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Recruitment and Selection

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Introduction The employment function of personnel program

encompasses:HR planningRecruitmentSelectionPlacementChanges of employment status

This chapter discusses recruitment and selectionAn understanding of the concepts of labour

market and labour supply provides a foundation for our examination of recruitment and selection

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Recruitment and SelectionLabour Market considerationsRecruitment and selection policy issuesThe employment processSources of peopleThe selection processSelection procedureAuditing the recruitment and selection effort

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Labour Market ConsiderationsDifferent from financial and product markets –

unstructured and unorganizedRecruitment and job seeking is highly variableDiversity of wage rates:

Employer's ability to payProductivityManagement attitude toward wage levelsNonwage factors like job security, benefits and

environmentLack of labour mobility

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Labour Market ConsiderationsLabour supply to the company is influenced by:

Population in the labour marketAttractiveness of the jobs The company’s reputation, wage rate, benefits,

securityAmount of unemployment in the labour market Commuting patternsParticular skills needed in relation to their

availabilityTimes of high and low demand

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Recruitment and Selection Policy IssuesFill vacancies from within or from outside?

Advantages of policy of promotion from within: High morale Succession of individual advancements Management can accurately apprise the candidates Recruitment and selection is simplified; a few entry

jobsProblems of policy of promotion from within:

Elaborate training programs are required Hired personnel should have aptitude and potential Disappointment of left over employees Perpetuate outdated practices

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Recruitment and Selection Policy IssuesFill vacancies from within or from outside?

Advantages of policy of promotion from within: High morale Succession of individual advancements Management can accurately apprise the candidates Recruitment and selection is simplified; a few entry

jobsProblems of policy of promotion from within:

Elaborate training programs are required Employees should have aptitude and potential Disappointment of left over employees Prevents infusion of new ideas and knowledge

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Recruitment and Selection Policy IssuesEqual employment opportunity

There ought to be no discriminationPlan to hire and promote protected groupsAdverse impact

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Recruitment and Selection Policy IssuesSelection standards – credentials barriers

Qualification requirements lack proven relationship with success or failure

Education as a screening device has disadvantages: Automatically eliminate underprivileged who drop out

of school Some brilliant people did poorly at school Educational establishments tend to homogenize

studentsSome percentage can be hired with less formal

education but showing promise

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Recruitment and Selection Policy IssuesThe lie detector

Actually there is no true lie detectorPolygraph (accuracy rate 75 %) measures:

Rate of breathing Heart beat Changes in blood pressure Skin current Galvanic skin response

No simple correlation between symptoms and truthfulness

Pathological liarsCivil liberties

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Recruitment and Selection Policy IssuesPrivacy of employee records

Family and medical information of job applicantsPersonality testsLine and operating managers’ access to personal

recordsInformation of personal nature is not available to

outside without employee’s consentOther policy issues:

RelativesQuality of persons hired

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The Employment ProcessHR Plan

Identification of need for people

Job Requirements,

descriptions and

specificationsRecruitmentInternal and

external sources

Pool of candidates

SelectionComparison of

candidates with job

requirements

Accepted candidates Rejected

candidates

Job placement orientation, training

and probation

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Sources of PeopleSources are of two categories:

Inside sourcesOutside sources

Inside sources – three procedures:Informal searchSkill inventoryJob posting

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Sources of PeopleOptions for obtaining people from outside:

Employment agencies State employment agency Private employment agencies Executive recruitment firm

Unsolicited applicantsLabour unionsProfessional associationsSchools and colleges AdvertisingEmployee referrals

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The Selection ProcessRecruitment tends to be positive whereas

selection is somewhat negativeCommon approach

Employment requisition, with job specifications, is initiated by some operating manager

Matching a person to the jobCertain good candidates are rejected

Another approachBasic entrance standards are establishedThose who meet or exceed the minimum

requirement are further consideredLarge organizations like military

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The Selection ProcessConsiderations in making the selection decision:

Organizational and social environmentSuccessive hurdles and multiple correlation

Successive hurdles technique Applicants must successively pass each screening device Selection device having highest correlation with job

success is placed first Time and expense is saved

Multiple correlation approach A person is routed through all the selection steps before a

decision Deficiency in one factor can be counterbalanced in

another Composite test score index is compiled

Which selection method is better?

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Selection ProcedureThoroughness of the procedure depends on:

Consequence of faulty selection which is influenced by: Length of training period Money invested in the new employee Level and complexity of the job Possible damage to the organization

Company policy and top management attitude

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Selection ProcedureA proposed selection procedure with ten basic

steps:Reception in employment officePreliminary interview Application blankSelection tests Main employment office interview Investigation of applicant’s backgroundFinal selection interview by manager or supervisorMedical examination InductionProbation

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Selection ProcedureMajor selection devices:

Application blank Questions related to identity, education, skills and

experience Items are chosen judgementally based on past experience Skilled interviewer draws tentative inferences

Weighted application blank Weights are assigned to the questions in accordance to

their predictive power Reliance on statistics can result in false predictions Appropriate where:

large number of candidates are involved Turnover has been high Rate of failure of new employees has been excessive Less sophisticated methods have no yielded good results

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Selection ProcedureMajor selection devices:

A biographical information blank Similar to weighted application blank Includes items probing deeper into individual’s life Utilize multiple choice answer format – a specific score

is attached to each choice which is unknown to the applicant

Greater predictive power than both intelligence and personality tests

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Selection ProcedureSelection tests

Usually constructed by industrial psychologistsWidespread use commenced in World War-I with

Army Alpha TestPicked up momentum within the two warsTime consuming and costlyRequired to be tailor made for an organization

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Selection ProcedureInterview

Single most important tool in hiring programPrimarily an artSubjectiveTrained interviewers using sound procedures can

do good

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Selection ProcedureMedical examination

Serves four major purposes: To reject those whose physical qualifications are

insufficient To obtain a record of the physical condition To prevent employment to those with contagious

diseases To assign specific jobs to handicapped

Job analysis should identify and record the specific physical demands of various jobs

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Selection ProcedureBackground investigation

It requires time and money but the trouble is generally well worth the effort

The best guide to what a person will do in the future is what he has done in the past

Sources of background information: School and collage officials Previous employers Character references supplied by the applicant Other sources such as neighbours, police and so on

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Selection ProcedureResponsibilities of line management

Line manager or the supervisor makes the initial decision to add someone to the payroll as well as conducts the final selection

Because line or operating managers are responsible for efficient operation of their units

Employment is a two way process – candidates have a right to interview future boss

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Selection ProcedureRejecting applicants

False hopesIn case of expected openingsInterviewer has threefold objectives:

Maintaining the person’s ego and self concept Maintaining goodwill towards the organization Letting the applicant know that he or she is rejected

There may be some mismatch with the existing job specifications

If there is no mismatch then diplomatic skills

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Auditing the Recruitment and Selection EffortHave well defined recruitment and selection

policies and procedures been developed?Do wage rates, employee benefits and level of

employee satisfaction have a positive effect upon the ability to attract qualified people?

Does the program meet equal employment opportunity and affirmative action standards?

Is there a sufficient pool of applicants from which to draw

Is there a delay in filling job openings?Is the recruitment effort selective. Do those who

apply possess the necessary skills?

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Auditing the Recruitment and Selection EffortWhich source provide the most qualified people? What percentage of those who apply are hired?What percentage of those hired resign or are

discharged during the probationary period?What is the cost of recruitment and selection per

person hired?How well do the predictions derived from each of

the selection techniques correlate with job performance? How well do those hired perform on the job?

Has feedback been obtained from applicants regarding treatment received throughout the employment process?

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Thanks