[4].Employee Selection Techniques

According to Armstrong (2010), the goal of selection is to determine a candidate's suitability by anticipating their capacity to perform a task successfully. The selection process entails determining whether applicants' attributes, such as competence, experience, qualifications, education, and training, are suitable for the potential interviewee It also entails deciding amongst applicants based on assessments. Individual interviews and assessment centers are the most common ways of selection. Selection tests can be used to back up these claims (Armstrong, 2010).

Below Video 1 explains the process flow of the selection an applicant.

Video 1:Selection Process



Source:(Pepin, 2013)

Interview

Individual interviews are the most common way of selection, and they entail face-to-face talk. They provide the best opportunity for the interviewer and the candidate to establish personal touch – rapport–. (Armstrong, 2010). Individual interviews were conducted in accordance with a person specification, which outlines the knowledge and abilities required as well as the most appropriate hands -on. When only one interviewer is utilized, there is a greater risk of making a biased or superficial choice, which is why a second interviewer or an interviewing panel is recommended (Armstrong, 2010). Individual interviews are used as a method of selection by the majority of Sri Lankan businesses. Individual interviews are used as a selection procedure by the majority of Sri Lankan organizations. Structured, unstructured, and semi-structured are the three types of structured data (Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

Individual interviews are used as a frequent way of selection in the company where I work. The relevant department manager is involved in the selection process to ensure that technical factors are considered. In addition, an individual interview method is employed as a preliminary interview, and a psychometric exam will be conducted expressly for delivery recruitment.

Assessment Centers

Assessment centers bring together a group of candidates and use a variety of assessment procedures such as interviews, group exercises, and exams within a short period of time (one or two days), with the goal of presenting a more comprehensive and balanced perspective of the group's suitability (Torrington, Hall, & Taylor, 2005).This is one of the most advanced examinations available for assessing a candidate's social, communication, and analytical abilities (2017,Henderson).

The procedures for selection differ from one occupation to the next (2005, Marchington and Wilkinson). As a result, an assessment center would not be appropriate for clerical staff recruiting. Individual interviews are held by the QA (Quality Assurance Consultant) personnel at the company where I work. If they get through the first screen test, they will be evaluated critically by having another physical interview with the practical assignment in front of the interviewers. Assessment centers were held after the preliminary interviews, allowing them to choose the best match from a pool of individuals.  

Selection Tests

Selection tests are used to demonstrate degrees of abilities, intelligence, personality traits, aptitudes, and accomplishments. They usually serve to supplement the information gathered during an interview. There is a distinction made between psychological or psychometric tests, which measure or analyze intelligence, ability, or personality, and aptitude tests, which are occupational or job-related assessments that evaluate people's capacity to work. (Armstrong, 2010: Mathis & Jackson, 2010).

Only delivery (Dev,QA,BA)track employees are subjected to psychometric testing at the company where I work. This exam must be passed in order to be considered for the position. This test will determine whether the candidate is qualified for a sales position, and it will be computer-based with a URL provided. Questionnaires with optional replies, one of which is the best appropriate for a sales cognition.

Intelligence Evaluations

Intelligence tests assess a variety of mental qualities that enable a person to perform well on a number of intellectual activities requiring abstract thinking and reasoning. They are sometimes referred to as general mental ability (GMA) exams since they are concerned with general intelligence (Armstrong,  2010).  The organization which I work at mostly uses this test, which lasts an hour, and there are three types of questionnaires: general knowledge, mathematics, some theoretical questions related to the positions they apply to, and English language.

Ability Test

Ability tests, according to Armstrong (2010), determine what people are capable of knowing or achieving. They are as follows:

  • Verbal reasoning is a test that assesses your ability to understand, interpret, and make inferences from spoken or written language.
  • Numerical reasoning is a test that assesses your ability to understand, evaluate, and make inferences from numerical data.

Assesses the capacity to comprehend and interpret spatial relationships between items. Understanding of everyday physical laws such as force and leverage is known as mechanical reasoning.

Personality Tests

Self-report personality tests and other surveys that assess interests, values, or job behaviour are examples of these. Personality tests seek to measure candidates' personalities in order to anticipate their likely behaviour in a given role. Self-report personality tests and other surveys that assess interests, values, or job behaviour are examples of these. Personality tests can provide useful additional information about candidates that is devoid of the biases that sometimes occur during face-to-face interviews. However, they must be used with caution. (Armstrong,  2010).

Tests of Aptitude

Aptitude tests are job-specific examinations that are used to predict success in certain tasks within a job, such as typing or doing specialized tasks like repair work. Work sample exams are only appropriate for applicants who have prior experience or training with the task. (Armstrong, 2010). An aptitude test is used to determine what a person is capable of or to forecast what a person can learn or perform with the proper education and training. It denotes a person's ability to accomplish a specific task. This method is used by the organization where I work to assess what a person is capable of doing or to forecast what a person can learn or do given the appropriate education and training. It denotes a person's ability to accomplish a specific task.


A good test should have the following characteristics.

