RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, NIGERIA

: Effective organizational sustenance is predicated on employees’ job performance. Ability to have workforce that are suitable for global best practice is contingent on good recruitment, selection and placement strategy of the organization. The study population was the University of Ibadan, teaching and non-teaching staff, male (mean = 26.39, SD = 4.47), female (mean = 26.73, SD = 5.63). The covid-19 pandemic necessitated online questionnaire administration to the participants using Google form. It was found that there was significant relationship between recruitment, selection, placement and employee performance; there was significant joint influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees’ performance; there was significant independent influence of placement and employee performance, there was no significant independent influence of recruitment and selection on employee performance. University of Ibadan should devise means of ensuring that the most productive workers are recruited, selected for employment and eventually given appointment for placement in the different departments and units within the university. The procedure for selection and placement of the would-be employees should be thorough, objective and devoid of sentiment. Gender consideration for employment into establishment should be discouraged, and the most qualified candidate should be considered ahead of gender or any other factors that might distort merit in the selection process.


Introduction
Based on the new normal with the current trend of the global pandemic of covid-19, there is a need for organizations to come to terms with the reality of having the best performing employees. Several employees have left their current workplace, a lot have died having contracted corona virus, and therefore replacing them with the most efficient workforce is a necessity. An employee is one who is hired based on ability to perform task(s) after being selected following application for the job and interview which could be in stages. Usually, the best fit for the role based on criteria determined by the organization and / or the recruitment team (personnel) is selected or employed. The individual who is an employee works for a wage or a salary that is paid at an agreed period of time usually a month by an employer.
The search for individuals to take job positions or roles with descriptions of activities that would be performed in the course of the employment is referred to as job recruitment. Advertising, receiving and reviewing applications, conducting interviews and selecting the best candidate for the role make up the recruitment process. It is usually hoped that the selected individuals will perform optimally in line with goals and values of the organization. This is not always the case as such; performance of employees is dependent on a couple of factors.
Humans offer perspectives, values and attributes to the life of an organization making them crucial to organizations. With effective management, their qualities and characteristics can be beneficial to the organization. Human resource management has the development of people, their competencies and the process development of the total organization as its pivot (Mullins, cited in Zirra, Ogbu, Ojo, 2017). Employees or human capital are assets that are invaluable and helpful to organizations. This has made organizations concentrate more on acquisition of appropriate human capital (employees) in recent times because it is individual employee performance that join to make up the overall or total performance of the organization.
Recruitment is now very important and a subject of concern to many organizations due to the increase in competition which makes it necessary to get the right candidate who can fill vacant positions effectively (Adeyemi, Dumade and Fadare, 2015). This is particularly important in higher institutions as there is a need to create a competitive advantage for the institution (Zirra et al., 2017).
Recruitment process refers to the art of attracting and choosing candidates for employment. Finding employees who are competent is a great organizational issue and the challenge centers on recruiting and selecting employees with accurate qualifications and needed skills (Priyanath, cited in Ekwoaba, Ikeije and Ufoma, 2015). For organizations which include higher institutions such as University of Ibadan to create, build and sustain a competitive advantage, it is critical for proper staffing to be done (Djabatey, 2012). This indicates that it is imperative for organizations to recruit and select the right person for a role and as such, need to devise strategies for recruitment of the most suitable employees in order to attract qualified, interested and ideal candidates in sufficient numbers on a timely basis.

