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Chapter Four

Chapter Four discusses the importance of staffing in organizations, emphasizing recruitment, selection, and socialization of employees as critical processes for achieving organizational objectives. It outlines the definitions, features, purposes, and factors influencing recruitment, as well as internal and external sources and methods for attracting qualified candidates. The chapter highlights the complexities of recruitment and the need for effective planning to ensure a suitable workforce is available to meet organizational needs.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
6 views28 pages

Chapter Four

Chapter Four discusses the importance of staffing in organizations, emphasizing recruitment, selection, and socialization of employees as critical processes for achieving organizational objectives. It outlines the definitions, features, purposes, and factors influencing recruitment, as well as internal and external sources and methods for attracting qualified candidates. The chapter highlights the complexities of recruitment and the need for effective planning to ensure a suitable workforce is available to meet organizational needs.

Uploaded by

adissu ketemaw
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CHAPTER FOUR:

4. STAFFING AN ORGANIZATION
4. RECRUITING, SELECTING AND SOCIALIZING (Orientation) EMPLOYEES
Introduction
An organization is supposed to have different resources like physical
resources, capital resources, human resources (personnel) and information
resources. Arguably, personnel are the most important resource. It is
important, therefore, to ensure that sufficient number of appropriate kind of
people are available to the organization in pursuit of its objective.

Personnel represent the most flexible resources that are available to an


organization. Procuring people in the right numbers with the right skills and
in the right place is fundamental to success. Effective organization of an
enterprise and the design of the job within it are essential for the
achievement of organizational objectives. These objectives, however, can be
achieved only through the efforts of people. It is essential, therefore, that
jobs within the organization can be staffed with personnel who are qualified
to perform them. Meeting these staffing needs require effective personnel
planning, recruitment, selection and socialization.
RECRUITMENT
4.1. MEANING AND DEFINITION
- Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to
apply for jobs in the organization. Source of manpower can be internal or external.
- Recruitment is the process of attracting potential new employees to the organization. This HR
(Human Resource) program is closely related to selection, because it supplies a pool of qualified
applicants from which the organization can choose those best suited for its needs.
- Recruitment refers to the process of generating job applicants. Obviously, if an organization
fails to obtain applicants who are qualified for the job, it will face a problem in selection phase,
like wise, if too few applicants apply, an organization may be unable to fill all of its vacancies. It
is therefore critical for organizations to identify and properly utilize effective recruitment
practice.

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– Recruitment needs are of three types –planned, anticipated and unexpected. Planned needs
arise from changes in organization retirement policy. Resignation, death, accidents and illness
give rise to unexpected needs. Anticipated needs refer to those movements in personnel, which
an organization can predict by studying trends in external and internal environments.

Human Resource Planning Job Analysis

Number of Specific Jobs to Nature and requirement of


be filed specific job specification

Recruitment

Pool of qualified
applicants

Selection

Fig.4.1 The relationship between job analysis, human resources planning, recruitment and
selection
4.2. Features of Recruitment
Recruitment is a process or a series of activities rather than a single act or event.
Recruitment is linking activity as it brings together those with job (employer) and
those seeking jobs (employees).
Recruitment is a positive function as it seeks to develop a pool of eligible person from
which most suitable ones are selected.
The basic purpose of recruitment to locate the source of people required to meet job

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requirements and attracting such people to offer themselves for employment in the
organization.
Recruitment is an important function as it makes possible to acquire the number and
type of persons necessary for the continued function of the organization.
Recruitment is a pervasive function as all organizations engage in recruitment
activity. But the volume and nature of recruitment varies with the size, nature and
environment of the particular organization.
Recruitment is a complex job because too many factors affect it. E.g., image of the
organization, nature of job offered, organizational polices, working conditions,
compensation levels in the organization and rate of growth of the organization etc.
4.3. Purpose and Importance
The general purpose of recruitment is to provide a pool of potentially qualified job candidates.
Specifically the purposes are to:

1. Increase the pool of job candidates at minimum cost


2. Helps to increase the success rate of selection processes by reducing the number of
visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants.
3. Helps to reduce the probability that job applicants, once recruited and selected, will leave
the organization only after a short period of time.
4. Meeting the organization’s social and legal obligation regarding compensation of its
work force.
5. Begin identifying and preparing potential job applicants who will be appropriate
candidates
6. Increase organizational and individual effectiveness in short term and long term.
7. Evaluate the effectiveness of various recruiting techniques and sources for all types of job
applicants.

The negative consequence of poor recruitment process speaks volumes about its role in an
organization. The failure to generate an adequate number of reasonably qualified applicants can
prove costly in several ways:

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 It can greatly complicate the selection process and may result in lower selection standard
 The poor quality of selection means extra cost on training and supervision and decline in
productivity
 Further more, when recruitment fails to meet organization’s need for talent, a typical
response is to raise entry-level pay scale. This can distort traditional wage and salary relation
ship in the organization, resulting in unavoidable consequences.

