EMPLOYEE SELECTION

Supply Challenges:

It is important to have a large pool of qualified recruits...

STEPS IN THE SELECTION PROCESS

1. preliminary reception of applicant
2. employment tests
3. selection interview
4. verification of references
5. medical evaluation
6. supervisory interview
7. realistic job previews
8. hiring decision
   

Step 1: Preliminary Reception

• selection is a two-way street
  
  • the employer selects an employee
  • the applicant selects an employer
• the initial reception (i.e. when picking up an application form) can affect opinions
  

Step 2: Employment Tests

• useful for obtaining relatively objective data for purposes of comparing applicants
• assess the match between applicants and job requirements
  
  1. paper and pencil
  2. manual dexterity
  3. simulation exercises
     

Employment Tests: Validation

• to be useful, employment test must be valid
• validity requires that the test scores relate to actual job performance
  

• validation studies to assure validity: test results are compared to performance
  
  • tests must be validated on those jobs to which tests are being applied
  • tests must be validated for all groups to which tests are being applied (may require different validation studies for minorities -- differential validity)
    

• CAUTION: if an invalid test rejects people of a particular race, sex, religion, or national origin, it violates the Canadian Human Rights Act
  

Employment Tests: Reliability

• employment test should yield consistent results
  
  • should give a similar score each time the person takes the test
• tests that rely on luck are not reliable
  

Employment Tests: Tools

• psychological tests
  
  • measure personality or temperament
  • least reliable
  • validity is weak: relationship between personality and actual job performance may be unknown
    

• knowledge tests
  
  • greater reliability
  • may not be valid
    

• performance tests
  
  • measure ability to perform some part of the job for which applicants are to be hired
  • assumption of validity: the test includes a representative sample of the work and applicant may be required to do
• CAUTION: must not discriminate against any minority group
  

Step 3: SELECTION INTERVIEW

• A formal, in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate an applicant's acceptability
• Two broad questions for the interviewer:
  
  • Can the applicant do the job?
  • How does this applicant compare with others who are applying?
    

• negative aspect of interviews:
  
  • interviews lack reliability
    
    • improve reliability by asking the same questions
  • interviews lack validity
    
    • very little work has been done to ensure interview validity
      

The Selection Interview: Stages

• Interviewer Preparation
• Creation of Rapport
• Information Exchange
• Termination
• Evaluation

Selection Interview Types

• INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW
• GROUP INTERVIEW

• Unstructured
  
  • few planned questions
    
    • inappropriate for job interviews
• Structured
  
  • a predetermined checklist of questions
    
    • useful for valid results
      

• Mixed
  
  • combination of structured and unstructured
    
    • yields valid results plus in depth insights
      

• Problem-solving
  
  • Questions are about Hypothetical Situations
    
    • evaluation is on the solution and the approach of the applicant
    • suitable for an understanding of the applicant's reasoning and analytical abilities under modest stress
      

• Stress-producing
  
  • a series of harsh, rapid-fire questions intended to upset the applicant
    
    • useful for stressful jobs
      

SAMPLE EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

• describe your ideal job
• what kind of work are you interested in
• why do you want to work for our company
• what do you think would be a fair salary
• what are your career goals
• if you could do the last 5 years over, what would you do differently
• why should we hire you
• what do you think your salary should be in 5 years (10 years)
• why did you select the post-secondary courses you did
• do you have any geographical preferences
• what do you know about our company's products and services
• describe your ideal (worst) boss
• describe your last job
• why did you leave your last job
• what job skills do you have
• what is your favorite sport (hobby, activity)
• how often do you expect to be promoted
• what is your major strength (weakness)
• do you plan to take any extra training
• what jobs have you liked the most (least)
• what would you do if you encountered irreconcilable differences with your immediate superior
  

Improving Interview Validity: the Structured Interview

Informality and "attempts to please" compromise validity

A discussion of the validity of selection interviews should begin with the assertion that informally conducted interviews are usually not predictive of applicants' future job performance -- they lack validity. While we often may claim to be able to make decisions based on "first impressions", we also know from life experience that it takes time to get to know people well.

The validity of interviews is further compromised by their artificial nature. For example, there exists a built-in incentive for applicants to please the interviewer.

Improving interviews

The limitations posed by the use of individuals will always pose a problem insofar as interviews are concerned. Therefore, it may turn out to be difficult to change individual interviewers (although extensive training of interviewers will help), but the process itself may be improved. To this end, we may consider focussing on structuring the interview; making the process more systematic.

Job-related versus personal inquiries

Most basic among interviewing principles is the notion that the interview should be "job related". This means the interviewer should focus on the position being interviewed for. Personal inquiries ought to be avoided.

Improving the interview process: structure, panels, job descriptions, and rating forms

How much structure is needed depends upon organizational circumstances. First, those conducting the interviews should write down a series of questions before meeting the applicants. This helps keep their attention on job-related topics and away from inappropriate personal questions.

Further interview improvement may be obtained by using panel interviews, writing job descriptions, conducting job analyses, and developing behaviorally anchored ratings forms.

Panel interviews

Panel interviews, in which three to five persons meet together with each applicant, improves validity. The process of creating a group consensus frequently mitigates the biases of individuals and is therefore likely to produce better decisions.

