Selection

Personnel selection and assessment activities are integral parts of organisational life. The contemporary economic climate has seen an ever increasing level of staff turnover and personnel reorganisation, and the abolition of the traditional view of 'a job for life'. 

Consequently, there is more pressure now on organisations to fill vacant positions quickly and with the most appropriate individuals (Lievens et al., 2002). When a company needs to recruit new staff or make promotion decisions about employees, there are various methods of assessment at its disposal. 

Selection is the methodical placement of individuals into jobs whilst keeping to employment laws and regulations. Its impact on the organisation is realised when employees achieve years or decades of service to the employer. The process of selection follows a methodology to collect information about an individual in order to determine if that individual should be employed (Human Resource Guide, 2001a; Fisher et al., 2006).

The selection process consists of three stages as illustrated in Figure 1 below.

     Figure 1: Selection process

     Source: Fisher et al. (2006), p. 283

This blog examines three different methods of assessment and selection commonly used by Thistle Hotels namely interviews, application forms and letter of reference.

SELECTION METHODS

INTERVIEWS

An interview is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of applicants' oral responses to oral inquiries (Human Resource Guide, 2001b). Personnel selection interviews take a variety of forms but are essentially a conversation between a candidate and one or more interviewers with a specific purpose. There are two main forms of interviews namely, unstructured and structured interviews that are employed in a selection process. 

Unstructured Interviews

This form of interview follows no particular pattern or structured format. The ubiquitous use of the unstructured selection interview in organisations attests to the faith that both employers and applicants have in the casual and unrestrained face-to-face conversation as a technique for selection. However, this form of interview is usually associated with a low level of validity. One explanation for the consistently low validity in the unstructured interview is that different interviewers may rate the same information differently, and features that are irrelevant to the personal attributes required for the job such as age, race, appearance, sex, experience of interviews and the job market situation introduce bias into how interviewers evaluate information (McNamara, 1999).

Structured Interviews

Structured interviews are the most effective type of interview. The interview process is formed through identification of the key requirements of the job and a list of questions is drawn up. A panel of interviewers works through each set of questions with each candidate and scores them on their answers. At the end of the interview process the overall scores are considered and the best candidate chosen. If additional selection methods are chosen this is fed into the overall process at the end and again the best-fit candidate is offered the appointment (Campion et al., 1994). 

Even where the interview is structured, this does not mean that follow up questions cannot be asked to probe more deeply into a candidate's skills and experience. An interview which does not do this, but instead sticks to a rigid list of questions, will not allow the interviewer to obtain the information required to make a proper decision. 

By removing the subjectivity from the interview, standardising the procedure, and introducing a direct link between the interview content and job success, it follows that structured interviews have a much higher degree of job relatedness and validity than their unstructured counterparts (Hollowitz and Wilson, 1993).

Other forms of interviews include situational interview and behaviour description interviews (Schumann, 2008).  

Advantages

• Useful for determining if the applicant has requisite communicative or social skills which may be necessary for the job.
• Interviewer can obtain supplementary information.
• Used to appraise candidates' verbal fluency.
• Can assess the applicant's job knowledge.
• Can be used for selection among equally qualified applicants.
• Allows the applicant to ask questions that may reveal additional information useful for making a selection decision.
• The interview may be modified as needed to gather important information.

Disadvantages

• Decisions tend to be made within the first few minutes of the interview with the remainder of the interview used to validate or justify the original decision.
• Interviewers form stereotypes concerning the characteristics required for success on the job.
• Research has shown disproportionate rates of selection between minority and non-minority members using interviews (Kvale, 1996).
• The drawback with highly structured interviews is that they often remove from the interview situation those interpersonal aspects which are often valued by interviewers and interviewees alike (Pawlas, 1995).

APPLICATION FORMS

The role of the application form is to act as the first filter, choosing a relatively small number of applications to process further. This procedure is known as sifting. Research suggests that sifting is not always done very effectively (Key, 2011). 

The traditional approach to applying for jobs in the public sector is to complete a fairly lengthy application form. However, if certain jobs are hard to recruit to and competitors generally ask for CVs rather than application forms, organisations may consider accepting CVs. If this is the case other safeguards may be used, for example, deleting indications of sex and race before the CVs are passed to shortlisters and more careful evaluation of decisions made in the recruitment process (Graduate Recruitment Bureau, 2012). 