“A good test gives valid data that can be used to make reasonable predictions of behaviour or performance, and thus aids in the process of making objective and reasoned decisions when hiring people.” (Armstrong, p.197,2010 ). A good test will be based on research that has created standardized standards derived from testing a large number of people with the same measure to provide a set of "norms" for comparison. The exam should be able to be graded objectively by comparing it to the group's typical or average performance. (Armstrong, 2010). According to Schmidt and Hunter (1998), intelligence (general mental ability, or GMA) is a good predictor of job performance because ‘more intelligent people acquire job knowledge more quickly and acquire more of, and it is this knowledge of how to perform the job that causes their job performance to be shoot-up' In terms of predictive validity, their research clearly shows that a combination of structured interviews and intelligence testing is the most efficiency.


References:

  • Armstrong, M. (2010). Armstrong's essential human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page.
  • Armstrong, M., and Taylor, S., (2014) Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. (13th Ed) London: Kogan Page.
  • Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2005) Human Resource Management at Work. 3rd ed. London, Chartered Institute of Personal and Department.
  • Mathis, R. L. & Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human Resource Management, 13e, Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.
  • Schmidt, F.L. and Hunter, J.E., 1998. The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological bulletin124(2), p.262.
  •  Torrington, D., Hall, L., & Taylor, S. (2005). Human Resource Management, 6e, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. 


Comments

  1. Agreed with the given scenarios and arguments. On the other hand, there are number of challenges identified by the surveys done for the recruitment selection of workers which can be includes as poor HR Planning, ineffective job analysis, cost for recruitment and selection, lack of HR Department and poor working conditions of workers, so it was recommended to reflect the real requirement of the job before recruiting or selection take place(Adu-Darkoh, 2014).

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    1. I agree with all of your points. Thushari. Furthermore, according to Statt (2004), the job description specifies the work tasks, obligations, and responsibilities and serves as a reference for the future recruitment and selection process. A job description, in general, refers to the job title, job summary, job duties, tasks, and outputs, as well as the technical, administrative, and managerial aspects of the work. Job descriptions, according to Byars & Rue (2006), are a written narrative of the duties to be completed and what they comprise. So, according to Byars & Rue (2006), assessing the job and developing the correct job description will address the inadequate HR strategy for recruitment and selection.

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  2. Recruitment process includes a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to orchestrating and leading the interviews and requires numerous resources and time. The methods and procedures used to acquire an understanding about jobs are called job analysis. There are mainly two sources of recruitment: internal and external (Gardi et al. 2020). Selection is a process of evaluating and interviewing candidates for a particular job and selecting the right person for the right position. Selection is a process of hiring suitable people for job who can successfully perform the job (Prabhu et al. 2020).

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    1. Thank you Chandana. Technology is playing an increasingly essential part in recruiting, as noted by Truesdell, and Kelly (2017) in enticing prospects to the selection process. Electronic technologies was also employed to narrow down the pool of prospects. Employers may receive a huge number of applications from undesirable individuals when using online recruitment, therefore adopting technology to help manage the application form can be beneficial.

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  3. It is also worthy to note despite the criticisms, interviews have been the most popular method of selection and according to a survey carried out by CIPD (2009), out of 755 UK based companies 70% used interviews in their selection process, 50% used work sampling and 35% used assessment centers.
    According to Currie (2006), the reason for such popularity in Interviews maybe it being a product of its acceptance by all parties including candidates. (Ex: High face value)

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    1. Thank you Jayashi. The interview is the most well-known and common step in many selection processes. Despite the fact that "interview" is such a broad phrase in employee selection, it's worth noting that there are many different types of interviews. Structured interviews and unstructured interviews are the two types of interviews (Armstrong, 2012).

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  4. Menupa Agreed with your argument , Despite the fact that the process is time-consuming, rushing a selection decisions can be disastrous for a firm, resulting in high staff turnover, unproductivity, and wasted opportunities (Mascarenhas, 2011). As a result, a thorough and careful screening process is required. The more closely corporations follow the methods outlined in your blog, the better their prospects of saving money.

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    1. Thank you Sampath.According to numerous studies, the majority of respondents indicated they were caught in the trap of a bad hire because they felt obligated to hire someone right away (Kulkarni, 2017). This is a common error in which speed is prioritised over quality. HR must persuade the organisation that waiting for the right individual is worthwhile. To do this, HR must quantify the true cost of a bad hire and educate business management in their own language (Fyre, 2017).

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  5. Agreed.When the organization want to achieve competitive advantage in market, it is more important that those who recruited from selection process, must provide maximum utility & productivity for their assigned tasks (Allan, 2007).

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    1. Thank you Menaka.The selection methods must be fair and legitimate, and the human resources department must consider broader organisational goals (such as succession planning and future competence requirements) (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

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  6. Armstrong and Taylor (2014) further explains how selection techniques invlove in selecting an individual by evaluating competencies, experience, qualifications amongst the candidates.

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    1. Thank you Udaya.The establishment of a legally enforceable agreement between the employer and the employee, outlining both parties' rights, obligations, and expectations, is the effective end of both stages (Armstrong, 2006).

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