HR - Employment Selection

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Chapter 6: Selection

1. The Significance of employee selection

 Selection: Process of choosing from a group of applicants those individuals best


suited for a particular position and organization.
 A firm’s recruitment success has a significant impact on the quality of the
selection decision.
 There are many ways to improve productivity, but none is more powerful than
making the right hiring decision.
 Small businesses especially, can not afford to make hiring mistakes.
 Properly matching people with jobs and the organization is the goal of the
selection process.
 If individuals are overqualified, underqualified, or for any reason do not fit the
organization’s culture, they will be ineffective and probably leave the firm,
voluntarily or otherwise (YOU’RE FIRED!!!).

2. Environmental factors affecting the selection process

Other HR functions
 The selection process affects, and is affected by , virtually every other HR
function.

Legal Considerations
 Play a significant role due to legislation, executive orders and court decisions.
 It’s essential for firms to maintain nondiscriminatory practices during selection.

Speed of Decision Making


 Can have a major affect in case of for example an emergency.
 In bureaucracies, it’s not uncommon for the selection process to take a
considerable amount of time.

Organizational Hierarchy
 Organizations usually take different approaches to filling positions at varying
levels. E.g.: extensive background checks & multiple interviews for hiring of a
CEO vs. word processing test & short interview for a clerical position.

Applicant Pool
 Process can be truly selective only if there are several qualified applicants.
 Selection ratio: number of people hired for a particular job compared to the total
number of individuals in the applicant pool.

Selection = number of open positions / number of available applicants


 Selection ratio of 1.00 means that there is only one qualified applicant for an open
position. The lower the ratio falls below 1.00, the more alternatives the manager
has in making a selection decision. E.g.: selection ratio of 0.10 indicates 10
qualified applicants.

Type of Organization
 Private sector business is very profit-oriented and therefore prefers candidates
who can help achieve profit goals.
 Government civil service systems typically identify qualified applicants through
competitive examinations.
 For non-profit organizations, applicants must be dedicated to the job.

Probationary Period
 Permits firm to evaluate an employee’s ability based on established performance.
 Even in unionized firms, the labor/management agreement typically does not
protect a new employee until after a certain probationary period (60 to 90 days),
which means you can say you’re fired to an employee without little or no
justification. 
 Firing a marginal employee in a union environment may be quite difficult after
the probationary period (that sucks if you get stuck wit a retard!).
3. The Selection Process

4. The Preliminary Interview


 Basic purpose is to eliminate those who obviously do not meet the position’s
requirements.
 Builds goodwill for the firm and can also maximize recruitment & selection
effectiveness by for example transferring an applicant to another position
available than he originally solicited for.

Telephone Interview
 Advantage: cheap.
 Disadvantage: no face-to-face contact.
Videotaped Interview
 Method to reduce selection costs.
 Does not replace personal interview but allows a firm to conduct a broader search
and get more people involved in the selection process.

Virtual Job Interview


 More and more firms are using Internet technology in their recruitment and
selection efforts.

5. Review of Applications

Review of Résumés
 Employment managers compare the information contained in a complete
application for employment to the job description t determine whether a potential
match exists between the firm’s requirements and the applicant’s qualifications.

6. Administration of Selection Tests


 Firms need to use pre-employment tests together with other selection tools
including behavioral interviews.
 Employers should be aware that tests might be unintentionally discriminatory.

Advantages of Selection Tools


 Customized tests are a reliable and accurate means to predict on-the-job
performance.
 Cost is small in comparison to ultimate hiring costs.
 To identify attitudes and job-related skills that interview can’t recognize.
 Very efficient.

Potential Problems using Selection Tests


 No good indication of level of motivation of the applicant.
 Legal liabilities: firm can be litigated so it must assure that their selection tests do
not discriminate against applicants.
 Test Anxiety: applicant pees his pants…

Characteristics of properly designed Selection Tests


 Standardization: uniformity of the procedures and conditions related to
administering tests.
 Objectivity: the condition that is achieved when all individuals scoring a given
test obtain the same results.
 Norm: a frame of reference for comparing an applicant’s performance with that
of others.
 Reliability: the extent to which a selection test provides consistent results.
 Validity: the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure.
Requirement for Job Relatedness
 Test must work without having an adverse impact on minorities, females and
individuals with backgrounds under the law.
 Generally validation of the employers’ selection isn’t required, unless it results in
adverse impact against women or minorities.

