Is There Any Corruption Risk in The Recruitment Process?

In today’s more competitive corporate world, effective hiring is more essential than ever. 

Everything is impacted by recruiting since attracting and maintaining the best employees is essential to the success of any business. 

The HR department and recruiters of a company use a recruitment process to find qualified applicants for available positions. To ensure legal and ethical recruiting processes, businesses should think about reviewing and updating their policies.

However, the question is, “Is there really any corruption risk in recruitment process and what are the consequences because of this corruption?

It is possible and has happened that hiring and employment processes are susceptible to corruption risk. 

Lack of sufficient levels of screening, verification, and post-employment verification has made it more difficult to determine a candidate’s background.

Although making the poor hiring decision might lower coworkers’ spirits and reduce their output. Corruption is a severe problem that affects many different areas and industries, and it can cause instability, economic decline, and mistrust.

Without wasting time let’s discuss it in detail!

What Are The Corruption Risks in Recruitment Process

Employment market policies and regulations have a significant role in providing employment services. Employers’ needs are matched with job seekers’ qualifications, yet this is not the only goal of employment services.

Because of the unfair recruitment and selection process, there are many potential pitfalls to watch out for, such as falsified qualifications, careless hiring, and employee dissatisfaction. The examples of corruption in procurement are:

1. Recruiting Carelessly:

The recruiters do not understand the processes and duties. As a result they recruit carelessly.

2. Lack in job analysis:

Recruitment might be risky if job duties, such as location and time requirements, are not accurately described.

3. Falsified qualifications:

Job applicants may include incorrect information on a resume. According to a survey, nearly 50% of individuals polled admitted to maybe lying on a resume in an effort to better match the job posting. In the meanwhile 22% admitted to perhaps lying to appear more knowledgeable or well-rounded.

4. Employee fraud:

When an employee violates business policy in order to benefit personally or financially, this is known as employee fraud.

5. Improper hire:

Making the improper hire could potentially pose a threat to your present staff. The improper hire could damage your company’s reputation as well as that of its clients and staff.

What Are The Consequences of Corruption in Bangladesh

The corruption in recruitment process carries a number of risks that, if poorly managed, could prove to be expensive and have long-lasting effects for a business.

1. Making a poor hiring decision might lower coworkers’ spirits and reduce their output. In an effort to control the issue, a poor selection decision could use up a lot of resources.
2. Poor hiring procedures may potentially put an agency’s security at risk. 
3. Hiring a coworker who is a friend or family member to a more senior position than their current function without disclosing a conflict of interest.
4. Corruption has a negative impact on a company’s performance and morale among its employees in addition to its economic operations.
5. Recruitment corruption lowers a company’s infrastructure and the efficacy of public investments. It may lose customers, which could result in financial losses, job losses, and unstable conditions.

7 Signs of Corruption in The Workplace in Bangladesh

The term “corruption” refers to a broad range of illegal and unethical workplace behavior, the most prevalent of which are bribery, fraud, theft, and kickbacks. 

Here are a few warning signs of possible corruption in workplace:

1. Accepting presents or benefits in exchange for services, contracts, or positive outcomes.
2. Public sector organizations are at risk of recruiting people who may be corrupt or susceptible to corruption due to poor hiring practices, including pre- and post-employment procedures.
3. Supplier payments are made without sufficient explanation, seem overpriced, or don’t match the value of the services received.
4. Collaborating with individuals who might have a commercial or harmful interest in the public sector.
5. Involvement in a secondary job that competes with the employee’s primary job in the public sector.
6. Current or previous interpersonal or professional connections.
7. Significant risk management services of corruption arise from illegal access to and disclosure of public sector data, especially in organizations that have access to confidential or sensitive data.

Estimated Amount of Corruption in 2022 in Bangladesh

The high rate of corruption was cited by a stunning 68% of participants as the main issue preventing them from conducting business. The estimated corruption amount (million BDT) is given below:

Corruption in different sectors in Bangladesh:

What Is HR Recruitment Process in Workplace

The procedures taken to find and hire a new worker to fill a vacancy in a company are known as the recruitment process. Most often, HR manager is in charge of this procedure, working with the proper teams and departments to speed hiring.

The HRS recruitment process includes identifying the applicant who best fits the position in terms of qualifications, experience, and personality. 

It also involves the steps of gathering and assessing resumes, holding job interviews, and ultimately choosing and onboarding a new employee to begin working for the company.

Types of Recruitment in HR 

Organizations utilize a variety of recruitment strategies to recruit the top candidates. There is two types of HR recruitment jobs process:

1. Internal recruitment: This is a hiring process that occurs within the company or organization. Employee productivity may rise as a result of internal recruiting as their motivation level rises.

