Selection as a Process in Organizations

Abstract: An attempt is made in this piece of work to examine selection as a process in organizations. Selection is pivotal in many respects.it has played a significant role to ensure out comes in terms of output and productivity. This essay covers selection in the light of review of literature. Areas covered include job analysis, KSAs, personality, selection methods, validity, and reliability of various selection methods. An attempt was made to introduce the readers to perception of applicants towards the different selection methods employed by the organizations.

Introduction

Over a period, research in recruitment and selection has paid attention to the decision making of recruiters that is the selection has been studied from the organizational perspective (Anderson N. &., 2001). It is an indication of the importance of selection process from the organizational point of view. According to Gatewood, (Gatewood, 1987) selection is the procedure of assessing information around a candidate in order to provide an employment offer. There is an increasing emphasis on the fact that human resource management plays a significant role between the performance of the organizations and effective human resource functions (Redman, 2009). Research has also suggested that recruitment and selection has played a very important role in human resource management (Timothy 1992).

Job analysis-An important component of selection:

The process of selection can be divided into various stages including job analysis. Job analysis has been defined as, the gathering and investigation of any type of employment connected information by any process for any resolution (Ash, 1988) in terms of behavior necessary to perform a particular job. Human resource researchers have used job analysis as a base for variety of functions related to HR (Levine, 1988) Job analysis ensures that eligible people are employed by the organizations (Brannick, 2007) and it helps the employers to fix the proper compensation for their employees (Smith, 1990). Given the importance of job analysis in the organizations it becomes imperative that job analysis should be done thoroughly and properly which will have an overall impact on the quality of all the human resource functions. Job description and employment specifications are the two components of job analysis, which are discussed below.

Job descriptions:

The common use of job analysis is to create job description (Brannick, 2007) . The job descriptions are made by compilation of information, which is collected during the process of job analysis.

Employment specifications:

Employers make use of job analysis to find out what kind of knowledge, skillset, and capabilities are required for an applicant to perform (Brannick, 2007). The specifications pointed out during this process are known as job specifications. (Jones, 2001), stated that employers use the selection exams to find out the characteristics of an individual in terms of knowledge, abilities and skills.

However, there are certain authors who have suggested that the outcomes of job analysis can often lead to inaccuracies as job analysis is based on the biased judgement. Sanchez and Levine (Sanchez J.I. & Levine, 2000) have questioned the accuracy of job analysis method according to him it takes a large amount of time of job occupants and most often there is no evidence to suggest that occupants possess enough qualification to make sure that usable work related information is provided. Therefore, employment interview has been identified as the best method of selection by most of the researchers.

Predictors of Performance:

Knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):

There is a tendency that individuals seeking jobs may get attracted towards the job having requirements in terms of abilities and knowledge, which, they might identify with themselves (Wilk, 1996). For many job related outcomes such as training based performance, productivity, acquisition of knowledge, many cognitive ability tests have been recognized as good predictors (Levine, 1988). Achievement in academics and proficiency in language tests have also been able to predict job performance in various organizations. Research has indicated that there is a positive correlation among different ability tests. Research has also suggested that the application with prior job knowledge have performed well most of the times in different cognitive ability tests as compared to the applicants with no prior job knowledge (Ree, 1995).

Personality:

Many researchers have argued that the use of personality traits for hiring people cannot be advocated (Guion R.M. & Gothier, 1965). It is usually said that people fake on the personality tests and most often, it is difficult to avoid such kind of faking. (Ekman, 2001), has defined faking or lying an effort by a person to deceive another person by providing wrong or false information. While taking the personality test of candidates in selection processes it should be taken care of that weather a particular individual has a proper insight to describe himself and many a times an individual or an applicant willingly tries to deviate in order to create a positive impression about himself or herself. In such situations, the credibility of the personality test as a selection tool becomes a big question mark.

