1. Human Resource Management
Chapter 7
EMPLOYEE SELECTION

2. Objectives Explain strategic selection.
Understand the need for validation of employee selection procedures.
Describe sone of the major research findings on selection.
Evaluate the use of psychological tests in selection
Appreciate the factors that make for successful selection interviewing.
Discuss two approaches to making the selection decision.

3. What is Selection? The hiring and retention of key human resources
Choosing the right people for the right job

4. Strategic Selection
The linking of selection activities to the organization’s strategic business objectives and culture.
An organisation’s ultimate success depends on the best applicants being selected.
Jobs and people must be matched to ensure employee satisfaction and organisational effectiveness.

5. The Cost of a Poor selection Decision
DIRECT COSTS
Employee may not complete probationary period
 Re-advertising costs
 Panel time and effort
 Personnel staff time and effort
INDIRECT COSTS
Disruption to work routines
 Frustration
 Quality issues
 Colleague investment
Loss of investment
Difference in performance level
Optimum level performance sought
- Marginal performance achieved =Performance gap

6. Selection Policy
Selection decisions must accord with organisational policy
Issues to be considered include:
- Equal employment opportunity
- Quality of people
- Source of people
- Management roles
- Selection techniques

7. Selection Policy
Equal employment opportunity
- Means giving people a fair chance to succeed without discrimination based on unrelated job factors such as age, race, sex or nationality
Quality of people: how would the “suitability” of candidates be measured?
Source of people: Internal/external/domestic/international people
Management roles: Who make final decision on hiring? Role of HRM?
Selection techniques: interviews/tests/medical examination?
Legal issues: licensed person for the professional?
Costs: Budget? Which department is responsible for the costs?

8. TYPICAL SELECTION STEPS IN LARGE ORGANISATIONS
Reception of applicant
Preliminary interview
Application form
Tests
Interviews
Background investigations
Preliminary screening by human resource department
Final selection by line managers
Medical examination
Placement on the job

9. Application Form and EEO Requirements (Questions not to ask)
Questions not to ask on an application form:
Marital status
sex
Age
Residential status
National or ethnic origin
Photographs
Race or colour
Relatives

10. Tests
Employment tests: assess the match between applicant and job requirements
Interest tests: compare applicant’s interest patterns with successful people in a particular job
Aptitude tests: measure special abilities that are required in specific jobs
Intelligence tests: measure an applicant’s intelligence or ‘IQ’
Personality tests: measure basic aspects of a person’s personality

11. Testing and EEO
Tests must be proven as being able to predict job performance
Tests must not discriminate
Tests must be job related

12. Selection Interviews
Selection interviews confirm/reject information in the application
BUT…
The selection interview is a subjective process and prone to
bias
stereotypes
initial impressions
poor memory

13. How to interview successfully
Know the job
Know the personal attributes, experience, skills and qualifications
Set specific objectives
Provide the proper setting for the interview
Review the application form or résumé
Beware of prejudices
Don’t make snap decisions

14. How to interview successfully (cont)
Put the applicant at ease
Watch the body language
Encourage the applicant to do most of the talking
Keep control of the interview
Explain the job
Close the interview
Write up the interview
Check references
Evaluate the interview

15. Listening There are three types of listening Listening to understand
Listening to empathise
Listening to evaluate
Listening is not easy. Many learn to be passive listeners, merely accepting what is said. This is not good enough for an interviewer.

16. Non-Verbal Actions
Non-verbal actions complement words, add meaning and feelings
Non-verbal actions may be used instead of words. Silence is not a void that has to be filled.
Non-verbal actions may contradict words, convey a different message from what is being said.
Some non-verbal may give a positive or negative impression.
Some examples of non-verbal interactions:
Head nods, shakes
Facial expressions
Voice inflection
Posture

17. Interview Questions
Questions should be clear and concise, should follow a natural conversational sequence, and be in words the candidate can understand.

18. Questions Types of Questions to Use
Open questions - those requiring more than one word answers
Closed questions - when you want specific information, or wish to limit or close discussion of a topic, eg, How many? How long? When?
Comparative questions - these save time and also give assessment information, eg, ‘Which job did you prefer?’; then ‘Why?’ or ‘How do/did these two jobs differ?’

19. Types of Questions to Avoid
1 Vague or Ambiguous:
eg, ‘How did you find that job?’
2 Direct:
eg, ‘I take it you are good with people?’
3 Double or Triple:
eg, ‘What made you choose that job, how did you like it; was it all you had hoped it would be?’
Ask one question at a time, using the others as supplementary questions if necessary.
4 Leading or Loaded:
eg, ‘When are you going to settle down to a real career?’
5 Trick Questions:
These could land you in trouble and make you look foolish, with no useful knowledge gained in the process.

20. Other Selection Techniques
Biographical information blank (BIB)
Panel interviews
Group interviews
Computer interviewing
Video interviewing
Assessment centres
The polygraph
Honesty tests
Graphology

21. The Selection Decision
Compensatory approach: the manager considers all of the selection data for candidates who have successfully passed the initial screening. This allows a better overall impression of the applicant.
Successive hurdles approach: the selection predictors are ranked according to their effectiveness (from most valid to least valid). For example, if an intelligence test has the highest correlation with job success, it will be the first hurdle in the selection process.