4.4. Factors Governing Recruitment


Given its key role and external visibility, recruitment is naturally subjected to influence of
several factors. This includes external as well as internal factors. (See Fig.4.2)

External factors Internal forces


 Supply and demand  Recruitment policy
 Unemployment rate  HRP
 Labor market  Size of the firm
Recruitment
 Political and legal  Cost
consideration  Growth and
 Sons of soil expansion
 Image

Fig.4.2 Factors influencing recruitment.


External factors
Supply and demand of specific skill in the labor market
If the demand for a particular skill is high in relative to supply, an extra ordinary
recruiting effort may be needed. For instance, the demand for programmers and financial
analysis is likely to be high than their supply as opposed to the demand for non-technical
employees.
Unemployment rate
When unemployment rate in a given area is high, the company’s recruitment process may
be simpler. The number of unsolicited applicant is usually high or greater, and the
increased size of the labor pool provides better opportunity for attracting qualified
applicants. On the other hand, as unemployment rate drops, recruiting effort must be
increased and new sources explored.
Political and legal consideration

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Reservation of jobs for minorities, physically handicapped, children of socially and
politically oppressed and other back ward class (OBCS) is a political decision. There is a
strong case for giving preference to people hailing from less advantageous section of the
society. Reservation has been accepted as an inevitable by all section of the society. The
Supreme Court also has agreed up on 50% reservation of seats and jobs.
Sons of soil
A preference to sons of soil is another political factor. Political leader’s clamor that
preference must be given to people of their respective states in matters of employment.
Company’s image (organizational over all reputation)
Often, it is not money that is important. It is the perception of the job seekers about the
company that matters in attracting qualified prospective employees.
Location of the organization
The location of the enterprise and the relevant labor market play a major role both in the nature
of recruitment and in the composition of the work force .This influence arises due to the local
situation where the organization operates. In short, the location of the firm has a direct and
important bearing on the recruitment process.
Internal factors
Recruiting policy of the organization
Most organizations have a policy of recruiting internally (from own employees) or externally.
Generally the policy is to prefer internal sourcing, as own employees known the company well
and can recommend candidates who fit the organization’s culture.
Another related policy is have temporary and part time employees. An organization hiring
temporary and part time employees is in a less advantageous position in attracting sufficient
applicants.
In multinational corporations (MNCs) there is a policy relating to the recruitment of local
citizens .MNCs operating in different countries prefer local citizens as they can understand local
languages, customs, and business practices better.
Quality of HRP
A major internal factor that can determine the success of recruiting program is whether or not the
company engaged in HRP. In most cases, a company cannot attract prospective employees in
sufficient number and with the required skill over night. It takes time to examine the alternate

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ves regarding the appropriate source of recruits and the most productive methods of obtaining
them. Once the best alternatives have been identified, recruiting plans may be made. Effective
HRP greatly facilitates the recruiting efforts.
Size of the organization
Size is another internal factor that can determine the success of the recruiting process. An
organization with one hundred thousand employees will find recruiting less problematic than an
organization with just one hundred employees.
Cost of recruiting
Recruiters must operate within budgets. Careful HRP and forethought by recruiters can minimize
recruitment costs. The best cost saving measure is to use proactive HR practices to reduce
employee turn over, thus, minimize the need for recruiting. Recruiting for multiple job openings
simultaneously can also works. Evaluating the quality, quantity and cost of recruitment helps
ensure that it is efficient and effective.
Growth and Expansion
An organization registering growth and expansion will have more recruiting on hand than the
one which finds its fortunes declining.
4.5. Sources and Methods of Recruitment
An organization may fill particular job either with someone already employed by the
organization or with someone from outside. Each of these sources has advantages and
disadvantage.
Internal sources: Internal sources consists of the following
 Present employee-permanent, temporary and casual employees already on the pay of
the organization are good source. Vacancies may be filed up from such employees
through promotion, transfers, and upgrading and even demotion. Transfer implies
shifting of an employee from one job to another without any major change in the
status and responsibilities of the employee. On the other hand, promotion refers to
shifting of an employee to a higher position carrying higher status, responsibilities
and pay
 Retired and retrenched employees who want to return the company may be rehired.
Methods of internal recruitment

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Internal recruitment methods can be closed internal recruitment or open internal
recruitment systems.
Closed internal recruitment system
In this system employees are unaware of job openings and therefore don’t have the
opportunity to formally apply. Most informal closed system is based on managerial
nominations, where in employees are simply nominated by managers where there is a job
opening.
Disadvantages of closed internal recruitment system
a. Nominations may be based on favoritism towards specific individuals or biases
versus various protected group.
b. Un intentionally, highly qualified candidates will be over looked.

Open internal recruitment system -Job posting and bidding


Job posting and bidding is an open internal method of recruitment in which notices of
available jobs are posted in central locations throughout the organization and employees
are given a specified length of time to apply for the available jobs. Other methods used in
publicizing jobs include memos to supervisors and listing in employee publications.
Normally the job notices specifies the job title, rate of pay, and necessary qualifications.
The usual procedure is for all applicants to be sent to the human resource department for
an initial review. The next step is an interview by the prospective manager .Then a
decision is made based on qualifications, performance, length of service, and other
pertinent criteria.
Internal sources have the following advantages
Morale and motivation of employees improved when they are assured that they will
be preferred in filling up vacancies at higher levels. A sense of security is created
among employees.
Suitability of existing employees can be judged better as record of their qualifications
and performance is already available in the organization. Chances of proper selection
is higher
It promotes loyalty and commitment among employees due to sense of job security
and opportunities for advancement.

