Selection

Selection is the process of picking individuals out of the pool of applicants with requisite qualifications & competence to fill jobs in the organization. OR Selection is the process of choosing the most suitable candidate for a job from the available applicants. Recruitment & Selection are the 2 crucial steps the HR process. However, a fine distinction between the 2 steps. While recruitment refers to the process of identifying & encouraging prospective candidates to apply for the jobs, selection is concerned with picking the right candidates from a pool of applicants. Recruitment is said to be a positive approach & selection is negative in its application.

Selection as a Source of Competitive Advantage:

- Work Performance:
Work performance depends on individuals. The best way to improve performance is to hire people who have the competence & the willingness to work. From the employee’s point of view, poor or inappropriate choice can be demoralizing to the individual concerned & de-motivating to the rest of the workforce.

- Cost:
Cost incurred in recruiting & hiring personnel speaks volumes about the role of selection. E.g. Pepsi & U.S $2,50,000. Cost of wrong selection are much greater. There are 4 possible outcomes of a selection decision. Two of these are- True Positive & True Negative- are right selection decisions. The other two outcomes are selection errors. In false positive a decision is made to hire an Applicant based on predicted success, but failure results. In False Negative error an applicant who would have succeeded is rejected based on predictions of failure. In either cases selectors have wrong selection. A company with a false positive error incurs 3 types of costs. 1st is incurred while the person is employed. This can be the result of damaged company reputation, accidents due to negligence, absenteeism & so on. 2nd type of cost is associated with training, transfer or terminating the employee, 3rd type of cost will replacing an employee with the fresh one- costs of hiring, training & so on.

Organization for Selection:

- It is easier for the applicant because they can send their applications to a single centralized department;
- It facilitates contact with applicants because issues pertaining to employment can be cleared through one central location;
- It helps operating managers to concentrate on their operating responsibilities;
- It can provide for better selection because hiring is done by specialists trained in staffing techniques;
- Hiring costs may be cut because duplication of effort is minimized;
- With increased government regulations on the selection process, it is important that people who know about these rules handle a major part of the selection process.

Selection Process:

Selection is a long process, commencing from the preliminary interview of the applicants & ending with the contract of employment. In practice, the process differs form company to company & within a company from job to job.

- Environmental Factors Affecting Selection:
Selection Is influenced by both internal & external factors. Some of the external factors are supply & demand of specific skills in the labour market, unemployment rate, labour-market, legal & political considerations, whereas some of the internal factors are Company’s policy, HRP & cost of hiring.

1. Preliminary Interview:
The main purpose of preliminary interview is more or less the same as scrutiny of applications. Scrutiny enables the HR specialists to eliminate unqualified job seekers based on the information supplied in their application forms.

2. Selection Tests:

Different types of tests may be administered depending on the job & the company. Tests are usually to determine the applicants ability, aptitude & personality.

- Ability Test assist in determining how well an individual can perform tasks related to the job. (E.g. Typing for secretarial job);
- Aptitude Test help determine a person’s potential to learn in a given area. E.g. MAT, GMAT;
- Personality Test are given to measure a prospective employee’s motivation to function in a particular working condition. E.g. Bernsenter Personality Test & Thematic Appreciation Test;
- Interest Test are used to measure an individual’s activity preferences. These tests are particularly useful for students considering many careers or employees deciding career changes;
- Graphology Test is designed to analyze the handwriting of an individual. It has been said that an individual’s handwriting can suggest the degree of energy, spontaneity, & so on;
- Polygraph Test is a lie detector are designed to ensure accuracy of the information given in the applications;

- Medical Test reveal physical fitness of a candidate.

Choosing Tests:

- Reliability: Refers to the standardization of the procedure of administering & scoring the test results. A person who takes a test one day & makes a certain score should be able to take the same the next day or the next week & make more or less the same score;

- Validity: Validity is a test which helps predict whether a person will be successful in a given job. A test that has been validated can be helpful in differentiating between prospective employees who will be able to perform the job well & those who will not. There are ways of validating a test. Concurrent validity involves determining the factors that are characteristics of successful employees & then using these factors as the yardsticks. Predictive validity involves using a selection test during the selection process & then identifying the successful candidates;

- Objective: When 2 or more people can interpret the results of the same test & derive the same conclusions, the test is said to be objective. Subjective opinions may render the test useless;
- Standardised: The purpose of standardization is to obtain norms or standards, so that a specific test score can be meaningful when compared to other scores in the group.

3. Employment Interview:

The next step in the selection process is employment interview. An interview is conducted at the beginning & at the end of the selection process. Interview is a formal, in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate the applicant’s acceptability. It is considered to be an excellent selection device. In an interview the interviewers learn about the applicant & the applicant learns about the company.

Employment Interview can be:- One-to-One, Sequential, & Panel Interview. In One-to-One interview there are only 2 participants- the interviewer & interviewee. The Sequential Interview involves series of interviews, usually where the interviewer can focus on their own area of interest. Here the candidates move from one room to room. In panel interview there will be 2 or more interviewers. Many of these interviewers will be your supervisors and colleagues, they may take turns asking you prepared questions.

Types of Interviews:

- Structured Interview: In structured interview, the interviewer uses a preset standardised questions which are put to all the interviewees. This interview is also known as patterned interview.
- Unstructured Interview: The interview is largely unplanned & the interviewee does most of the talking. Unguided interview is advantageous as it leads to a friendly conversation between the interviewer & the interviewee. Unguided or unpatterned interview lacks uniformity.