Advantages

• Owing to the standardised format of application forms, it is easier for employers to scan the information and make comparisons. The employer can ask for the exact information he or she needs to know (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2012).
• It is easy to compare the skills and experience of different applicants.
• The same application form can be used for future vacancies thereby making it cost effective. 
• The benefit of using an application form from the organisation's perspective is that it ensures that the same information is gained from candidates which help to achieve a level of consistency in the short-listing process.
• There are also equal opportunities considerations as the consistency produced by the use of application forms is more likely to engender fairness in the recruitment process.

Disadvantages

• They are time-consuming and can be tricky to design.
• The cost involved in producing and sending them out to applicants can be high.
• Lengthy application forms can be off-putting.

LETTER OF REFERENCE

References work on the principle that the best way of finding out about someone is to ask someone who knows him or her well, such as a former employer or schoolteacher (McGrane, 2010). The principle is sound – former employers may have valuable information. 

Requesting references encourages candidates to be honest about the claims made at application stage, but as the candidate selects who to nominate as a referee it is reasonable to expect that a favourable representation of her/him will be presented. Therefore, additional tests are required to establish a fuller picture of the candidate.

According to Advameg Incorporated (2012), the main format options for requesting a reference are:

• Open request - which asks the referee’s opinion on the candidates to undertake the job as detailed within the About the Job for the post.
• Structured reference request - which asks the referee to grade the candidate’s suitability on a number of areas identified as relevant to the About the Job requirements, and general areas such as attitude and trustworthiness. This is often presented within a summary table format.

Advantages 

• This method helps employers weed out employees who may have represented themselves dishonestly and gives them an opportunity to learn about the candidate’s reliability and job performance.

Disadvantages 

• The practice of using references as a selection method is less perfect. Occasionally, unsatisfactory references may affect decisions to appoint individuals (Key, 2011). Hence, references can never be used as the sole grounds on which to base a recruitment decision as they provide a limited perspective of an individual´s abilities and performance. 
• A prospective employee is unlikely to use a reference from a negative work experience. Just like the resume, references are tailored to put candidates in the best light possible and therefore, prospective employees can hide their unwanted attitude from employers.

PERSONAL INTERVIEW PARTICIPATION

On the 16^th of October 2011, I had an interview appointment with the Departmental Head of the Food and Beverage section of Thistle Hotel at 9:30 a.m. On that very day, I arrived at the premises of the hotel at 9:20 a.m. in order to avoid creating a bad impression to my potential employer. He called my phone to check if I had arrived and later usher me into one of the conference rooms for the interview. As he began questioning me about my suitability for the job, he was asked by one of his colleagues to report to the restaurant to address a pressing issue. He therefore asked that I excuse him as there was an emergency he had to attend to. I waited for almost thirty minutes alone in the conference room. On his return, he apologised for his action and told me I could start working the following week. I was a bit surprised because I felt we had not completed the interview session.

In my opinion the interview conducted was not effective. In the first place, the interview ended abruptly without the employer completely exhausting questions he wanted to ask and also I never had the opportunity of asking for clarifications about the job and the role I had to play. Additionally, I feel the interview could have been conducted by a panel made up of three or four persons instead of just one. Also, it would have been appropriate if the interview was scheduled at a time when the interviewer was not on duty or better still during off peak periods to avoid any interruptions.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the three selection methods discussed above, the following recommendations are made with respect to improving each processes.

Interviews recommendations

• Minimise stereotypes: To minimize the influence of racial and sex stereotypes in the interview process, provide interviewers with a job description and specification of the requirements for the position. Interviewers with little information about the job may be more likely to make stereotypical judgements about the suitability of candidates than are interviewers with detailed information about the job.
• Job Related: Try to make the interview questions job related. If the questions are not related to the job, then the validity of the interview procedure may be lower.
• Train Interviewers: Members involved in the interview process should be trained in interviewing skills and the sorts of questions they should or should not ask as an interview conducted in a bad manner could hamper the selection of qualified candidates.

