Human Resource Management

1
Human Resource Management

• Recruitment Selection Lecture
• Tessa Owens
• Module Leader

2
HRMLearning Outcomes

• To be able to produce job descriptions and
  specifications and distinguish between them.
• Understand the importance of effective
  Recruitment and Selection
• Analyse some of the methods used in this field in
  the UK and elsewhere
• Identify the requirements of an interview,
  typical interviewer errors and how to avoid them
• Examine the need for feedback and evaluation of
  this process

3
Job Description

• This is a written description of the job
  containing the title, reporting relationships,
  purpose and main tasks and duties

4
Purposes of Job Descriptions

• to assist in the evaluation of the job
• to illustrate the job and its many duties as a
  training tool for new incumbents
• to be used to determine appraisal criteria
• to be the basis of the contract of employment
• to provide the information required to produce
  person specifications

5
Job Specifications

• A job (or person, or personnel) specification
  sets out the education, qualifications, training,
  experience, personal attributes and competences a
  job holder requires to perform the job
  satisfactorily.
• Within this some requirements may be described as
  essential/desirable/ or contra

6
Models of Job Specifications

• See Rodger (1952) Seven Point Plan
• Physical make-up
• Attainments
• General intelligence
• Special aptitudes
• Interests
• Disposition
• Circumstances
• Munro-Fraser (1954) Five fold grading system.
• Impact on others
• Acquired qualifications
• Innate abilities
• Motivation
• Adjustment

7
Shortlisting An assessment matrix

• Categorise candidates as probable, possible or
  unsuitable, by comparing c.v against pre
  determined criteria. An assessment matrix can
  aid objectivity.

Qualifications Experience Evidence of leadership ability Evidence of reliability
Candidate 1 8/10 2/10 0/10 4/10
Candidate 2 4/10 9/10 7/10 7/10
Candidate 3 8/10 8/10 7/10 10/10
8
Subjective?

• Watson (1994) believed that the use of person
  specification frameworks may provide a
• cloak for improper discrimination (p.189)
• Why might this be true?

9
Selection Methods

• Many methods of selection exist
• Application forms / C.Vs
• Initial telephone interviews (CIPD 2001, cited
  Beardwell et al 2004)
• One-to-one interviews
• Panel interviews
• Psychometric tests
• Assessment Centres
• Testing
• In tray exercise
• Presentation
• Trial Project

10
Activity

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
  selection methods used?

11
Making the right choice

• The cost of the selection process itself,
  including the use of various selection
  instruments
• The future cost of inducting and training staff
• The cost of turnover if the selected staff are
  not retained.

12
Reliable Valid Selection?

• Reliability and Validity are 2 statistical
  concepts which are important in selection
• Reliability refers to the extent to which a
  selection technique achieves consistency in what
  it is measuring over repeated use, e.g. what
  matters is how an individual is being measured
  not by who.
• Validity refers to the extent to which a
  selection technique actually measures what it
  sets out to measure. For example where the
  selection methods adopted have been used before,
  did the organisation get the right employees?

13
The trouble with interviews

• Research suggests that traditional interviews
  dont appear to be reliable or valid!
• Pre-selection can take place where implicit
  discrimination is formed (on the grounds of
  gender, race, educational qualifications etc)
• First impressions and early decisions, which
  the interviewer may then look to support with
  their questioning.
• Stereotyping interviewers with little skill can
  quickly label individuals

14
Trouble with interviews 2

• The contrast effect interviewers are
  influenced by the order in which applicants are
  interviewed. An average candidate following a
  poor candidate can appear to be better than
  they are. Interviewers may compare applicants
  against each other rather than objective
  criteria.
• Attraction interviewers may be biased towards
  applicants they like.

15
International Selection Methods

• use of popular selection methods
• Interviews still most popular from 97 (France)
  to 84 (Israel)
• References and Recommendations from 74 (UK) to
  23 (Germany)
• Others include Graphology (France 52,
  Netherlands 24) Astrology (France 6, Israel
  1)

16
Activity Common interviewer errors

• What do you think are the common interviewer
  errors which occur?
• What would you do to overcome them?

17
Poor Interviewer Skills

• Not having a structure
• Welcome, introductions, description of process,
  questions, follow-up questions, discussion,
  summary, what happens next..etc!
• Asking multiple, leading, embarrassing,
  provocative questions
• Poor listening skills this is as important as
  questioning skill!
• Interviewer may have poor recall of information
  discussed, or may have difficulty interpreting
  what they were told and what that means for
  whether the applicant can do the job on offer.
  So make notes!
• and/or use a Scoring System to help make more
  objective evaluations.

18
Training for interviewers

• Will typically include
• Questioning techniques
• Understanding of Equal Opportunities legislation.
  You should research (see Learnwise for
  resources)
• Sex and Race discrimination
• Disability discrimination
• Age discrimination
• Employment of people with criminal records
• Human Rights Act 1998, e.g. questioning someone
  on what they do in their leisure time could
  infringe their right to privacy.

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Questioning Techniques

• Closed Questions
• Leading Questions
• Open Questions
• Probing questions
• Two types of questions have been shown to improve
  the validity and reliability of interviews
• Situational questions
• Patterned behaviour description questions

20
Reliable Valid Questions

• Arvey and Champion (1982) found that panel
  interviews were more reliable and valid when
  conducted by a panel and based on job analysis
  and information.
• Latham et al (1980) found situational interviews
  reliable and valid where interview questions are
  derived from systematic job analysis based on a
  critical incident technique, i.e. what an
  applicant would do in a variety of situations.

21
Reliable Valid Questions 2

• Pulakos and Schmitt (1995) compared situational
  questioning against experience-based or
  behavioural questions.
• They found behavioural questions to be more
  predicatively valid as the behavioural question
  is asking
• What have you done in a similar situation?
  compared to
• What would you do in the situation?

22
Evaluation

• Once the recruitment and selection event is
  complete an evaluation should be conducted.
• Unless this evaluation occurs then the
  organisation will not fully understand whether
  the methods they are currently using to select
  someone for employment are worthwhile and whether
  these methods are getting them the sort of people
  they need for their organisations long term
  health and sustainability.

23
Bibliography

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  Publishing
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