CHAPT E#E R___ SELECTION ER St Olate)sncae le Lelia} Introduction 4 @ Selection process: Positive or negative? Steps in the selection process * Selection testing Selection interview Case study: You call this selection interview? INTRODUCTION Human resource planning (HRP) identifies employment needs, job analysis deter- mines the qualifications required and recruiting provides a pool of applicants for selection. Selection is the process of picking individuals possessing relevant qualifi- cations, requisite knowledge and required experience. The most suitable candidate is chosen from the applicants based on certain criteria. Selection, it should be noted here, is much more than just choosing the best candidate. It is an attempt to strike a fine balance between what the applicant can and wants to do and what the organization actually requires. Box 6.1: Selection: What the Experts Say? 7 Mondy, et al : Selection is the process of choosing from a group of applicants, the individual best suited for a particular position and organization. Fisher, et al : The selection process involves assessing the applicants to decide who will be hired Raymond Noe, etal: Selection is the process by which an organization attempts to identify applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics that will help it achieve its goals Koontz, et al : Selection is the process of choosing from among the candidates from within the organization or from the outside, the most suitable person for the current position or for the future position. 80ge Gta Ee fo SELECTION eile oe ‘meme Chapter @ Introduction ® Se jon testing @ Selection process: Positive or @ Selection interview spative? negative? @ Case study: You call this selection Steps in the selection process interview? oi: INTRODUCTION Human resource planning (HRP) identifies employment needs, job analysis deter- mines the qualifications required and recruiting provides a pool of applicants for selection. Selection is the process of picking individuals possessing relevant qualf- cations, requisite knowledge and required experience. The most suitable candida is chosen from the applicants based on certain criteria. Selection, it should be noted here, is much more than just choosing the best candidate. Itis an attemp. to strike a fine balance between what the applicant can and wants to do and whe the organization actually requires. Box 6.1: Selection: What the Experts Say? iii Mondy, et al : Selection is the process of choosing from a group of applicants the individual best suited for a particular position and organization. Fisher, et al : The selection process involves assessing the applicants to decide who will be hired Raymond Noe, etal: Selection is the process by which an organization ane to identify applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities and ot characteristics that will help it achieve its goals Koontz, et al : Selection 1s the process of choosing from among the Cale from within the organization or from the outside, the most suitable perso £ the current position or for the future position. 80; Selection Interview Step 5 Selection Tests Step 4 Bs, Application Bank Step 3 | Screening Interview Step 2 q \ Reception Step1 SELECTION 81 . SELECTION PROCESS: NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE? «~~ : : Choosing the right candidate is not a matter of chance. It is the product of choice. To separate the mediocre from the bright, the candidates need to be put through several obstacles in a fair but rigorous manner. The standards of excellence must , pe defined well in advance, and only those meeting the criteria should be allowed to go to the next stage. The filtering process must be done with utmost care and caution to see that the invitees do not feel uncomfortable or develop a feeling of peing taken for a ride. The series of hurdles chosen to eliminate the unwanted hands, should not rub people on the wrong side. Ultimately, there is nothing neg- ' ative about the selection process, since the outcome is always itive, both for the recruiter and the recruitee. , STEPS IN THE SELECTION PROCESS eee The important steps involved in employee selection are shown in Figure 8.1 (Also known as the successive hurdles technique, because a candidate who is not able to cross these hurdles is being eliminated from the selection process immediate- Hiring Decision | Step 8 Reference Checks | Step 7 Medical Examination | Step 6 Figure 6.1 Important steps in the selection process 1. Reception: A company is known by the people it employs. In order to attract people with talent, skills and experience, a company has to create a favourable impression on the applicant right from the stage of reception. Whoever meets nT s. Employment possibilities must be presented honestly and clearly. Ifno jobs are available at that point of time, the applicant may be asked to contact the HR department after a suitable period of time. - Screening interview: A preliminary interview is generally planned by large Organizations to cut the costs of selection by allowing only eligible candidates to go through the further stages in selection, A junior executive from the on important items dete i suitability of an appli ic] i xperience, ectations, apti and locati, oice. This courtesy in-HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 82 terview, as itis often called, helps the department screen out obvious misfits, Ifthe department finds the candidate suitable, he or she is given a Prescribeq application form to fill and submit, . Application blank: Application blank or form is one of the most common methods used to collect information on various aspects of the applicants’ ac. ademic, social, demographic, work-related background and references sheet of an employee's background, usuall j i r § children, dependents); physical data (height, weight, health condition ed. 2 ucational data (levels of formal education, marks, distinctions); emplo: me record (past experience, promotions, nature of duties, reasons for le; previous jobs, salary drawn, etc.); extra-curricular activities (sports/games NSS, NCC, prizes won, leisure-time activities) and-references (names of two a i i #¢ or more people who certify the suitability of an applicant to the advertised z position). ‘ [ECR ererer) f plication Blanks (WABs) t * Tomake the application form more job-related, some organizations assign numeric *. values or weights to responses provided by applicants. Generally, the items that ~ havea strong relationship to job performance are given high scores. For example, for a medical representative's position, items such as previous selling experience, marital status, age, commission earned on sales previously, etc., may be given high cores when compared to other items such as religion, sex, language or place of i h. The total score of each applicant is obtained by summing the weights of the jvidual item responses. Theresultingscoresare then used in theselection decision, . Employment/selection tests: A test is a sample of an aspect of an individ- ual’s behaviour. It is a systematic procedurs ing human behaviour. Most