadband makes web surfing easier and cheaper (IRS 2005), the potential for e-recruitment to attract wider candidate pools is increasing. Enhancing Employer brand More and more candidates expect to apply directly online and routinely make judgements about employers based on their recruitment process. To combat this employers are adopting increasingly dynamic e-recruitment solutions to allow them to differentiate themselves and to professionally manage the recruitment process. (Willock, 2005; Paton 2006). E-Recruitment enables an organisation to raise its profile as an innovative, forward looking recruiter and allows the opportunity to provide visitors to the website with a positive experience. E-Recruitment can help to build the image of a brand. Barrow (2005) recommends that organisations build their brand identity very carefully however, warning of a need to ensure substance is beneath the clever name, logo or design, as employees once appointed will see through the facade. This is further supported by Gray and Balmers (1998) term, the ‘routine interactions that outsiders have in shaping image and reputation. Corporate communications are likely to be received with scepticism when they do not match personal experience. Kerrin and Kettley (2003) in their report ‘e-recruitment is it delivering identified a key factor for organisations in their adoption of e-recruitment is the desire to increase their profile as an employer of choice amongst potential candidates and to promote their image as a progressive organisation. CIPD (2005) also demonstrated that more detailed information can be provided on the organisations website than in a newspaper advertisements and in recruitment agency literature, reinforcing the employer brand, improving the corporate image and profile whilst also giving an indication of the organisations culture The use of the Internet allows organisations to pass far more information in a much more dynamic and consistent fashion to candidates than was the case in the past (Lievens and Harris 2003). Applicants therefore have much more information at their disposal before they even decide to apply for a job than in the past. In addition, candidates can easily and quickly search for independent information about organisations from various sources, such as chatrooms, libraries. Therefore, unlike in the past, a candidate may have applied for a job based on practically no information; todays candidate may have reviewed a substantial amount of information about the organisation before choosing to apply. Disadvantages of e-recruitment The CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers Another factor which seems to be deterring some employers from making greater use of online recruitment systems is a concern over the level of internet access and levels of comfort with internet technology of their target audiences. While usage of the Internet does vary by social group there is evidence to suggest that recruiting online results in at least as diverse an applicant group as those recruited through traditional methods McManus M.A., Ferguson M.W. (2003 A further concern in relation to access is the suitability of online recruitment methods for candidates with disabilities. Research from www.jobsgopublic, 2004, shows that many employers exclude candidates with disabilities by having poorly designed websites and e-recruitment processes, and there is increasing pressure to address this in order to ensure compliance with equal opportunities legislation. (IRS 2007) Developers of e-recruitment technology are increasingly aware of these requirements and are producing products/systems with higher levels of accessibility and that are in line with EU policies and legislation on e-inclusion. Another possible limitation for organisations may include a lack of knowledge of the available options and difficulties in sourcing/ choosing the appropriate technology that will be compatible with their existing HR systems and will serve their needs now and into the future. This report and others e.g. [3] aim to help raise awareness and highlight the issues for practitioners and decision makers. Still limited in its application, typically online recruitment is used to solely advertise and administer the application process Underexploited online recruitment site can gather rich data pn usage most employers do not interrogate the usage to improve effectiveness Considered unsuitable for certain kinds of vacancies Applicants afe not of a better quality 7 in 10 say admin easier to perform 7 out of 10 more likely to improve reputation. 8 out 10 cheaper 2.5 NHS Jobs There was a time when we could assume that the brightest and best of each generation would want to join the public sector. But that is an assumption that we can no longer make, particularly when the financial rewards at the top of the private sector are so great, and too often public sector workers are weighed down by bureaucracy and silly rules. Tony Blair, 1999 (Ref. 1) It has been suggested in surveys by CIPD (20052) and Kerrin Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust Management Report Cover Sheet CIPD Management Report Utilising E Recruitment Executive Summary This Management report will look at the Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust and identify if E recruitment can help with the difficulties experienced in the Trust. Alongside a literature review of Recruitment difficulties, Employer Branding, Traditional recruitment and E recruitment, the author has conducted a benchmarking exercise in order to establish best practice in recruitment in local NHS organisations, A Process Mapping exercise to identify current practice and identify any difficulties or hold ups in the current process and a Managers questionnaire to allow the author to identify current perceptions of the recruitment service in the organisation alongside what expectations are. 1.0 Introduction The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was established in April 2002 and manages hospitals in