Web-based recruitment in the Millennial generation: Work–life balance,website usability,and organizational attraction

In this digital era, traditional recruitment efforts have increasingly been supplemented with or replaced by recruiting applicants on the Web. Concurrently, organizations are increasingly adapting to younger individuals from the Millennial generation as they enter the workforce. We combine these salient issues to examine Web-based recruitment of the Millennial generation by assessing predictors of organizational attraction. Using a sample of Millennials (N = 493), we found that perceptions of both work–life balance and website usability incrementally predicted attraction, when controlling for perceptions of other organization characteristics. In addition, person–organization fit mediated these relationships. These findings speak to the importance of examining how aspects of Web-based recruitment influence Millennial applicants.     

Recruiting on Corporate Web Sites: Perceptions of fit and attraction

This study adopted a person–organization (P–O fit) framework to investigate job seeker attraction to organizations in the context of e‐recruitment. Recruitment information posted on real corporate web sites was presented to active job seekers (N=120) in order to better understand reactions to online recruiting. Participants examined one of three corporate web sites and completed questionnaires about their perceptions of web site usability, subjective P–O fit, and organizational attraction. In addition, occupational preference, internet experience, organization size and location were used as control variables. For female participants, perceptions of web site usability and subjective P–O fit were both positively related to attraction, with subjective P–O fit mediating the relationship between web site usability and organizational attraction. These relations were not found for male participants. Implications for future empirical research and recruitment practice were discussed.     

So what do you think of the organization? A contextual priming explanation for recruitment Web site characteristics as antecedents of job seekers’ organizational image perceptions

Although job seekers’ organizational image perceptions can influence attraction to recruiting organizations, little is known about how these perceptions are formed or modified. To address this research gap, the authors drew from research in social cognition theory and demonstrated that recruitment Web site characteristics influenced the development and modification of organizational image perceptions via a priming mechanism. Results of two studies showed that having technologically advanced Web site features and depicting racially diverse organizational members served as contextual primers and influenced participants’ organizational image perceptions. Results also revealed that participants’ familiarity with recruiting organizations moderated the effects of these Web site characteristics on several dimensions of organizational image such that effects were weaker for more familiar organizations. These findings suggest that organizations can manage job seekers’ organizational image perceptions through strategic recruitment Web site design; however, such attempts may be tempered by job seekers’ familiarity with the organization.     

Organization Personality Perceptions and Attraction: The role of social identity consciousness

The current study explores the theory of symbolic attraction. The theory suggests that social identity consciousness moderates the relationship between symbolic inferences between organizations and attraction to those organizations. The study explored the two dimensions of social identity consciousness (i.e., social adjustment concern and value expression concern) as moderators of the relationship between organization personality perceptions (i.e., boy scout, innovativeness, dominance, style, and thrift) and organization attraction. The results of the study suggest that value expression concern moderates the relationships between boy scout, innovativeness, style, and thrift perceptions and attraction such that the relationships between these variables are stronger among those high on value expression concern. There was no support for social adjustment concern as a moderator of these relationships.     

A Field Study of the Role of Big Five Personality in Applicant Perceptions of Selection Fairness,Self, and the Hiring Organization

Although there is a growing applicant reactions literature, relatively little work has addressed the role of personality in applicant perceptions. Using a sample of actual law enforcement applicants (N=120), we studied the relationship between Big Five personality measured before a written test and applicants' post‐test fairness perceptions, perceptions of themselves, and perceptions of the hiring organization. Personality was related to applicant perceptions after controlling for gender and test score. Personality also accounted for significant variance in self‐perceptions and perceptions of the hiring organization beyond that accounted for by fairness perceptions. Neuroticism and agreeableness were the most consistent predictors of applicant perceptions. Our discussion focuses on the consideration of individual differences in applicant reactions research.     

The Match Between Recruiters’ Perceptions of Organizational Climate and Personality of the Ideal Applicant for a Management Position

The relationship between recruiters’ perception of the ideal applicant for a managerial position and their perception of organizational climate was examined in real selection procedures. Recruiters (n = 124) from 83 organizations in three sectors of industry participated in this study. They assessed the ideal applicant for the vacant managerial position with personality attributes derived from the Abridged Big Five Circumplex (Hofstee et al. 1992). Furthermore, they described the existing organizational climate with 14 climate scales based on the Competing Values framework of Quinn (1988). Results indicate that recruiters’ perceptions of goal oriented climate dimensions are related to the sector of industry. These perceptions influence the way in which recruiters perceive the ideal manager regarding conscientiousness and compliance. Recruiters’ perceptions concerning other dimensions of organizational climate are not related to the sector of industry and the personality profile of the ideal manager. Homogeneity of personality in organizations will exist for only some personality attributes.     

