Employee inclusion in the recruitment process : A qualitative study of employee inclusion and the role of employees in decision making process in organizations in public sector

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate employee inclusion in the recruitment process in organizations operating in the public sector, and the role of employees in the decision- making process.The empirical research is based on six qualitative interviews with both leaders/managers and ordinary employees, who have the experience of either organizing or being involved in the recruitment process. Inductive approach was applied to compare the research findings with the theoretical frame of the thesis. The results of the study show that employees are being involved in the recruitment process and have given the opportunity to give inputs and different perspectives throughout the process. Though, the ordinary employees experience being excluded from the decision-making process, because the power of decision making is given to the leaders/management. It also became apparent through the research process, that some employees are reluctant and avoid being included in the recruitment process. The developed framework could be applied in organizations either as an inspiration or supplement or be used in future research. Employee inclusion in the recruitment process is rarely identified in the previous studies, therefore this study is filling the gap that is found in the previous literature.The author of this study suggests future researchers to examine employee exclusion from decision making or investigate employee reluctance, by applying different methods: mixed method, documents, interviews and so forth.