Present Employee Selection Process

According to Mathis & Jackson (2010), most organizations are engaging a series of consistent steps to process and select applicants for jobs. Following Figure 1 showcase a flow chart of such a basic process of selection.

Figure 1: Basic selection process

(Source: Mathis & Jackson, 2010)

“Company size, characteristics of the job, the number of people required, the use of electronic technology, and other factors cause variations on the basic process” (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). Traditionally, most organizations relied on the classic trio of steps for selecting candidates are application forms, interviews and references (Armstrong, 2012). However, it is important that, this classic trio should be complemented by incorporating selection tests and assessment centers (Armstrong, 2012). In addition, research has also highlighted the applicability of techniques such as self-assessment, group selection and work sampling for enhancing the selection process to suit the unique requirements of modern organizations (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005).

Application Forms

Usually, the application form was used as a personal details form, which was intended to act as the nucleus of the personal record of an individual when the resource began work. Many organizations have adopted the application form to act as a useful preliminary to employment interviews and decisions, either to present more information that was applicable to such discussions, or to organize information in a standard way (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005). Preparing the application form to be used as an information source to assist the selection process can be a challenging task to the HR department, yet, a properly prepared application form can help a modern organization in many different aspects (Mathis & Jackson, 2010; Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005),

• It organizes all applicants details according to a single standard which expedite sorting of applications and shortlisting of candidates.
• It is a basic employee record for applicants who are hired.
• It provides the interviewer with a profile of the applicant that can be used during the interview.
• It can be used for research on the effectiveness of the selection process.
• It is a record of the applicant’s desire to obtain a position.

While there is still a use of CVs for managerial and professional posts in private sector, many organizations, particularly in the public sector, is increasingly adopting the application form as a productive alternative to CVs (Mathis & Jackson 2010). Some private sector organizations also adopt a hybrid approach in which the application form is used to shortlist the candidates while the CV is used to help the interviewers along the selection process (Mathis & Jackson 2010).

Interviews

The most known and the common step in many selection processes is, the interview. Although “interview” is such a general term in employee selection, it is interesting to note that there are many different variations of interviews. Interviews can be broadly categorized into structured interviews and unstructured interviews (Armstrong, 2012).

“A structured interview is one based on a defined framework” (Armstrong, 2012). All candidates who have applied for the same job position framed by a given framework are asked the same set of questions and the framework may define a rating system for the candidates by assigning a score to the answer of each question. Structured interviews can be categorized in to different forms and some organizations come up with hybrids of two or more of these forms to suit their own unique selection requirements (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

• Behavioral Interview: In this form, candidates are asked to describe how they have performed a certain task or handled a problem in the past. This could provide useful information for the interviewer to anticipate how the candidate would take decisions and act if candidates were to be selected for the job position. A study (Krajewski, Goffin, McCarthy, Rothstein, & Johnston, 2006) has shown that, behavioral interviews are better at identifying achievement at work than situational interviews, since they focus on what applicants have done in real situations opposed to what they think they might do in hypothetical situations.
• Biographical Interview: This form of structured interviews focus on a sequential assessment of the candidate’s past experiences in order to provide a sketch of what the candidate has done up to now in his career.
• Competency Interview: In competency interviews, the interviewer is provided a competency profile, which includes a list of competencies necessary to do that job. These capability profiles are useful to interviewers in that, the interviewer can structure his/her questions to the candidate more focused towards the competencies listed in the competency profile. However, the interviewer must be trained in spotting strong answers for the competencies in the candidates (Gurchiek, 2008).
• Situational Interview: Opposed to behavioral interviews, situational interviews assess what the candidate would consider to be the best option, not necessarily what the candidate did in a similar situation. In reality, the candidate may not have experienced the same or a similar situation before. A variant of this form is known as case study interview, where the candidate is asked how to identify and correct a challenge that the organization is currently facing (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

“An unstructured interview occurs when the interviewer improvises by asking questions that are not predetermined” (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). The universal focus behind an unstructured interview is to get an overall picture of the candidate as an individual (Armstrong, 2012).

A different that lie in-between structured and unstructured interviews is referred to as semi-structured interviews (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). In these semi-structured interviews, a guided conversation is progressively built up between the interviewer and the candidate. The interviewer raises some comprehensive questions to the candidate and new questions arise as a result of the discussion. Some organizations today, tend to conduct such a semi-structured interview in the form of a telephone interview before calling in the candidate for the structured interview (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

Modern organizations may also exercise another form of interviews known as stress interviews which can be either structured or unstructured (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). During the stress interview, the interviewer assumes an extremely aggressive and insulting posture. The idea behind this interview is that the particular job position the candidate has applied to involves high degrees of job stress. A good example for such a job position is the customer care and call center operators (Mathis & Jackson, 2010). Following Figure 2 lists questions commonly used in selection interviews

Figure 2: Questions commonly used in selection interviews

(Source: Mathis & Jackson, 2010)

Assessment Centers

“Assessment centers assemble a group of candidates and use a range of assessment techniques over a concentrated period (one or two days) with the aim of providing a more comprehensive and balanced view of the suitability of individual members of the group” (Armstrong, 2012). 