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Present employees are already familiar with the organization and its polices.
Therefore, time and cost of orientation and training are low
The time and cost of recruitment are reduced, as there is little need for advertising
vacancies, or arranging rigorous tests and interviews.
Relations with trade unions remain good because union prefer recruitment
particularly through promotion.
Filling of a higher-level job through promotion within the organization helps to retain
talented and ambitious employees. Labor turnover is reduced.
It improves return on investment of human resource.
Internal source, however, suffer from some demerits:
First, it may lead to inbreeding. Second, if promotion is based on seniority, really capable
persons may be left out. Third, the choice of selection is restricted. More talented outsiders may
not be employed. Mobility of labor is restricted. Chances of favoritism are higher and the limited
talent of inside restricts growth of business. Finally, this source of recruitment is not available to
a newly established enterprise.
External sources
Depending on the qualifications desired, employees may be attracted from a number of outside
sources.
External sources of recruitment lie outside the organization. These are;
High school and vocational schools
Colleges and Universities
Competitors and other firms
The unemployed

High schools and vocational schools


Organizations who want to recruit clerical and entry level operatives employees often depend on
high school s and vocational schools. For example, if you want to hire a fresh engine mechanic
or electrician for home appliance repair and so on, you need to contact vocational schools that
you know.
Colleges and universities

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Colleges and universities represent a major recruitment source for many organizations. Potential
professional, technical and management employees are found in these institutions. Many
organizations recruit graduates from Jimma University, Mekelle University, Addis Ababa
University and others.
Competitors and other firms
Competitors and other firms in the same industry or geographic area may be the most important
source of recruits for positions in which recent experience is required .Smaller firms , in
particular look for employees who have been trained by large organizations because they do not
have resource to train their employees.
The Unemployed
Qualified and experienced people may become unemployed for various reasons. Companies may
go out of business, cut back operations, or be merged with other firms, leaving qualified workers
with out jobs. Employees may some times fire simply due to difference on ideas with their boss.
These unemployed people are valuable sources.
Methods of External Recruitment
By examining recruitment sources, a firm determines the location of potential job
applicants .What comes next is to attract these applicants by specific recruitment methods. The
basic external recruitment methods are as follows:
 News paper advertisements
A method of job recruitment by advertising in a newspaper. When you look at the edition of
news papers such as ADDIS ZEMEN, ETHIOPIAN HERALD, and the REPOERTER, you will
find page after page job advertisements. Given the popularity of newspaper advertisements (ads),
it is not surprising that this source has several advantages. First, job ads can be placed quite
quickly, with little lead time. News paper ads permit a greater deal of flexibility in terms of
information; they also target specific geographic area. On the negative side , news paper ads
tends to attract only individuals who are actively seeking employment, while some of the best
candidates , who are well paid and challenged by their current jobs, fail to even be aware of
these openings. Also, a company may get many applicants who are marginally qualified or
completely unqualified for the job. Thus, this source may generate a great deal of administrative
work for the organization, with little in return
 Television and Radio advertisements

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A method of job recruitment by advertising open positions using television and radio spots. This
recruitment sources offers several potential advantages, particularly compared with news paper
ads. First, television and radio ads are more likely to reach individuals who are not actively
seeking employment. Television and radio ads also enable the organization to target the audience
more carefully, by selecting the channel or station and the time of day the advertisement is aired.
On the negative side, television and radio ads are rather expensive. In addition airtime may be
quite costly. Also, because the television and radio ads is simply seen or heard, potential
candidates may have a difficult time remembering the information, making application difficult.
For this reason, some employers choose to use the television or radio ads as a supplement to a
more traditional news pepper ads. In sum, despite their costs, television and radio ads may be
highly effective recruitment sources.
 Campus recruiting
Recruiting on college and university is common practice of both private and public
organizations. In college recruiting the organization sends an employee, called recruiter, to a
campus to interview candidates and describes the organizations to them. Coinciding with the
visit, brochures and other literature about the organization are often distributed. The organization
may conduct seminars at which company executives talk about various facets of the
organization.
From the employer’s perspective, campus recruitment offers several advantages, as well as
several shortcomings. On the positive side, many organizations find the college campus an
effective source of applicants. The placement center typically helps locate applicants have at
least some qualification, since they have demonstrated the ability and motivation to complete a
college degree. Another advantage of campus recruitment is that students generally have lower
salary expectations than more experienced applicants.