According to Kvale (1996), interviewers should be trained to:

• avoid asking questions unrelated to the job
• avoid making quick decisions about an applicant
• avoid stereotyping applicants
• avoid giving too much weight to a few characteristics
• try to put the applicant at ease during the interview
• communicate clearly with the applicant
• maintain consistency in the questions asked

Application form recommendations

• To avoid putting off applicants due to the lengthy nature of application forms, it is recommended that application forms should only address the really important areas to allow short listing to take place.
• Applicants should be asked to describe things that they have done which relate to key competences for the job. For example, the competence ability to influence others is assessed by the request to ‘describe an occasion when you had to persuade others to accept an unpopular course of action’.

Letter of Reference recommendations

• Reference checks are a tool that can substantiate and validate candidate information and provide further insight into a candidate’s skills, abilities, and knowledge. To avoid hiring mistakes, selection decisions should always be corroborated by checking a candidate’s work related references. 
• A minimum of two, but ideally three references should be checked by a member of the interview panel to ensure that follow-up questions from the interview and assessment can be probed. Telephone reference checks are the most informative and valid method of obtaining reference information. Letters of reference and non-work related references should be avoided and used cautiously (Advameg Incorporated, 2012).
• If references are not received for all applicants in time for interviews as requested, this should not have a negative effect on the candidates in question.
  
  

CONCLUSION

When determining which selection method is most appropriate, it is necessary to consider the requirements of the job, through analysis of the job or role description and person specification, and what skills, experience and aptitudes are being sought. It is worth mentioning that, more than one selection method may be appropriate for a particular job. 

It is also important to evaluate the success of the selection method to ensure that it is effective. This can be done through seeking the views of candidates who have undertaken the selection process and/or analysing recruitment statistics and turnover rates. This offers the opportunity to find out if the methods are still relevant and useful to the current selection process, particularly if there have been changes to the job or a requirement for new skills.

REFERENCES

Advameg Incorporated (2012) Employee Hiring [online]. Available from: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Di-Eq/Employee-Hiring.html [Accessed 28 February 2012].

Campion, M.A., Campion, J.E. and Hudson, J.P., Jr. (1994) Structured Interviewing: A Note on Incremental Validity and Alternative Question Types. Journal of Applied Psychology.79, pp.998-1002.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2012) The application process - CVs and application forms [online]. Available from: http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1073793812&type=RESOURCES [Accessed 27 February 2012].

Fisher, C.D., Schoenfeldt, L.F. and Shaw, J.B. (2006) Human Resource Management. 6^th ed. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin.

Graduate Recruitment Bureau (2012) Selection Methods [online]. Available from: http://www.grb.uk.com/selection-methods.0.html [Accessed 27 February 2012].

Hollowitz, J. and Wilson, C.E. (1993) Structured Interviewing in Volunteer Selection. Journal of Applied Communication Research. 21, pp.41-52.

Human Resource Guide (2001a) Personnel Selection: Overview [online]. Available from: http://www.hr-guide.com/data/G300.htm [Accessed 28 February 2012].

Human Resource Guide (2001b) Personnel Selection: Methods: Interviews [online]. Available from: http://www.hr-guide.com/data/G311.htm [Accessed 28 February 2012].

Key, M.S. (2011) Pros and Cons of Employee Selection Techniques [online]. Available from: http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/103196.aspx [Accessed 28 February 2012].

Kvale, S. (1996) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Lievens, F., van Dam, K. and Anderson, N. (2002) Recent trends and challenges in personnel selection. Personnel Review. 31 (5), pp.580 – 601.

McGrane, C. (2010) Reference Checking in the Selection Process [online]. Available from: http://www.focus.com/briefs/reference-checking-selection-process/ [Accessed 27 February 2012].

McNamara, C. (1999) General Guidelines for Conducting Interviews.  Minnesota: Authenticity Consulting.

Pawlas, G.E. (1995) The Structured Interview: Three Dozen Questions to Ask Prospective Teachers. NASSP Bulletin. 79, pp.62-65.

Schumann, P.L. (2008) Selection Methods [online]. Available from: www.scribd.com/doc/.../Mgmt440-t06-Selection-Methods [Accessed 27 February 2012].