Bury, North Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale. Serving a population of approximately 800,000, the Trust is one of the largest in the country and had an operating expenditure of over  £425 million in 2006/07. It runs services across five hospital sites: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury; North Manchester General Hospital; The Royal Oldham Hospital; Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale and employs a staff of approximately 10,000. The Trust has four divisions identified as Surgery, Medicine, Women and Childrens, and Diagnostics and Clinical Support. It also has directorates providing support to clinical services including Human Resources, Facilities, Planning, Finance, Information and Management Technology, Modernisation and Performance, Governance and Research and Development. There is a central HR function, with designated HR Managers for each division. Restructuring of this model has taken place in recent years. Recruitment is managed from the North Manchester General Hospital site and provides a central function. The local economy in which the Trust is situated is strong, with a great deal of competition from local organisations for staff. There is little competition within the NHS for staff, as Pennine is ‘the only Trust in town, in each of the 4 areas. Transport links to the Trust are generally good, although access to some peripheral sites is difficult, and car parking can be a problem, especially at the Royal Oldham site. The Trust is concerned, as many Trusts in the Greater Manchester area are, that many of its nurses will retire within the next five years and it is trying to develop a programme to get people to stay on after the normal retirement age. It also attempts to recruit as many student nurses as possible, but positions for newly qualified staff have been reduced in the last few years due to reconfiguration of services and redeployment to avoid redundancy. The Trust has a lower proportion of nursing staff from ethnic backgrounds than the local population, when comparing the 2001 Census with its workforce data; but the percentage of staff as a whole from ethnic backgrounds is higher, due to the numbers of medical staff from ethnic minorities within the Trust. The Trust works hard to recruit staff from ethnic minorities/deprived backgrounds. It has an Equality and Diversity Team who work to promote diversity within the Trust, supporting proactive recruitment where there is a concentration of individuals from ethnic or disadvantaged backgrounds. With a workforce of over 10,000 people, the average monthly cost of recruitment at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is xxxxxx. In addition the average length of time it takes to place a new employee in post is 55 days from the closing date of an advertised position to offering that position to a new recruit. Recruitment is currently a major issue in the Trust with days lost in the recruitment process costing money and reducing morale and effectiveness. At present the department is receiving a lot of pressure from the rest of the Trust and the reputation of the department is poor. This management report is being undertaken to identify recommendations that will allow the recruitment process to become more efficient and identify whether utilisation of e recruitment is a viable proposal in the Trust and whether its implementation will increase efficiency and save resources. All employers face the challenge of employing the right staff for their organisation and this often falls under a human resource arena. The recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been identified as a key challenge facing the NHS (NHS Plan 2002). High on the agenda at local, regional and national levels is the development of strategies and initiatives to attract suitable people to work in the professions, in order to ensure that services are responsive to patient needs. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment is an extensive subject with many aspects making up the area. A study by Ullman (1966) cited in Breaugh Starke (2000) was one of the first to examine recruitment sources. He found that new employees who were recruited by means of informal sources (i.e., employee referrals, direct applications) had a lower turnover rate than individuals recruited via formal sources (i.e., newspaper advertisements and employment agencies). Barber (1998) has since concluded that past research has not made a strong case for the importance of source differences. The author is interested in research into the prevalence of the sources used in traditional recruitment, which appears to be research that has not been undertaken significantly Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) identified that employers in the UK recruit over 3 million people each year, in a costly and time consuming exercise to add suitable staff to their organisation. They identify a need to ‘sell jobs to potential employees in order to ensure they can generate an adequate pool of applicants. Organisations are now facing a greater challenge recruiting rather than selecting. (Ployhart 2005) Other researchers having also identified the difficulties organisations have in attracting candidates, identifying selection will only be effective and financially defensible if a sufficient amount of applicants apply to the organisation. (Taylor and Collins, 2000) However according to Barber (1998), It is important that employers do not consider the recruitment process to be completed at this point, It continues during the short listing and interviewing stages and is only deemed as complete when an offer is made. For the purposes of this literature review the author will review thoughts and research on the initial stages of recruitment, that being the attraction of employees and advertisement of vacancies in order to recruit to the organisation, this will allow the author to include the areas of employer branding and e-recruitment in the review. 