Selection

7 - Selection in Human Resources Management

Selection Definition: The process of screening, evaluating, and assessing applicants to make hiring decisions.
Strategic Importance:
- Quality of employees impacts organizational strategic goals.
- Selected employees implement strategic decisions effectively.
- Candidate fit with organizational direction is essential.
- Ineffective selection can lead to costly legal issues.

Process:
- Conducted by HR department through application reviews.
- Candidates who do not meet criteria are eliminated.
- Remaining candidates are considered for further evaluation.
Selection Ratios:
- Defined as the ratio of hired applicants to total applicants.
- A small ratio may indicate low applicant quality; a large ratio may suggest vague job descriptions or an attractive company.
Use of Technology:
- AI and data analytics improve screening processes by identifying successful candidate traits.
- Crowdsourcing allows existing employees to review candidate information, enhancing community engagement.

Reliability: Measure of consistency and dependability of selection tools.
- Inter-rater reliability: Agreement among raters.
- Internal consistency: Maintains reliability within the assessment tool.
Validity: Measure of accuracy of a selection tool's predictive capabilities.
- Differential validity: Ensures fairness across subgroups (e.g., gender, ethnicity).
- Criterion-related validity: Correlates with work behavior.
- Content validity: Adequately samples necessary knowledge and skills.
- Construct validity: Measures relevant traits necessary for job success.
Types of Tests:
- Cognitive tests: Assess general intelligence and aptitude (e.g. IQ tests).
- Job-specific tests: Include work sampling and achievement tests that ensure relevance to job roles.
- Personality assessments: Measures traits that affect job performance, e.g., Myers-Briggs.
- Medical examinations: Verify physical capacity for job demands without violating rights.

Purpose of Interviews:
- Assess qualifications, behavior, and communication skills.
- Promote the organization to potential hires.
Types of Interviews:
- Structured: Follows a set sequence of questions.
- Unstructured: Conversational; questions may vary.
- Situational: Hypothetical scenarios to forecast future behavior.
- Behavioral: Focuses on past job-related behaviors.
Common Mistakes in Interviews:
- Poor planning, snap judgments, negative emphasis, and biases that distort evaluation.

Need for Background Checks:
- Many candidates provide inaccurate information regarding their experience or education.
- Recommended to conduct thorough checks, including references and qualifications.
Steps to Enhance Background Checks:
- Require candidate consent for checks.
- Use open-ended questions and seek multiple references for comprehensive insight.
Realistic Job Previews: Provide candidates with both positive and negative job information to set appropriate expectations, increasing future job satisfaction and reducing turnover.
Final Decision Making:
- HR synthesizes information collected from various selection techniques.
- Supervisors make final hiring decisions, ensuring transparency in the job offer process.