PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

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PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

• Week 3Recruitment and selection
• Norma Heaton

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Objectives

• To consider approaches to recruitment of staff
• To examine various methods of selecting staff

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The labour market context

• Low rate of unemployment in UK and NI
• CIPD (2006) report high frequency of moves
• 82 of organisations reported difficulties
  particularly voluntary, community organisations
• Problems in recruitment
• Lack of specialist skills
• Wanting more pay than could be offered
• Insufficient experience

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The recruitment and selection process

• Agree vacancy to be filled
• Analyse job to prepare job description and person
  specification (the traditional approach) or
• Base recruitment and selection on competencies
• Attract a field of candidates
• Sort candidates
• Selection through interview and/or other methods
• Induction

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Job analysis methods

• Observation
• Cheap, but data may be difficult to interpret
• Work diaries
• Require a high degree of commitment
• Interviews with job holders
• Cheap and convenient but may be biased and rely
  on skill of interviewer
• Questionnaires and checklists
• Range of techniques (see Cook,2004 for examples)

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The job description

• Job title
• Context (supervised by, responsible to)
• Purpose or job summary
• Job content most frequent duties
• Working conditions
• Performance standards

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The personnel specification

• Represents the demands of the job translated into
  human terms
• Involves differentiating criteria which are
  essential from those which are desirable
• Eg degree essential, Post grad qualification
  desirable
• Lists those which would exclude a candidate from
  consideration
• Traditional frameworks include Rodgers
  seven-point plan and Frasers five-point plan

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Rodgers seven point plan

• Physical make-up
• Attainments
• General intelligence
• Special aptitudes
• Interests
• Disposition
• Circumstances

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Limitations of the traditional approach

• Over-reliance on personal judgement to specify
  the human qualities associated with successful
  performance
• The job-based approach may be inflexible, failing
  to reflect potential changes
• Using frameworks to provide a cloak for improper
  discrimination

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Alternative approach competency frameworks

• Identify competencies which are important across
  the organisation
• Examples might be planning and organising,
  managing relationships, gathering and analysing
  information, decision making
• The focus is on the behaviour of applicants

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Roberts competency framework

• Natural competencies
• The big five dimensions of personality
• Extraversion/introversion, emotinal stability,
  agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to
  experience
• Acquired competencies
• Knowledge and skills acquired through work or
  elsewhere
• Adapting competencies
• Ability to adapt natural talents and acquired
  skills to a new situation
• Performing competencies
• Observable behaviours and outputs
• Source Roberts (2005)

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Advantages of competency approaches

• They set a framework for recruitment, and
  selection, performance management, training and
  development, pay and grading
• Appropriate techniques can be used to gauge
  particular competencies
• Competencies can be related to specific
  performance outcomes
• Eg able to set short-term plan of action
• Or able to co-ordinate medium term plans

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Criticisms of the competency approach

• Competency approaches lead to a form of cloning
• Competency frameworks tend to be reflected in job
  advertisements and put some people off applying
• Competency frameworks tend to reflect what
  attributes were needed in the past
• See Taylor (2005)

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Internal or external recruitment?

• Internal
• Applies to jobs where there is a career structure
• Can be good for motivation and morale
• Can save time and money but involve training
• External
• May be essential if specific skills are required
• May be important for equal opportunities

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Usage of various methods of recruitment

• Advertisements in local press 79
• Recruitment agencies 76
• Corporate website 75
• Specialist journals/trade press 66
• Jobcentres 51
• Speculative/word of mouth 49
• Employee referral scheme 47
• National newspapers 45
• Links with schools/colleges 37
• Source CIPD, 2006

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E-recruitment

• What are the pros and cons of e-recruitment?

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Shortlisting

• Best practice suggests a systematic approach
  based on criteria drawn from the person
  specification
• Torrington et al (2005) suggest, in the case of
  panel interviews
• Panel draw up criteria
• Short-listing should be undertaken on an
  individual basis

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The choice of selection method

• Application form can provide the basis for an
  interview
• Interview
• Work samples eg a portfolio or simulation of work
  
• Assessment centres
• References
• Psychometric tests measuring mental phenomena

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Main types of test

• Occupation tests eg clerical work
• General intelligence tests
• Attainment tests eg wordprocessing
• Special aptitude tests eg spatial ability
• Trainability tests
• Personality tests

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The popularity of different selection methods
(CIPD,2006)

• Structured interviews (panel) 88 (used in some
  way)
• Interviews following contents of CV 85
• Competency based interviews 85
• Tests for specific skills 82
• Structured interviews (1 to 1) 81
• General ability tests 75
• Literacy or numeracy test 72
• Personality questionnaires 60
• Pre-interview reference 34
• Telephone interview 56
• Employment reference (pre-interview) 50
• Assessment centres 48
• Group exercises 48
• Online tests for selection 25

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Criteria to assess the value of selection
procedures

• Discrimination/sensitivity
• Measurement procedures must provide for clear
  discrimination between candidates
• Fairness/adverse impact
• Measures must not discriminate unfairly against
  specific sub-groups
• Administrative procedures
• Procedures should be acceptable and capable of
  implementation

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Criteria ctd

• Cost and development time
• Cost and time taken must be balanced with
  potential benefits
• Reliability
• Consistency of measurement is the fundamental
  concept of reliability
• Validity
• The correctness of the inferences that can be
  drawn from the selection method

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Types of validity

• Emotional
• Face validity
• Faith validity
• Rational
• Content validity
• Theoretical
• construct
• Empirical
• Criterion-related
• Source Arnold et al (1995)

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Criterion related validity

• Refers to the strength of the relationship
  between the predictor ( eg test scores or
  interview ratings) and the criterion (eg
  subsequent behaviour indicated by measures such
  as output figures or supervisors ratings)

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Criterion related validity

• Job/role analysis
• ?
• Selection instruments? ?
• (prediction) ?
• ? ?
• Validation
• ? ?
• Measures of work performance
• (criteria)

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Criterion related validity

• Criterion related validity is high if candidates
  who obtain high predictor scores obtain high
  criterion scores and candidates who obtain low
  scores on a predictor also obtain low criterion
  scores
• Criterion related validity data can be collected
  using predictive or concurrent design.