On the negative side, the campus recruitment suffers from several distinct disadvantages
compared with other recruitment sources. First, most of the applicants have little or no work
experience. Thus, the organization must be prepared to provide some kind of training to
applicants they hire. Second, campus recruitment tends to depend on the season. Third, campus
recruiting can be quite expensive for organizations located in another city. Costs such airfare,
hotels, and meals for recruiters as well as applicants visit can become quite higher for

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organizations located at a distance from the university. On the other hand, for organizations
located in the same city as the university, campus recruiting may be a highly cost –effective
source.
 Walk ins/unsolicited applications
Many applicants search for job either by walking in to the organization and completing an
application blank or by mailing a resume in the hope that a position is available. Corporate image
has a significant impact on the number and quality of people who apply to an organization in this
manner. Compensation policies, working conditions, relationship with labor, and participation in
the community activities are some of the many factors that can positively or negatively influence
an organization’s image.
The major advantage to companies using this source is the relatively low cost, because the
company is not spending money to collect/gather the resumes. On the other hand, there are
several disadvantages. First, although there are no advertising costs, there is a cost associated
with processing and storing the resumes and application blanks. Second, minorities are less
likely to apply for jobs that have not been advertised.
Thus, heavy reliance on this approach may lead to the under representation of minorities in the
work force, which could result in legal problems. This source tends to favor applicants who are
actively job searching; highly qualified applicants who are satisfied with their current jobs are
unlikely to apply.
 Employee referrals
Many organizations involve their current employees in recruiting process. These recruiting
systems may be informal and operated by word of mouth, or they may be structured with definite
guidelines to be followed. Incentives and bonuses are sometimes given to employees who refer
subsequently hired people.

Employee referral programs have pros and cons. Current employees can and usually will provide
accurate information about the job applicants they are referring, especially since they are putting
their own reputation on line. The new employees may also come with a more realistic picture of
what working in the firm is like after talking with friends there. But the success for the campaign
depends a lot on employee morale. And the campaign can back fire if an employee’s referrals are
rejected and the employee becomes dissatisfied. Using referrals exclusively may also be

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discriminatory if most of the current employees and their referrals are male or white. Other draw
back to the use of employee referrals is that cliques may develop within the organization because
employees tends to refer only friends or relatives
 Recruiting on Internet
A large number and fast growing proportion of employers use the Internet as a recruiting tool.
Employers list several advantages of internet recruiting. First, it is cost effective: Newspapers
can charge from $50 to $100 to several thousands dollars for print advertisement (ads); job
listings on the internet may cost as little as $10 each. The newspaper ads may keep attracting
applications for 30 days or more. Internet recruiting can also be moretimely. Responses to
electronic job listing may come the day the ads are posted, where the responses to news paper
ads can take a week just to reach an employer. Some employers cite just such a flood of
responses as a down side of internet recruiting. The problem is that the relative ease of
responding to internet ads encourages unqualified job seekers to apply; furthermore, applications
may arrive from geographic areas that are unrealistically far away.
An external source offers the following advantage:
People having the requisite/necessary skill, education and training can be obtained.
as recruitment is done from a wider market, best selection can be made irrespective of
caste, sex, or religion
Expertise and experience from other organization can be obtained.
This source of recruitment never “dries up”. It is available to even new enterprises.
It helps to bring new blood and new ideas into the organization, their orientation and
training is necessary
External sources, however, suffer from the following disadvantages;
- It is more expensive and time-consuming to recruit people from outside. Detailed
screening is necessary as very little is known about the candidates
- The employees being un familiar with the organization, their orientation and training
may not be necessary
- If higher levels are filled from the external source, motivation and loyalties of existing
staff are affected.
4.6. Organizational inducement in recruitment

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The objective of recruitment is to attract a number of qualified personnel for each particular job
opening .Organizational inducements are all the positive features and benefits the organization
offers to attract job applicant’s .The most important organizational inducements are:
organizational compensation system
career opportunities and
organizational reputation
Starting salaries, frequency of pay raises, incentives, and the nature of the organizational fringe
benefits can all influence the number of people attracted through the recruitment process. For
example, an organization that pays the low starting salaries have a much more difficult time
finding qualified applicants than do organizations that pay higher starting salaries.
Organizations that have a reputation for providing employees with career opportunities are
also more likely to attract a large pool of qualified candidates through their recruiting activities,
Employee and management development opportunities enable present employees to grow
personally and professionally; they also attract good people to the organization. Assisting present
employees in career planning develops feelings that the company cares. It also acts as an
inducement to potential employees.
Finally, the organizations over all reputations, or image, serves are an inducement to potential
employees. Factors that affect an organization’s reputation includes its general treatment of
employees, the nature and the quality of it products and services, and its participation in worth
wile social endeavors.

4.7. SELECTION
The Meaning of selection
Selection is the process by which an organization chooses from a list of applicants the person or
persons who best meet the selection criteria for the position available, considering current
environmental conditions.
Selection is the process of matching the qualification of applicants with job requirement. Selection
divides all applicants into the categories- suitable and unsuitable, selection may be described as a
process of rejection because generally more candidates are turned away than the hired.

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Selection differs from recruitment. Recruitment technically precedes selection. Recruitment involves
identifying the source of manpower and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization. On the
other hand, selection is the process of choosing the best out of those recruited. Recruitment is positive
as it aims at increasing the number of applicants for wider choice or increase selection ratio. Selection
is negative as it rejects a large number of applicants to identify the few who are suitable for the job.
Recruitment involves prospecting or searching whereas selection involves comparison and choice of
candidates. The purpose of selection is to pick up the right person for every job. Selection is an
important function as no organization can achieve its goals with out selecting the right people. Faulty
selection leads to wastage of time and money and spoil the environment of the organization.
4.8. The significant of Employee Selection
Effective selection is highly important for an organization’s future success because;
Selection is more powerful ways of improving productivity. Selecting qualified and competent
employees improves the benefits an organization reaps.

