STUDY ON THE RECRUITMENT & SELECTION

PROCESS OF THE

HIRDARAMANI MERCURY APPAREL (PVT) LTD.

A Project Report

Prepared By

P. Nadeera Darshani

CC/19/SU/01/71

Certificate Course in Human Resource Management

June, 2019

INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SRI

LANKA (INC.)
 CONTENT

1. Acknowledgement 1
2. Executive Summery 2
3. Introduction
3.1. Background of the organization 3-5
3.2. Objectives of the organization 6
3.3. Products 7
4. Objectives of the study and Methodology 8
5. Review of literature 9-15
6. The existing system of recruitment and selection process
In Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (pvt) Ltd. 16-20
7. Analysis 21-24
8. Findings 25
9. Recommendations 26
10. List of references 27
1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project has been a great learning experience for me and I would like to express
my sincere gratitude to all the people who guide me through the project and without
the valuable guidance and suggestions of these people this project would not have
been completely successful.

I would like to declare my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me

information to complete this project and appreciate the crucial role of the staff of
Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (PVT) Ltd.

I sincerely thank to the HR manager of Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (PVT) Ltd and
lecturer panel of the Certificate Course in Human Resources Management for sharing
their knowledge and the experience among the students.

Finally, my sincere gratitude goes to my parents and my sister who worked at

Hirdaramani and friends for supporting me, giving me moral support during the
preparation of this project report.

01
2. EXCECUTIVE SUMMARY

The human resources are the most important assets of an organization. The success or
failure of an organization is largely dependent on the excellence of the people
working therein. Without positive and creative contributions from people,
organization cannot progress and prosper.

In order to achieve the goals or the activities of an organization, therefore, they need
to recruit people with requisite skills, qualifications and experience. Recruitment and
selection plays a vital role in this situation. Shortage of skills and the use of new
technology are putting considerable pressure on how employers go about recruiting
and selecting staff. It is recommended to carry out a strategic analysis of recruitment
and selection procedure.

A formal definition of recruitment states, “It is the process of finding and attracting
capable applicants for the employment. The process begins when new recruits are
sought and ends when their applicants are selected.” The need for recruitment may be
due to the following reasons.

 Vacancies due to promotions, transfer, retirement, termination, permanent

disability, death and labor turnover.
 Creation of new vacancies due to the growth, expansion and diversification of
business activities of an organization.

Selection is basically picking an applicant from a pool of candidates who has the
appropriate qualifications and competency to do the job.

The difference between recruitment and selection can be stated as recruitment is

identifying and encouraging prospective employees to apply for a job and selection is
selecting the right candidate from the pool of applicants

02
 3. INTRODUCTION

3.1 Background of the Organization

Today the Hirdaramani Group is a global enterprise with a diversified network spanning
60 000+ associates, six countries and multiple industry sectors – Apparel, Power,
Leisure, Retail, IT and Financial Services. Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (PVT) Ltd
is a one factory which is situated in Seethawaka Industrial Park belongs to apparel
sector.

The Hirdaramani legacy began in the early 1900s when at the age of 16, Parmanand
Hirdaramani setup the first Hirdaramani retail store in fort, Colombo. The pioneering
Hirdaramani spirit took flight as Parmanand introduced the idea of same day tailoring for
passengers of cruise liners that docked at the Colombo Harbor. The group has since
emerged from these humble beginnings to rise steadily and became the one-stop
manufacturing hub and global conglomerate that it is today.

 1900 – Mr. Parmanand Hirdaramani begins business with a retail store in Fort, he
introduces ‘same – day tailoring’ to meet the requests of passengers on ships that
docked in Colombo.
 1946 – Hirdaramani Ltd. Is born –retail stores are setup in Colombo and Kandy to
sell garments, textiles, carpets and jewelry.
 1954 – Hirdaramani Industries Ltd. launches the manufactures of shirts under the
brand name ‘popular’ as well as the large-scale manufacturing of towels.
 1974 - Ceylon Knit Trend Ltd. is established to manufacture knit garments for the
export market.
 1978 – Hirdaramani Garment Ltd. is set up in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone to
manufacture and export woven apparel.

