Selection
To select means to choose. Selection is a part of the recruitment function. It is the process of choosing people by obtaining and assessing information about the applicants (age, qualification, experience and qualities) with a view of matching these with the job requirements and picking up the most suitable candidates. The choices are made by elimination of the unsuitable at successive stages of the selection process.
Purpose of Selection
The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable persons who would match the requirements of the job and the organization. The emphasis in selection is, therefore, on the optimal match between the person and the job. Now the question arises as to which is the dependent variable? Person or job. Some organizations emphasize on selecting the Right Person for the Right Job. Here the Job is usually considered constant (through Jobs and Job context do undergo changes over time) and the person is sought to be fitted into the job. Creative and innovative organizations, instead, seek to find the Right Job for Right Person.
A secondary objective in selection could be to choose the best person available. However, there could be a real problem with such an objective if the Job is not appropriate for the person concerned. It may become difficult for organizations to retain their best people in jobs that do not offer opportunities for them to harness their potential; instead they may lead to problems of monotony, boredom and frustration among Individuals and increased and increased turnover of staff for the organization.
Criteria of Selection
Selection decisions are usually based on how an applicant is rated (rather, predicted) in terms of the likelihood of success on the job. The information used found in the application blanks, performance in one or more tests and the interview(s).
The criteria of selection needs to be critical to the job. The key job dimensions identified in job analysis and job description provide the basis for determining relevant criteria. Frequently educational qualifications, technical skills and achievements are used as the basis for selection. But is there a statistical relationship between such requirements and job performance? It appears that certain job requirements can be measured more easily and accurately than certain others. The core job skills like sensory motor‘ skills and manipulative skills and achievement can be measured relatively more accurately than one‘s aptitude, interest and personality traits.
Integrity loyalty, initiative/drive/resourcefulness and intelligence/mental alertness are the key attributes influencing the selection of managerial employees. All these attributes being subjective are hard to assess accurately, yet are widely attempted. Perhaps it is so because managements and employers in India have relatively less pressure to defend the criteria.
Selection Process
The selection process begins with the job specification. The more dearly and precisely it is done the less would be the number of qualified applicants. Suppose the purpose is to select management trainees. If the qualification prescribed is MBA, the number of applicants may be in hundred. If the qualification is graduation in any discipline, the number of applicants may be in thousand. Of course, the reputation of the firm, the job content, compensation package, location, etc. also influence the response to any, recruitment drive. But Job specification does plays an important role m deciding the quantity and, quality of response from prospective applicants.
The selection process covers the period from the job specification and initial contact with the applicant to his final acceptance or rejection. The successive stages in the selection process are referred to as hurdles that the applicants should cross. Not all selection processes, however, include all these stages. The complexity of the selection process usually increases with the increase in the skill level and job level (responsibility and accountability) of the position for which selection is being made. The sequencing of the hurdles also may vary from job to job and organization to organization.
When a market research firm is recruiting research investigators on temporary basis for a specific assignment it may ask the candidates to appear for interview along with written application form in the next two days following the date of advertisement and make job offers immediately after the interview without any other tests or references.
Initial Screening: The initial screening and/or preliminary interview is done to limit the costs of selection by letting only suitable candidates go through the further stages in selection. At this stage, usually a junior executive either screens all enquiries for positions against specified norms (in terms of age, qualifications and experience) through preliminary interview where information is exchanged about the job, the applicant and the, mutual expectations of the individual and the organization. If the organization finds the candidate suitable, an application form, prescribed for the purpose, is given to these candidates to fill in and submit.
Application Form : The application form is usually designed to obtain information on various aspects, of the applicant‘s social, demographic, academic and work-related background and references. The forms may vary for different positions some organizations may not have any form specially designed instead, ask the candidates to write applications on a plain sheet.
Tests: A test is a sample of an aspect of an individual‘s behavior, performance or attitude. It also provides a systematic basis for comparing the behavior, performance or attitude of two or more persons. Tests serve as a screening device and provide supplementary inputs in selection decisions. Their value lies in the. fact that they serve additional predictors intended to make selection decision more apt and accurate.