 Selection decision is a long lasting decision. Once the decision is made reversing it is very
difficult .If an organization hires poor performers, it can not be successful long, even if it has a
perfect plan and good control systems. In today’s business what makes the difference is kind of
human resource you have, not technology or financial resource.
 Selection affects other HR functions. If less qualified people are selected, then it will be necessary
to budget funds for training them.

4.9. Environmental factors affecting the selection process.


 Legal considerations
HRM is influenced by legislation, executive orders, and court decisions. Managers who hire
employees must have extensive knowledge of the legal aspects of selection. They must see the
relationship between useful and legally defensible selection tools.
 Speed of Decision Making
The time available to make the selection decision can have a major effect on selection process.
 Organizational hierarchy

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Different methods of selection are taken for filling positions at varying levels in the
organization. For example, extensive background checks and interviewing would be conducted
to verify the experience and capabilities of the applicant for the sale’s manager position. On the
other hand, an applicant for a clerical position (secretary) would most likely taken only a word
processing test and perhaps a short employment interview.
Applicant pool (labor market)
The number of qualified applicants for a particular job can also affect the selection process.
The process can be truly selective only if there are several qualified applicants for a particular
position. When the applicants are very few, then selection process becomes a matter of
choosing whoever is at hand.
 Probationary period
Many firms use a probationary period that permits them to evaluate an employee’s ability
based on established performance. Probationary period is required for either of the following
two reasons.
1. A substitute for certain phases of the selection process (If the an individual can successfully
perform the job during the probationary period, other selection tools may not be needed) or
2. A check on the validity of the selection process (to determine whether the hiring decision was a
good one)
4.10. SELECTION CRITERIA
At the core of any effective selection system is an understanding of what characteristics are essential
for high performance. This is where the critical role of job analysis in selection becomes most
apparent, because that list of characteristics should have been identified during the process of job
analysis and should now be accurately reflected in job specification. Thus, from a performance
perspective, the goal of any selection system is to accurately determine which applicant’s posses the
skill, knowledge, ability and other characteristics detected by the job. Different selection criteria may,
indeed, be needed to assess these qualitatively different (KSAOs).
Categories of criteria
The criteria typically used by organizations for making selection decision can be summarized in
several broad categories: education, experience, physical characteristics, and other personal
characteristics.
 Formal education

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An employer selecting from a pool of job applicants wants to find the person who has the right
abilities and attitudes to be successful. A large number of cognitive, motor, physical, and interpersonal
attributes are present because of genetic predispositions and because they were learned at home, at
school, on the job and so on. One of the more common cost- effective ways to screen of many of these
abilities is by using educational accomplishment as a surrogate for of summary of the measures of
those abilities. Rather than using a selection test to measure each of these, the organization might
simply require that applicants have proof that they have completed the specified level of education.
For certain jobs, the employer might go one or more steps further than simply requiring than a certain
educational level has been achieved; The employer may stipulate that the education (especially for
college-level requirements) is in a particular area of expertise, such as accounting or management. The
employer might also prefer that the degree be from certain institutions that the grade point average be
higher than some minimum, and those certain honors have been achieved.
Experience and past performance
Another uses full criteria for selecting employees is experience and past performance. Many selection
specialists believe that past performance on a similar job might be one of the best indicators of future
job performance. In addition, employers often consider experience to be a good indicator of ability and
work related attitudes. Their reasoning is that a prospective employee who has performed the job
before and is applying for a similar job must like the work and be able to do the job will.
 Physical characteristics
In the past, many employers consciously or unconsciously used physical characteristics as a criterion.
Studies found that employers were most likely to hire and pay better wages to taller men, and airlines
choose flight attendants and company receptionists on the base of beauty. Many times such practices
discriminated against ethnic groups, women, and handicapped people. For this reason, they are now
illegal unless it can be shown that a physical characteristic is directly related to effectiveness at work.
Fore example, visual acuity (eyesight) would be a physical characteristic that could be used to hire
airline pilots. It might not, however, be legally used for hiring a telephone reservations agent for an
airline.
 Personality characteristics and personality type
Personal characteristics include marital status, sex, age, and so on. Some employers have, fore
example, preferred “stable’’ married employees over single people because they have assumed that
married people have a lower turnover rate. On the other hand, other employers might seek out single

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people fore some jobs since a single person might be more likely to accept a transfer or a lengthy over
sees assignment. Age, too, has some times been used as a criterion. While it is illegal to discriminate
against people who are over the age 40. However, minimum and maximum age restrictions for the job
be used only if they are clearly job related. Thus, age should be used as a selection criterion only after
very careful thought and consideration.
4.11. SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process consists of a series of steps. At each stage facts may come to light, which may
lead to rejection of the applicant. It is a series of successive hurdle or barriers, which an applicant must
cross. These hurdles are designed to eliminate an unqualified candidate at any point in the selection
process. However, every selection procedure dose not contains all these hurdles. Moreover, the
arrangement of these hurdles may differ from organization to organization. There is no standard
selection procedure to be used in all organization or for all jobs. The complexity 0f election procedure
increase with the level and responsibility of the position to be filled. The strategy and method used for
selecting employees varies from firms to firm and from one job to another.

