Although there is a high likelihood of some people confusing leadership and management, there are many indicators pointing to the differences between leadership and management. The two aspects of an organization can be looked into in the areas of recruiting and retaining employees in a firm. While managers are involved directly in the process of retaining and recruiting employees, leaders play a very pivotal role in ensuring the processes bear fruits through their inspiration character. A manager who possesses both management and leadership qualities, on the other hand, is a big advantage to the organization since the two sets of qualities are instrumental in the success of these processes. In this paper, we present the observations from an interview with a human resource staff at Regent’s University, and academic research literature regarding the roles of both management and leadership in the areas of recruitment and retention of employees.

According to our interviewee at Regent’s university, the main difference between leadership and management is management is too task-oriented while leadership is more of an aspirational undertaking (Lines 2, 3, 18, 34). The interviewee also agreed that management can also apply the qualities of leadership in order to perform the functions of recruiting and retaining effectively. Crisp, Reid and Reid (2007) seem to agree with our interviewee that the functions of recruitment and retention are primarily the roles of the manager, but it is only a leader who can retain employees successfully. Indeed, Crisp, Reid, and Reid argue that employees do not leave an organization, rather they leave a bothering, boring, unconcerned boss. From the observations of Clover (2007) regarding such means of recruitment and retention, it is true that, indeed, a good manager, who is, at the same time, a bad leader, would lead to loss of employees. Our interviewee agrees that retention is more than management (Line 44). Madia (2011, P. 20) sees the leader as being best placed to retain employees than in recruitment, which he says that a manager can do better. According to our interviewee, a fact that Madia (2011) emphasizes, a manager follows the set rules of the firm in the management roles of recruiting and retaining, while a leader goes beyond the normal to make the employees satisfied. The tendency to follow organizational procedures denies the managers the inspirational character which helps the leaders to perform excellently in retention of employees. The interviewee, just as Cooney, Small and O’Connor (2007) observe, seems to conclude that a better situation is where the manager possesses leadership skills, and the vice versa is true.

In the process of recruiting and management, consultation is very instrumental (Yazinski, 2009). Indeed, this explains why an interview panel in an organization constitutes a number of people conversant with human resource leadership and management. In the recent times, consultations before recruiting staff members are done widely by the management, including the employees of the company. Indeed, some companies have come up with policies where the current employees can recommend the people they know can do well for consideration by the human resource department. Jackson, Schuler and Werner (2011) observe that a team-led recruitment and retention exercise is more likely to succeed than one dominated by a single figure. In regard to academic institutions, and specifically Regents University, our respondent (77-78) hinted that they are in a dialogue with the student union so that the students an also have a say in the recruitment process. Jackson, Schler and Werner (2011) also recommend revising the recruitment and retention plan yearly in order to align it with the current trends, an aspect that our respondent emphasized during the interview (80).

The uniqueness of the work environment is also a factor in retention and recruitment. Cooney, Small and O’Connor (2007) argue that an employee will feel comfortable working in an Offering packages like good pension schemes is also a better way of retaining employees, as our respondent agreed (line 136). Ghuman (2010, P. 399) reiterates that rewards serve a very pivotal role in retaining employees in an organization, because they make the employees feel appreciated. Regent University, for example, as we established from our respondent (136) offers funding to staff members who wouldlike to further their studies. The funding is offered as a way of motivation and as a retention strategy. Such strategies have been endorsed by Elisabeth (2010, P. 227), who argues that rewarding an employee makes them feel indebted

Academic institutions, just like other firms, face different challenges in their bid to retain employees in the workplace. Our respondent observes that the main challenge is the will of the employees themselves to leave for other reasons other than a the poor conditions of service at the institution (172-177). Indeed, some leave just because they want to do another thing, regardless of the treatment at work. Eden (2014) indeed agrees that the major challenge in employee retention is when the employee wants to leave at will. The other challenge is when employees get to their retirement age, when they feel that they need to embark on something else in their lives. All the same, a dissatisfied employee will make a decision to leave. As such, effective communication is a major tool in enhancing employee retention. Our respondent reiterated that open forums and good information, communication network in the institution are pivotal (Line 188, 194). Taylor (2002) agrees on this, arguing that women employees are highly likely to leave if they are not honored through communication. Enhancing effective communication reduces the rate of departure in an organization. Indeed, communication is so powerful that it can convince a decided mind otherwise.

In sum, management and leadership are two distinct concepts in the areas of recruitment and retention. While leadership is more inspirational, management is task-oriented. Indeed, a leader goes an extra mile to make employees satisfied while a manager emphasizes adherence to organizational policy. In academic institutions in the UK, the changing work environment, which has become more dynamic and friendly to change, has seen more employed retained in the current times than before. However, the challenge of retaining employees, especially those who have made the decision to leave remains. Continuous review of the recruitment and retention plans will enable the academic institutions to succeed more in the exercise.

References

Cooney, M.S., Small, A.S., & O’Connor, C., 2007. Strategies for recruiting and retaining participants in prevention programmes. What Works-Wisconsin-Research to Practice Series, 2, 1-5.

Crisp, D., Reid, J., & Reid, J., 2007. The talent challenge: Creating a culture to recruit, engage and retain the best. IVEY Business Journal, Aug, 2007.

Eeden, V.D., 2014. The role of the chief human resource officer: Perspectives, challenges, realities and experiences. Bryanston: Knowres Publishing.

Elisabeth, P., 2010. Recruitment, development and retention of information professionals: Trends in human resources and knowledge management. New York, NY: IGI Global.

Ghuman, K., 2010. Management: Concepts, practice and cases. Noida: Tata McGraw Hill Education.

Glover, J., 2007. Effective recruitment strategies and practices: Addressing skills needs and gender diversity challenges in ITEC and related sectors. London: Roehampton University.

Jackson, S., Schuler, R., & Werner, S., 2011. Managing human resources. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.

Madia, A.S., 2011. Best practice for using social media as a recruitment strategy. Strategic Human Resource Review, 10(6), 19-24.

Taylor, S., 2002.,The employee retention handbook. Wimbledon, London: CIBD Publishing.

Yazinski, K.S., 2009. Strategies for retaining employees and minimizing turnover.HR and Employment Law White Papers.University of Scranton.

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