2.1 Recruitment Difficulties The Audit Commission identified that the UK labour market is currently highly competitive with unemployment at a historically low level. Employers are openly competing harder to attract and retain staff. There are also widespread reports of recruitment and retention problems across local public services, the NHS being no exception. Major concerns about shortfalls in the number of staff, and fewer younger people being attracted to work for the public sector, means there is a potential ‘demographic time bomb. It has been identified that 27 per cent of the public sector workforce are now aged 50 or over. (Gulland (2001), Audit Commission (2002)) Recruitment is also expensive, in a recent survey, CIPD (2007) identified the average direct cost of recruiting a member of staff is  £4,333; this increases to  £7750 when organisations are also calculating the associated labour turnover. They also identified that eighty four percent of organisations have reported difficulties in filling vacancies, a rise of 2 percent on the previous year. The key challenges faced by organisations in regard to recruitment have been identified from the survey as xxxxxxxxx CIPD believes that ‘effective recruitment is central and crucial to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organisation. They state that ‘successful recruitment depends upon finding people with the necessary skills, expertise and qualifications to deliver organisational objectives and the ability to make a positive contribution to the values and aims of the organisation. The Audit Commissions report (2002) also highlighted concerns about skill shortages, both in terms of basic skill levels in the workforce, and in the key leadership, management and specialist skills that are needed. Previous research from the Audit Commission which showed that, on average, a new recruit performs at only 60 per cent of their productive potential when they are first appointed, reaching 100 per cent only after they have been in a post for a year, makes recruitment in these areas and adequate delivery of services harder to manage. In their extensive report on public service recruitment, they identify the way the employers can maximise their recruitment practices. They advised Informed, quick and professional responses to job advertisement enquiries are essential for maximising applications; routine monitoring of recruitment will ensure that recruitment initiatives are driven by the bigger picture rather than just the latest concern; success in addressing diversity issues are to be achieved through efficient, effective targeted recruitment campaigns based on knowledge of the target community; and any initiative to attract a specific group of staff will benefit from being profession-led and in partnership with HR. Audit Commission (2002) Effective recruitment practices and policies are recognised as making a significant contribution to an organisations success, according to Plumbley (1990). He states it is not simply about placing suitable candidates into jobs, but also about building an adept and flexible workforce in order to meet the organisations changing and demanding needs. The first stage of recruitment and selection is to be able to attract an adequate number of appropriate candidates. Prospective employees do not select the organisation they wish to work for on the foundation of job and organisational characteristics such as location, and organisational structure alone. 2.2 Employee Brand The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to organisations spending more time, effort and resources on developing their recruitment brand and expanding the range of advertising methods used, to try and attract quality applicants from as broad and diverse a pool possible. Studies show that the organisations image, reputation and identity plays a vital part in attracting suitable talented applicants (Cable Turban, 2001; Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, 2004; Lievens Highhouse, 2003). Identifying that in order for the corporate brand to be more successful at attracting suitable candidates there is an importance in promoting and monitoring that brand. Fombrun, (1996) agrees with this stating the reputation of an organisation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors that can affect the probability of potential applicants choosing to apply to work for it. In the same way, organisation reputation has been found to be an important influence on applicants decisions of whether they fit with an organisation and want to join it (Rynes et al., 1991). This researcher has also showed that applicants utilised information on how informative and the ‘recruiter friendliness as an indicator of how an organisation treated its employees. Fombrun (1996) expands this argument to identify that reputation is of particular concern to applicants seeking employment in knowledge-based institutions, such as universities and hospitals, because of the intangibility of the services these organisations provide. Whilst Turban et al. (1998) also found that applicants perceptions of the specific attributes of a post were influenced by their evaluation of the organisation, even if they had been interviewed and were successful. The importance in private/commercial organisations reputation in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff has been well documented in literature, for example: (Turban, 2001) and Cable and Graham (2000), Gray and Ballmer 1998)), there has however been comparatively little consideration on the impact of reputation for public sector organisations. Most people in the course of their life have a need to use the services the NHS provide, some more than others and health is an important issue, not only on a personal level, also in the political arena. The NHS is the UKs largest employer, so many of the UK population are at present working in it, with a great number more many having done so at some point in their lives. In brief, the NHS has a wide range of different stakeholders, who