Completing and screening of the


application form

Preliminary interview

Employment test

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Second or follow up or diagnostic interview

Reference cheek

Physical (medical examination)

Final decision or final approval

Fig 4.3 Basic steps in selection


Steps involved in employee selection may be described as under:
Application blank: Application form is a traditional and widely used device for collecting
information from the candidates. Small firms design no application form and ask the candidates to
write details about their age, marital status, education, work experience, etc. on a plan of sheet of
paper. But big companies use different type of application forms for different jobs. The application
form should provide all the information relevant to selection.
Preliminary interviews: The preliminary interview is used to determine whether the applicant’s
skills, abilities, and the job preferences match any of the available jobs in the organization, to explain
to the applicant the available jobs and their requirements, and to answer any questions the applicant
has about the available jobs or the employer. A preliminary interview is usually conducted after the
applicant has completed the application form. It is generally a brief, explanatory interview screens out
unqualified or un interested applicants. Interview questions must be job related and are not subject to
demonstration of validity.
Employment test: A technique that some organization uses to aid their selection decisions is
employment test. An employment test is a mechanism that attempts to measure certain characteristics
of individuals. The basic categories of tests are:
 Aptitude test –means of measuring a person’s capacity or latent ability to learn and
perform the job

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 Psychomotor test–test that measures a person’s strength, dexterity, and Coordination.
 Job knowledge test –Tests used to measure the job related knowledge of the applicants.
 Proficiency test- tests used to measure how well a job applicant
can do a sample of the work to be performed in the job.
 Interest test –tests designed to determine how a person’s interest compared with the
interest of successful people in a specific job.
 Personality test –tests that attempt to measure personality traits.
 Polygraph test –the polygraph, popularly known as the lie detector, is a device that
records physical changes in the body as the test subject answers serious of questions. he
polygraph records fluctuations in blood pressure, respiration, and perspiration on a
moving roll of graphic paper. The polygraph operator makes a judgment as to whether
the subject’s response was truthful or deceptive by studying the physiological
measurements recorded on paper
 Graphology (hand writing analysis) - use of trained analysis to examine a person’s hand
writing to assess the personality, emotional problems, and honesty.
Secondary or follow-up interview or Employment interview
Most organizations use the second or follow up interview as an important step in the selection
process. Its purpose is to supplement information obtained in other steps in the selection process
to determine the suitability of an applicant for a specific opening. All questions asked during an
interview must be job related
There are different types of interview and different organizations use one or more of them to
make their selection choices. Interview types that are generally used are discussed below.

Structured interview
In this form of interview, the interviewer follows a predetermined approach designed to
ensure that all pertinent factors relating to he candidate’s qualifications suitability for the
job will be gone over. This type of interview also allows an interviewer to prepare in
advance, questions that are job-related and then complete a standardized interviewer
evaluation form. The purpose of such a form is to retain documentation at may be useful
later on reply.
Semi-structured interview:

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Here only the major questions to be asked are worked out beforehand. The interviewer
also has the option to prepare in-depth questions in certain areas. Clearly, the interviewer,
in this approach, needs to prepare more adequately and his role also has greater flexibility
than in the structured style. During the course of the interview, where the occasion rises
the interviewer has the freedom to probe In a greater detail those areas, which appear to
require further investigation, The interviewer’s objective, in the semi-structured format,
should be to achieve the ideal balance between adequate structure facilitating exchange of
factual information, with adequate freedom to develop a clear perception of the
candidate’s work.
Unstructured interview
This may be defined as the process of active listening. Normally used in psychological
counseling, it is also widely used in selection. The interviewer has a wider canvas and the
choice to prepare a list of topics to be covered rather than the question s. little preparation
is required on the part of the interviewer. The interviewer asks general questions designed
to prompt the candidate to discuss him or her self and often uses a thought or idea
expressed on one response as the base for the next question. The tremendous plus point of
the unstructured approach is the freedom the interviewer has to adapt both to the
changing situations and a variety of candidates. The difficulties, however, lie in the
maintenance of job –relatedness and obtaining of comparable data on each applicant.
Spontaneity is the chief characteristics of this approach but the pitfalls are daunting. In
the hands of untrained interviewer, biases invariably creep in and digressions,
discontinuity and a host of subjective elements may well destroy or negate the
fundamental objective of selecting the best available talent.
Stress interview:
This is a special type of interview designed to asses and provides use full information as
to whether a person would be able to cope with stress on the job or not. Stress interviews
are deliberate attempts to create tension and pressure in an applicant to see how well he
or she responds to those tensions and pressures. Methods used to induce stress, ranges
from frequent interruptions and criticism of an applicant’s opinion, to keeping silent for
an extended period of time.
Depth Interview