Deep-level and surface-level individual differences and applicant attraction to organizations: A meta-analysis

Given the importance of individual differences in the study of applicant attraction to organizations, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the relationship between both applicant deep-level characteristics (e.g., applicant ability, personality, and experience) and surface-level characteristics (e.g., race, gender, and age) with applicant attraction. Results of our review of over 1700 articles (of which, 85 provided relevant data for our analysis) indicated that several relevant applicant individual differences are related to applicant attraction, independent of organizational influences. Stronger effect sizes were found for applicant deep-level characteristics (versus surface level) as well as field studies (versus lab studies). Extraversion and conscientiousness had the strongest positive relationships with applicant attraction, while applicant grade point average, as an indicator of ability, had the strongest negative relationship. The significance of these findings, including implications for applicants and organizations, is discussed.     

Fit with what? The influence of multiple self‐concept images on organizational attraction

This study tests the applicability of image congruity theory to the employment decision‐making process. A sample of workers from a variety of jobs/organizations (N = 193) read a series of job advertisements presenting unique organizational personalities, rated the extent to which these personalities matched their self‐concept perceptions, and reported evaluations of organizational attraction. In accordance with the tenets of image congruity theory, results suggest prospective job seekers are attracted to organizations with personalities they perceive as similar to their own actual and ideal self‐concepts. Actual congruence exerted a greater influence on organizational attraction than did ideal congruence. However, both ideal and actual image congruence explained significant unique variance in organizational attraction.     

Assessing the impact of dispositional resistance to change on organizational attraction

In recent years there has been an increasing interest among researchers and practitioners to analyze what makes a firm attractive in the eyes of university students, and if individual differences such as personality traits have an impact on this general affect towards a particular organization. The main goal of the present research is to demonstrate that a recently conceptualized narrow trait of personality named dispositional resistance to change (RTC), that is, the inherent tendency of individuals to avoid and oppose changes (Oreg, 2003), can predict organizational attraction of university students to firms that are perceived as innovative or conservative. Three complementary studies were carried out using a total sample of 443 college students from Mexico. In addition to validating the hypotheses, our findings suggest that as the formation of the images of organizations in students' minds is done through social cognitions, simple stimuli such as physical artifacts, when used in an isolated manner, do not have a significant impact on organizational attraction.     

PAY PREFERENCES AND JOB SEARCH DECISIONS: A PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT PERSPECTIVE

The present study investigated the degree to which pay preferences influenced job search decisions in both hypothetical and actual organizations, and the degree to which preferences for particular compensation attributes depended on job seekers' dispositional characteristics. Based on prior theory and research, we hypothesized that certain pay systems generally would be preferred by job seekers, that these pay systems would affect applicant attraction to organizations, and that different types of job seekers would be attracted to different types of pay systems. The sample comprised 171 college students who were seeking jobs during the study, and who represented six majors, three degree types, and two degree levels. Experimental policy-capturing results and results obtained about actual companies with which the job seekers would potentially interview supported hypotheses that organizations perceived to offer high pay levels, flexible benefits, individual-based pay, and fixed pay policies were more attractive to job seekers. Results further suggested that the attractiveness of these pay policies may be heightened by greater levels of fit between individual personality traits and compensation system characteristics.     

Mind the ad: How personality requirements affect older and younger job seekers' job attraction

Age discrimination may explain lower labour market chances of older and younger job seekers. What remains underresearched, however, is how older/younger job seekers might self-select out from early recruitment procedures due to stigmatizing information in job ads. Building on theories of metastereotypes and the linguistic category model, two experimental studies investigated how personality requirements that older/younger job seekers hold negative metastereotypes about and the way in which these requirements are worded (behavioural vs. dispositional) affected their job attraction. Within-participant mediation analyses showed that as expected, job attraction was higher for older (N = 123, aged 50 years or more) and younger (N = 151, 30 years or less) job seekers when requirements were worded in a behavioural way (e.g., ‘You can be flexible’), compared with a dispositional way (e.g., ‘You are flexible’). This relation was mediated by perceptions of challenge among younger but not older job seekers. Contrary to expectations, perceptions of threat did not explain the effects of negatively metastereotyped personality requirements on job attraction. Understanding how job seekers perceive information in job ads might help recruiters to design age-sensitive recruitment policies.     

Applicant Attraction: The role of recruiter function,work–life balance policies and career salience

This study examined the impact of salient identity, career path and recruiter functional area [internal human resource (HR) personnel vs external recruitment company] on perceptions of organizational attraction with a sample of young, inexperienced job seekers. Two hundred and one participants responded to a questionnaire and rated their attraction to two different job advertisements. The results partially supported the first hypothesis; applicants perceived a job opportunity in an organization that offered either a flexible career path or a dual career path as significantly more attractive than a position in an organization that offered a traditional career path. There was no support for the second hypothesis that identity salience would interact with career path. The results showed that recruiter functional area had no impact on attraction to the organization. It was concluded that flexible HR policies increase applicants' perceptions of organizational attraction during the initial stages of the recruitment process. Practical and research applications are discussed.     