may feel they have a vested interest in the quality; provision of services and ultimately, the reputation. People have varied, and very personal experiences of the NHS and this could mean image and reputation are therefore difficult to manage. The Audit Commission study (2002) study showed that public sector staff think that their image in the eyes of the public would discourage potential recruits from entering the NHS. The study analysed a broad sample of the national press to see if the evidence supported this perception. Analysis showed that plenty of stories are told and while coverage is extensive, the picture of public sector work presented to the reading public is bleak. Of the former public sector workers surveyed, 68 per cent thought that the image of their former profession would discourage people from entering that job. Only 9 per cent thought the opposite that the image would encourage people to enter. The NHS is such a well-known organisation that carries out specific roles in society, that when considering a career in the NHS people often have an idea regarding an occupation they would like to pursue. The GTI (2006) conducted a survey to establish the major determinants that influence applicants in their choice of employer. The results show that for 22% of student nurses and doctors, the reputation of a prospective employer (often influenced by media coverage) is a key factor in determining their aspirations. They identify that word of mouth can be damaging to an employers reputation. If employers get things wrong, it can really affect the way they are viewed by potential employees as over half of the survey respondents have shared their bad experiences with their peers. So for some people the images and reputation of the NHS may be crucial to their decision of whether to work for it. 2.3 Traditional Recruitment Methods Traditional recruitment methods are the way that an organisation announced a job opportunity to the marketplace through a classified advertisement, a job fair, an external recruiter, or other media. Any candidate who happened to see the announcement would submit his or her CV, ring the company for an application form or submit a letter of interest. Lievens and Harris. (2003) stated in the past, job searching was a more time-consuming activity. A candidate who wished to apply for a job would need to first locate a suitable job opportunity, which often involved searching through a newspaper or contacting acquaintances. After locating potentially suitable openings, the candidate would typically have to prepare a cover letter, produce a copy of his or her resume, and mail the package with the appropriate postage. Arboledas, Ferrero and Vidal (2001), presented some examples of recruitment methods that organisations have traditionally used. These were identified as newspaper advertisement, faxed/mailed resumes, recruitment agencies or the use of headhunters. Galanaki (2002) also identified all these methods and defines them as ‘traditional recruitment methods. This idea of traditional methods can also be found quoted in numerous HR texts, which have sections dedicated to recruitment and try to identify best recruitment practices. The authors of such texts include Cole (2004), Rayner and Adam Smith, Armstrong (2007) and Mullins (2005). This was supported by a further IDS study in 2006 that reported that to maximise their chances of appointing the best candidate, many organisations have utilised a combination of online and traditional approaches In 2004 Softworld HR and Payroll identified in a study, that 24% of respondents envisaged e-recruitment entirely replacing all traditional methods of advertising in the future, however 76% of the practitioners surveyed, see it as an additional tool to allow the widest possible range of applicants to be accessed. Traditional methods also identify the use of recruitment agencies in the way of recruiting staff, Recruitment 2020 difficulties in recruitment agency etcc†¦ According to an IES study (2005), recruitment agencies remain confident that the growth in e-recruitment technology will not eliminate their role in the process, as many organisations lack the time and expertise to carry out these tasks. Many organisations, especially smaller ones may also lack the technology to carry out their own recruitment online. With the low unemployment that currently exists the task of finding quality candidates will remain challenging and this may prompt organisations to continue to use agencies, in particular, for specialised, senior or difficult to fill positions In the 2007 CIPD recruitment and retention survey, it was identified for the first time in the UK; corporate websites have broken even with local newspapers advertisements as the most common method of recruiting candidates. 2.4 E-recruitment E-Recruitment is identified as ‘the use of Internet technology to make the job of recruiting staff more efficient and effective, when used together with traditional recruitment methods; the benefits derived from e-recruitment can be considerable. (E-recruitment Best Practice Guide 2007) Internet usage in recent years has seen the recruitment process transformed. Online recruitment, internet recruitment, web-based recruiting and e-recruitment are terms used to describe the use of the internet to recruit potential employees, and mediums to conduct other elements of the recruitment process. We will use the terms interchangeably in this report. E-Recruitment is becoming a significant part of the recruitment strategy of a wide range of organisations worldwide, in addition to becoming an increasingly popular method for job seekers in searching and applying for jobs. According to Schreyer McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to â€Å"The recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents The traditional method of recruitment has been revolutionised by the emergence of the Internet. In the past few years, the Internet has dramatically changed the face of HR recruitment and the ways organisations think about the recruiting function. There is predicted to be a continued dramatic growth in recruiting and hiring via this medium in future years. The utilisation of e recruitment by organisations has seen a general upward trend according to Berry (2205). 