Chapter 8 Recruitment

Introduction

In the staffing models and strategy chapter, the selection component of staffing was defined as the process of assessing and evaluating people for purposes of determining the likely fit between the person and the job. This process is based on the logic of prediction, which holds that indicators of a person's success in past situations should predict how successful they will likely be in new situations. Application of this logic to selection is illustrated

A person's knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) and motivation are the product of their past job, current job, and nonjob experiences and situations. During selection, the organization identifies, assesses, and evaluates samples of KSAOs (presumably) most relevant to the new situation or job, as well as motivation. The results constitute the person's overall qualifications for the new situation or job. These qualifications are then used to predict human resource (HIR) outcomes, indicating how successful the person is likely to be in that new job. The logic of prediction works in practice if the organization accurately identifies and measures qualifications relevant to job requirements, and if those qualifications remain stable over time so that the person carries them over to the new job.

Content

The substance or content of what is being assessed by a predictor varies considerably and may range from a "sign" to a "sample" to a

"criterion."" A sign is an aspect of the person that is thought to relate to performance on the job. Personality as a piedictor is a good example here. If personality is used as a predictor, the prediction is that someone with a certain personality trait (e.g., abrasiveness) will demonstrate certain behaviors (e.g., rudeness to customers) leading to certain results on the job (e.g., failure to make a sale). As can be seen, a sign is very distant from actual on-the-job results. A sample is closer than a sign to actual on-the-job behavior. Observing a set of interactions between a sales applicant and a customer to see how they interact is an example of a sample. The criterion is very close to actual job performance, such as sales figures in a previous position or during a probationary period for a new employee.

Résumés and Cover Letters

The first introduction of the applicant to the organization is often a cover letter and résumé. The applicant controls the introduction concerning the amount, type, and accuracy of information provided. As a result, attempts should be made to verify résumés and cover letters (e.g., through background checks) to ensure that there are accurate and complete data across all job applicants.

One major issue with résumés is with the volume that organizations must process. Some organizations make few provisions for how to file and organize résumés as they filter in, and for how to store them once a hiring decision is made. Most organizations are well advised to produce and maintain an electronic copy of résumés received, both to ease sharing of information among selection decision makers and to track applicants should any questions (legal or otherwise) arise once the applicant is hired.

Application blanks

Application blanks are spaces on an application form that request the applicant to provide or write about their educational experiences, training, and job experiences. This information is often on the applicant's résumé as well and may seem unnecessarily duplicated.

However, this may not be the case: an application can be used to both verify the data presented on the résumé and obtain data omitted from the résumé, such as employment dates. The major advantage of application blanks over résumés is that the organization, rather than the applicant, can direct the type of information that is presented. As a result, job-critical information is less likely to be omitted by the applicant or overlooked by the reviewer of the résumé. The major issue with application blanks is that the information requested should be critical to job success, following the logic of prediction discussed earlier.

Licensing, Certification, and Job Knowledge

Many occupations require or encourage people to demonstrate mastery of a certain body of knowledge. Such mastery is commonly measured by two distinct methods: licensure and certification. A license is required by law to perform an activity, whereas a certification is voluntary in the sense that it is not mandated by law though an individual employer may require it). The purpose of a license is to protect the public interest, whereas the purpose of a certification is to identify an individual who has met a minimum standard of proficiency.

Biographical Information

Biographical information, often called biodata, is personal history information on an applicant's background and interests. The principal assumption behind the use of biodata is the axiom "The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior," and these past behaviors may reflect job-relevant predictors such as ability or motivation.

Initial Interview

The initial interview occurs very early in the initial assessment process and is often the applicant's first personal contact with the organization and its staffing system. At this point, applicants are relatively undifferentiated to the organization in terms of KSAOs. The initial interview begins the process of necessary differentiation, a sort of "rough cut." Some applicants may even be deciding whether to continue in the job application process. 105

The purpose of the initial interview is, and should be, to screen out the most obvious cases of person/job mismatches. To do this, the interview should focus on an assessment of KSAOs that are absolute requirements for the applicant.

Use

Use refers to how frequently organizations use each predictor. Use is probably an overused criterion in deciding which selection measures to adopt. Benchmarking-basing HR decisions on what other companies are doing-is a predominant method of decision making in all areas of HR, including staffing. However, is this a good way to make decisions about selection methods? Although it is always comforting to know what other organizations are doing, relying on information from other organizations assumes that they know what they are doing.

Just because many organizations use a selection measure does not necessarily make it a good idea for any particular organization.

Circumstances differ from organization to organization. In addition, at a time when many organizations are trying to differentiate themselves from their competitors, rigorous innovation in selection, rather than imitation, may be more effective in acquiring a talented workforce.

Perhaps more importantly, many organizational decision makers (and HR consultants) either lack knowledge about the latest findings in HR research or have decided that such findings are not applicable to their organization. I14 It is also difficult to determine whether a successful organization that uses a particular selection method is successful because it uses this method or because of some other reason.

