Recruitment and Selection CHAPTER 9 Recruitment and Selection

Learning outcomes of this chapter To comprehend the potential importance of recruitment and selection in successful people management and leadership To identify aspects of recruitment and selection that are needed to avoid critical failure factors To understand recruitment and selection policies and procedures that are said to characterise the high-performance organisation To evaluate selection methods according to criteria of reliability, validity and fairness To recognise the role of rhetoric in recruitment and selection literature

Recruitment and selection: the importance of getting it right To gain competitive advantage To play a pivotally important role in shaping organisational effectiveness and performance To attract and retain high-calibre employees with the potential to develop To reduce undesirable costs such as those associated with high turnover, poor performance and customer dissatisfaction

Definitions: ‘Recruitment is the process of generating a pool of people to apply for employment to an organisation. Selection is the process by which managers and others use specific instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons more likely to succeed in the job(s), given management goals and legal requirements.’ Bratton and Gold (2007)

Approaches to recruitment and selection Traditional Matching the characteristics of an ‘ideal’ person to fill a defined job Use of job descriptions and person specifications Selection based on knowledge skills and personal qualities Competency-based Focus on identifying abilities needed to do the job well Recruit ‘flexible’ workers Look at potential as well as actual skills or competencies Recruit to team requirements rather than specific job

The resourcing cycle Review the need and establish the requirements Attract suitable candidates Select The offer and the acceptance Induction Full competence in the role

Attracting applicants Contingency approach – no single best way Analysis of what might be effective in particular circumstances such as: Availability of candidates – ie supply and demand Desired response rates Confidentiality – eg senior roles Time-scales Costs/budget

The validity of selection methods Face validity Content validity Predictive validity Reliability Temporal or ‘re-test’ stability Consistency

Predictive validity of selection methods (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006; p.173) 1.0 Certain prediction 0.9 0.8 0.7 Assessment centres for development 0.6 Skilful and structured interviews 0.5 Work sampling, Ability tests 0.4 Assessment centres for job performance, Biodata, Personality assessments 0.3 Unstructured interviews 0.2 0.1 References 0.0 Graphology, Astrology

Fairness in recruitment and selection Procedural justice How far the selection methods were seen by candidates to be related to the job and the extent to which procedures were explained to them Distributive justice How equitably candidates felt they were treated and whether the outcome of the selection was perceived to be fair

Fairness Continued Fairness extends to the area of discrimination and equal opportunities Two approaches: Compliance with legislation Managing diversity High-performance organisations are more likely to have a strategy of diversity management

Contextual issues in recruitment and selection Theory v practice Lack of formal HR procedures in SMEs Costs Apparent or direct costs of recruitment £4,333 for average UK worker Implicit or indirect costs, such as poor performance, customer dissatisfaction Cultural differences and approach Organisational – ‘person-organisation fit’ National – eg the USA and the UK use selection methods that emphasise individual differences

A note of caution Research indicates that small and medium- sized employers are less likely to have sophisticated practices in place – see Cully et al (2002). Distinctive processes and practices faced by particular organisations will frame their approaches to recruitment and selection.

The usefulness of a contingency model Successful policies and practices are those which apply principles faced by the particular context of a unique organisation. Note also possible cultural differences – eg ‘In individualistic cultures such as the UK or the USA, selection methods may seek to emphasise individual differences between applicants.’