93% of organisations were using their corporate website to advertise job vacancies in 2005, compared with 72% in 2002. It would seem that e-recruitment has already been implemented in many organisations from small companies to large organisations. These organisations are already using e recruitment to advertise jobs and accept CVs on the Internet, and also communicating with the applicants by e-mail. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey it was identified that eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use of e-mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also said they are actively advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online applications. A survey by the public appointment service in Ireland in 2006, relating to e recruitment in Irish organisations, has also identified a high level of current or intended future use of e recruitment, this being identified as an area forming an important part of the Irish recruitment strategy. Lievens and Harris (2003) have identified the following methods of using the Internet to attract candidates, acknowledging that approaches are continually changing. †¢ Company websites Advertising posts and providing information to candidates through the company website. The facility to apply online is often also provided. †¢ Job Boards Commercial general purpose recruitment portals, (e.g. Yahoo!, Monster.com) and specific industry job boards. †¢ Online Searching Recruiters searching online sources such as company websites/professional chat sites. to identify candidates who may not be actively looking for a position. †¢ Relationship recruiting Using the internet to build and maintain long term relationships with passive candidates, through using internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to e-mail regular updates about careers and their fields of interest. Kerrin and Keetley (2005) have suggested that the reasons for many organisations to introduce e recruitment have been recruitment cost reduction, speedier processes, access to a wider pool of applicants and better employer branding. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006,  it was also identified that the key drivers for e-recruitment were; reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). It was also noted that over a third of respondents believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. This has been firther supported by the IRS Employment review 2007. Reduction in costs E-Recruitment enables employers to reduce advertising costs and remove their dependency on recruitment agencies. Technology in online recruitment is not expensive and the hours saved in the pre-selection process gives hr staff more time. Administration can be significantly reduced in most organisations. This can prove to be particularly important when recruiting high volumes of staff or when receiving high volumes of applications. (DTI 2006, Guertal et al 2007) Cappeli (2001) calculated that ‘it costs only about one-twentieth as much to hire someone online as to hire that same person through †¦ other traditional methods. This can be achieved through significantly reducing advertising costs and by reducing recruitment related administration according to Elkington (2005) An IDS HR Study in April 2006 identified how the Internet now plays a significant role in recruitment activities of employers. The report examined the use of corporate and third party recruitment websites and identified they are being used to reduce advertising costs and tap into a more diverse candidate base. They also identified that technology is streamlining the application process with the encouragement of online applications, linking into sophisticated application tracking systems and allowing organisations to measure the success of attraction methods. IDS state that over 70% of adults utilise the Internet, and employers are using this medium to attract and recruit much more frequently. They identify significant cost savings for employers and reduced time taken to fill vacancies, but are keen to point out the wariness of employees in missing out on potential candidates and feel that traditional recruitment media is set to retain and important role, particularly when recruiting locally or hard to fill jobs. Grout and Parrin, authors of the book, ‘recruiting excellence agree with this assessment by IDS. In an article for HR Director (2006), they identify that online recruitment can improve efficiency by the reduction in man hours involved in the process, and help employers reach a wider and larger audience of jobseekers. They also recognise that it can be a valuable part of a recruitment process, in addition to traditional press advertising and the use of agencies (dti, 2005) Kerrin and Keetley (2005) however, have stated, that the full cost savings are often only realised if the whole recruitment process is carried out online. Reducing time-to-hire With e-recruitment you can cut the time taken to recruit by as much as 75% and recruit the right employees more quickly into the organisation. Time is also saved by spending less time tracking, communicating with and screening applicants. Online recruitment allows the sharing of best practice and improving the consistency of recruitment processes across the organisation. The Public Appointments Service survey showed that a reduction in administrative workload (cited by 49% of respondents), and reduced timescales for hiring (cited by 40% of respondents), were key drivers in the decision to implementing e recruitment. Hogg (2000) stresses a shorter recruitment cycle can be gained by the speed at which several steps of the recruitment process are carried out online. Elkington (2005) supports this and has identified