large-scale organizations routinely use employment tests while trying * to match candidates’ profiles with the requirements of vacant Positions. Tests m individual differences in a scientificmanner and enable the recruiter = topick up qualified applicants in an unbiased manner. Some of the commonly used employment tests are: @ Intelligence tests: These are mental ahility tests. The basic objective of intelligence tests is to select employees who are alert and quick at learning things so that they can be offered adequate training to improve their skills for the benefit of the organization. Intelligence tests measure nota single trait, but rather several abilities such as memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, numerical ability, and perception. @ Aptitude tests: Aptitude tests measure an individual's potential tolearn certain skills - clerical, mechani. tical, etc. These tests indicate : whether or not an individual has the ability to learn a given job quickly : and efficiently. In order to recruit efficient office staff, aptitude tests iSELECTION aa are nece abilit ensure proper M0} do not measure. js administered in combinat personality tests. personality tests: Personality isa vidual characteris- ties that can affect how people actually contribute ina workplace. Many organizations use personality ests that measure a rae candidates’ attr es (sucha oful, hard working, to erant, trusting, putgoing, venturesome, emotionally stable, open toideas,creative) match specific e verent of files, ete. Aptitude tests, unfortunately, “the-job motivation, That is why the apiitude test ion with other tests like Intelligence and nt t tests: These are designed to measure what the appl , .e., whether the testee actually knows what i Ls ing proficiency, while a @ Achievemen can do on the curre! he or she claims to know. shorthand test measures. Such proficiency tests are al ction test wherein the job scribe Iso known as work sampling tests. Work sampling is a sele applicant's ability to doa small portion of the job is tested. Simulation tests: Simulation exercise is a test which duplicate: i roblems an employee faces while at work, Such s are commonly used for hiring managers at various levels in potential of a candidate for managerial re commonly used. exercise: an organization. To assess the positions, assessment centr intestate reel ec Approach An assessment centre is an extende ‘k sample that uses procedures which dual exercises. These exercises are designed to , incorporate group and indivi fe jate the t ork which the candidate will be nc o. fnitially, a 5 essmentcentre (a separate room). heir small batch of applicants comes tothe in the situational exercises is observed and evaluated by a team of are combined 6-8 trained assessors. The assessors’ judgments on ¢ ch exercis' to obtain a summary rating for each candidate being assessed. The assessment . centre approach, thus, evaluates a candidate’s potential for management on the basis of multiple assessment techniques, standardized methods of making in- ferences from such techniques, and pooled judgments from multiple assessors) Some of the examples of a real life but simulated exercises included in a typi | assessment centre are as follows: The in-basket: Here the candidate is faced with a collection of reports, memos, letters and other materials collected in the in-basket of the simulat- ed jobs he is supposed to takeover. The candidate ts asked to take necessary action on each of these materials, say, by writing letters, notes, agendas for Ely performance84 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT meetings, etc. The results of the applicant’s actions are then the evaluators. _o/The leaderless group discussion: In this exercise, a leaderless given a discussion question and asked to arrive at a sroup decis evaluators then evaluate each participant's interpersonal skills, ac by the group, leadership and individual influence. "evieweq by Dis ion, The CePtance usiness games: Participants try to solve a problem, us of twoor more simulated companies that are competing i Decisions might include hot Z ually as Membe, nthe Marketplacg to pe) : Netra exhibit ck. Participants thereby planning and organizational abilities, interpersonal skills and leadersh abilities. Business games have several merits: they reduce time, events that might not take place for months or years are made to occur in a matter of hours. They are realistic and competitive in nature. They offer immediate feedback also. _-® Individual presentations: A participant's communication skills are eval. uated by having the person make an oral presentation of a given topic, ® Structured interview: Evaluatorsaska series of questions aimedat the par- ticipant’s level af achievement, motivation, potential for beinga ‘self-starter hw and commitment to the company. L & 's, ¢Graphology tests: Graphology involves a trained evaluator to exam. a. ine the lines, loops, hooks, strokes, curves and fi rishes in a person's handwriting to assess the person's personalit emotional make- i ‘The recruiting company may, for example, ask applicants to complete application forms and write about why they want a job. These samples may be finally sent toa graphologist for analysis and the results may be ‘4 put to use while selecting a person. The use of graphology, however, is dependentonthe trainingand expertise of the person doing the analysis. In actual practice, questions of validity and just plain skepticism have limited its use.

t 2 call from Anil Dhavan, Singer's HR Director. ‘Suresh’ Anil who you're looking for to fill that supervisor job you asked me about rd work experience ina multinational firm located in Pune, but at a lower over to Noida where his parents live.” Suresh replied, “Well, boy”. Anil continued, “He is here right now in my office, | nv are free” Suresh hesitated a moment before replying, “Great can't afford to displease you either. Sir, Please send him y busy today but! ga Rao, the new applicant arrived at Suresh’s office and introduced said Suresh. “I'll be right with you after | make a few urgent Suresh finished the calls and began interviewing Rao. erit certificates, the best suggestion award from pre- revealed the candidate's potential. Jed, “we have a small problem on n in Rao’, inutes later, mpressed. The m national firm and Rao’s quick responses e, Suresh’s door opened and a supervisor yel need your help.” eplied, “Excuse me a ¢ continued for another few a minute, Rao” Fifteen minutes later, Suresh returned minutes before a series of phone calls again me pattern of interruption continued for the next forty minutes. Rao looked at the rassedly and said, “] am sorry, Suresh, | have to go now. | have to catch the ne at 9 PMO Rao,” Suresh said as the phone rang again. “Call me after a week” SCUSSION QUESTIONS 7 follow to avoid interviews like this one? 1 What specific policies might a company Explain why Suresh and not Anil should make th 3. Is it a good policy to pick up candidates through ‘em| or Why not? Explain keeping the case in the background. ¢ selection decision. ployee referral method’? Why?