03
 1984 – Establishment of Comtextile in Bangladesh, specializing in woven tops
and bottoms for men, women and children.
 1986 – The group’s first investment in hotels: Taj Airport Garden Hotel,
Seeduwa.
 1987 – Mercury Garments is established in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone to
manufacture outerwear and other garments.
 1992 – Two more manufacturing facilities are established – Ceylon Knit Trade
Ltd, Ehaliyagoda and Hirdaramani Industries Ltd, Kuruwita.
 1994 – First factory established in Vietnam.
 1996 – Ocean Lanka is set up in partnership with Fountain Set, Hon Kong, to
manufacture knitted fabric.
 1997 – Second investment in hotels – Taj Exotica, Bentota.
 1998 – A new factory (Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (PVT) Ltd.) and a
state-of-the-art washing plant are established at the Seethawaka Industrial
Park.
 2000 – Hirdaramani Industries Ltd is relocated from Maharagama to
Kahathuduwa and Hirdaramani Group head office relocates to World Trade
Centre, Colombo.
 2003 – Investment in Hilton Colombo Residence, a modern multi-story serviced
apartment hotel and shopping complex.
 2005 – The group acquires all shares in Desmondspencer held by Desmonds &
Sons (UK) to form the Hirdaramani – Mercury Apparel Cluster.
 2008 – Launch of the Long Island Clothing Co (LICC) and launch of H One PVT
Ltd venturing into the IT sector.
 2009 – ‘Mihila’, the group’s first Eco Factory opens for operation. Mihila is also
awarded LEED Gold status from the US Green Building Council.
 2010 – First project with Vidull Lanka (PVT) Ltd in sustainable power generation
using Hydro-electricity and first Wind Energy project launched, in partnership
with Akbar Brothers and Debug Computers.

04
 2012 – Hirdaramani ‘Mihila’ becomes First Apparel Factory in Asia to be
certified CarbonNeutralR and opens a factory in Vavuniya and the group’s
finance BPO & Shared Service Business- H Connect is launched
 2013 – Launch of Chatham Luxury Sri Lanka’s first ever multi-brand luxury
watch boutique and hosts group wide talent show and a documentary on the show
is televised.
 2016 – Hirdaramani Industries Mullaitivu is ceremonially opened by H.E. The
president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Hirdaramani
launches new brand identity.
 2017 – Opening of ‘The Hub’, the company’s dedicated shared services
operations center and the official opening of Hirdaramani Germent PLC –
Ethiopia in Hawassa Industrial Zone.

05
3.2. Objectives of the organization

 VISION

“Due to the strong dedication and enthusiasm of the strong staff, the organization
is heading towards extraordinary success. It illuminates our employees’ theme
that ‘your future is our responsibility’.”
Hirdaramani is a company that is creative, flexible and has an accurate vision of
them. This vision has enabled them to stay on the forefront of the challenges
faced by the latest trends and business needs.

 MISSION

“Our mission is to provide the highest quality customer service while being
sensitive to global competition and driving creativity, leadership and excellence.
And also establish a respectful environment within our group through improving
positive attitudes, developing our contribution to the world market and go forward
more and more strengthening.”

06
 3.3. PRODUCTS
Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (pvt) Ltd products garments according to these items.

Women

 Denim
 Casual/ Lounge wear
 Active wear
 Intimates/ Sleepwear

Men

 Denim
 Casual/ Lounge wear
 Active wear
 Intimates/ sleepwear
Hirdaramani’s Customers
Kids

 Denim
 Casual/ Lounge wear
 Uniforms

The Group’s commitment to sustainable manufacturing extends to its product and raw
materials. From sourcing new sustainable fabrics to implementing more sustainable
processes and partnering with suppliers who share its sustainable values, Hirdaramani is
moving closer and closer to more earth positive product.

07
4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objectives for undertaking this project are;

 To understand the internal recruitment process in organization.

 To identify areas where there can be scope.
 To give suitable recommendation to streamline the hiring process.
 To develop practical knowledge with theoretical aspects.
 To know about the importance of recruitment and selection.
 To find out better process of recruitment.
 To know about the role of recruiter.
 To know the perception of employees regarding recruitment and selection
process.
 To review HR policies pertaining to recruitment and selection.

METHODOLOGY

Methodology refers to methods on collecting data to study the recruitment and selection
process of organization. Sample population selected few employees of the organizations
(at least 20 employees)

Primary data collection

I collected primary data through distributing questionnaires to staff members belongs to

finance, production and human resource departments and also collect data from
observations and getting information through HR department.

Secondary data collection

I collected secondary data through their official website, employee handbook and other
relevant books and websites.

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5. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Recruitment

Recruitment is the process of recruiting potential personnel to fill up the existing

requirements of the organization. It is the process of discovering potential applicants for
actual or anticipated job vacancies.

Recruitment involves encouraging individuals with the needed skills to make applications
for employment with the firm. In other words, recruitment is the process of searching for
prospective candidates and enlisting them to apply for the jobs in organization.

Recruitment Process

HR planing

Evaluate the Identify the

recruitment job
program vacancies

Implement
the Job analysis
recruitment

Choose the
Decision to
methods of
recruit
recruitment

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1) Recruitment planning

This is the first step in the process and it can be described as ensuring that the
organization has the right number of people, right type of people, at the right time and
at the right place.

2) Identify the job vacancies

When the accurate and timely HR planning is done, the vacancy or the HR
requirement is made known.

3) Job analysis

Proper and updated job description and job specification will make the process easier
and it will be quite useful in advertising and will give the applicant a better
understanding of the vacancy.

4) Decision to recruit

At this stage, the recruitment policy must be made use of.

A recruitment policy is a statement on how organization hire. It outlines company’s

preferred hiring practices and promotes consistency within employee recruiting
process.

5) Choose the resources and methods of recruitment

Choose the internal and external resources to advertise job vacancies.

6) Implement the recruitment program

Once the method of recruitment is decided and agreed upon, it should be

implemented.

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 7) Evaluate the recruitment program

It is required to evaluate the process to assess the validity or the suitability of the
methods used.

Factors to be considered:

 Cost – effectiveness
 Number of applications received
 Number of relevant and quality applications received

Types of recruitment

There are two kinds of recruitment methods; they are internal recruitment and external
recruitment. Internal recruitment is when existing employees are used to fill the vacancies
and external recruitment is when outside applicants are required.

Methods of internal recruitment Methods of external recruitment

Notice boards Newspaper advertisements

Circulars Magazines
Newsletters Radio and TV
Job postings Educational institutes
Intranet Job agencies
Transfers Head hunting
Promotions Walk-interviews
Referrals of employees Job fairs
HRIS Point of purchase
Labor contractors

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 Purpose and importance of recruitment

 Determine the present and future requirements of the organization on conjunction

with its personnel-planning and job analysis activities.
 Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost.
 Help increase the success rate of the selection process by reducing the number of
visibly under qualified or over qualified job applicants.
 Meet the organization’s legal and social obligations regarding the composition of
its work force.
 Evaluate the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all
types of job applicants.
 Increase organizational and individual effectiveness in the short term and long
term.
 Recruitment is positive function in which publicity is given to the jobs available
in the organization and interested candidates are encourage submitting
applications for the purpose of selection.
 Help reduce the probability that job applicants, once recruited and selected, will
leave the organization only after a short period time.
 Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate
candidates.

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 Selection

Selection involves the series of steps by which the candidates are screened for choosing
the most suitable persons for vacant posts. The basic purpose of selection process is to
choose the right candidate to fill the various positions in the organization.

Selection process

Application screening
and short listing

Presentation of data
in a tabulated form

Preliminary interview

Employment tests

Diagnostic interview

Reference checking

Medical examination

Final selection

Collection of various
documents

job offer interview

contract of
employment

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1) Application screening and short listing

Once the applications are received, they are screened by a special screening
committee who choose candidates from the applications to call for an interview.
Applicants may be selected on special criteria like qualifications, work experience,
age limit etc.

2) Presentation of data in a tabulated form

Preparation of a schedule of shortlisted candidates, presenting all required data in the

most clear and accurate manner. This must be prepared in a uniform manner by
entering potential candidates’ qualifications, experience and etc.

3) Preliminary interview

This is a very basic and general interview conducted so as to eliminate the candidates
who are completely unfit to work in the organization. This leaves the organization
with a pool of potentially fit employees to fill their vacancies. This interview is
conducted by the HR manager.

4) Employment tests

Before an organization decides a suitable job for any individual, they have to measure
their talent and skills. This is done through various employment tests like intelligence
tests, aptitude tests, proficiency tests, personality tests etc.

5) Diagnostic interview

This interview is used to supplement information gained in other steps in the selection
process to determine the suitability of an applicant.

6) Reference checking

The main objective of checking the reference is to obtain additional insight into the
information provided by the candidate and to confirm the accuracy of the
information.

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7) Medical examination
Medical exams help the employers know if any of the potential candidates are
physically and mentally fit to perform their duties in their jobs.
8) Final selection
The final step in selection is choosing one individual for the job. The
responsibility for making the final selection decision is assigned to different levels
of management in different organization.
9) Collection of various documents
Photocopies to be taken after having seen the originals of testimonials, certificates
and etc.
10) Job offer interview
During this process, all details of the job offer is explained, and the candidate is
given an opportunity to clarify all doubts, if any. Finally, the appointment letter is
issued to the candidate.
11) Contract of employment
It is similar to an agreement between the employer and employee.