Job Performance
Job performance describes assigned task activity(ies) that employees successfully complete using resources available (Akhtar et al., 2017) thus, it refers to ranking of the job not the employee. job performance could be defined as the performance of employees in specific job roles with criteria being job descriptions that have been standardized and defined. Performance on a job is a product of natural or acquired abilities and skills used by employee(s) to perform better at their jobs (Ahmed and Malik, 2019). Performance refers to the measurement of specific tasks against various predetermined standards such as standards of accuracy, completeness, cost and speed (Afshan et al., 2012).
Therefore, job performance could be described as observable behaviours employees engage in as indicated by Campbell et al. cited in Boehm, et al. (2015) that job performance is not the result or outcome of behaviour but is the behaviours themselves.  accept that job performance is as a result of behaviours and not outcomes however disagree with the behavioural meaning of job performance noting that behaviours with an aspect of evaluation is performance and this is in tandem with the use of performance ratings by supervisors and colleagues that is known as the common process of determining job performance Job performance involves ability of the employees to show significant results through their effort Shonubi and Akintaro, 2016). The result that is pursued is based on the goal and mission statement of the organization. There are three basic areas that are considered in job performance. These are performance in the market, return the shareholders get at the given period of time and ultimately financial performance (Richard, et al., cited Shonubi and Akintaro, 2016). To ensure efficient performance of employees' task, organizations assess the performance of their workers through balanced score card. There are four dimensions to the score card and these are growth and learning, finance, customer and international business process perspectives. The essence of the business score card (BSC) is helping to transform organization's strategy in terms of its performance. Therefore, BSC is the most reliable score card for measuring performance on a global level (Bain, 2015). Further, in order to measure the performance of the organization, there is need to focus on process-oriented management that has to do with the management of the whole production chain, decisions and activities that optimize the performance of the organization (Looy and Shafagatova, 2016).

