RECRUITMENT
AND SELECTION
Recruitment
 Searching for, and obtaining,
potential job candidates in
sufficient numbers and quality, and
at the right cost, for the
organisation to select the most
appropriate people to fill its jobs.
(Kramar et al 1996)
Purposes
Increase size of applicant pool at
minimum cost
Identify & prepare potential job
applicants
Increase success rate of selection
process by reducing over/under
qualified applicants
Decrease early turnover of new hires
Increase individual/organisational
effectiveness
A Simplified Model of the Recruitment Process
Recruitment planning
• Estimated no. of
contacts needed
• Job specifications
Recruitment philosophy
• Internal vs External job
filling
• Job vs Career orientation
• St-term vs long term
orientation
Recruitment strategy development
• choosing reqd. applicant qualifications
• choosing recruitment sources and
communication channels
• choosing inducements
• choosing the message : realism vs flypaper
Recruitment Activities
• Job posting
• Ads
• Other recruitment sources
• Follow up actions
• Record keeping
Recruitment Evaluation
• No. of jobs filled ?
• Jobs filled in timely fashion ?
• Cost per job filled ?
Screening /
Selecting
employees
Recruiting Yield Pyramid
50
100
150
200
1,200
New hires
Offers made (2 : 1)
Candidates interviewed (3 : 2)
Candidates invited (4 : 3)
Leads generated (6 : 1)
How to Recruit
Internal
Job Postings
Newsletters
Succession
Planning eg.
promotion
External
Advertising
Employment Agencies
– Govt. employment
exchange
– Private agencies
– Headhunters
Campus
Referrals / Word of
Mouth / Unsolicited
Applications
Internet
Advantages of Internal Recruiting
Better assessment of (KSAO’s)
Lower cost
Motivator for good performance
Hire at entry-level only
Familiarity with organisation
Improved morale and security
Can identify long-term interests
Disadvantages of Internal Recruiting
Inability to find appropriate people
Morale problems
Political in-fighting
Need for strong T&D programs
Advantages of External Recruiting
Introduces new ideas and knowledge
Reduced need for training
Larger skilled pool available
Disadvantages of External Recruiting
Problems of fit
Morale problems for internals
Adjustment period
Relocation costs
Decreased incentive value of
promotions
Recruitment Evaluation
Measuring past recruitment can help predict:
 Timeliness of recruitment
 Budget needed
 Methods that yield greatest number of
best quality candidates
 Assess performance of recruiters
SELECTION
Selection is the process of gathering
information for the purposes of evaluating
and deciding who should be hired, under
legal guidelines, for the short and long
term interests of the individual and the
organisation.
(Schuler, Dowling, & Smart, 1992)
Steps in Selection Process
Screening of applications
Tests
Interviews
Reference Checks
Medical Examination
TESTS
Aptitude
Mental
Mechanical
Achievement
Job knowledge
Work sample
Personality
Objective
Projective
Situational
Guidelines for the use of TESTS
• should supplement not substitute other methods
• are a screening device
• are not precise measures
• test conditions are important
• must be conducted/assessed by competent persons
Types of Interviews
Unstructured / Non-directive
Structured / Patterned
Panel
Group
Stress
Behavioural (BDI)
Situational (SI)
Interviews using other media
Behaviour Description Interview
(BDI)
Assumption: "Best predictor of future
performance is past performance in
similar circumstances.”
Overcomes excellence assumption
"Experience equals excellence" (i.e. tasks
have been performed well.)
Requires candidate to give specific
examples of how they performed job
duties.
Example BDI: Middle Manager
“Meetings & presentations are an
important part of a Manager's job. Tell
me about your most successful
presentation to a management meeting.”
– What was the topic of the presentation?
– What were your objectives for the meeting?
– When did you start preparing for the meeting?
What did you do to prepare?
– What was your role at the meeting?
Situational Interview (SI)
Hypothetical
– Questions focus on what an applicant
would do in a hypothetical situation.
e.g. scenario
Why Situational Interviewing
Based on goal-setting theory which states
that intentions are related to behaviour
Job Experts Develop Questions and
sample GOOD, AVERAGE & POOR
answers.
1.0
0.9
Perfect prediction
Meta-Analysis - What Works?
0.8
0.7
0.6
Work sample tests (0.54 corrected)
General mental ability (0.53 corrected)
0.5
Assessment centres (0.41)
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-0.1
Biodata (0.37 corrected)
Structured interviews (0.35)
Personality tests (up to 0.33)
Unstructured Individual Interviews (0.11)
References
Astrology (0.0)
Graphology (0.0)
Chance prediction
(Corrected = corrected
for measurement error /
range restriction)
Problems with Selection Interviews
The selection interview is a subjective
process and prone to:
bias
stereotypes
initial impressions
memory capacity of interviewers
Decision Strategies
NonCompensatory
Compensatory
Combination
Multiple Cut-Off
Multiple Hurdle
Additive
Mix of both
approaches
Costs of Poor Selection
Direct Costs
– Re-advertising costs
– Panel time and effort
– HR staff time and effort
Hidden Costs
– Reduced productivity
– Lost productivity whilst position vacant
– Time taken for new hire to become
productive
Staffing System Components
Applicant
(Person)
Organization
(Job)
Recruitment
(identification & attraction)
Selection
(assessment & evaluation
Employment
(decision making & final match)
ORIENTATION or INDUCTION
a planned introduction of employees
to their jobs, co-workers and the
organisation
WHY INDUCTION
Reduce the cost and inconvenience
of early leavers
Increase commitment
Socialization
Accelerate progress up the ‘learning
curve’
3 BASIC COMPONENTS
Company / Organisational Induction
Departmental Induction
Follow Up
CHOICES IN DESIGNING INDUCTION
PROGRAMS
Formal or Informal
Individual or Collective
PLACEMENT
The assignment
or allocation
of people to
jobs in the
organization
2 ways Placement can happen
Match 1 – looking for an individual
for a specific job
Match 2 – looking for a job to match
an individual