Importance of the selection process

 Proper selection and placement of employees lead to growth and development of
the company.
 The hiring of talented and skilled employees results in the swift achievement of
company goals.
 Industries accidents will drastically reduce in numbers when the right technical
staff is employed for the right job.
 When people get jobs they are good at, it creates a sense of satisfaction with them
and thus their work efficiency and quality improves.
 People who are satisfied with their jobs often tend to have high morale and
motivation to perform better.

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6. THE EXISTING SYSTEM OF THE RECRUITMENT
AND SELECTION IN HIRDARAMANI MERCURY
APPAREL (PVT) LTD.

Methodology of Recruitment and Selection

Their procedure is that to search for appropriate candidates and choose the most
suitable applicant for a job from among the available applicants as the follows.

Step 1- Identify vacancy and evaluate need

Step 2- Develop job description and job specification

Step 3- Develop recruitment plan

Step 4- Post position and implement recruitment plan

Step 5- Review applicants and shortlisting

Step 6- Employment tests

Step 7- Conduct interviews

Step 8- Reference checking

Step 9- Medical checkup

Step 10- Final selection

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 1) Identify vacancy and evaluate need
Hirdaramani Company identifies the vacancies and evaluates needs of the position
such as
 Is there still a requirement for this role at all?
 Tasks carried out by the previous employee
 Tasks to be removed or added
2) Develop job description
Job description is used to develop interview questions, interview evaluations, and
reference check questions
3) Develop recruitment plan
They use a documented recruitment plan for attracting and hiring the best
qualified candidate and helps to ensure an applicant pool.
4) Post position and implement recruitment plan
Advertise vacancies via internal methods or external recruitment methods.

When I study Hirdaramani Company I found two basic types of recruitment. The found
types can be shown as follows.

Internal Methods

Notice board, Intranet, Transfers, Promotions, HRIS

External Methods

Walk-in interviews, Newspapers, Internet, Television, Job fair, Educational Institute

Internal recruitment methods in Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (PVT) Ltd.

Notice Boards

They publish some job vacancies notice in the notice board. It is a cost effective method.
It has some benefits like employee can request if he qualified and employee can introduce

17
suitable person for this vacancy. However this is not appropriate for when attract new
person.

Intranet

In Hirdaramani employees can login to company network system using their E.P.F.
numbers. This method is very important because employee can read all above vacancy
data. But this is also limited method because some employees cannot use computers and
network according to the lack of knowledge.

Transfer

Sometimes management decides to rotate some employees to another job, another section
or another branch. Some vacancies should have higher performance so avoiding the
breaking of service because of attracting new person can be solved using transfer
methods.

Promotion

Promotion is another type of transfer. Hirdaramani finds out employees performance

every year. And also give promotion to high performance employees.

Example for a promotion in Hirdaramani

Untrained sewing machine operator

Sewing machine operator

Supervisor

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 Product executive

Assistant product manager

Product manager

Human resource management system

They have a java based information system and employee can get the information about
the vacancies.

External recruitment methods in Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (PVT) Ltd.

Newspapers

They hope to send message of vacancy to island wide population. Newspaper is good and
suitable for this process.

Television and internet

They also use TV advertisements for quick response and publish their vacancies through
internet (topjobs.lk). But this method has some limitations because there are lack of
knowledge people about the internet.

Job fair

Some period apparel associations launch various job fair programs to attract new person
to organization. Someone can define this process as open interview. In this method
company collect details, and sometimes launch on time interview.

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Educational institutes

Hirdaramani has started to connect with universities, IT institutes, technical institutes etc.
the main reason is technical or educational institutes provide qualified persons.

Walk-in interviews

Walk-in interview is the most common and least expensive approach for both
Hirdaramani and candidates. More employees who does not belong to management level
are hired through this method.

5) Review applicants and shortlisting

After the advertise vacancies they get applications and HR officer arranges that
received applications as a planned lists such as received date, applied post,
qualifications and etc.
6) Employment tests
After arrangement of applications they refer to following tests for each candidate.
Intelligence tests, aptitude tests, situational tests, and so on.
7) Employment interview
Then selected candidates from testing are interviewed and choose the appropriate
candidates for the vacancies.
8) Reference checking
Hirdaramani needs to confirm candidates’ details and additional information so
non related referees are used as a basic method.
9) Medical checkup
This process controlled by company doctor. Hirdaramani hopes to reduce hazards
and enhance health of employee through this medical process.
10) Final selection
After long process company decide to sign contract of employment with
employee and issue handbook for new employees. After final selection some
candidates are turned to induction process.