- Mixed Interview: Is a blend of structured & unstructured questions which is used by the interviewer while interviewing the job seekers. The Structured questions provide a base of information that allows comparisons between candidates. But un-structured questions make the interview conventional & permits greater insights into the unique difference between candidates

- Behavioural Interview: This focuses on a problem or a hypothetical situation that the applicant is expected to solve. Often, these are hypothetical situations & the applicant is asked what she/he would do in the given circumstances. This reveals the applicant’s ability to solve the types of problems presented.
- Stressful Interview: Stressful interview attempts to learn how the applicant will respond to the pressure. This technique is more relevant in jobs involving stress.

- In-depth Interview: In-depth interviews are more suitable for selection of candidates for high-end technology & high-skill jobs. Experts in the relevant area test the candidate’s knowledge & understanding of the subject & assess his expertise.

The Interview Process:

- Preparation: It is not only the interviewee but also the interviewer who has to prepare for an interview. The interviewer has to go through the job description & the job specification to understand the requirements of the job.
- Setting: The setting & ambience for an interview can have a major effect on a candidate’s performance. Most of the candidates, no matter how confident they seem, tension & pressure when they have to go through an interview. Hence, it is the responsible of the interviewer to make the candidate feel comfortable & relaxed.

- Conduct of Interview: The actual process of the interview starts once the candidate settles down in front of the panel or the interview. Some basic guidelines to conduct a pleasant & fruitful interview are as follows:-

1. The interviewer has to demonstrate a basic liking & respect for people;
2. Open ended questions that give maximum scope to the candidate to speak should be asked;
3. The questions should not invade the privacy of the candidates;
4. The interviewer should attentively listen to the answers of the candidates & should take notes & mark relevant points during the conduct of the interview.
- Closing an Interview: The closing of the interview is an important as its commencement. It should be done in a smooth manner avoiding any abrupt or awkward gestures & words.
- Evaluation: Evaluation of the candidate should take place as soon as he leaves the room. If the interviewer decides to evaluate all the candidates together at the end of all the interviews, he might get influenced by the recency effect, which can distort the evaluation results.

4. Reference & Background Checks:
Many employers request names, addresses, & telephone numbers or references for the purpose of verifying information &, perhaps, gaining additional background information on an applicant. Previous employers, university professors, neighbours or friends can act as references. Previous employers are preferable because they are already aware of the applicant’s performance. Reference checks serve 2 important purposes- Is to gain insight about the potential employee from the people who have had previous experience with him or her. 2ndly is to assess the potential success of a prospect.

5. Selection Decision:
Selection decision is the most critical of all the steps. The other stages in the selection process have been used to narrow the number of candidates. Final decision has to be made from the pool of individuals who pass the test, interview & reference checks. The views of the line manager will be considered in the final selection because it is he/she who is responsible for the performance of new employee.

6. Physical Examination:
After the selection decision & before the job offer is made, the candidate is required to undergo a physical fitness test. A job offer is often contingent upon the candidate being declared fit after the physical examination. The results of the medical fitness test are recorded in a statement & are preserved in the personnel records.

7. Job Offer:

The next step in the selection process is job offer to those applicants who have crossed all the previous hurdles. Job offer is made through a letter of appointment. Such a letter generally contains a date by which the appointee must report on duty. The appointee must be given reasonable time for reporting. This is particularly necessary when he or she is already in employment, in which case the appointee is required to obtain a relieving certificate form the previous employer.

8. Contracts of Employment:
After the job offer has made & the candidates accept the offer, documents need to be executed by the employer & the candidate. One such document is the attestation form. This form contains vital details about the candidate which are authenticated & attested by her/him. There is also a need for preparing contracts of employment. The basic information provided here are- Job title, Duties the employee should perform, Rate of pay, Hours of Work, Holiday Arrangements, Length of notice, Work rules, etc.

9. Evaluation of Selection Programme:
The effectiveness of the selection programme is the quality of the personnel hired. A firm must have competent & committed personnel. The selection process if properly done, will ensure availability of such employees. An audit must be done to evaluate a selection programme, which must be done by people who work independent of the HR Department.
10. Assessment Centre's:
One special method of selection increasingly used now-a-days is the assessment centre. An assessment centre is not a physical location but an approach to selecting managers based on measuring & evaluating their ability to perform critical tasks. An assessment centre may last from 2 to 5 days, during which time a group of candidates takes a series of work sample tests & other selection devices such as various interviews, tests, exercises like group decision making, case analyses, role play etc & feedback sessions.
Barriers Of Effective Selection:
- Perception: Our inability to understand others accurately is probably the most fundamental barrier to selecting the right candidate. As our views are highly personalized, we all perceive the world differently. Our limited perceptual ability is obviously a stumbling block to the objective & rational selection of people;
- Fairness: Fairness in selection requires that no individual should be discriminated against on the basis of religion, race, region or gender.
- Validity: A test that can be validated can differentiate between the employees who can perform well & those who will not. However, a validated test does not predict job success accurately.
- Reliability: A reliable method is one which will produce consistent results when repeated in similar situations. Like validated test, a reliable test may fail to predict job performance with precision.

- Pressure: ( Politicians, Relatives, Friends, & Peers)