The main disadvantage of assessment center is, assessment centers require a lengthy design process to select the appropriate activities so that every competency of the candidates will be measured on more than one task. However, research has also proven that assessment centers are one of the most effective ways of selecting candidates (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005).

Referrals

Most of organizations are still following a more traditional process of selecting candidates, contacting referees the candidate has provided is the last step in deciding whether or not the candidate should be offered the employment. “The main purpose of a reference is to obtain in confidence factual information about a prospective employee” (Armstrong, 2012). But, some researchers questions on the use of references as a criterion for selecting candidates on the basis that, no candidate will knowingly pick a reference who would speak poorly of them (Lublin, 2009).

Some modern organizations make it mandatory for a candidate to provide at least one reference from the previous employment, possibly a manager to whom the candidate was reporting to. However, as highlighted in multiple texts, the questions asked from a referee should be within strict ethical boundaries (Armstrong, 2012; Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

Selection Tests

Selection tests provide an organization a practical and dependable tool to evaluate a candidate in various aspects such as levels of abilities, intelligence, personality, aptitudes and achievements (Armstrong, 2012). As research has shown, selection tests must be evaluated extensively and test items should be linked to a job analysis, before being applied as a selection tool (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

Different tests that can be used in various selection criteria have been proposed which are intelligence tests, ability tests, personality tests, aptitude tests (Armstrong, 2012), honesty and integrity tests (Mathis & Jackson, 2010), attainment tests and trainability tests (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005).

Other forms of selection criteria

According to Torrington, Hall, & Taylor (2005), Self-assessment is a technique where the typical selection process is reversed. In this technique, the candidate will be evaluated whether the resource is fit to do the job. This can be a video showing how the actual job looks like, an informal discussion with the current job holders, a self-selection questionnaire on the company website or further information sent with the application form. However, a survey result has shown that only a minority of the modern organizations implement this form of selection (Editors of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2003).

Group selection is the earliest form of assessment centers which has its roots dating back to the Second World War (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005). According to Plumbley (1985), There are three main group selection techniques, leaderless groups, command or executive exercises and group problem solving. Although considered as an older selection technique, modified variants of group selection can still be a cost-effective alternative to assessment centers.

Work sampling is the selection technique where a potential candidate for a permanent job will be evaluated in a temporary post or a training period within the same organization (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005). 

For an example, the company I work for is giving POC (Proof of Concept) to new candidates provide a solution based on the given technical issue, the candidates needs to understand the issue, document the issue with high level solution and provide technical analysis with the solution. In addition to that, candidates need to showcase the solution to a wider group. Based on the show and tells (Video Calls), the candidates could be able to demonstrate the capabilities. Based on the success off the POC, candidates will be either permeant or in a training period in the organization. The recommendation is to have a video of showing how the company works and educate them on company values and culture which helps the candidates to adapt to organization’s environment quickly.

Conclusion

Any organization doesn’t want to risk hiring the wrong individual for an open position. Without having a solid employee selection process, mistakes can happen all the time. Hiring the right people is hard, and finding the time to dedicate to hiring process is even harder.

Having an employee selection process helps any organization to save time, resources, and money. The best part about an employee selection process is, when it’s time to interview the potential hires in the candidate pool, resources could be a good match for the company. After all, resources have had to pass skill tests and prove they can fit in with company culture to get to that point. Its organization’s duty to pick the correct resources whom fit for the company culture.

References

• Armstrong, M. (2012). Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 12e, London: Kogan Page. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2003). Recruitment and Retention Survey Report 2003. Retrieved from http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B779ADD8-E9EA-4849-BA4E-BAC6E70F24F9/0/recruitretnsurvey.
• Gurchiek, K. (2008, January 28). Behavioural Interviewing Popular, but Training in Use Urged. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrnews/pages/behavioralinterviewingpopular.aspx.
• Krajewski, H. T., Goffin, R. D., McCarthy, J. M., Rothstein, M. G., & Johnston, N. (2006). Comparing the Validity of Structured Interviews for Managerial-Level Employees: Should We Look to the Past or Focus on the Future? Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 79, 411 – 432.
• Lublin, J. (2009, April 7). Bulletproofing Your References in the Hunt for a New Job. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123904785521794145.
• Mathis, R. L. & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human Resource Management, 13e, Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.
• Plumbley, P. R. (1985). Recruitment and Selection, 4e. London: Institute of Personnel Management.
• Torrington, D., Hall, L., & Taylor, S. (2005). Human Resource Management, 6e, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.