Context
• Organisational change, re-structuring, cross
People Resourcing
Recruitment and Selection 1
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Herriot & Anderson (1997)
• ‘Environmental drivers’
• ‘deep rooted changes in organisations
• ‘dominant predictivist paradigm’ becoming
‘maladaptive to its environment’
• Research should focus on selecting for
change,multiple levels of analysis,cross-cultural
transferability of theory,different theory (predictivist
versus constructivist)
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• Predictivist perspective (Smith and Robertson,1993)
Dominant perspective Psychometric/Traditional approach
North American
• Selection as rational and strategic,evaluating selection
processes-reliability,validity,utility and fairness,best
methods
• Constructivist perspective (Herriot,1989 Iles &
Robertson,1997)
• European approach Exchange perspective-exchange and
negotiation
• Uncertainty and competition, changing work design and
job role requirements
• The role of applicants,social processes(the interview)
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functional teams, devolving HR responsibilities to
line managers
• Quality management system(Cooper et al 2003)
• Attracting, recruiting and retaining quality people
(CIPD,2005)
• Changing ’careers’ perspective, work/life
balance(White et al,2004)
• War for Talent (Brown & Hesketh,2004)
• Fairness-Equality and Diversity(Moynagh et al,2005)
• Costs, competition
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The changing nature of work roles
• Cost- cutting (increase productivity),customer facing
and innovation
• Decline of jobs and the emergence of work roles
• Psychological contract-relational to
transactional(Rousseau,1990)
• Flexible work roles,newly created
jobs,teamworking,concerns over organisational
fit,moves towards a segmented labour
market,proactive career management by the
individual
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Predictivist perspective
• Person-job fit is of primary importance (Cook,1993)
• The job is viewed as a stable entity, recruitment of
the most suitable candidate
• Job analysis, person specification, selection criteria,
recruitment, selection,
• Selection methods are ‘predictors’, applicant the
‘subject’
• Weaknesses, consideration of the following?
• Changes in job design, flexible forms of work, team
based roles, erosion of specialisation
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 The predictivist perspective
• ‘Selection methods are …referred to as
‘predictors’ with the more accurate methods
accounting for future jobs performance more
fully than less accurate predictors.The
applicant is seen as ‘subject’ to selection
methods for which control is vested squarely
in the hands of the organisation (Chmiel p.72)
Evaluating selection methods
• Criterion-related (predictive) validity
• Reliability
• Financial return of selection method
• Adverse impact (fairness,equal opportunities)
• Organisational results(retention,productivity)

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Selection Process
• Reliability test-retest reliability, tester reliability, ’test’
reliability
• Correlation co-efficient r =1.0 perfect positive
correlation
• Validity-predictive or criterion-related validity
• The relationship between the predictors (results
from the selection methods used ) and the criterion
(the performance in the job) It must discriminate
between candidates in terms of subsequent
behaviour in the job
• Usefulness
• Weaknesses by employers in reviewing these areas
• PREDICTORS The signals used by the
organisation to predict future job performance
• Interview rating
• Test scores
• Group discussion rating
• CRITERIA The measures of successful job
performance used by the organisation against
which the predictor is judged
• Eg supervisor rating of a good employee

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The dominant predictivist/traditional Rodgers 7 point plan(1952)

approach Personal qualities essential or desirable
• Attracting people who will make a contribution • Physical make up
• Systematic review of organisations requirements • Attainments
• Job analysis • General intelligence
• Job description-purpose of the job, tasks, expected • Special aptitudes
performance standards, responsibilities • Interests
• Job specification-psychological and behavioural • Disposition
requirements of the job • Circumstances
• Behavioural competencies • Reliance on personal judgement, potentially
discriminatory

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 Job Competencies
Munro Fraser (1978)
• Impact on others • Emphasis on Job Competencies rather than
personal qualities
• Acquired knowledge • Focus on behaviours
• Innate abilities • Effective Individual behaviours-organisational
performance (Boam &Sparrow,1992,Dale &Iles
• Motivation 1992)
• Emotional adjustment • Demonstration of competencies-situational and
behavioural examples
• Reliance on personal judgement, potentially • ‘an underlying characteristic of a person which
discriminatory results in effective and/or superior performance
(Boyatzis,1982)

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Constructive perspective Constructivist/social process

• Organisations need to compete for the best
candidate(Murphy,1986)
• Candidates as well as organisations make decisions
in selection
• ‘ a viable psychological contract’ (Herriot,1989)
• ‘an implicit contract between an individual and
his/her organisation which specifies what each
expect to give and receive from each other in their
relationship’
• ‘Person-organisation fit’ (values and organisational
culture)
• ‘Person-team fit’ (skills, attitudes and working group)
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perspective
• ‘ recruitment and selection constitute the initial
episodes in the developing relationship
between individual and organisation.Selection
is not the gate through which applicants must
pass before they can relate to the
organisation;it is itself part of that
relationship(Herriot,1989) in Smith &
Robertson
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Social process theories Social validity

• Increase the focus on the applicant
• The recruitment stage
• The interview
• Herriot-importance of subjective interpersonal
elements of selection role-making 2 way
expectation,
• reciprocity,episodes(Argyle),power of the
candidate.
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• Information about job and organisation
• Participation/control
• Transparency of the situation
• Feedback (Schuler 1993)
• Scholarios & Lockyer(1999) informal
information networks and interviews
(professional firms in Scotland)
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 Equality and diversity Selection Methods(Chmiel,2000)
• Tight labour markets Diverse workforce-increase in female • The Interview is still the most common method for
employment, minority ethnic groups, disabled, demographics- selection
age.
• Application forms CVs and biodata
• Legislation-Sex Discrimination Act,1975,Race • Telephone screening
www.eoc.org.uk • Realistic job previews
• Relations Act 1976(Amendment) Regulations 2003 • Interviews
Amendment) www.cre.gov.uk • Cognitive Ability tests
• Disability Discrimination Act (1995) www.disability.gov.uk
• Personality Tests
• Age –to be introduced 2006
www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/age.htm • Integrity and Honesty Tests
• Religious belief, Sexual orientation December 2003 • Work samples
www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality • Assessment Centres
• References
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Additional references
• Herriot,P (1989)’Selection as a social process in Smith,M and
Robertson,I.I (Eds) Advances in Selection and
Assessment.Wiley.Chichester pp 171-187
• Anderson,N(2001)’ Towards a theory of socialisation
impact:selection as a pre-entry socialization’ International
Journal of Selection and Assessment vol.9.pp 84-91
• Scholarios,D and Lockyer,C (1999) Recruiting and selecting
professionals:context,qualities and method’ International
Journal of Selection and Assessment vol.7,no3,pp142-156
• White,M,Hill, S,Mills,C and Smeaton,D(2004) Managing to
Change?Palgrave MacMillan
• Moynagh,M & Worsley,R (2005) Working in the 21st
Century,ESRC and the Tomorrow Project.
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