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Predictive design

• Test/rate candidates as they are recruited
• Sample of candidates start work
• Collect follow up data on work performance
• Calculate the validity coefficient (ie the
  correlation coefficient)
• This design predicts who WILL perform better

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Key features of predictive validation

• The work performance of people with both high and
  low predictors can only be established by alowing
  candidates with the full range of predictor
  scores to be given an opportunity to conduct the
  job
• Predictor scores should not be used to take
  selection decisions until a validity study has
  been conducted
• Predictor results of new employees should not be
  revealed to other employees
• Organisations may not accept the constraints of a
  full predictive study

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Concurrent validation

• Design
• Test a sample of current employees
• Collect work performance on same employees
• Calculate the validity coefficient
• Advantages
• The organisation is not required to collect data
  for selection decisions without making use of the
  data
• No time delay
• Disadvantages
• Workers may provide a population very different
  to that of job applicants
• No data are available on people not hired or
  those who have left

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Interviews - types

• One to one
• Informal, encouraging rapport
• Potential bias, low levels of reliability
• Small group (2-3 people)
• May combine line management and HR
• Less potential for bias
• Panel (up to 12?)
• Minimises potential for bias
• Little rapport die to interviewee nerves

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How well do interviews work?

• Structured interviews are relatively good
  predictors of job performance
• Situational or behavioural?
• Situational approach (Arnold et al 1997)
• Job analysis used to identify key situations
• Examples of good and poor performance identified
• Situational questions identified with a scoring
  key
• Interviewers trained in observational,
  interpersonal and judgemental skills

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Interviews ctd

• Behavioural approach (Roberts 1997, 2005)
• Focus on the behaviours or competencies which
  underpin job performance
• Questions are framed with reference to a
  candidates history rather than future
  speculation
• Provides a consistent approach for interviewers
  to adopt

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Ability tests

• Advantages
• Each candidate is given an identical task,
  instructions and conditions
• Performance will be identically scored
• Ability tests can be readily obtained
• Ability tests are a useful aid to shortlisting
• Disadvantages
• Candidates may raise performance with practice
• Candidates may be given the same test on
  different occasions

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Personality tests (1)

• Validity rests on a number of assumptions
• Human personality is mappable
• Underlying personality remains stable over time
  and across different situations
• Individual jobs can be usefully analysed in terms
  of the personality traits that would be most
  desirable for the job-holder to possess
• A personality questionnaire provides sufficient
  information to make a meaningful inference about
  an individuals suitability for a job

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Personality tests (2)

• Issues
• Opinions among both specialists and lay people
  are divided regarding validity
• Well-designed tests can, if used properly,
  predict aspects of job performance reasonably
  accurately
• Problems include poorly designed tests and misuse
  by untrained assessors
• Source Taylor (2005)

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Assessment centres (1)

• Activities include in-tray exercises, group
  exercises, presentations, role-playing
• Advantages
• Focus on key elements of the role
• Flexible
• They are thorough and avoid over-reliance on one
  technique
• Exercises can provide a useful flavour of the
  work
• Studies show high predictive ability

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Assessment centres (2)

• Disadvantages
• The process may be uncomfortable for some
  candidates
• Assessment centres may be too transparent
• Centres are time consuming for the organisation
  and the candidates
• As the Rolls Royce of selection, they are
  expensive

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Predictive accuracy of selection

• Perfect prediction 1.0
• Assessment centres promotion 0.68
• Structured interviews 0.62
• Work samples 0.55
• Ability tests 0.54
• Assessment centres performance 0.41
• Personality tests 0.38
• Unstructured interviews 0.31
• References 0.13
• Astrology and graphology 0.01
• Source Beardwell and Wright (2004)

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Conclusions

• Effective recruitment practices are important to
  ensure a good field of applicants
• The most widely used selection methods are not
  necessarily those with the highest predictive
  validity

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Questions to consider

• How effective are your current recruitment
  methods?
• What difficulties (if any) is your organisation
  currently experiencing in recruitment?
• How effective are your current selection methods?
• What steps could be taken to improve
  effectiveness?

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References

• Arnold,J., Cooper,C and Robertson,I (1995) Work
  psychology understanding human behaviour at the
  workplace. London Pitman
• Beardwell,J. and Wright,M. (2004) Recruitment
  and selection in Beardwell,I., Holden,L. amd
  Claydon,T. (eds) Human Resource Management a
  contemporary perspective.London FT/Prentice Hall
• CIPD (2006) Recruitment, retention and turnover
  Annual survey 2006, LondonCIPD
• Cook,M.(2004) Personnel selection adding value
  through people. ChichesterWiley
• Roberts,G. (1997) Recruitment and Selection.
  LondonIPD
• Taylor,S. (2005) People resourcing. LondonCIPD
• Torrington,D., Hall,L. and Taylor,S. (2005) Human
  resource management. LondonFT/Prentice Hall

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Further reading

• Bach,S. (ed) (2005) Managing human resources.
  Oxford Blackwell
• Leopold,J., Harris,L. and Watson,T. (2005) The
  Strategic managing of human Resources.
  FT/Prentice Hall
• Marchington,M. and Wilkinson,A. (2005) Human
  resource management at work. LondonCIPD