Selection and Hiring Process

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

Understand the nature of selection and appreciate

its role in organizational effectiveness
Identify the selection process, demarcate the
stages and describe each step
list methods of selection and understand their
implications
 Recruitment V/S Selection

• (1) It means searching for sources of labour

and stimulating people to apply for jobs.
• (2) It is a positive process.
• (3) It creates a large pool applicants for jobs.
• (4) It is a simple process. It involves contacting
the various sources of labour.
 Selection
• (1) It is a negative process as it involves
rejection of unsuitable candidates.
• (2) It leads to screening out unsuitable
candidates.
• (3) It is a complex and time-consuming
process.
• (4) The candidates have to clear a number of
hurdles before they are selected for jobs.
Role of Selection

The role of selection in an organization’s effectiveness is crucial for

at least, two reasons. First, work performance depends on
individuals.
Second, cost incurred in recruiting and hiring personnel speaks volumes about
the role of selection.
Factors Influencing Selection

Selection is influenced by several factors. More prominent

among them are supply and demand of specific skills in the
labour market, unemployment rate, labour-market
conditions, legal and political considerations, company's
image, company's policy, HRP, and cost of hiring. The last
three constitute the internal environment and the remaining
form the external environment of the selection process.
• The basic purpose of the selection process is
to choose right type of candidates to man
various positions in the organisation. In order
to achieve this purpose a well-organised
selection procedure involves many steps.
Selection process
A. Preliminary Interview

B. Selection Tests

Ability tests (also called achievement tests) assist in determining

how well an individual can perform tasks related to the
job. An excellent illustration of this is the typing test given to a
prospective employee for a secretarial job.
An aptitude test help determine a person's potential to learn in
a given area whereas personality tests are given to measure
a prospective employee's motivation to function in a particular
working environment. There are various tests designed to assess
a candidate's personality.
Interest tests are used to measure an individual's activity
preferences. These tests are particularly useful for
students considering many careers or employees deciding upon
career changes.
Graphology test is designed to analyze the handwriting of an
individual.
Polygraph tests (polygraph is a lie detector) are designed to ensure accuracy of
the information given in the applications. Medical Tests reveal physical fitness of
a candidate. With the development of technology, medical tests have become
diversified. Drug tests help measure the presence of illegal or performance-
affecting drugs.
Genetic screening identifies genetic predispositions to specific medical
problems.

C. Employment Interview

The employment interview can be (i) one-to-

one (ii) sequential (iii) panel.

D. Reference and Background Checks

E. Selection Decision
F. Physical Examination
G. Job Offer
H. Contracts of Employment
Induction /orientation:

The newcomer is not familiar with the work

surroundings and work. It is, therefore,
necessary for every organisation to spend at
least a day or two on the proper induction of
the worker to his job however unskilled the
job might be.
• ORIENTATION PROGRAMME

A firm needs to make four strategic choices before designing

its orientation program. They are-(i) formal or informal, (ii)
individual or collective, (iii) serial or disjunctive, and (iv)
investiture or divestiture

REQUISITES OF AN EFFECTIVE ORIENTATION PROGRAMME

Prepare New Employees
Determine Information that New Employees Want to Know.
Determine How to Present Information.
Completion of Paperwork Placement
After an employee has been hired and oriented, he or she
must be placed in his/her right job. Placement is understood
as the allocation of people to jobs.