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 7. ANALYSIS

Data Analysis
I. Are you satisfied with the recruitment process?

Options Yes No Total

Responses 16 4 20
Percentages % 80 20 100

It was found that 80%

of employees are
20% satisfied with the
recruitment process
Yes
adopted by
No Hirdaramani mercury
80%
apparel (pvt) ltd.
However some of
employees thought
there should be some
changes in the existing
recruitment process.

II. Does HR clearly define the Job description & job specification in the
recruitment process?
Options Yes No Total
Responses 17 3 20
Percentage % 85 15 100

Almost 85% employees

have clear awareness about
JD &JS but 15% said No
15%
because they have not
Yes sense about JD & JS.
No
85%

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III. Are you satisfied with the selection process?
Options Yes No Total
Responses 16 4 20
Percentage % 80 20 100

80% of the employees are

satisfied with recruitment
20% process and the remaining
shows that there should be
Yes
changes in selection process.
No

Yes

IV. Which of the sources of recruitment and selection are used in Hirdaramani
Mercury Apparel (pvt) Ltd.?
Options Internal External Both Total
Responses 2 7 11 20
Percentage % 10 35 55 100

55% of the recruitment is

done by both internal and
external sources, while as
10% external sources are used
Internal
more than internal
External sources.
55% 55% Both

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V. Which of the following sources are used for recruitment?

Options Walk-in Newspapers Notice Internet Total

interviews Board
Responses 5 7 5 3 20
Percentage 25 35 25 15 100
%

Walk-in interview are used for

hiring normal employees and
15%
many employees are recruited
through newspapers.
Walk-in interview
25% Newspapers
25%
Notice Board
Internet

35%

VI. Does your company follow different recruitment process for different grades of
employment?

Options Yes No Total

Responses 20 0 20
Percentages % 100 0 100

It was found that different

recruitment process is adopted for
different grade of employment.

Yes
No
100%

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 VII. Did you face to any written test during recruitment?

Options Yes No Total

Responses 15 5 20
Percentage % 75 25 100

Above chart shows that 25%

employees said no and 75%
employees said yes. 15
employees from my sample
15% Yes have to face written test.
No

75%

VIII. Is there any contract signed by employees while joining the organization?

Options Yes No Total

Responses 18 2 20
Percentage % 90 10 100

90% of employees said that

10% they have to sign a bond while
joining the organization.
Employee has to submit one of
Yes
their original certificates in the
No time of their joining and they
cannot leave the company for
90%
one year.

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 8. FINDINGS
The collected data are analyzed and general observations have proven that Hirdaramani
Mercury Apparel (pvt) Ltd has done remarkable job in its Human Resource Department.

The main findings are as follows.

1. In Hirdaramani Mercury Apparel (pvt) Ltd employees feel that the HR

department is good.
2. The recruitment and selection process is decentralized.
3. About 80% of the employees are satisfied with the recruitment and selection
process.
4. Most of the managers prefer personal interviews.
5. Mostly external sources of recruitment are considered.
6. About 90% of employees feel that they are comfortable working with the current
HR policies of the company and 10% feel that they need some changes in
policies.
Ex: - The policy of the company is to submit one of the original educational
documents and cannot leave the company for 1 year.

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9. RECOMMENDATIONS

From the findings I can suggest following things for the more effectiveness of
recruitment and selection process and HR policies.

 Recruitment must be done by analyzing the job firstly which will make it
easier and will be beneficial from the company’s point of view.

 More emphasis should be given on internet and advertisement so that

more and more candidates apply for the jobs and it will be easy to find the
right employee among them.

 The recruitment and selection procedure should not be too lengthy and
time consuming.

 Company should try to use the internal recruitment process first because in
incurs less cost and acts as a motivational factor to the employees.

 Provide training to employees so that they get better knowledge, skills and
attitude.

 Company should amend some parts of their HR policies for better

effectiveness.

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10. LIST OF REFERENCES

 Books

CCHRM self-study pack

Hirdaramani employee handbook

 Websites

http://www.hirdaramani.com/
https://www.toppr.com/
http://hrmpractice.com/
http://www.topjobs.lk/employer/JobAdvertismentServlet?rid=39&ac=000
0000064&jc=0000656250&ec=0000000633&pg=applicant/vacancybyfun
ctionalarea.jsp

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