Selection Methods:

The selection method has been identified as a process collecting and examining an information about an individual in order to offer him a job (Gatewood, 1987)). Past research has indicated that most of the selection methods have proved quiet effective in predicting the performance of the job occupants (Schmidt, 1998). In addition, we need to analyze why the various selection methods work research has always put an emphasis that attention should be paid to focus on the proper selection methods because such information has always proved helpful in the selection of personnel in various organizations (Arthur, 2008). Using selection methods that have more credibility and validity usually leads to increased efficiency and performance and it enhances learning of the skills required to do a particular job. The various selection methods include:

Interviews: – Interviews are broadly classified into two categories, unstructured interviews and structured interviews.

Unstructured Interviews: – decision makers in unstructured interviews usually consider their beliefs more important than any other factor while evaluating a qualified candidate (Dipboye, 1994). Research has shown that people have firm opinions about the characteristics of individuals in jobs (More, 1976). Many researchers have also indicated that there seems to be no difference between experienced and inexperienced interviewers in terms of how they have described an ideal applicant (Paunonen, 1987). It can be said that since the interviewers categorize the candidates based on notions and conceptions therefore it decreases the creditability of their decisions. However, few researchers have pointed out that during selection process the beliefs about the traits of a particular candidate are most often valid (Jackson, 1982). The use of unstructured interview is quite prevalent in the organizations (Lancaster, 1975). (Mayfield, 1964), has argued that the validity and reliability of unstructured interviews as a selection tool has been always questioned. The reason that has been attributed to the lack of reliability of interviewers is that applicants are not asked similar questions.

Structured Interviews: – There are many interview formats, which are said to be structured including behavioral, interviews (Janz, 1982), Interviews based on situations (Latham and Saari 1980), and employment interviews (Schular, 1989). In the structured interviews, the questions are based on abilities, knowledge and skill requirement. These components are usually identified with the help of job analysis. The candidates are asked the questions that reflect their job knowledge and ability of the candidate to handle the stressful situation is usually tested. The interviewers ask same set of questions to all interviewees. The panel members usually have the trainings on how to avoid bias while conducting the interviews. One of the advantages of structured interviews is that these are based on job analysis and are most often job related as compared to the unstructured ones. The structured interviews define content more properly. As a result they have been analyzed more in order to find out there suitability as a selection method. Still there are certain organizations which prefer unstructured pattern if interviews by a huge margin (Graves, 1996).

Assessment centers: – In assessment centers, the evaluation of candidates is usually done through different simulation exercises and this evaluation is done based on dimensions related to job. For the last five decades, assessment centers have been a very well known approach not only to select the managers but also to develop them (Spychalski, 197). Assessment centers have been in use by various organizations across different countries (Byham, 2001). Research indicates that assessment centers are mostly applicable to the managerial cadre. There are many examples in research, which suggest that assessment centers cannot be only confined to the managerial jobs but it has a wider applicability. Onset of globalization enhanced need for assessment centers because nowadays employees are global employees and they need to be checked on cross-cultural compatibility. Questions are raised about the applicability of assessment centers and their practices in different countries because of the need for managers who can execute globally.

(Briscoe, 1997), has pointed out that care should be taken to ensure that the design of the simulation exercises is proper. The behaviors of the candidates should be evaluated carefully and candidate feedback should be provided after careful analysis.

A substantial amount of research has been undertaken to examine the basis, which might prevail in the assessment center system. Most often researchers have explored whether assessors are being influenced by the impression management of candidates (Kuptch, 1998) are probably the assessors and candidates might be the acquaintances (Moser, 1999). However, it has been said that candidates are usually very busy doing the simulation exercises. In such situations there is no provision left for the impression management. (Moser, 1999) suggested that there is huge impact of acquaintances between assessors and candidates. The assessment center as a selection method has been used by many organizations and it has generated a substantial amount of research. There is need for some additional research to find out the conductions, which can have a strong impact on the developmental aspect of assessment centers.