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In this case, an attempt is made to cover completely the life history of the applicant and
develop a comprehensive profile based on in-depth understanding of the frozen aspects of
the frozen aspects of his or her personality such as education, extra-curricular activities,
early childhood experiences, etc. as well as the flexible aspects such as hobbies, interests,
hopes, desires, aspirations, goals etc. This is a time consuming and costly approach best
suited for executive selection rather than blue or white collar workers, its major
advantage is in getting a complete, detailed understanding of the candidate but the price
paid in terms of time and money need to be carefully weighed.
Interview problems
Despite the wide spread use of the employment interview, it continues to be the source of a
variety of problems of the selection process. There is no doubt that problems of reliability can
develop in the use of interviews when they are less structured or conducted by relatively
untrained interviewers.
Following is a list of some sources of errors in the interview process.
Contrast effects or Hallow effect: The order of interviewees’ influence ratings. For instance,
Strong candidates who succeed weak ones look even stronger by contrast
Similarity to interviewer: interviewee’s similarity in sex, age, ethnicity, religion and or
attitude to interviewer’s may lead to favorable evaluation at the expense of the expectations of
the job.
Non-verbal signals: interviewers often fall in to the trap of using non- verbal behavior patterns
as a basis for reaching a decision. Factors such as how a candidate looks, sits in the chair ,
maintains eye contact, fidgets or his or her facial expressions may be allowed to become
overriding criteria and this can easily in by –passing competent candidates
Interviewer lack of knowledge: Where this happens there is almost invariably a miscarriage of
justice. The interviewer’s lack of familiarity with job requirements prevents him or her from
identifying those characteristics in the candidate that makes him or her suitable for the job.
Instead, he or she might well be eliminated for the wrong reasons.
Over –emphasis on negative characteristics: quite often, there is a natural human tendency on
the part of interviewers to succumb to the pitfall of assigning undue emphasis to one or two
negative qualities of the applicant. Very many good aspects suited to the job at hand may be
ignored in the process, the interviewer must consciously attempt to look beyond small drawbacks

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in the candidate and take an objective, brad –based view.
Snap judgment: there is a tendency for the interviewers to make up their minds on the first
impression of the candidate. Based on the first observation of the applicant and the first few
minutes of discussion, a judgment is arrived at which in fact, may be quite erroneous. Too often,
interviewers from an early impression and spend the rest of the time looking for evidence to
support it. The attempt, on the other hand, should be to collect comprehensive information about
the candidate and reserve judgment until various aspects and areas have been probed.
Legal Consideration in interview;
1. Don’t ask applicant if they have children, or what child care arrangements they have
made.
2. Don’t ask an applicants age.
3. Don’t ask whether the candidate has physical or mental disability that would interfere
with doing a job (The law allows the employers to explore the subject only after making a
job offer that is conditioned on satisfactory completion of a required physical, medical or
job skills test).
4. Don’t ask for such identifying characteristics on height or weight on an applicant.
5. Don’t ask female candidates for the maiden name.
6. Don’t ask applicants about their citizenship.
7. Don’t ask applicants about their arrest records. You are, however, allowed to ask whether
the candidate has ever been convicted of a crime.
8. Don’t ask if a candidate smokes because there are several state or local ordinances that
restrict smoking in certain buildings, a more appropriate question is whether the applicant
is aware of the regulations and is willing to comply with them.
Reference checks: The applicant is asked to mention in his application form the names and
addresses of two or three persons who know him or her well. They may be his or her previous
employers, head of educational institutions or public figures. The organization contacts them by
mail or telephone. They are requested to provide their frank opinion about the candidate with out
incurring any liability. They are assured that all the information supplied will kept confidential.
Selection decision

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In most of the organizations, the human resource department carries out selection process. The
decision of this department is recommendatory. The executive of the concerned department
finally approves the candidates short-listed by the department.
Physical examination or Medical evaluation:
Applicants who have crossed the above stages are sent for a physical examination either
to the company’s physician to the medical officer approved for the purpose. Such
examination serves the following purposes:
It determines whether the candidate is physically fit to perform the job. Those who
are physically unfit are rejected.
 It revels existing disabilities and provides a record of the employee’s health at the
time of selection. This record will help in settling company’s liability under the
workmen compensation act for claim of an injury.
 It prevents the employment of people suffering from contagious diseases.
Final approval or hiring decision
Employment is offered in the form of an appointment letter mentioning the post, the rank,
the salary grade, and the date by which the candidate should join and other terms and
conditions in brief.
4.12. Reviewing the hiring process
After completing the hiring, the selection process should be evaluated. Here are some
considerations in the evaluation:
 What about the number of initial applicants? Where there too many applicants?
Too few? Does the firm need to think about changing its advertisement and
recruiting to get the results desired?
 What was the nature of the applicant’s qualification? Were the applicants too
qualified enough? Perhaps the advertisements need to be re-worked to attract
more appropriate candidates. In this case, using a job description can help.
 How cost effective was the advertising? A simple way to measure is to divide the
cost (not only in dollars but in your time) by either the number of total applicants
or the number of applicants that you considered seriously.
 Were there questions that needed to be asked but weren’t?