Intelligence Tests: These are tests to measure one‘s intellect or qualities of understanding. They are also referred to as tests of mental ability. The traits of intelligence measured include: reasoning, verbal and non-verbal fluency, comprehension, numerical, memory and spatial relations ability. Binet-Simon; Standford-Binet and Weshier-Bellevue Scale are some examples of standard intelligence tests.
Aptitude Tests: Aptitude refers to one‘s natural propensity or talent or ability to acquire a particular skill. While intelligence is a general trait, aptitude refers to a more specific capacity or potential. It could relate to mechanical dexterity, clerical, linguistic, musical academic etc.
Achievement Tests: These are proficiency tests to measure one‘s skill or acquired knowledge. The paper and pencil tests may seek to test a person‘s knowledge about a particular subject. But there is no guarantee that a person who knows most also performs best. Work sample tests or performance test using actual task and working conditions (then simulated one‘s) provide standardized measures of behavior to assess the ability to perform than merely the ability to know. Work sample tests are most appropriate for testing abilities in such skills as typing, stenography and technical trades. Work sample tests bear demonstrable relationship between test content and job performance.
PIP Tests : PIP tests are those which seek to measure one‘s personality, interest and preferences. These tests are designed to understand the relationship between any one of these and certain types of jobs.
Interest tests are inventories of likes and dislikes of people towards occupations, hobbies, etc. These tests help indicate which occupation (e.g. artistic, literary, technical, scientific, etc.) are more in tune with a person‘s interests. Strong Vocational Interest Blank and Kuder Preference Records are examples of interest tests. These tests do not; however, help. in predicting on the job performance. Besides, they leave room for faking and the underlying assumptions in the tests could be belied.
Projective Tests : These tests expect the candidates to interpret problems or situations. Responses to stimuli will be based on the individual‘s values, beliefs and motives. Thematic Apperception Test and Rorschach Ink Blot Test are examples of projective tests. In Thematic Apperception Test a photograph is shown to, the candidate who is then asked to interpret it. The test administrator will draw inferences about the candidate‘s values, beliefs and motives from an analyis of such interpretation.
Other Tests: A vide variety of other tests also are used though less frequently and in rare instances instances. These include polygraphy (literally mean many pens), graphology (handwriting analysis), non-verbal communication tests (gestures, body movement, eye-contact, etc an lie-detector tests.
The following could be considered as thumb rules of selection tests:
(a) Tests are to be used as a screening device;
(b) Tests scores are not precise measures. Use tests as supplements than stand alone basis. Each test can be assigned a weightage;
(c) Norms have to be developed for each test; and their validity and reliability for a given purpose is to be established before they are used;
(d) Tests are better at predicting failure than success;
(e) Tests should be designed, administered assessed and interpreted only by trained and competent persons.
Interview
Interview is an oral examination of candidates for employment. No selection process is complete without one or more interviews. Interview is the most common and core method of both obtaining information from job-seekers, and decision-making on their suitability or otherwise.
Organizations may seek to make their selection process as objective as possible. But interview which is an essential element of the process, by and large still remains subjective.
Interviews usually take place at two crucial stages in the selection process, i.e., at the beginning and in the end. Interviews can differ in terms of their focus and format. Usually several individuals interview one applicant. This is called panel interview. Such panels usually consist of representatives from-personnel and concerned operating units/line functions. In this method, usually, applicants get screened from one stage to another, at least in the intial stages. The interviews can be structured or unstructured general or in-depth. Some times where the job requires the job holder to remain claim and composed under pressure, the candidates are intentionally objected to stress and strains in the interview by asking some annoying or embarrassing questions. This type of interview called the stress interview.
Interviewing is both an art and a science. The effectiveness of the interview as a screening device can be improved by taking care of certain aspects like the following :
1. The interview should be based on a checklist of what to look for in a candidate. Such a checklist could be based on proper job analysis. Each critical attribute which the interview seeks to evaluate may be assigned a specific weightage.
2. It is desirable to prepare a specific set of guidelines for the interview.
3. The interviewers need to trained to evaluate performance in the interview objectively. Also, all interviewers need to develop common understanding about the criteria measures, their purposes and weightages.
4. The interviewers may use past behavior to predict future behaviors and obtain additional information to attempt such linkages more meaningfully.
5. There should be proper coordination between the initial and succeeding interviews.
6. The interview (even stress interview) should be conducted in a related physical setting.
