To identify a suitable employee Introduction: Recruitment is an activity which aims to identify the suitable employees concerning the required experiences and qualifications. Recruitment would have to announce for the job openings with the required skills and qualifications for the proposed applicants so as to specify the conditions that enable the organization to get the best skilled candidates. Selection process aims to find the qualified and appropriate applicants.
The selection process has three common significant components which aim to complete the selection process, these three components are job description, person specification and selection methods [1: CIPD – Recruitment]. There are many types of the section methods which could be considered as Interviews, Reference Checks, Ability Testing, Assessment Centers, Work Sampling/Portfolios, Psychometric Assessment and Graphology. [2: Old and New Selection Methods] The selection methods could be:
Interview: Interview is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of applicants’ oral responses to oral inquiries [3: Personnel Selection Methods- Interviews]. Interviews make a face-to-face meeting with the proposed applicants, the purpose of interview is to discover whether the candidate is talented and have the required abilities, qualifications and the previous experiences in the same field of the organization business so as to keep new sales team wit high qualifications to achieve the direction the organization’s mission.
Objective of interview is to determine whether the job requirements are available or not in person. Interviews could be made to discovery in interview skills could not be detected through the other kinds of the selection methods, where employers could discover the power of Personality and style of speech and talking more than language that Observed clearly in the personal interview, which would be notes more than the another kind of selection. According to the validity of the interviews, we could see that interviews do not provide much evidence of validity of the selection procedure and it is not as reliable as tests.
Ability Testing: tests could be used to measure aptitude, such as competence in literacy or innumeracy, or personality (psychometric tests ‘Aptitude tests, Intelligence tests, and Personality tests’). Tests and their results are likely to form a part rather than the whole of a selection process as they provide quantitative but not qualitative information about an individual. In addition, selection tests increase opportunity of choosing best applicant, so minimize high costs of recruiting wrong people.
Tests determine the measure aptitude and qualifications of the proposed employees but it could measure the qualifications in a quantities way for each candidate according to the test results so, unfortunately tests do not show the true character and method of dealing with the positions. [4: Cognitive Ability Measures] Assessment center: Assessment centre is a process, rather than a place, which uses a number of selection techniques, instruments and exercises in combination and designed to diagnose individuals’ development needs.
An assessment centre evaluates a person’s potential by observing his/her performance in simulated work situations [4: WHAT IS AN ASSESSMENT CENTER]. The limitations of interview selection techniques: As we mentioned before, we could notice that interviews are usually has some limitations as subjective evaluations are made and in interviews, 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 regarding the characteristics required for success on the job research has shown disproportionate rates of selection between minority and non-minority members using interviews. In interviews, against information seems to be given more weight. Interviews do not provide much evidence of validity of the selection procedure and not as reliable as tests. [5: Personnel Selection Methods- Interviews]. The interviews for selection have privileges as well as limitations.
On the positive side, it is possible to recognize from an interview whether or not the candidate is impressive and how he reacts in conversation. The personality traits that could be demonstrated in an interview are responsiveness, alertness in conversation, manners, presence of mind and poise. The requirement for interviewer training: One of the limitations of interview is that the interviewer cannot judge from a man’s face such personality and character traits as honesty. The employment interview could be made satisfactorily accurate if it is carried out with sufficient care.
We still have shortage of skilled interviewers. The interviewer must maintain an objective attitude against the applicant. In brief, an interviewer needs the following qualifications: firstly, interviewer should have emotional maturity in order to avoid the errors of bias as well as to provide a base for developing rapport with the applicants. Secondly, interviewer should be a good listener. Thirdly, interviewer should be as intelligent as the upper quarter of those he would interview. Fourthly, interviewer should show objectivity rather than emotionality or softness in his appraisal of others.
Finally, interviewer should have a thorough knowledge of the job for which he is interviewing. [6: Selection] The level of Interviewer skills Every organization must surely see that administrators, supervisors and personnel managers handling personnel selection get the necessary training to ensure high quality of performance in interviewing. The success of an interview depends on careful planning. The Interviewer should be a skilled observer in firstly, learning to pay attention, seeing what there is to see, and hearing what there is to hear.