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 How well did the interviewers do? One way to determine this is to ask the new
employee to critique the interviewing process.
 Did employment tests support or help the hiring decision? If not, may be the firm
will have to reconsider the kinds of tests it is administering. Further, the
evaluation process should help the firm decide if the cost and the time involved in
the testing is worth it. Would you have come to the same hiring decision without
testing?
4.13. ORIENTATION /SOCIALIZING EMPLOYEES

DEFINITION AND MEANING

Orientation is a process for introducing new employees to the organization, its mission, its
activities and programs as well as her/his job. An employee handbook is often used in an
orientation session.

The orientation process is similar to what sociologists called socialization. Socialization occurs
when a new employee learns the norms, values, work procedures and patterns of behavior and
dress that are expected in the organization

The handbook serves as a ready reference to the material covered during the orientation session.
The orientation of new employees can provide a great refresher or learning opportunity for their
colleagues, who can be asked to present information or guide the newcomer.

4.14. THE PURPOSE OF ORIENTATION IS:

 To make the new employee feel welcome


 To reduce the anxiety and hazing of the employee on the first day
 To socialize the employee to the values, standards and desirable behaviors of the
organization
 To help the new employee be successful in his/her job
 To enable the new employee to quickly become productive
 To reduce start up costs of new employees

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 To develop realistic job expectations, positive attitudes towards the employer and job
satisfaction
 To start building the relationship between the employee and the supervisor

4.15. GUIDELINES
Instead of a quick and information-overloaded orientation program, a more systematic and
guided procedure is appropriate. The following are a few guidelines for such a program:
 Orientation should begin with the most relevant and immediate kinds of information and
proceed to the more general policies of the organization. It should occur at a pace that the
new employees is conformable with
 The most significant part of orientation is the human side: giving new employees
knowledge of what supervisors and coworkers are like, telling them how long it should
take to reach standards of effective work and encouraging them to seek help and advise
when needed.
 New employees should be “sponsored” or directed in the immediate environment by an
experienced worker or supervisor who can respond to questions and keep in close touch
during the early induction period.
 New employees should be gradually introduced to the people with whom they will work,
rather than given a superficial introduction to all of them on the first day. The object
should be to help them know their coworkers and supervisors.
 New employees should be allowed sufficient time to get their feet on the ground before
job demands on them are increased.

4.16. Checklist: Orienting a New Employee


Prior to Start
 Advise Board members and staff of the new employee’s name, position, and
start date
 Arrange for a workspace
 Equip the workplace with the necessary furniture, equipment and supplies
 Ensure that all equipment is working
 Set up an e-mail address

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 Set-up a telephone extension
 Add the employee to organizational lists – telephone, e-mail
 Make a copy of the job description
 Gather information, reports, etc to give the person on the first day
 Ensure the staff handbook is up-to-date
 If the employee will need a key to access the office, arrange to have it ready
for the first day
 Contact the new employee to confirm where and when they should report on
the first day
 Set up the orientation team – who will be doing what for the orientation
 Decide what meaningful tasks the new employee will start on and prepare the
necessary background material
First Day
-Keep your schedule as free as possible for the first day
Getting Started
 Welcome the new employee
 Outline the orientation process for the day
 Introduce the new employee to his/her coworkers
 Introduce the new employee to his/her ‘buddy’
 Give the employee a tour of the assigned workspace and the rest of the
office/facility including:
 Where to safely put belonging (if not in their office)
 Where to hang coat, store lunch; location of the washrooms
 Location of the photocopier, fax machine, and supplies, etc.
Organizational Overview
 Overview of the organization
 Organization Chart
Job Duties and Responsibilities
 Review the employee’s job description and expected outcomes
 Explain how the job is related to the other jobs in the organization

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 Give specific outcomes for the first day such as a look at the organization’s
website; review of a specific document, etc.
 Identify the work that needs to be accomplished in the first week
 Give the employee reports, information that is need for the job and explain
what each item is
Work expectation
 Start and finish times
 Lunch time
 Probationary period
 Safety procedures, as appropriate
Administration
 Complete the necessary paperwork for pay and benefits
 Complete other paperwork as required
 Identify options for parking
 Provide password for equipment as appropriate
Other
 Review health and safety procedures
 Allow for time for the new employee to set up their workspace, review the
materials you have given, etc.
 Take the employee out to lunch
 Have a task planned for the first day

First Two Weeks


 Check to see if there are any problems with equipment or the workspace
 Ensure that the employee has meet all the other staff members
 Review the performance management system
 Order business cards, if appropriate
 Tour other sites of the organization, if applicable
 Explain the internal communication process including staff meetings
 Have the employee review the policies and procedures manual

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 Explain how absences are called in and covered, telephone and e-mail
protocol, internet use policy
 Explain the travel and reimbursement process
 Ask if the new employee has any question or if there is anything that needs to
be addressed
 Confirm that the employee understand what is expected – duties and
responsibilities
 Review all fire and safety procedures
First Six Months
 Review probation procedures
 Schedule regular meetings with the new employee to ensure that s/he is on
track
 Establish performance expectations

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