Who Will We Recruit? Targeting Deep‐ and Surface‐Level Diversity with Human Resource Policy Advertising

• Published date: 01 May 2013
• Author: Julie Holliday Wayne,Wendy J. Casper,Jennifer Grace Manegold
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21530
• Date: 01 May 2013

WHO WILL WE RECRUIT?

TARGETING DEEP- AND SURFACE-

LEVEL DIVERSITY WITH HUMAN

RESOURCE POLICY ADVERTISING

WENDY J. CASPER, JULIE HOLLIDAY WAYNE, AND

JENNIFER GRACE MANEGOLD

Research on targeted recruitment has focused on targeting applicants with

surface-level attributes such as underrepresented demographic groups. The

present study extends targeted recruitment research by examining how

advertising human resource policies might be useful for targeting both sur-

face- and deep-level attributes. Specifi cally, the current study uses an experi-

mental design to examine the impact of work-family, diversity, and employee

development policies on the job-pursuit intentions of working adults in the

United States. We examined surface- (demographic characteristics; e.g., race)

and deep-level differences (attitudes or values; e.g., diversity values) as pre-

dictors of whether participants intend to pursue jobs with fi rms advertising

these human resource (HR) policies. Deep-level differences consistently pre-

dicted job-pursuit intentions for all three HR policies, but only marginal sup-

port was obtained for surface-level variables as predictors. Findings suggest

that targeted recruitment based on deep-level attributes may be more suc-

cessful than targeted recruitment based on surface-level factors.

Keywords: human resource policy; organizational attraction; recruitment;

values; diversity

Correspondence to: Wendy J. Casper, 701 S. West Street, Suite 233, Box 19467, College of Business, University of

Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0467, Phone: 817.272.1133, Fax: 817.272.3122, E-mail: wjcasper@uta.edu.

Human Resource Management, May–June 2013, Vol. 52, No. 3. Pp. 311–332

© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21530

Distinctive human resource policies

may aid targeted recruitment

(Breaugh, 2008) by helping an

employer develop a brand that is

distinct and desirable (Celani &

Singh, 2009), as such positive brand images at-

tract applicants (Love & Singh, 2011). A variety

of human resource (HR) policies can enhance

a firm’s attractiveness as an employer (Allen &

O’Brien, 2006; Avery, 2003; Barbeite &

Maurer, 2002; Brown, Cober, Keeping, & Levy,

2006; Casper & Buffardi, 2004; Rau & Hyland,

2002), but the breadth of applicant attributes

that can be targeted with HR policies is

not well understood (Breaugh, Macan, &

Grambow, 2008). The current study contrib-

utes to targeted recruitment research by ex-

amining the viability of targeting deep- and

312 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MAY–JUNE 2013

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

Because better

recruitment

outcomes occur

when an applicant

pool is replete

with the kind of

candidates that fit

the firm’s strategy

or culture, firms that

are able to draw

such candidates into

their applicant pool

should recruit more

effectively.

surface-level differences with work-family,

diversity, and employee development poli-

cies using a sample of US workers.

Targeted Recruitment

Targeted recruitment can be an effective stra-

tegic HR management tool. Firms may want

to attract certain types of applicants who can

support their strategy (Huselid & Becker,

2011), because matching a firm’s human cap-

ital to its strategy is positively related to firm

performance (Wright, Smart, & McMahan,

1995). For example, although many

firms seek to hire workers with

more education and experience—

typical indicators of human

capital—this might not fit firms

with a cost leadership strategy,

given the higher wages required to

pay these workers. Instead, firms

that offer lower wages to support

their cost leadership strategy may

want to recruit applicants with

lower levels of traditional indica-

tors of human capital (i.e., educa-

tion, experience) but who possess

other attributes that will make

them successful employees.

Likewise, firms using a differentia-

tion strategy might want to attract

diverse applicants to foster cre-

ativity and respond to a diverse

market (Cox & Blake, 1991). Thus,

targeted recruitment might be

used to attract applicants possess-

ing any attribute, such as those

that support a firm’s strategy or

attributes that are prevalent in

a firm’s labor pool (Breaugh

et al., 2008).

Despite the importance of targeted recruit-

ment, researchers lament the sparse research

on this topic (Barber, 1998; Breaugh et al.,

2008; Ployhart, Schneider, & Schmitt, 2006),

which has typically examined only demo-

graphic groups such as women and minorities

(Avery & McKay, 2006). Given the relevance

of targeted recruitment to strategic HR man-

agement, understanding who distinctive HR

practices can effectively target is important.

Theoretically, targeted recruitment is based

in interactional psychology, which posits

that people differ in what they find attractive

(Chatman, 1989; Schneider, 1987; Turban &

Keon, 1993). This suggests firms should have

greater success recruiting targeted applicants

with policies that are attractive to them.

Individual differences that a firm may tar-

get can be classified as surface-level factors,

such as demographics (i.e., race, education),

or deep-level factors, such as attitudes and val-

ues. Because research has focused on targeting

demographics, it is not clear whether surface-

or deep-level attributes might be more effec-

tively targeted. In fact, recent reviews of the

recruitment literature note the need for more

research to identify which applicant attri-

butes are more important to organizational

attraction (Ehrhart & Ziegert, 2005).

Targeted recruitment occurs during the

“matching” phase of the staffing cycle when

the applicant and firm evaluate each other

to determine fit (Carlson & Connerly, 2003).

Applicants use signals from firms to evalu-

ate fit with their needs (i.e., supplies–needs

fit; Kristof, 1996), and these fit perceptions

are a strong predictor of attraction to a firm

(Chapman, Uggerslev, Carroll, Piasentin,

& Jones, 2005). Thus, targeted recruitment

should be successful if it is based on accurate

knowledge of applicant needs and HR poli-

cies that are designed to meet those needs.

Because better recruitment outcomes occur

when an applicant pool is replete with the

kind of candidates that fit the firm’s strat-

egy or culture (Carlson & Connerly, 2003),

firms that are able to draw such candidates

into their applicant pool should recruit more

effectively.

Because candidates are commonly sourced

through advertising, it is pertinent to con-

sider what information can be advertised to

signal firm attributes that will appeal to tar-

geted applicants (Breaugh & Starke, 2000;

Highhouse, Beadle, Gallo, & Miller, 1998).

Recruitment experts have long argued that

HR practices influence applicant decisions to

apply (Rynes, 1991), and research supports

this (Bretz & Judge, 1994; Cable & Judge,

1994). Thus, firms might target applicants

with job advertisements containing details