Applicant perspectives in selection:

Making decisions in selection procedures is mutual (Anderson N. &., 2001). Organizations as well as candidates evaluate each other to find out the future conditions related to job. Both the parties finally make a decision of whether to make a job offer from employer’s perspective or to accept a job offer from a candidate perspective. Therefore, research put lot of emphasis on how the candidates have reacted in past for various selection procedures. There are many arguments, which suggested why applicant’s perspective has to be taken into consideration in research related to recruitment and selection (Anderson N. , 2004).

As has been pointed out by (Murphy, 1986), applicants may get disappointed which might lead to their withdrawal increasing the possibility of losing a potential candidate? Such type of scenario usually leads to two types of disadvantages for an employer, one it increase the cost of selection procedures and second there is a chance that a potential candidate may be taken away by competitor (Murphy, 1986). The reactions, which are unfavorable towards the selection methods, may have a bad impact on the image of a particular organization. A non-positive image of an organization might be detrimental as negative images have an impact on the behavior of consumers in future (Ryan, 2000). Again, the kind of experiences that applicants have during selection process may have an influence on their productivity and performance in future. There are chances that the candidates that perceive the methods of selection as unfair or showing discrimination may lead to the legal issues (Smither, 1993). There are many arguments, which suggest that it is because of certain implications particularly economic that organizations are convinced to take into consideration the perception of employees about the selection procedures. Further, it is important to mention that considering the effect of selection methods on applicants has a relevance in terms of the well-being of applicants (Anderson N. , 2004).

Many researchers have been actively involved in understanding and analyzing the difference in culture while studying the reactions of applicants towards the selection methods. After analyzing the results of various research studies, researchers found out that across various nations, interviews and assessment centers have a preference over honesty and personality tests.

All these arguments and suggestions suggest that there are economic psychological and reputation reasons, which have made it important for organizations to understand the reactions of the candidates regarding various selection methods. The consideration of a candidate’s perspective has attracted the attention of researchers in the recent past.

Validity and Reliability of selection methods:

It is quite evident that the decision makers in organizations want to ensure the effectiveness of recruitment and selection methods. However, it has been suggested by authors and consultants that it is always problematic to make judgements based on the characteristics of an individual in terms of his or her suitability for a particular job. Therefor selection methods always have flaws.

Reliability in relation to selection refers to the following points:-

1. Stability of re-tests: Where an individual goes for an inelegance test many times over a period of time but it is important to separate the effect of the practice which a candidate might have acquired by repetitions
2. Consistency: There has been a lot of criticism regarding IQ tests, because in such tests there is a lot of emphasis on vocabulary, which is not a proper measure of intelligence.

Validity includes following aspects:-

1. Face validity: – It puts an emphasis on candidate’s acceptance of a selection measure. If a particular measure that is considered important by an assessor is not acceptable to a candidate, it is usually avoided.
2. Content validity: – It refers to whether a particular measure of selection is an adequate selection tool.
3. Predictive Validity: – It focuses on the linkage between the scores on a selection major and the candidate’s performance in future.

Conclusion

This essay focuses on the process of selection. The conceptual awareness in this area is significant as selection is involved in hiring the proper people, developing and managing them. The importance of this aspect of managing the people has been recognized over a period.

Additionally, the decision to choose a selection method while employing new candidates depends upon the nature of job, organizational structure and number of applicants. The job analysis, KSA’s, personality and experience play very important role in the hiring decisions. There are many selection methods used by the organizations while hiring but most prominent among them are assessment centers, interviews which are categorized into two types, structured and unstructured.

Every method has its own importance and can predict how a particular employee is going to perform in future. However, interviews and assessment centers have been recognized as most important in this regard. Even though organizations try to take advantage of all selection methods available but most often the decision are made based on interviews. The importance of as a selection method can be understood in terms of its ability to understand various skills, personalities, confidence and communication.

Many organizations usually focus on the suitability of selection method from the applicants perspective because neglecting this aspect can prove harmful for the image of a particular organization

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