The Selection Process Recruitment Screening Selection Purpose To identify individuals from the applicant pool who have the minimum qualifications for a position. Purpose To administer tests to applicants in order to identify those who most closely conform to established selection standards. Purpose To generate a pool of applicants to provide the required number of qualified candidates.
Recruitment:Identifying, Contacting, and Attracting the Talent Pool.Provide required number of qualified applicants for selection or promotion process.
The Candidate’s Perspective • Self-selection • Good candidates may not apply if they find negative information about the org • Candidates also investigate the job • Candidates interests and values
All Candidates: Pay Nature of work Opportunities for skill development Recognition Good interpersonal relations with co-workers White Collar Opportunity for advancement, promotion Geographic location Responsibility creativity Influential Job Attributes
Vocational Counseling • Self-report inventories • Interest inventories: questionnaires that ask people to report likes and dislikes • KSAOs necessary • HRDC site
Intensity of Job search • Self-esteem • Financial need • The role of benefits • Size of organization: Large firms more formal, objective qualifications, results of employment tests; Small firms more informal, internal referrals, unstructured interview; individuals tailor their job search accordingly
Job Choice Models • 1. Expectancy Theory: • Values for job attributes x likelihood of obtaining the desired outcome=weighted expectancy score (pick job with highest score)
2. Job Search/ Job Choice: candidate ids occupation based on values, plans the job search, finds one that meets minimum standards, attempts to verify info • 3. Image Matching: compare self-image with image of org
Implications for Recruitment • Reduce information overload • Use accurate and consistent info • Repetition • Image advertising
Person-Organization Fit • In recruitment process, candidate assesses if org is a match for their values • Org representative also assesses if individual would fit in • If either one is off or incorrect, then match is not good and turnover is more likely • Communication process important for accuracy.
Realistic Job Previews • realistic job previews (RJP) as the presentation by an organization of both favourable and unfavourable job-related information to job candidates. • Realistic job previews are believed to help to reduce turnover because applicants receive a frank preview of the actual job, early in the selection process. • Unqualified or uncommitted candidates can then self-select out of the process before more time is wasted by both the candidate (in evaluating the opportunity) and the organization (in evaluating the candidate).
Realistic Job Previews - Benefits • Enhanced job survival, i.e. lower voluntary turnover. • Improved attitudes toward the work/job, e.g. role clarity, job satisfaction. • Increased performance. • Enhanced perception of job expectations being met. • RJPs that provide both positive and negative information positively affect job expectations and job satisfaction. • Face-to-face RJPs lead to more realistic job expectations than brochure RJPs.
Realistic Job Previews - Drawbacks • RJPs may decrease the size of the candidate pool or may reduce the number of (higher quality) candidates that accept job offers, as candidates may overestimate the negative aspect of the job. • The whole message may not be received and/or processed by the candidate. • The RJP content is not sufficient to communicate a complete picture of the job and its attributes in the short period of time allocated to providing the RJP. • The message can’t be customized to provide each candidate with the specific (important) information needed to self-select in or out. • The message timing may not be ideal for the candidate.
Recruitment Strategy • 1. Matching organizational strategy • 2. External factors: A) labour markets B)hiring part-time workers C)outsourcing D) the legal environment • 3. Internal Factors: A)business plan (hire internally or not) B)job level and type/industry
4. Organization and job analysis • 5. Human Resources Planning • 6. Recruitment Action Plan • 7. Locating and targeting the action plan
Recruitment Methods • Internal candidates: • Job postings • Replacement charts • Human resources information systems • nominations
Recruitment Methods • External Candidates: • Job advertisements: newspapers, trade journals, radio, public displays, direct mail, special recruiting events, employee referral • Walk-ins • Employment agencies: HRDC, private agencies, executive search firms, temp agencies • Educational Institutions • Internet
Recruitment Methods - Evaluation 1. Cost per hire (ignores the quality of individuals hired). 2. Time-lapse from candidate identification to hire. 3. Source yield. 4. Ratio of hires : applicants. 5. Ratio of offers : applicants. 6. Ratio of offers or hires to the number of applicants (takes into account the quality of the applicants). 7. Ratio of qualified applicants : total applicants. 8.Ratio of offers accepted: number of offers extended. 9. Performance of hires. 10. Tenure / turnover of hires. 11. Diversity / Employment equity issues.
Chapter 8Selection I: Applicant screening • Labour markets and selection • Many job applicants=higher selection standards • Selection ratio • More job applicants=lower selection ratio (favourable labour market:100 applicants, 20 meet criteria=.2) • (unfavorable labour market: 25 applicants, 20 meet criteria=.80)
Effects of Unfavourable labour market • performance likely to be lower • More hires are likely to be unsatisfactory performers • Higher selection ratio • More false positives
Business Plans and Selection • An organizations values and goals affect selection policies: internal/external candidates • Organizational cultures: different tests appropriate for different positions
Applicant Screening • First phase of selection • MQs: education, experience, keywords • Designed to cut down # of applicants • Important: can be source of adverse impact • MQs must be systematically established
Screening methods • Application forms: • questions should be job-related (job analysis) • Can’t ask for info that is prohibited on discriminatory grounds-bfor • May ask for info inadvertently that is discriminatory: age, marital status • Discriminatory questions turn applicants off
Ask the following: • 1)what is purpose of having it on the form ? • 2) is there a better way to obtain the information? • 3) how will info be used? • 4) human rights conflict? • 5) likely to cause adverse impact? • 6) job related? • 7)more appropriate to get info after hired?
Weighted application blanks • Methods for quantitatively combining info from application blanks by assigning weights that reflect each item’s value in predicting job success • Good predictors of absenteeism, accidents, turnover and other work behavior • Economical • Not seen as intrusive • Might need large samples, larger than is typically used • no understanding of why relationships exist (i.e. level of education and absenteeism)
Biodata • A preselection questionnaire in which applicants are asked to provide job-related information on their personal background and life experiences • Includes broader info than an application form • Less verifiable info such as interests, attitudes and values
What was your grade point average in university? • How many parties do you go to in a year? • Do people count on you to cheer them up? Eight dimensions: School achievement Higher educational achievement Drive Leadership Financial responsibility Early family responsibility Parental family responsibility Situational stability
Issues with Biodata • Legal issues • Privacy • Faking • Need to be locally validated
Résumés • Applicants volunteer bio info • May include info that is best not seen • Unstandardized • Difficult to score • First impressions • Fact inflation: watch for gaps, qualifiers, lists of schools without degrees, no referees, “consultant”, style not substance
Screening Interviews • Typically unstructured, conversational • More reliable if structured • Designed to fill in the gaps left by the resume • Pleasantries/purpose of interview/ past work history/ education / training/ background/ opps for questions/ timelines / makes notes • Interviewer makes conclusions • Opening for discrimination
Reference checks • Final step in screening process • Difficult to get good information • Not predictive • Candidates do not pick referees based on accurate impressions • Always positive • Therefore impossible to distinguish between high and low performers=low validity coefficients • Telephone ref checks