There is three stream of internal HR recruitment process:

1. Promotion
2. Hire ex-employee
3. Transfer

2. External recruitment: It is necessary to seek out outside the organization potential external sources of recruiting.

1. Advertisement
2. Industrial Level Employment
3. Recommendation
4. Exchanges of Employment
5. Recruitment Firms
6. Skill-pool databases
7. Apprenticeship and internship programs

HR Recruitment Process Steps for Your Workplace

A step-by-step HR recruitment process for hiring a new employee that involves a business identifying its talent needs:

1. Decide What You Need:

Finding a replacement for a recently terminated employee may seem simple, but the work becomes more challenging if you’re creating a new position or changing the duties of an existing one.

2. Creating a Job Description:

A key component of developing a successful recruitment strategy is writing a strong job description. Determine the duties and responsibilities of the role and write them down once you have an understanding of the needs of your department and business.

3. Make a recruitment strategy:

Plan the most effective approaches to advertise the position. Decide who will be in charge of scheduling interviews, looking over resumes, and selecting the most suitable applicants.

4. Shortlisting:

Shortlisting candidates during the hiring process by using keyword recruitment tools. This may take the most time, and keyword tools can sort out those who are unqualified.

5. Select the Best Candidates:

The greatest applicants probably have a lot of possibilities, so you must stay in regular contact with them if you don’t want them to rapidly move on to other opportunities.

6. Screening procedures:

Conduct a phone screening once you have your eye on a few candidates to reduce the field down and ensure that you want to spend the time for an in-person interview. 

Before you begin, compile a list of the most effective interview questions.

7. A face-to-face interview:

In order to avoid candidates losing interest, the procedure shouldn’t drag on for too long. Inform the interviewee of your current status and the timeframe for reaching a decision by letting them know where you are in the process. 

After that, even if you determine they’re not a good fit, make sure to follow up.

8. Job offer:

Just because you offer a job doesn’t guarantee that someone will accept it. Make sure you give a compelling offer that the candidate won’t want to refuse throughout this stage of the process.

Advantages of Effective Recruitment and Selection Process

Having a strong HR recruitment and selection strategy promotes a fair and transparent hiring process, which supports HR recruitment professionals in choosing the best applicant.

Despite the fact that it might occasionally feel like one more hoops to step through.

The following advantages can result from taking the effort to formulate and build an efficient recruitment process:

1. Higher standard of new recruits:

You will most likely hire the right employee if your recruitment and selection processes are effective.

2. Less expensive hiring:

The performance and profitability of your company are improved by making timely hires of different recruits.

Along with financially supporting your company by lowering cost-per-hire, you can also support your departments by giving them the tools and personnel they need to carry out their duties.

3. Time-saving:

Time can be saved with a good hiring procedure. Open positions are filled more quickly with a simplified, user-friendly hiring procedure than with a laborious, lengthy one. 

4. Lawful matters:

The employment process can be made more fair and open with the support of a well-established selection and recruiting procedure. 

Workers are given the guarantee that they won’t experience any form of discrimination and that their personal information will be kept confidential. Additionally, these steps can help your business reduce the likelihood that it will face legal action.

5. Improved client services:

Employees that excel at their jobs are better able to provide clients with value. They are more qualified to help clients since they are more familiar with the product. Customer satisfaction will rise as a result, and customer service will generally improve.tailed contact with us!

Characterizes of a Good Hiring Process

1. Make Your Anti-Corruption Policy Specific:

The policy should be explicit that the company does not provide favors, jobs, cash, gifts, entertainment, or anything else of value to a government official. 

Whether domestic or international, in exchange for some government business or government benefit.

2. Identification of Contacts with Public Figures:

It will be possible for recruiting and human resources to identify hires who could subject the company to corruption by creating a standard application process. 

So that it requires applicants to disclose any personal or professional relationships they may have with government officials or whether they have ever worked for the government.

3. Publish written guidelines for hiring:

A company should have established, clearly stated standards for education, experience, and soft skills.

For example; leadership ability, emotional intelligence, and maturity in order to avoid the reality or the perception of making a hire in exchange for government business or government favors.

4. Ensure Hiring Process Elements are Standard:

A company can prevent employees from independently making an unsuitable employment decision by establishing a consistent application process. 

Since human resource specialists are not involved in the sales process, a centralized procedure that necessitates recruitment specialists. 

Moreover, human resource specialists to handle the hiring process permits hiring recommendations based on fairness.

5. Hold training sessions and communicate policy:

It is essential to regularly explain anti corruption policies both internally and to outside parties, as well as the procedures created to facilitate compliance with those rules. 

The option to ask questions or voice concerns about corruption policies and the commitment to procedures must be provided to the board, executives, workers, and third parties.

How Does Corruption Affect Employment Growth

Corruption prevents the natural economic laws from operating freely, corrupted economies are unable to function correctly. 