The Effects Of Recruitment Message Specificity On Applicant Attraction To Organizations

We used the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) from marketing research to explain and examine how recruitment message specificity influences job seeker attraction to organizations. Using an experimental design and data from 171 college-level job seekers, the results showed that detailed recruitment messages led to enhanced perceptions of organization attributes and person–organization (P–O) fit. Perceptions of fit were found to mediate the relationship between message specificity and intention to apply to the organization. In addition, perceptions of organization attributes and P–O fit were found to influence intentions to apply under circumstances of explicit recruitment information while attractiveness and fit perceptions were shown to influence application intentions under conditions of implicit recruitment information. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Public service motivation as a predictor of attraction to the public sector

According to public service motivation theory, individuals with a strong public service orientation are attracted to government jobs. This proposition was investigated in three studies by measuring public sector motivation at a pre-entry level as an individual difference variable affecting perceptions of fit and organizational attraction. Results were consistent with a positive relationship between public sector motivation and attraction to both public sector and non-profit organizations. Despite substantial overlap between the constructs of public sector motivation and agreeableness, the present research indicated that public sector motivation has utility in predicting employment interests beyond the general personality factor of agreeableness.     

Applicant Reactions to Selection Events: Four studies into the role of attributional style and fairness perceptions

In four studies, applicants’ (N = 478) organizational attractiveness perceptions and recommendation intentions following selection outcomes were measured. In three field studies, actual applicants’ perceptions were measured in authentic, high‐stakes application contexts, both preprocedure and postoutcome. A fourth, hypothetical, study was added to increase internal validity. Consistent positive relationships between procedural fairness and reactions were found. Further, attributional style moderated the distributive fairness–attractiveness relationship in the field studies, but not in the laboratory study. In general, optimistically attributing applicants reported higher organization attraction than less optimistic individuals when the outcome was perceived as fair, but lower attraction when the outcome was perceived as unfair. For recommendation intentions, results were less consistent. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Social-identity functions of attraction to organizations

This article examines the self-presentation goals that underlie attraction to organizations. Expanding on Lievens and Highhouse’s (2003) instrumental vs. symbolic classification of corporate attributes, a theory of symbolic attraction is presented that posits social-identity consciousness as a moderator of the relation between symbolic inferences about organizations (e.g., this company is dynamic and innovative) and attraction to those organizations. A measure of social-identity consciousness is developed, and a series of studies confirmed two dimensions, labeled concern for social adjustment and concern for value expression. Preliminary evidence supports the validity of the measure and its role in moderating attraction to symbolic features of well-known firms.     

Impact of Organizational Identification and Psychological Safety on Initial Perceptions of Coworker Trustworthiness

Purpose

Initial trustworthiness perceptions serve as anchored reference points for subsequent trust perceptions and associated behavioral choices in organizations. Examining the relationship between the employee and the organization is an underexplored influence on such perceptions. This study is an investigation of how perceived psychological safety (PS) in the work environment and level of organizational identification (OI) influence initial perceptions of others?? trustworthiness.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained through survey and scenario methods from a sample of high-potential managers (n?=?155) during participation in a leadership development training course.

Findings

Results demonstrate that both disposition to trust and PS have positive relationships with initial perceptions of others?? trustworthiness. There is also a significant negative moderating effect of OI on the relationship between psychology safety and perceived trustworthiness. PS has a strong positive significant relationship with initial perceptions of others?? trustworthiness when OI is low. This relationship is non-significant when OI is high.

Implications

This study provides evidence that the relationship between the employee and the organization can influence individual perceptions of initial trustworthiness in others.

Originality/Value

Aspects of the relationship between the trustor and the organization have not previously been considered as influences on initial trustworthiness perceptions. PS, often investigated as a direct influence on learning and performance, has not been previously examined as a socialized influence on trustworthiness perceptions.     

Narrow personality traits and organizational attraction: Evidence for the complementary hypothesis

Although the interactionist perspective has been widely studied in organizational attractiveness, there is no research comparing the explanatory power of the complementary and supplementary hypotheses in predicting attraction. The authors test these perspectives in the context of the instrumental-symbolic framework. The authors also examine whether the use of narrow personality facets, such as Trust (under the Big Five trait Agreeableness), Assertiveness (under Extraversion), and Imagination (under Openness to Experience) enhances the prediction of attraction. Job seekers (N = 220) provided self-ratings of personality, ratings of organizational traits, and their level of attraction to a potential future employer. Results supported predictions based on complementarity, suggesting that organizations adopting a recruiting strategy based on similarity in personality may not succeed in attracting their most preferred candidates. The findings also suggested that narrow facets are useful in predicting attraction, providing further evidence for the predictive benefits of narrow personality traits.     

Racial Tolerance and Reactions to Diversity Information in Job Advertisements1

The present paper reports the results from two investigations that examined the degree to which racial tolerance influences Caucasians' attraction to organizations. In Study 1, 280 Caucasian job seekers rated the extent to which various organizational features would influence their interest in an organization. Findings suggested that (a) racial tolerance was related to the importance placed on organizational diversity, but not other factors (e.g., pay), and (b) that racial tolerance predicted the importance placed on organizational diversity above and beyond other relevant individual differences. Study 2 extended Study 1 by examining whether the diversity values expressed in job advertisements affect Caucasians' perceptions of organizational image and subsequent job pursuit intentions. The results of Study 2 indicated that racial tolerance was significantly related to organizational perceptions and pursuit intentions when strong diversity values were communicated in a job advertisement.