Using job descriptions

Job descriptions help interviewers focus their attention on relevant information. The job descriptions should be perused before the interview begins. By using job descriptions, the interviewers can assess the relative weight or importance of each component of job. The job descriptions also provide a useful frame of reference for developing structured interview questions.

If time permits, the job descriptions might even be supplemented with more formal job analyses. Such job analyses would allow the interviewers to gain even further insight into the nature of the job what needs to be filled.

Rating Forms

Interviewers can use job-related information most effectively when their questioning and assessing is guided by a rating form. In other words, the job's major behaviors should be listed separately on a rating form, and each of these should be covered by a set of appropriate questions. The rating form thus prompts each interviewer to rate the applicants on all critical job behaviors as identified in the job description.

Behaviorally Anchored Questions

Interviewers make more valid ratings of interviewees when their questions focus on job-related behaviors rather than personal traits. The rating process can be further improved by anchoring questions to specific behaviors. At this stage, the interviewers develop a scoring system for each question.

The scoring process involves developing examples of good, marginal and poor answers to the questions (this could be done prior to the interview by using the Critical Incident Technique). Next, numerical weights are preassigned to particular responses (i.e. Good = 5, Marginal = 3, Poor = 1).

Interviewing using behaviorally anchored questions

During the interview, applicants are asked identical, pre-determined questions, and their responses to are written down. Later panel members rate the candidates' responses using the numbers associated with the behaviorally anchored examples.


Behavioral anchoring is especially appropriate for situational questions which ask applicants to explain how they would respond in a series of hypothetical situations.

How systematic or structured should an interview be?

Using job descriptions, critical incidents, rating forms and behavioral anchors may appear to make interviews impersonal. However, at the same time, they become more job-related. Spontaneity is sacrificed for the consistent treatment of applicants and to prevent raters from making snap judgments.


Structured interviews tend to be favored by interviewees while curtailing interviewers' discretion. More importantly, however, highly structured interviews predict job success more accurately than informal approaches.

Implementing a valid interviewing process: eight steps

• Conduct formal job analyses
• Write accurate job descriptions
•  Interviewers review job-relatedness of potential question by consulting appropriate job descriptions
•  Interviewers write out all questions before the interviews
•  Use panel interviews
•  Create rating forms for the interviews
•  Anchor interview questions to job behaviors (use Critical Incident Technique)
• Standardize interviews

INTERVIEWER ERRORS

• Halo Effect
  
  • use of limited information (long hair, jeans etc.) to bias the evaluation of the applicant
  • assumption that the limited information is representative of the applicant's other characteristics
• Leading Questions
  
  • telegraphing the desired answer to the question
    
    • Do you think you'll like working for our company?"
• Personal Biases
  
  • Some jobs are definitely intended for men, while others are intended for women!"
• Interviewer Domination
  
  • overselling the applicant
  • bragging about own successes
  • carrying on a social conversation instead of an interview
    

Step 4: VERIFICATION OF REFERENCES

•  
• Q: What kind of person is the applicant?
• Is the applicant a good and/or reliable worker?
• Use references the find answers to these questions
  

Personal References

•  
• usually provided by friends or family
• objectivity and candor are questionable
• not commonly used
  

Employment References

• differ from personal references
• discuss the applicant's work history
• questionable usefulness
  
  • former employers are unlikely to be candid
• useful primarily as confirmation of prior employment
• frequently omitted entirely from the selection process
  

Employment References: the Telephone Inquiry

• fast
• cheap
• voice inflections or hesitations to blunt questions may be very informative
• less than 22% seek negative information
• approx. 48% used to verify application information
• approx. 30% used to gather additional information
  

Step 5: MEDICAL EVALUATION

• generally a health checklist
  
  • health information
  • accident information
• occasionally the checklist is supplemented by a physical examination
• RATIONALE:
  
  • employer may be entitled to lower health or life insurance rates for company-paid insurance
  • may be required by provincial or local health officials
  • may be used to determine whether the applicant can handle physical or mental stress
• CAUTION:
  
  • a congenital health condition may be considered a disability
  • failure to hire an applicant due to a disability may be seen as discrimination against a qualified applicant
    

Step 6: SUPERVISORY INTERVIEW

• the immediate supervisor is ultimately responsible for new workers...
• ...therefore, the supervisor should have input into the hiring decision
  
  • better able to evaluate technical capabilities
  • in a better position to answer the interviewee's job-related questions
  • personal commitment to the success of the new employee is higher if the supervisor has played a role in the hiring decision
• 75% of firms indicate that the supervisor has the authority to make the final hiring decision
  
  • role of HR department is to do initial screening
  • role of HR department is do ensure that hiring does not violate laws
    
    • Human Rights legislation
    • Labor legislation
      

Step 7: REALISTIC JOB PREVIEW

• involves showing the applicant(s) the job site
  
  • setting
  • equipment
  • co-workers
• prevents initial job dissatisfaction with a job by presenting a realistic view of the job
• RESEARCH: job turnover is lower when realistic job previews are used
  

Step 8: HIRING DECISION

• ...end of the selection process
• notify unsuccessful applicants
  
  • since money and effort has been spent on these applicants, HR department may wish to consider these applicants for other openings in the organization
• file applications of unsuccessful applicants
• retain application of successful applicants in the employee's personnel file
• do an analysis of successful applicants
  
  • experience
  • training
  • sex
  • race
  • age
  • recruitment medium