Secondly, practice in writing descriptively. Thirdly, acquiring discipline in recording field notes. Fourthly, knowing how to separate detail from trivia to achieve the former without being overwhelmed by the latter. Fifthly, using rigorous methods to validate and triangulate observations. Finally, Reporting the strengths and limitations of one’s own perspective, which requires both self-knowledge and disclosure? When a process judgments and decisions are made: Information from interviews is not combined or discussed in a systematic anner. If several interviewers share information on an applicant, they would do so in a haphazard manner. They do not identify job-related information or seek to examine any conflicting information. This casual approach would save time and confrontation, but only in the short run. In the long run, everyone in the organization would pay for poor hiring decisions. For example, Interviewers’ judgments are often affected by the pressure to favor a candidate or fill the position, hence they lower the standards.
Moreover, Interviewer’s judgment regarding an applicant is often affected by the list of available applicants. For example, a good person looks better in contrast to a group of average or below average applicants. Also some interviewers would place more weight on certain attributes than others, or they would combine attributes differently, as they make their overall decisions. For instance, some interviewers would give emphasis to educational experiences while others give weight age to work experiences. The problems of interpersonal bias Interpersonal Bias and Rating Errors.
Bias and rating errors are inconsistent with his purpose of the structured interview process; namely, ensuring candidates are valuated fairly, consistently, and have equal opportunities to excel. The interviewer should not be influenced by personal biases or fall prey to common rating errors. [7: Structured Interviews] How these limitations would be overcome? Training for all parties involved in the interview: Trained interviewers would not only be more likely to demonstrate the appropriate skills of effective interviewing, but they would also be more aware of the potential pitfalls of interviewing as a selection technique.
Maintaining a healthy skepticism and alertness to the possibility of bias and stereotyping serves as an excellent defense against the subjectivity and personal preferences, which could so easily undermine the quality of evidence collected. As well, train the interviewee to limit answers to the short statements or by interpreting narratives as they occur. Furthermore, having appropriate documentation of interviews: Generally, the interviewer knows that most people are nervous at the interview stage. The best thing to do is prepare all of the documentation the night before as well as specific examples of our work/volunteer history. This would definitely shine through at the interview phase. Another point, the use of additional selection tools to support selection decisions: should also consider additional selection tools which would be included as part of the selection process. For example, candidates should be asked to demonstrate their skills by teaching a lesson, composing a memo, typing a report, wiring an electrical outlet or being tested in computer languages or packages. Such tests must be specifically job-related and typical of their day-to-day duties (i. e. ot an unusual task which would only come up once each year). These job simulation tools must be assessed using previously defined and weighted criteria (e. g. a written exercise should be evaluated on style, grammar, spelling and set-up, not necessarily content). Also using panel rather than one-to-one interviews: of a candidate than the one-on-one interview. They’re more objective since there is less personal intercommunication. It’s hard to chit-chat during a panel interview, which is a great thing, since chitchatting is a waste of time. [8: Using the Panel Interview to Save Time and Increase Accuracy].
Finally, using structured rather than unstructured interviews: Structured interviews furthermore generally have higher face and content validity than unstructured interviews and are less open to bias. Conclusion: After exploring the different methods of the identifying the suitable employee, it is clear that the most efficient method of selection would be the interview as Interviewer could obtain supplementary information and used to appraise candidates’ verbal fluency. It assesses the sales-applicant’s job knowledge and could be used for selection among equally qualified applicant.
References: 1. CIPD – Recruitment: an overview. http://www. cipd. co. uk/subjects/recruitmen/general/recruitmt. htm [access date: June 29, 2010] 2. Old and new selection methods. http://media. wiley. com/product_data/excerpt/33/04708508/0470850833. pdf [access date: July 1, 2010] 3. HR Guide to the Internet. Personnel Selection Methods- Interviews http://www. hr-guide. com/data/G311. htm [access date: July 1, 2010] 4. Personnel Selection: Methods: Cognitive Ability Measures. http://www. hr-guide. com/data/G314. htm [access date: July 1, 2010] 5. WHAT IS AN ASSESSMENT CENTER? ttp://www. assessmentcenters. org/pdf/AssessmentCenterArticle. pdf [access date: July 1, 2010] 6. www. ignou. ac. in/edusat/mba/MS-23/Block3/pdf/Unit-11. pdf Selection: Bhadury, B. , Managing the Workforce, Response Books, New Delhi, 2000. [access date: July 5, 2010] 7. https://apps. opm. gov/ADT/ContentFiles/SIGuide09. 08. 08. pdf Structured Interviews [access date: July 5, 2010] 8. http://www. uky. edu/HR/employ/documents/June-UsingthePanelInterviewtoSaveTimeandIncreaseAccuracy. pdf Using the Panel Interview to Save Time and Increase Accuracy [access date: July 5, 2010]
