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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 260, Human resource management.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 30405:2016), which has been technically revised.

The main changes are as follows:

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Recruitment is one of the most impactful functions of human resource management. Recruitment is a dynamic, complex process which does not always fit a linear model. An open systems approach with continual learning will be as beneficial here as with other human resource management systems. This document focuses on the necessary activities an organization undertakes to attract, source, assess and employ people, including both internal and external candidates.

The impact of recruitment on organizational performance is known and was highlighted in a milestone survey of 4 288 executives from 102 countries conducted in 2012 by the World Federation of People Management Association (WFPMA), which showed that organizations ranked in the top 20 % in terms of ability to deliver on recruiting experienced up to 3,5 times the revenue growth and as much as twice the average profit margin of other organizations.[17]

More recently, the body of evidence which confirms the central role of hiring for success has been growing. Risks identified by leaders are increasingly directed to the availability of skills and talents to realize entrepreneurial goals.[14],[15] Although the pandemic of 2020 and the following years changed the priorities of human resource management in organizations throughout the world, in the 2021 survey of WFPMA the critical importance of recruitment for organizations was confirmed.[10]

This document provides guidance on effective and efficient processes and practices for the recruitment of people that support the achievement of organizational and recruitment objectives. It also includes guidance on promoting a positive candidate experience and the link with the employer brand.

The recruitment process is required when an organization identifies a need for skills, knowledge, capability or talent, often leading to a requisition. It includes phases to attract, source, assess and employ people.

Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary of the overall recruitment process with its phases from the starting point to the end point. It highlights the candidate experience as a dimension that is influenced by every single recruitment phase and that itself affects these.

Organizational needs, HR policies and objectives, and the legal and social environment, including labour relations and workforce planning, may contribute to the identification of the recruitment need and how the recruitment is carried out. This document outlines a process for successfully meeting the organization's recruitment needs.

For more in-depth information on workforce planning, see ISO 30409.

Anything an organization does can impact its employer brand and its attractiveness to candidates. In Figure 1, “Attract” refers to activities to attract candidates for identified vacancies.

This document follows the phases of recruitment shown in Figure 1.

It provides recommendations throughout the recruitment process, including typical instances of interaction up to the new hire's start date.

This structure helps align organizational activities, processes and functions with the needs of the organization and all applicants and candidates.