Every organization regardless of its size, product or service must recruit applicants to fill vacant positions. The efficiency and effectiveness of any work place whether the private or public sector largely depend on the calibre of the work force. Within the framework of bureaucratic theory, the paper examined recruitment policies in Nigerian federal civil service and its implication on employee performance with a view of determining the challenges facing poor employees performance and recruitment of competent and qualified candidates into the service. The primary question that was explored is whether there is a relationship between recruitment policies in the federal civil service and employees’ performance. It established that, there is a significant relationship between recruitment policies and practices and employees performance in Nigerian federal civil service. The paper concludes that federal civil service is faced with poor recruitment policies and practices which have affected service delivery in service. Given the identified constraints, it recommends among others, that the current recruitment policy in the civil service that calls for uniform qualifications do not specify classification of degrees, diplomas and certificates should be modified to make provision on preference for candidates with outstanding results at all levels of education.