Academic staff recruitment and selection in Sultanate of Oman : the case of Colleges of Technology in Ministry of Manpower

The focus of this research is on the recruitment and selection (R&S) practices andprocesses used by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) Colleges of Technology (CTs) inOman. The recent rapid expansion of these CTs has raised the required numbers ofacademic staff from 250 in 1984 to 1600 in 2012. Given this major and rapid expansionin the MOM CTs, a number of officials concerned have articulated concerns about thequality of the R&S of academic staff. The main purpose of this study has been toexplore the practices and processes used to recruit and select these staff members. Thestudy was guided by a review of relevant literature, through which theories ofrecruitment and selection were explored, in order to help in investigating the extent towhich academic staff recruitment and selection in the MOM CTs corresponded intheory and practice with the good practice reported in the literature. In order to improvethe understanding of the R&S process as currently practised in the CTs and of thecontemporary experience of this process, the views of the officials concerned in relationto these processes were explored, using a qualitative methodology. Forty-four semistructuredinterviews were conducted with recruiters and directors in the MOM, withdeans, assistant deans, department heads and section heads in the CTs and with themanagers of recruitment agencies. The study makes two major findings. First, many ofthe techniques and processes implemented in the R&S of academic staff in the MOMCTs were found to deviate from those that have been effective elsewhere. The secondfinding is that of a common feeling amongst the officials concerned that the recruitmentagencies which are currently delegated to recruit academic staff for the CTs do not doso to the necessary professional standard. In addition, the study shows that there is alack of human resource planning in general and related to academic staff in particular inthe MOM CTs. The officials concerned were found to have a clear understanding thatthere was a problem with the quality of the academic staff R&S process and to holdfirm views of what should be done in order to achieve the effective recruitment andselection of such staff