7. Types of Validation Studies

Criterion-Related Validity
 A test validation method that compares the scores on selection tests to some
aspect of job performance determined, for example, by performance appraisal.
 Concurrent Validity: validation method in which tests scores and criterion data
are obtained at essentially the same time.
 Predictive Validity: validation method that involves administering a selection test
and later obtaining the criterion information.

Content Validity
 A test validation method whereby a person performs certain tasks that are actual
samples of the kind of work a job requires or completes a paper-and-pencil test
that measures relevant job knowledge.

Construct Validity
 A test validation method to determine whether a selection test measures certain
traits or qualities that have been identified as important in performing a particular
job.

8. Types of employment Tests

Cognitive aptitude tests


 Tests that determine general reasoning ability, memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency
and numerical ability.

Psychomotor Abilities Tests


 Aptitude tests that measure strength, coordination and dexterity.

Job Knowledge Tests


 Tests designed to measure a candidate’s knowledge of the duties of the job for
which he or she is applying.

Work-Sample Tests (Simulations)


 Tests that require an applicant to perform a task or set of tasks representative of
the job.
Vocational Interest Tests
 Method of determining the occupation in which a person has the greatest interest
and from which the person is most likely to receive satisfaction.

Personality Tests
 Self-reported measures of traits, temperaments or dispositions.

Substance Abuse Testing


 I wanted to get a job, but then I got high….. oops
 Rationale for testing: ensure work place security, safety and productivity.
 Testing methods: breath, urine, blood, saliva or hair samples.
 Ways to avoid tests: avoid use several days prior to the test, or you can actually
buy the piss of a guy on the internet who will sell five ounces of his most valuable
golden fluid to you for only $69 plus postage! Comes with plastic tubing and tiny
heat pack designed to keep the fluid on body temperature. Like this you’ll fool
everybody.

9. Genetic Testing
 Testing that can determine whether a person carries the gene mutation for certain
disease, including heart disease, colon cancer, breast cancer and Huntington’s
disease.

10. Assessment centers


 A selection technique that requires individuals to perform activities similar to
those they might encounter in an actual job.
 Candidates are subjected to a number of exercises that simulate tasks they will
perform in the job for which they are being considered.

11. The Employment Interview


 A goal-oriented conversation in which an interviewer and an applicant supposedly
exchange information.
 Interview planning is essential to effective employment interviews.
 Permits clarification of certain points, additional information and the elaboration
of data to make a sound selection decision.
 Organizational fit: management’s perception of the degree to which the
prospective employee will fit in with the firm’s culture or value system.
 The interviewer should provide information about the company, the job and
expectations of the candidate.

12. General Types of interviews

Unstructured Interview: meeting with a job applicant during which the interviewer
asks probing, open-ended questions.
Structured Interview: process in which an interviewer consistently presents the
same series of job-related questions to each applicant for a particular job.
13. Behavioral Interview
 Structured interview where applicants asked to relate actual incidents from their
past that are relevant to the target job. They assume the past is the best predictor
of the future.

14. Methods of Interviewing


 One-on-one interviewing
 Group interviewing: several job applicants interact in the presence of one or
more company representatives.
 Board Interview: several representatives of a company interview a candidate in
one or more sessions.
 Stress Interview: form of interview that intentionally creates anxiety to
determine how a job applicant will react in certain types of situations (pee your
pants again?!)
 Realistic Job Preview (RJP): method of conveying both positive and negative
job information to an applicant in an unbiased manner.

15. Legal Implications of Interviewing


 Interview is subject to the same validity requirements as any other step in the
selection process, should adverse impact be shown.

16. Personal Reference Checks


 Validations that provide additional insight into the information furnished by the
applicant and allow verification of its accuracy.
 Negligent hiring: the liability an employer incurs when it fails to conduct a
reasonable investigation of an applicant’s background, and then assigns a
potentially dangerous person to a position where he or she can inflict harm
(TERRORISM!!!).
 Negligent retention: when a firm keeps persons on the payroll whose records
indicate strong potential for wrongdoing and fails to take steps to defuse a
possible violent situation (all work no play make Benny go….).
 Negligent referral: when a former employer fails to offer a warning about a
particularly severe problem with a past employee.

17. The Selection Decision


 When the final choice is made from among those still in the running after
reference checks, selection tests, background investigations and interview
information are evaluated.
 Physical test to screen out individuals who have a contagious disease and to
determine if the applicant is physically capable of performing the work.
 Medical examination information may be used to determine if there are certain
physical capabilities that differentiate between successful and less successful
employees.
 Selection process results should be informed to the applicants as soon as possible.

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