Therefore, corruption in a country’s political and economic affairs harms that country’s entire society.

1. Pricey for low quality:

Business owners who are able to bribe government officials with their contacts or money can manipulate market rules and regulations to become the only supplier of goods and services in the market. Because they are able to maintain their prices high and avoid being forced to raise the quality of the products or services.

2. Lack of Equity in Wealth Distribution:

A comparatively small middle class and a significant gap between the high and lower classes’ living levels are characteristics of corrupted economies. 

Most of the newly produced riches also goes to billionaires or people who support corrupt public leaders since they control the majority of the nation’s capital.

3. Assets Allotted unsatisfactorily:

Companies in corrupted economies frequently receive projects as a result of unfair or unlawful procurement practices, even if they would not otherwise be eligible to obtain them.

4. Low levels of trade and foreign investment:

Investors that desire a free-flowing market will stay away from investing in nations with high levels of corruption.

5. Insufficient healthcare and education:

In nations where bribery and affiliations are significant factors in the hiring and advancement of teachers, corruption raises the cost of education. Education becomes less effective as a result, which has an impact on the economy as a whole.

Reduce The Corruption Risk by Hiring A Third-Party

A company must evaluate the effectiveness of its compliance programs in order to avoid not only any unlawful acts. So that its legal representatives or employees may commit but also any misconduct from third parties.

Despite the fact that many businesses have third-party compliance procedures in place, it has been demonstrated that occasionally these programs cannot identify and stop illegal acts from being conducted by consultants.

Businesses should take into account when hiring third-party service providers and these are; the structure of the agreement, payment methods and a consultant’s relationships with third parties while providing services.

Particularly when it comes to problems of corruption and bribery.

Drawbacks of Recruiting Process without Screening

There are several corruption risks in HR applicants could mislead throughout the employment process:

1. Extending the duration of a job:

A potential employer is probably concerned about someone who can only work at each job for a few months at a time. To make it appear as though they have held certain posts for lengthier periods of time, they might therefore falsify their employment dates.

2. The improvement of job descriptions and duties:

Although they may have been managers, they identify as directors. Or, it may be something covert like referring to themselves as “senior HR managers” when they were actually “associate HR managers.”

3. Excluding prior employment:

If a potential employee was fired for cause or doesn’t want that company to be contacted for any other reason, they may choose to remove previous employment.

4. Creating justifications for leaving a job:

The majority of job applicants do not want to disclose that they were fired from a job, especially for a serious infraction. In order to avoid this, individuals could invent a new story.

5. Covering up a criminal past:

Your company and employees may be at risk from a bad leader who purposefully hides their criminal record depending on their history.

Planning for Organizational Structures and HR Management

Organizational structures differ from business to business. To prevent the corruption in human resource management should contribute to the following areas:

1. The anti-bribery program’s implementation tasks should be specifically defined, and job descriptions at all levels should include these details.
2. Employees may be concerned about the needs and effects when specific controls need to be implemented to some operation areas or markets.
3. It is important to take precautions to ensure that the anti-bribery program does not discriminate against gender, nations, and cultures.

Tips to Prevent Corruption Risk and Controls in Recruitment Process

Companies with a solid reputation for ethics and integrity will also benefit in their market and may be better able to recruit employees that place a strong focus on ethical behavior.

1. Update anti-corruption policies:

Make sure employees are aware of your organization’s policies regarding bribery and corruption. Moreover, they must be aware of the legal and unacceptable levels of gifts, hospitality, sponsorships, and political donations. To keep people informed, regular bribery training is necessary.

2. Anti-Bribery and Corruption culture:

In company manuals, reports, and training, make reference to Anti-Bribery and Corruption. Although this is suitable termination clauses for alleged breaches should be included in all supplier contracts to establish ground rules in advance.

3. Due diligence:

All of your third parties, including any agents, middlemen, consultants, associates, and anyone else thinking about joining you or acting on your business’s behalf, are likewise subject to anti-bribery regulations. According to the law, you are obligated to thoroughly investigate and confirm these parties.

4. Workplace culture:

Your ethical standards must be established in your culture in addition to being stated in your core principles. To encourage employees to expose corruption and bribery, you should also provide a safe and supportive workplace.

5. Be alert for warning signs:

If anything looks strange to you, you should surely take a closer look at it and look for a logical answer. 

Warning signs include a variety of things, such as: purchase without necessity, accepting a product of poor quality, on expense reports, inaccurate or lacking information.

To Conclude

The risk in recruitment corruption that employment agencies must deal with is directly tied to the environment they work in. It is important to manage, monitor, and regularly review enterprises since no organization is immune to bribery or corruption. 

Businesses must hire fair-minded, honest employees and maintain a respectable environment. Assessing potential employers to confirm their authenticity and ethics is crucial for job seekers. For more detail contact us.