This paper attempts to analyze how the United Nation recruits its staff members, the key challenges it faces during recruitment and recommended strategies to address the mentioned challenges. The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 and it comprises of 193 member states. The main duties of the UN are to preserve international peace and security, defend human rights, promote sustainable developments and sustain international law (UN n.d.).
Recruitment at the UN in all countries follows a uniform and systematic process and all jobs are advertised in the UN Career Portal. Michel shares that tough selection processes are symbols of an organizational culture that ensure workforces are the best and they fit in. This sends signals of rationality and intellectualism (Domsch, 2006). All external applicants are advised to use the inspired web-based tool while internal applicants use their employee accounts in Inspira during the application process. Deadlines for all job openings are given up to midnight New York time on a specific date. (UN, HR Portal – Recruitment in the UN, 2015).
The key challenges the organization faces during the recruitment process
Recruitment entails following outlined actions and procedures to legally acquire a number of qualified individuals to aid a company in selecting the best candidate to aid in achieving their short and long term interests (Richardson). According to Drucker, each company is in rivalry to get the most qualified and experienced candidate. This drives organizations to put out competitive packages that will entice these individuals (Drucker, 1992).
The UN faces a number of challenges during the recruitment process. According to UNDP, the UN faces the challenge of identifying sexual exploiters and abusers during the recruitment process. As much as the organization has put in measures to protect their staff members from such recruits, statistics prove that international organization’s recruitment systems are unable to identify these culprits (UNDP, 2013). During UN peacekeeping operations, in 2015, 69 sexual exploitation allegations were reported and in 2016 was 44 by May 2016 (UN, 2016). The organization did investigate some of them which led to dismissal but it only shows that every company is capable of hiring lawbreakers.
Another challenge that has impacted the UN recruitment team is the hiring of millennials who are changing the employment world. Traditional ways of producing results do not suit the millennials anymore as they are well versed with technology hence feel constrained with traditional working practices. The older generation at the UN has their own way of doing things and when news ways come about it changes the management styles and hierarchies which impact the whole organization. This gives the human resource department a hard time as they are keen on ensuring all demographics are catered to and believe teamwork and progress get achieved faster when they work together (PWC, 2011).
Staffing is another challenge that UN recruiters face as one size does not fit all. According to Devex, the UN development program has hired about eight thousand employees and also has hired thirty-two thousand international consultants and contractors. To build in country ties and empower the locals, NGO’s are have been required to hire more nationals. The local staff’s pay tends to be too low compared to the pay given to international staff. This tends to affect the work culture as the locals feel inadequate and as a result, the working environment becomes unstable which impacts project delivery (Kennedy, 2012).
The UN has been faced with the challenge of hiring freelance interpreters. During a meeting that took place in Geneva in 2013, issues facing young interpreters were raised from the point of view that the interpreters were finding it hard to find work in the UN sector and the organization was not able to hire a high number frequently. The lack of opportunities to work at the UN was brought up as the organization was over-relying on retirees to freelance instead of hiring the unemployed youth seeking opportunities. This high rate of unemployment was being used by the recruiters as justification for hiring the retirees instead of offering training to the interested younger generation (Sanders, 2014).
United Nations are dealing with very many fake employee vacancy announcements circulated online which imitate various UN email addresses. These scams are costing desperate applicants a lot of money yearly as they share their personal information online and their identities get stolen. Examples of such scams according to the UN are; “United Nations Lottery,” “United Nations Organization Anti-Terrorism/Money Laundering Unit,” or the “United Analyze” which claim to be supported by the UN (UN, n.d.).
The United Nation’s brand has suffered over the years from negative reviews which have led to various questions to be raised. The Guardian for instance shares in an article that seventy years on although the UN has aided in education, health care and sanitation, peace, democracy. The UN has been dismissed as a burrow of tyrannies as it has aided in covering up un-demographic politics of its security councils, it has committed genocide in the name of peace. All these activities have cost half a trillion dollar in these 70 years. The UN comes off as imperfect and unable to efficiently and timely ease the tension between governments which has led to too much bloodshed of innocents (McGreal, 2015).