Employee Recruitment Process
Identifying good talent compared to great talent is important in addition to identifying critical positions / roles as well as the attributes or criteria needed for them to be filled following which recruiting strategies are prioritized. Developing the talent of employees is the whole of the organization. This is made possible by ensuring organizational values are well communicated and understood with clarity provided on the type of behavior that is expected of employees all levels. Also, inappropriate employee behaviour that is not consistent with organization's values should be dealt with fairly (Usmani, 2020).
Recruitment is the means of finding and attracting individuals who are interested, suitable and qualified to apply for job vacancies in the organization as well as generating a pool of individuals who are competent to apply for employment or job roles within an organization (Ofori and Aryeetey, 2011). It therefore generates a pool of qualified applicants for job vacancies in organizations as emphasized by Gamage (2014) that the broad purpose or aim of recruitment is to provide the organizations with a pool of candidates who are potentially qualified for a job. The process of recruitment is regarded as the entry point of manpower into organizations and the path that needs to be followed in order to ensure that right individuals or candidates in relation to organizational culture and structure are attracted to enhance achievement of the overall organizational strategic goals (Temtime, cited in Ekwoaba et al., 2015).
It is made up of a set of activities used by organizations attract candidates who have the needed abilities and attitudes engaging specific instruments to choose from the pool of individuals most suitable for the vacant position (Ofori and Aryeetey cited in Ekwoaba et al., 2015). Since organizations select employees from individuals who were attracted to them, the quality of applicants attracted by organizations in the recruitment process determines their human resource quality.
Recruitment and selection process is high priced and this indicates that hiring a new person into an organization is quite expensive. Organizations would not want to put in resources (money and time) only to find out that the candidate employed is not suitable or ideal for the job role or organization. Hence, with resources being scarce, it is critical that the process is gotten right the first time round (Henry and Temtime cited Ekwoaba, 2015). It is extremely important to recruit or hire the right person for a particular role; hence, organizations need to devise strategies for recruiting the most suitable employees.
Recruiting employee implies talent recruitment (especially in human resource parlance). To meet the organization's objectives in terms of growth and performance it is essential that there's a conduit of talent (Dharshini and Seleena, 2020). This can be achieved by effective management of turnover, having large pool of potential candidates to fill positions, developing process or programs through which existing employees can fill higher impact positions.
The process of having an employee work with or in a company goes beyond sourcing for ideal candidates from a wide pool of applicants and the recruitment stage. It is inclusive of hiring, staffing, training, building capabilities and developing talent as well as assessing, integrating, motivating and retaining skilled talent in the organization. All these points noted above will make it possible to develop a high-performance culture in organizations. When employees have positive dispositions and feelings towards their work, they tend to be satisfied with their job and even perform more. Job evaluation could be described as determining and comparing what the demands in the performance a job is on an employee without the actual abilities or performance of the person been considered (Hidayah and Tobing, 2018).
Identifying and attracting potential or interested candidates from within and outside the organization for the purpose of evaluation for future employment refers to recruitment which is followed by selection that starts after identification of the right candidates (Walker cited in Ekwoaba et al., 2015). Both make up the recruitment process. The aim of the recruitment process is to provide organizations with the best individuals who have relevant or necessary qualifications and skills. Hence, recruitment process helps to prevent hiring the wrong individual for a job role which might cost the organization a lot inclusive of cash and reputation.
The recruitment and selection process selects the best and most suitable individual for the job taking several factors such as merit-based selection, adoption of the principles of justice, equality and equal opportunities for all interested candidates or individuals into consideration. Recruiting or hiring inappropriate and ineffective individuals for a job role would produce practice of wrong decisions and activities leading to losses. This could be related to non-academic staff in higher institutions whose judgement, poor decision making or inadequacy could make or mar individuals in the learning community. Thus, recruitment process is very important and has a huge impact on organizations (Muhammad, 2020). Successfully appointing or employing the right fit for a job role has favourable impact on broader aspect of organizations. The reverse is the case when poor recruitment process results in employment of wrong or unsuitable candidate; the effect is felt within and outside the organization.
Furthermore, employee recruitment and selection provide opportunity for the organization to be presented or seen in favourable light as process of recruitment and selection possess elements of subjective judgement in them. Hence, individuals applying for a job tend to have a positive opinion of an organization that treats applicants positively and professionally based on how potential employees are dealt with by the organization (National University of Ireland cited in Ekwoaba, 2015). Choosing the right candidate best fit for a job role can be daunting however, this helps the organizations whose reputation and success are upheld by their employees who clients (businesses and individuals relate with directly (Henry and Temtime cited in Ekwoaba, 2015).
Most suitable and qualified individuals ought to be employed via recruitment strategies devised or developed by organizations. These individuals provide attributes, perspectives and values to organizations thus enhancing or giving competitive advantage. Therefore, the ability to recruit and select high quality personnel at all levels determines the continued growth of organizations. This is because when the attributes of employees are effectively managed, it is beneficial to the organization. This is buttressed by Djabatey cited in Ekwoaba (2015) who noted that increasing attention is being paid to the people or human or employee aspect of organizational wealth. Thus, the success of an organization is linked directly to the performance of employees just as well as underachievement or poor performance will result in organizational failure.
Putting conscious efforts into planning for human resource or recruitment process is important because non anticipation of hiring needs as well as hiring the wrong person can be quite costly (Djabatey cited in Ekwoaba, 2015). As such, the overall purpose of recruitment and selection of individuals for a job role by organizations is to get the number and quality of employees required for reaching or attaining the strategic objectives of the organization at minimal cost because employing wrong candidates who are incapable causes a huge negative cost which organizations cannot afford to have (Ofori and Aryeetey cited in Ekwoaba, 2015).
Recruitment and selection process is systematic and involves several steps which includes vacancy(ies) identification, job analysis, job description, person specification and advertising followed by information gathering about qualified applicants or candidates, evaluation of candidates' qualification and making employment decisions (Gamage cited in Ekwoaba, 2015).