that the immediate posting of jobs online and the effortlessness of completing online application forms and e-mailing CVs to an organisation has made these steps much faster. Moving further into the recruitment process the short-listing process can be accelerated by routinely aligning applications dependent on prearranged criteria (CIPD 2005). Applications can be progressed within minutes rather than weeks, saving both recruiters and job applicants time. Widening Talent Pool Internet tools that enable employers/recruiters to reach a wider pool of potential applicants and to fill positions faster with less cost to the organisation are obviously advantageous in such a competitive environment. Online advertising opens up a wider candidate pool, by providing 24/7 access to job seekers, at local, national and international locations, thus providing a better chance of finding the right candidate (CIPD 2005 1). As job seekers become increasingly more web literate and the growth of broadband makes web surfing easier and cheaper (IRS 2005), the potential for e-recruitment to attract wider candidate pools is increasing. Enhancing Employer brand More and more candidates expect to apply directly online and routinely make judgements about employers based on their recruitment process. To combat this employers are adopting increasingly dynamic e-recruitment solutions to allow them to differentiate themselves and to professionally manage the recruitment process. (Willock, 2005; Paton 2006). E-Recruitment enables an organisation to raise its profile as an innovative, forward looking recruiter and allows the opportunity to provide visitors to the website with a positive experience. E-Recruitment can help to build the image of a brand. Barrow (2005) recommends that organisations build their brand identity very carefully however, warning of a need to ensure substance is beneath the clever name, logo or design, as employees once appointed will see through the facade. This is further supported by Gray and Balmers (1998) term, the ‘routine interactions that outsiders have in shaping image and reputation. Corporate communications are likely to be received with scepticism when they do not match personal experience. Kerrin and Kettley (2003) in their report ‘e-recruitment is it delivering identified a key factor for organisations in their adoption of e-recruitment is the desire to increase their profile as an employer of choice amongst potential candidates and to promote their image as a progressive organisation. CIPD (2005) also demonstrated that more detailed information can be provided on the organisations website than in a newspaper advertisements and in recruitment agency literature, reinforcing the employer brand, improving the corporate image and profile whilst also giving an indication of the organisations culture The use of the Internet allows organisations to pass far more information in a much more dynamic and consistent fashion to candidates than was the case in the past (Lievens and Harris 2003). Applicants therefore have much more information at their disposal before they even decide to apply for a job than in the past. In addition, candidates can easily and quickly search for independent information about organisations from various sources, such as chatrooms, libraries. Therefore, unlike in the past, a candidate may have applied for a job based on practically no information; todays candidate may have reviewed a substantial amount of information about the organisation before choosing to apply. Disadvantages of e-recruitment The CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers Another factor which seems to be deterring some employers from making greater use of online recruitment systems is a concern over the level of internet access and levels of comfort with internet technology of their target audiences. While usage of the Internet does vary by social group there is evidence to suggest that recruiting online results in at least as diverse an applicant group as those recruited through traditional methods McManus M.A., Ferguson M.W. (2003 A further concern in relation to access is the suitability of online recruitment methods for candidates with disabilities. Research from www.jobsgopublic, 2004, shows that many employers exclude candidates with disabilities by having poorly designed websites and e-recruitment processes, and there is increasing pressure to address this in order to ensure compliance with equal opportunities legislation. (IRS 2007) Developers of e-recruitment technology are increasingly aware of these requirements and are producing products/systems with higher levels of accessibility and that are in line with EU policies and legislation on e-inclusion. Another possible limitation for organisations may include a lack of knowledge of the available options and difficulties in sourcing/ choosing the appropriate technology that will be compatible with their existing HR systems and will serve their needs now and into the future. This report and others e.g. [3] aim to help raise awareness and highlight the issues for practitioners and decision makers. Still limited in its application, typically online recruitment is used to solely advertise and administer the application process Underexploited online recruitment site can gather rich data pn usage most employers do not interrogate the usage to improve effectiveness Considered unsuitable for certain kinds of vacancies Applicants afe not of a better quality 7 in 10 say admin easier to perform 7 out of 10 more likely to improve reputation. 8 out 10 cheaper 2.5 NHS Jobs There was a time when we could assume that the brightest and best of each generation would want to join the public sector. But that is an assumption that we can no longer make, particularly when the financial rewards at the top of the private sector are so great, and too often public sector workers are weighed down by bureaucracy and silly rules. Tony Blair, 1999 (Ref. 1) It has been suggested in surveys by CIPD (20052) and Kerrin