What is HR Selection Process
Given the pool of candidates that results from the recruitment effort, selection is the mechanism that determines the overall quality of an organization’s human resources. To understand the impact of selection practices during the hiring process, consider what happens when the wrong person is hired or promoted.
How do you as a customer, like being served by someone who is slow and inept? How would you, as a line supervisor, like to deal with the problems caused by a worker who cannot perform necessary tasks on a production line? Inappropriate hires may even lead better employees to seek employment elsewhere.
Reliability Vs Validity in HR Selection Process
Reliability refers to consistency of measurement, usually across time, but also across judges. In other words. Reliability is measure of how much error is present in a measure.
The other factors may include
- Comparison to other candidates. If the other candidates have been pretty bad, a mediocre candidate will probably impress the interviewer as strong. The reverse also holds if the situation is vice-versa.
- Time pressures. The interviewer may be distracted during the interview by other pressing job demands and therefore unable to evaluate accurately the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Impression Management. Some interviewees are skillful at creating a very positive first impression, but this favourable impression does not carry over to actual job performance. But of course, jobs like sales, are probably best filled by people who are good at impression management.
HR Selection Tools as Predictors of Job Performance
We will now at the most commonly used methods of selection. There is particular order.
Letters of Recommendation
Letter of recommendation are not highly related to job performance because most are highly positive. This does not mean that all letters of recommendation are poor indicators of job performance. A poor letter of recommendation may be very predictive and should not be ignored.
Application Forms
Organizations often use application forms as screening devices to determine if a candidate satisfies minimum job specifications, particularly for entry-level jobs. The form typically asks for information regarding past jobs and present employment status.
Ability Tests
Various tests measure a wide range of abilities, from verbal and qualitative skills to perceptual speed. Cognitive ability tests, measures a candidate’s potential in a certain area, such as math and are valid predictors of job performance when the abilities tested are based on a job analysis.
Personality Tests
Personality tests assess traits, individual workers’ characteristics that tend to be consistent and enduring. Recent research on personality measurement has demonstrated that personality can be reliably measured and summarized as being composed of five dimensions.
“Big Five” Factors
The “Big Five” factors, now widely accepted in the field of personality psychology, are:
- Extroversion. The degree to which someone is talkative, sociable, active, aggressive, and excitable.
- Agreeableness. The degree to which someone is trusting, tolerant, honest, cooperative and flexible.
- Conscientiousness. The degree, to which someone is dependable and organized, conforms and perseveres on tasks.
- Emotional Stability. The degree to which someone is secure, calm, independent, and autonomous.
- Openness to Experience. The degree to which someone is intellectual, philosophical, insightful, creative, and curious.