Human Capital Theory: Resource Based View Theory and Equity Theory
Adam smith proposed the human capital theory (Teixeira, cited in Ekwoaba, 2015). The principal idea behind the theory is that humans possess skills and useful abilities that have real cost and yields profits hence are considered as fixed assets just like machines. This is further buttressed by Armstrong, cited in Ekwoaba (2015) who explained that the collective abilities, experience and skills of people or employees together with their ability to use these in the interests of the organizations they work for now make up a source of competitive advantage and are recognized as making remarkable contribution to the success of the organization.
Resource based view suggests that organizations with a human resource pool that cannot be imitated or substituted by rivals have sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, organizations should evaluate their workforce constantly or consistently so as to ensure that the right people with the right qualifications and skills are in the right place thus ensuring competitive advantage that is sustained. However, if this is impossible, organizations employ appropriate recruitment and selection criteria in order (Barney, 1991and 2001cited in Ekwoaba, 2015. The resource-based view theory maintains that the calibre of employees plus the quality of working relationship among them is the source of any organization's strength or weakness. This is affirmed by Boxall, cited in Ekwoaba (2015) who noted that organizations with the capability of generating human capital advantage recruit and retain exceptional individuals or employees. Also, Sparrow et al., cited in Ekwoaba (2015) indicated that technology as well as capital can be acquired at any time, and for a price by organizations, acquiring a ready pool of highly motivated, qualified and suitable employees is not easy as such, recruitment and selection process have to be done carefully in order for the organization to be differentiated competitively.
Equity theory is underlined by the principle of fairness (Adams, cited in Ekwoaba, 2015). The principles of the equity theory indicates that the best recruitment and selection criteria in organizations is that which portrays the organization as an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hence, the University of Ibadan can demonstrate fairness in its recruitment process by making sure that the best technique that promotes objectivity in the process of recruiting new workers is embraced. Therefore, this study investigated recruitment process and employee performance in University of Ibadan, taking into consideration the process of recruitment which involves recruitment, selection and placement as the predictors.

1)
To determine the relationship between recruitment, selection, placement and employees performance among employees of University of Ibadan. 2) To examine the independent influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees performance among employees of University of Ibadan. 3) To determine the joint influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees performance among employees of University of Ibadan. 4) To ascertain gender difference on job performance among employees of University of Ibadan.

Research Hypotheses
1) There is significant relationship between recruitment, selection and placement and employees performance among employees of University of Ibadan. 2) There is significant independent influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan. 3) There is significant joint influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan. 4) There is significant gender difference on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan.

Methods
The study used descriptive survey design. The population of the study was the workers (both teaching and non-teaching staff) of the University of Ibadan. The study sample was 180 drawn from different departments, units and faculties within the university, with 161 taking part in the investigation. Google form questionnaire was used to elicit responses from the participants due to covid-19, in order to ensure the safety of the participants. Stratified random sampling method was used, as the participants were selected on the basis of either teaching or non-teaching staff from their different WhatsApp groups. The content and face validity of the instrument was ascertained by some selected experts in the department of adult education University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of employee performance was 0.854, recruitment scale was 0.718, selection scale was 0.682 and placement scale was 0.789. The scale was therefore adjudged to be adequate for administration to the participants. The participants were thereafter sent the link in their respective groups for administration. The informed consent of the participants was obtained and none of the participants were coerced into participating in the data collection process. Inferential method of data analysis was used, with the application of Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC), regression analysis and ttest for independent samples.

