Understanding and improving quality in firm recruitment processes : A case study

Abstract: Nowadays, digitalization enables automation of manual work and repetitive tasks. This transformation facilitates higher exploitation of intellectual human resources within allocated working hours. In addition, intellectual demand for making a venture successful grows exponentially, requiring cross-functional intellectual inputs. In this condition, people play a more important role than ever before, making human capital a strategic resource which plays a critical role in the success of a firm. When the focus is on amplification of both individual and team performance, recruitment of a new employee becomes a complex and challenging task because a “wrong” person may negatively affect the entire ecosystem within a company. Taking into consideration individual peculiarities, internal ecosystem, and challenges of the external environment, recruitment becomes a complex and resource-consuming business process. How can we know that the recruitment process in a particular company is of high quality? And how can we understand what can be improved? In this context we have conducted a case-study within company Z. Through reinforcing the importance of human capital as a strategic resource and analyzing the recruitment process at company Z, we draw insights for providing practical recommendations and lay the foundation for further research. Practically, we suggest adopting a systematic data-driven approach ensuring holistic insight through data defragmentation to facilitate business process maturation. Academically, we conclude that, despite being an effective methodology, Lean Six Sigma is underutilized in non-industrial business processes, and its implications and potential in different types of business processes requires further research.