The United Nations global compacts shares that under labor all organizations suffer from discrimination whereby employees treat each other differently or less capable because of their race, color, religion, political opinion, disability or gender. This discrimination on diversity highly affects recruitment as the recruiter has to think about the greater contribution they will make in the organization in terms of enabling equality, change of thoughts, acceptance. This proves that Competency, therefore, is not the first priority for recruiters hence work performance gets negatively affected through conflicts, bureaucracy, and unproductivity which enhance indirect and direct discrimination (UN, n.d.).
Recessions greatly affect the recruitment process of any organization. The United Nations for instance shares that in 2009 during the economic crisis, unemployment was the biggest hit as donor funding was minimal which led to lay off of vital employees. This high level of unemployment led to a lot of families having economic hardships, losing homes to foreclosures, poverty debt, and even bankruptcy. The organization had to shift their focus and funding to other projects to aid in these hardships and also ceased to hire new workers and resulted in new recruitment rules, regulations, and targets (UN, 2011).
Technology negatively impacts the recruitment process of the United Nations and also all other organizations. Online recruitment sites are the most favored ways for employee recruitment and with their many advantages which include; saves time, ensures applicants are technologically savvy, allows the organization’s system to categorize the different set of qualifications. On the other hand, it may cause internet overload with too many irrelevant applicants as a result of high unemployment, it is not favorable to minorities such as the older generation who are comfortable with one on one discussions and also these recruitment sites are so many giving the recruiters more work (Njuguna, 2014).
Strategies to address above mentioned challenges
In the case of hiring millennials, a few organizations not only the United Nations are having a big challenge in remaining relevant and making sure the work environment favors both the Millennials and the older generation. Ronald Sims shares the importance of performance appraisals which play an important role in ensuring all employees understand their job descriptions and are offered an avenue to communicate the areas that are challenging. These appraisals enable companies to measure their employee’s competence and come up with appropriate actions to aid in their improvements. Both Millennials and the older generations are able to share their strong points and weaknesses which aid the management to bring forth working compromises and solutions (Sims, 2008).
On the issues of hiring internationals and freelance interpreters, it is important for the human resource department to be internationally managed so as to have international standards. The global business has raised the competition bar, globalization for instance drives organizations to ensure the work environment is multicultural in terms of religion, values, education and even ideologies. It is vital for human resource departments to treat both locals and internationals equally in terms of the packages they offer so as to put an end to racism and inequalities. Globalization has opened up freelance opportunities in international organizations and it is vital for recruiters to undergo training so as to incorporate the needs of the freelancers by creating opportunities as they both need each other (Itika, 2011).
Jenny Williams shares on the importance of the organizational brand during the recruitment process. Every organization requires a well-defined employment brand no matter how small or big it is. During recruitment, every organization is in competition for the best candidate in terms of products and services. Branding should be done from the inside out by communicating thoroughly via one’s website, career booth, application, email signature and also the interview questions. This brand also comprises of the company’s reputation and culture. The UN, for instance, has a few bad reviews on genocide, misuse of funds and covering up political miscellaneous actions which impact recruitment. Communication is key for organizations to aid in retention and also impacting productivity among employees (Williams, 2014).
Today’s employment market is very competitive and every employer is keen to get the best candidate for the job as well as every employee is keen to apply to the right position. This has resulted to employers to use enticing words to attract candidates which results in the creation of opportunities for bounty hunters or even exploiters and abusers as in the case with the UN. Jenny Williams reminds recruiters to avoid certain descriptive words such as dynamic and energetic as this may mean younger applicants while mature and stable may mean older workers. She points out that recruiters need to be vigilant while hiring over or under qualified individuals as unscrupulous individuals may take advantage of such loopholes and recruiters may hire unqualified individuals who may ruin the company’s reputation and cause grievances to the other employees (Williams, 2012).
Technological revolutions are bringing about a lot of advantages not only to our daily lives but also changing how organizations operate. According to World Economic Forum, we are at the beginning of a fourth industrial revolution with developments in genetics, robots and even biotechnology. These advancements are posing a big challenge to the employment sector as disruptive changes in the job quality are affecting the skills required to perform certain tasks which negatively impacts the older generation. New technologies at every turn are negatively affecting job security. It is important for organizations to protect all generations of employees and provide training to ensure all age groups are keeping up with the technological changes (Forum, 2016).
The effect of any recession hits NGO’s hard and results in fewer contributions from donors which result in layoffs. The UN and other organizations are able to come up with measures to limit the effects of any recession such as revising funding strategies, pursuing new types of funding, reducing costs related to travel and training, forming partnerships with various other organizations, modifying staff costs. It is very important for organizations to be more diligent in managing their funds so as not to be prepared when the economy hits a recession. The tough choices may be harsh and uncalled for such as reducing benefits, but for the survival of the company, they are worth it (Smit, 2013).
Fake advertisements are on the rise and will increase as technology keeps on improving. According to Forbes, anybody can post a fake job advertisement as it doesn’t take much time or effort. Most fake advertisements ask for a particular sum of money from you through an online cognitive test they require you to take or entice you with a huge salary and words (Ryan, 2017). The UN has had its share with scammers who try to extort money from individuals by claiming they have connections with the UN. The organization allows applicants to email and ask if a particular job is false or true so as to not only protect their reputation but take legal actions against such scammers (UN, n.d.).
In conclusion, it is important for the UN to carry out routine sit-downs with the employees so as to be able to spot out the abusive and exploitative recruits, give the employees room to share their grievances and come up with solutions that will bring about harmony, equality and encourage the growth of open communication to enable stronger partnerships.
References
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Domsch, M. E., & Hristozova, E. (2006). Human Resource Management in Consulting Firms. Berlin: Springer.
Drucker, P. F. (1992). The new society of organizations. Harvard Business Review.
Five signs of a fake job Ad. (2017, February 13). Forbes.
Forum, W. E. (2016). The Future of Jobs (Rep.).
Itika, J. (2011). Fundamentals of human resource management: emerging experiences from Africa. Leiden: African Studies Centre.
Kennedy, N. S. (2012, June 19). The challenges and opportunities of hiring locals. Retrieved May 26, 2017, from https://www.devex.com/news/the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-hiring-locals-78472
McGreal, C. (2015, September 7). 70 years and half a trillion dollars later: what has the UN achieved? The Guardian.
Njuguna, N. W. (2014). Challenges of online recruitment and selection in United Nations humanitarian agencies in Nairobi (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation). The University of Nairobi.
PWC. (2011). Millennials at work Reshaping the workplace (Rep.).
Recruitment in the UN | HR Portal. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2017, from https://hr.un.org/page/recruitment-un
Richardson, M. A. (n.d.). Recruitment strategies managing/affecting the recruitment process (Rep.).
Sanders, J. H., & Williams, A. (2014, January 16). Career prospects and demographic challenges in the UN G. Retrieved May 26, 2017, from https://aiic.net/page/6688/career-prospects-and-demographic-challenges-in-the-un-geneva-sub-sector/lang/1
Sims, R. R. (2002). Organizational success through effective human resources management. Westport CT: Quorum Books.
Smit, A. (2013). The effects of the 2008/9 economic recession on NGO sustainability and functioning in the South African social services, health and education sectors. Social Work Journals.
UN Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2017, from https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=scam
UNDP. (2013). Challenges and options for improving recruitment processes in the context of Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) by our own staff (Rep.).
Williams, J. (2012). Employer’s Guide to Recruitment: How to get the right man or woman for the job.
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