Results and Discussion
Hypothesis 1: There is significant relationship between recruitment, selection and placement and employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan. Result from Table 1 indicated that there was significant relationship between recruitment and employees' performance, (r = 0.206, p<.01). This was corroborated by Dharshini. and Seleena (2020), that recruitment of the best brain is salient for sustainable growth of the organization. This indicates that for organizations to perform to the best of their productive capacity, employee recruitment is fundamental. The result also reveals that there was significant relationship between shortlisting and employees' performance, (r= 0.196, p<.05). The result also shows that there was significant relationship between placement and employees' performance (r = 0.589, p<0.05). This was corroborated by Boxall, cited in Ekwoaba (2015) who opines that organizations with the capability of generating human capital advantage recruit and retain exceptional individuals or employees. In this light, for university of Ibadan to become sustainable and to enjoy competitive edge there is a need to place suitable employees in vital positions in the various units and departments.
Hypothesis 2: There is significant independent influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan.  Table 2 indicates the independent influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan, placement (β = .564, t = 8.563, P<.05), shortlisting (β = .069, t = .978 P>.05) and recruitment (β = .057, t = .801 P>.05) in that order. Therefore, it is obvious that placement had significant influence on employees' performance; recruitment and shortlisting did not have significant influence on employees' performance of employees of University of Ibadan. This was in contrast to the findings of Muhammad (2020) who found that the whole recruitment process was vital to the success of the organization. In essence, for organizations to optimally perform its role, having the best employees on ground would be the ideal option. Further Hidayah and Tobing (2018) assert that having the right employees who are skilled and fulfilled at what they do the motivation to carry out any task given to them will be high. This will be translated into effective and efficient organizational performance. Therefore, university of Ibadan can do more in making sure that the process and procedure for hiring employees are not truncated for effective employee performance.
Hypothesis 3: There is significant joint influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan.  Table 3 indicates the joint influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan (R = .598, R 2 of .357 and adjusted R 2 of .345, F-ratio = 29.112; p<0.05). This shows that 34.5% of the variance was accounted for by two predictor variables when taken together having tested the significance of the joint contribution at p<0.05. This is shown in figure 1 below. The implication is that there was significant joint influence of recruitment, selection and placement on employees' performance among employees of University of Ibadan. These three factors are needed to optimize their performance of the organization. Thus, organizations should ensure that all necessary indicators that would facilitate employee performance should be taken into consideration. This was in tandem with the findings of Akhtar et al. (2017) that for employees to be successful in their job performance, the process of selection and placement must be thoroughly carried out. Employees' performance must be as a result of the outcome of the work done not the work itself  and this can be effectively actualized based on the ability of the human resource department to actively conduct the recruitment process in an unbiased approach.  The result from Table 4 shows that there is no significant difference on employees' performance between male and female employees of university of Ibadan [t(159)= -.432; p>.05]. It was further shown that female employees were higher on employees' performance (mean = 26.73) than male employees (mean = 26.39). This was not consistent with the finding of Green, et al. (2018) that found a significant difference in gender across different job performance dimension within the organizational settings. This shows that the role played by gender cannot be doubted in adding value to the level of performance of employees in the organization.

Conclusion
Effective organizational sustenance is predicated on employees' job performance. Ability to have workforce that are suitable for global best practice is contingent on good recruitment, selection and placement strategy of the organization. The study has demonstrated a significant relationship between recruitment, selection, placement and employees' performance. This implies that in order to have the best performing workforce, there is a need to encourage the injection of fresh blood into the system. This indicates that conducting a strategic recruitment exercise would be impactful on the level of employees' performance in the University of Ibadan. This has to do with the recruitment of the best performing workers through a rigorous recruitment process; the recruitment process which begins with the advertisement, recruitment, selection and placement of the qualified candidates. Each process should be designed in an objective fashion that would discourage manipulation of the process. Getting it right with the recruitment process would have far-reaching effect on the level of employees' performance.

Recommendations
1) University of Ibadan should devise means of ensuring that the most productive workers are recruited, selected for employment and eventually given appointment for placement in the different departments and units within the university. This could be done through the involvement of recruitment agency, organizational psychologists specializing in recruitment of best performing workforce. 2) The procedure for selection and placement of the would-be employees should be thorough, objective and devoid of sentiment. This is by making sure that aptitude test to ascertain the most qualified candidates for the job is conducted for the candidates and a standardized benchmark must be used to pick the best performing candidates for the job. 3) Gender consideration for employment into establishment should be discouraged, and the most qualified candidate should be considered ahead of gender or another other factors that might distort merit in the selection process. This is by ensuring that all categories of persons found qualified based on their qualification and experience, are subjected to recruitment test. The best candidates should thereafter be given chance for placement. This would allow the injection of the best crop of employees into the system which ultimately promotes employees' performance.