Thus, from a research standpoint, there may be a real strategic advantage in relying on "effectiveness" criteria (e.g., validity, utility, and disparate impact) rather than worrying about the practices of other organizations.

Cost

Cost refers to expenses incurred in using the predictor. Although most of the initial assessment methods may seem relatively cost-free since the applicant provides the information on their own time, this is not entirely accurate. For most initial assessment methods, the major cost associated with each selection measure is administration. Consider an application blank. It is true that applicants complete application blanks on their own time, but someone must be present to hand out applications (or guide applicants to the relevant application website), answer inquiries in person and over the phone about possible openings, and collect, sort, and forward applications to the appropriate person. Then the selection decision maker must read each application, perhaps make notes about an applicant, weed out the clearly unacceptable applicants, and then make decisions about candidates. Although some of this process can be automated, there is still clearly a human element involved. Thus, even for the least expensive methods of initial assessment, costs associated with their use are far from trivial.

Reliability

Reliability refers to consistency of measurement. As was noted in the measurement chapter, reliability is a requirement for validity, so it would be very difficult for a predictor with low reliability to have high validity. Similarly, it is unlikely that a valid predictor would have low reliability. Unfortunately, the reliability information on many initial assessment methods is lacking in the literature. However, given the frequency with which individuals distort their résumés, it is probably reasonable to infer that applicant-supplied information in application blanks and résumés is of moderate reliability. The reliability of reference checks appears to be relatively low. In terms of training and experience evaluations, while distortion can occur if the applicant supplies training and experience information, interrater agreement in evaluating this information is quite high, 116 Biographical information also generally has high reliability. The initial interview, like most unstructured interviews, has a relatively low level of reliability.

Validity

Validity refers to the strength of the relationship between the predictor and job performance. Low validity ranges from about .00 to .15, moderate validity ranges from about .16 to .30, and high validity is.31 and above. As might be expected, most initial assessment methods have moderate to low validity because they are used only for making rough cuts among applicants rather than for final decisions.

Utility

Utility refers to the monetary return associated with using the predictor, relative to its cost. According to researchers and decision makers, when comparing the utility of selection methods, validity appears to be the most important consideration. In short, it would be very unusual for a valid selection method to have low utility.

Disclaimers

During the initial stages of contact with job applicants, it is important for the organization to protect itself legally by clearly identifying the rights it wants to maintain. This involves the use of disclaimers, which are statements (usually written) that provide or confer explicit rights to the employer as part of the job seekers' submission of an application. The organization needs to decide (or reevaluate) which rights it wants to retain and how these will be communicated to job applicants.

Three areas of rights are usually suggested for possible inclusion in a disclaimer policy: (1) employment-at-will (right to terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason), (2) verification consent (right to verify information provided by the applicant), and

(3) false statement warning (right to not hire, terminate, or discipline prospective employee for providing false information to the employer). An example of a disclaimer statement covering these three areas is shown at the bottom of the application blank in L Exhibit 8.4. Disclaimer language must be clear, understandable, and conspicuous to the applicant or employee.

If social media is to be used for selection in a food-for-thought sense, what safeguards could be implemented?

Background Checks:

Credit checks

The first legal requirement for the organization is to comply with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA governs the gathering and use of background information on applicants and employees. Its requirements apply to both consumer reports and investigative consumer reports. Consumer reports are prepared from accessible databases by a consumer reporting agency and bear on the person's creditworthiness and standing, character, general reputation, personal information, and mode of living. Investigative consumer reports are a subset of consumer reports; they obtain information about the applicant's or employee's general reputation, character, personal characteristics, and mode of living via personal interviews with friends, neighbors, or business associates.

Preemployment Inquires

The term "preemployment inquiry" (PI) pertains to eliciting information through any selection method, such as an application blank or interview question, about applicants' personal and background data, such as demographics (race, color, religion, sex, national origin, and age), physical characteristics (disability, height, and weight), family and associates, residence, economic status, and education. At times,

Pis may also occur as part of an unstructured interview.

Pis have been singled out for legal (equal employment opportunity and affirmative action [EEO/AAl) attention at both the federal and state levels. The reason for this is that Pis have great potential for use in a discriminatory manner early in the selection process. Moreover, research continually finds that organizations make inappropriate and illegal Pis. One study, for example, found that out of 48 categories of application blank items, employers used an average of 5.4 inadvisable items on their application blanks for customer service jobs. 130 It is thus critical to understand the laws and regulations surrounding the use of PIs.

Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications (BFOQs)

Nature of Predictors

Development of the Selection Plan

Stages of Assessment

Evaluating Selection Measures

A Note on Correlations

A Note on Utility

Resumes and Cover Letters

Overview on Application Blanks

Application Blanks

Biographical Data / Biodata

Letters or Recommendation / Reference

Reference Checks

Background Testing

Evaluation of Reference Reports

Initial Interview

Evaluation of Initial Interview

Legal Issues

Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications