Transcript PMC - McMaster University

HR Recruitment
and
Selection
1
Announcements

In case ELM is not working, you can
access the course material at
 http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/courses/H600/Bedi/

Course material will be posted on BOTH
ELM and the business.mcmaster link

Guest speaker Anthony Celani TODAY!!
2
Recruitment

The process of finding and attracting capable
applicants to apply for employment

2 general goals
◦ Want qualified applicant pool
◦ Want both parties to have accurate
perceptions about the other
3
I want to join the Marines… I think




In early 1997, former heavy weight boxing
champion, Riddick Bowe, joined the United
States Marine Corp Reserve.
He was 29, had an estimated $100 million in
the bank, and was married with 5 children.
Reasons for joining: Lifelong dream, make his
mother proud, prove everyone wrong that said
he couldn’t make it.
Usual reasons: Service to country, education,
training, adventure, money.
He lasted only 11 days in basic training.
Why????
4
Reasons:
• Preconceived stereotypes or information
obtained from inaccurate sources.
• His perceptions of life as a Marine were based on
watching movies.
• The marines had waived several of their
selection criteria (e.g., not more than one
dependent) to enroll a high-profile celebrity.
• He missed his kids.
• The marines never gave Bowe a realistic
preview of what life would be like at boot
camp.
• Bowe suffered culture shock; went from millionaire
to taking orders
5
Reasons:

The Marines deviated from a very successful recruitment &
selection program that gave recruits
◦ a realistic expectation of what’s in store for them &
◦ an introduction to the culture of the marines.

In other words, they did not provide a realistic and accurate
preview of either the job or the organization.

By waiving selection criteria, they created a mismatch
between Bowe & the marines.

Key goal of recruitment and selection
◦ Ensure person-job match
6
Strategic Considerations

Recruitment influenced by:
◦ Staffing needs created by organizational strategy /
business plan
◦ Organizational analysis
 Are appropriate candidates available internally?
◦ Type and level of job openings

2 factors employers have no control over
◦ Labour market
◦ Legal environment

Effective HR Planning helps to address these
concerns
7
Effects of Labour Market

Low unemployment (tight labour
market)
◦ Broaden recruitment efforts – to other
groups, geographic areas, etc.
◦ Improve compensation, T&D, etc.
◦ Hire temporary workers, outsource

High unemployment
◦ Specific, targeted recruitment efforts
◦ Consider overhiring
8
Effects of Legal Environment

Employment equity, human rights, pay equity

May be helped by targeted recruitment
◦ Make effort to attract members of protected groups
◦ Use various communication approaches to reach different
audiences

Potential pitfalls of targeted (diversity-oriented)
recruitment
◦ Majority group members may react negatively
◦ Cause “stigma of incompetence” for minority group members
hired – perceive that hiring is not merit-based

Solution – ensure merit is central to decision-making
◦ Where merit = job relevance
9
Recruitment

3 necessary conditions
◦ Common communication medium
◦ Job seeker must perceive a match between his
or her personal characteristics and the job
requirements
◦ Job seeker must be motivated to apply
10
Recruitment is a Mutual Process

Employer provides information about organization, job,
etc.
◦ Potential applicants form opinions, make decisions, etc.

Potential applicants provide information about self
◦ Recruiters may make initial assessment of P-J and P-O fit

Both parties want to be viewed positively
◦ Risk that they misrepresent themselves
◦ Leads to invalid decisions

Accurate information is in best interests of all
◦ Role of self-selection
◦ E.g., realistic job preview
11
Organizational Factors affecting Applicants

Organizations can control the information
they present during recruitment
◦ Must be accurate
◦ Inaccurate expectations lead to dissatisfaction,
poor performance, turnover, etc.
◦ Realistic Job Preview
12
Realistic Job Preview

Procedure designed to provide job
candidates with accurate information
about the job and organization
◦ Belief is that job candidates who perceive
mismatch will self-select out

Purposes / Goals
◦ Facilitate accurate expectations
◦ Reduce turnover
◦ Increase satisfaction
How?
13
Functions of RJP

Self-selection
◦ Applicant have info to apply or to self-select out
◦ Is in the best interests of both parties – if it’s based
on accurate information

Vaccination
◦ Some negative info helps employees anticipate
negative aspects of job
◦ Are more prepared for and less effected by them

Increasing commitment to the choice
◦ Are aware of negative aspects, but still choose job
◦ More likely to forge through difficulties
14
RJPs: Pros and Cons
Benefits of RJPs
Evidence suggests that RJPs achieve following 3 purposes to a certain
degree (e.g., Phillips, 1998)

◦ Perceptions of employer trustworthiness, honesty, and concern for
employees
◦ Facilitates Person-Organization fit
◦ Lower unrealistic expectations

Potential Disadvantages of RJPs
◦ Negative info may discourage qualified applicants – particularly in
competitive job market
◦ Negative info may have stronger effect on best-qualified applicants
15
Recruitment Sources

Internal Recruiting
◦ Current employees (e.g., promotions)

External Recruiting
◦ Referrals
 from current employees, former employees,
customers
◦
◦
◦
◦
Print ads
Employment / temp agencies
Universities / colleges
Internet
16
Internal Recruiting
Advantages
• Employee is familiar with
the organization and culture
• Lower recruitment costs
Weaknesses
• Internal rivalry
• No “new blood”
• Employee has proven their
ability
• Poor morale of employees
who are not selected
• Improves workplace morale
& motivation
• May reflect indirect
discrimination
External Recruiting
Advantages
Weaknesses
• Newcomers may not fit in
• Can acquire skills that are
not available within the
organization
• Newer ideas may emerge
• Newcomers need to learn
about the organization and
its culture
• More expensive
• Lower morale of employees
who don’t see career growth
within the firm
Research on Internet Recruiting

Cober et al. (2003). International Journal of Selection and
Assessment, 11, 158-169.

Compared applicants attraction to different websites
◦ Found that both content and style influence attraction

Content – information about organizational attributes
◦ Compensation, culture, career opportunities

Style of website
◦ Usability / ease of navigation affected attraction
◦ Website aesthetics did not affect attraction
19
Effectiveness of Recruitment Sources
Cost per hire
 Time-lapse from candidate identification
to hire
 Source yield

◦ Ratio of hires : applicants
◦ Ratio of offers : applicants
◦ Ratio of qualified applicants : total applicants
Performance of hires
 Tenure / turnover of hires
 Diversity / Employment equity issues

20
Constraints on Recruitment
Inducements
Costs
Job
requirements
Organizational
policies
Constraints on
Recruitment
Environmental
conditions
Human
resource plans
Diversity
management
Recruiter
habits
Selection of Human
Resources
22
Lecture Agenda
1.
Fundamental truths about selection
2.
Person-Job and Person-Organization Fit
3.
Attributes of an effective selection
system

4.
Reliability,Validity, etc.
Selection techniques
23
Selection
The process of choosing from a group of applicants the
individual(s) best suited for a particular position
General
workforce
Recruitment
Applicants
Selection
New
employees
What is Selection?

Procedures used by an employer to
decide which applicants to hire
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Resumes, application blanks
Tests
Interviews
Reference checks
Background checks
Work samples
Assessment centres
25
Selection Maxim #1

The success of an organization depends
on the performance of its employees
◦ There are other factors, but workforce quality
sets the upper limit
26
Selection Maxim #2

Selection is about prediction
◦ Predicting whether someone will be effective
at performing a given job in a given
organization
◦ Based on some sample of behavior
 Tests, interviews, etc.
27
Selection Maxim #3

You will make better selection decisions if
your selection procedures are based on
evidence rather than intuition

Evidence-based selection
◦ Practice that is informed by research

Intuition-based selection
◦ Practice that is based on hunches, gut feeling, personal
preferences, tradition, etc.
◦ Common in hiring
◦ Results in poorer employee and organizational performance
28
Selection Process
Preliminary
reception
Identification of
Job Specifications
Review & screening
Employment tests
Verification of
references
Employment
interview(s)
Realistic Job
Preview
Recruiting
Medical evaluation
Hiring Decision
29
Person-Job Fit

Consider these statements:
 “He just doesn’t have the interpersonal skills
needed to be a good customer service rep.”
 “I am attracted to this job because its pay is
based on sales commissions and I like a job
where the pay depends on how well I perform.”

Statements reflect the notion of person-job fit
 Involves aligning characteristics of individuals and
jobs to achieve desired HR outcomes
30
Person-Job Fit

Key points about Person-Job Fit
 Jobs are characterized by:
 Requirements (e.g., interpersonal skills)
 Rewards (e.g., sales commissions, challenge,
autonomy)
 Individuals are characterized by:
 Qualifications (e.g., interpersonal skills)
 Motivation (e.g., need for challenge and autonomy)
31
Person-Job Fit

Need a dual fit:
1. Job requirements = individual qualifications
2. Job rewards = individual motivation

Consequences of (mis)fit
 Fit = attraction, performance, satisfaction
 Misfit = poor performance, dissatisfaction,
turnover
32
Person-Organization Fit

Extent of fit between individual
characteristics and organizational
characteristics
◦ Organizational culture / values
 Norms of desirable attitudes and behaviours (e.g.,
integrity, fairness, etc.)
◦ Hierarchical vs decentralized structure
 Affects communication; “chain of command”
◦ Stability vs change

P-O match is often secondary to P-J match
33
The Selection System

Selection system must be
1.
2.
3.
4.
Valid
Reliable
Practical
Free from bias / Fair
 Thorndike (1949)
34
1.Validity

Appropriateness of the inferences made
based on scores of selection techniques
◦

E.g., if we predict an individual will perform well
based on interview results, validity is concerned
with the evidence that supports this prediction
Various “types” of validity – we’ll focus
on…
1. Content validity
2. Criterion-related validity
35
Content Validity

Does the system adequately represent the
KSAOs required by the position?

System does not include all KSAOs
◦ But does it cover the most important KSAOs?

For each KSAO, does the instrument
effectively measure that particular attribute?
◦ E.g., midterm exam
36
Content Validity

E.g., having applicants for position of
secretary lift a 50 kg box
 No content validity if it’s not an essential job
requirement

E.g., having applicants for position of
secretary take typing test to assess typing
speed
 If certain typing speed is required, then it is content
valid
 Hint: Use Job analysis
37
Establishing Criterion-Related Validity

Does one’s standing on a selection technique(s) relate
to the outcome (criterion) of interest – i.e., job
performance?

Concurrent validation
◦ Extent to which a test score obtained now
predicts current performance
◦ Administer new test and interview to JOB
INCUMBENTS
◦ Collect recent job performance ratings
◦ Look at correlation between test scores and
performance
38
Criterion-Related Validity

Predictive validation
◦ Extent to which test scores predict
subsequent job performance
◦ Collect test scores of JOB CANDIDATES
◦ Hire job candidates based on other criteria
◦ After the new employees have been working
in the organization for a period of time,
correlate test scores with job performance
ratings
39
2. Reliability

Refers to the consistency of scores produced by a
selection technique

2 important types of reliability
Stability - Test-retest reliability
1.
◦
◦
2.
Repeated administrations of the same measure yield
consistent results
Particularly important for tests
Equivalence - Inter-rater reliability
◦
◦
Agreement between 2 or more raters of same behaviour
Particularly important for interviews
40
3. Practicality


Considerations of
◦ Cost, utility
◦ Time to develop and implement
◦ Capability of the users of system
 Interview skills, etc.
◦ Applicant reactions
4. Freedom from Bias
System must be standardized

Instruments must be valid for all groups
◦ Gender, ethnicity, etc.

Must provide equal employment opportunities / not discriminate
◦ Based on EE and HR legislation
41
Selection Techniques
Application Blanks
 Psychological tests
 Physical ability tests
 Work samples / Performance tests
 Assessment centres
 Reference checks
 Interviews

42
Resumes/Application Blanks
How important is experience?
Relationship to job performance
◦ Seniority is unrelated to job performance
◦ Experience is moderately related to job
performance, especially in the short run
 Experience is more likely to be content valid if past
or present jobs are similar to the future job
 Experience is multidimensional*

◦ Amount vs. Time vs. Type
◦ Task vs. Job vs. Organization
◦ Across studies, the amount of task experience was the
strongest predictor of job performance
*(Quinones, Ford & Teachout, 1995)
43
Types of Psychological Tests

Personality tests
◦ Traits identified as job-related
◦ Some exhibit Criterion Related validity for many jobs
 E.g., Conscientiousness, Emotional stability
◦ Criterion Related validity of others depends on job
 E.g., extraversion predicts performance of salespeople

Cognitive ability tests
◦ General intelligence (IQ)
◦ Specific capacities (verbal, spatial, mathematical)
◦ Tests that measure CA are among the most powerful predictors of
success in jobs;
◦ Avg. validity coefficient of .50
◦ E.g., GMAT, MCAT, Wonderlic Personnel Test

Why do you think cognitive ability tests so strongly associated with job
performance?
44
Too Smart to be a cop??
Southeastern Connecticut Law
Enforcement Consortium rejected police
applicant (Robert Jordan) because he
scored too high on Wonderlic Personnel
Test , 33/50.
 Employer recommends 20-27.
 Applicant went to Federal Court but lost
his case.

◦ The court explained that Jordan "may have
been disqualified unwisely but he was not
denied his constitutional rights (equal
protection)"
45
Types of Psychological Tests
Integrity / Honesty tests
◦ Aim to avoid hiring dishonest or disruptive employees;
theft

Overt - direct questions about attitudes toward theft,

Covert – embedded within a general personality

Problems – faking, applicant reactions
etc
1.Do you believe a person has a right to steal from an
employer if he/she is unfairly treated?
2.Do you think most people would cheat if they thought
they could get away with it?
inventory
1.Do you like to take chances?
◦ But, they are associated with job performance
46
Other Selection Techniques

Physical Ability tests
◦ Strength, speed, agility, endurance, etc.
◦ Potential for adverse impact

Assessment Centres
◦ Procedure involving multiple assessment techniques
to assess reactions to “real” job-related tasks
◦ Often to assess managerial potential

Work samples
◦ Involve applicants performing actual job tasks
◦ E.g., typing, preparing and delivering oral presentation,
athletic tryouts
47
Interviews

Most widely used selection technique

2 main types
◦ Unstructured
◦ Structured

Unstructured interviews
◦ Open-ended questions, various topics
◦ Interviewers may ask different questions of different
candidates
◦ Interviewer makes decision based on “gut feeling”
◦ No clear guidelines for evaluating interviewees
48
Interviews

Problems with unstructured interviews
◦ Interviewer is likely to hire the most skillful
interviewee (i.e., skilled at impression
management)
◦ Influenced by appearance, smiling, hand gestures,
eye contact, rate of speaking, variability in
loudness, etc.

Can lead to biases
◦ “similar-to-me” effect
◦ Primacy or recency effect
◦ Halo effect

Poor reliability and validity
49
Interviews
Structured interviews
 3 distinguishing features:

1.Job-related questions
2.Predetermined scoring system / rating scale
3.Standardized - same approach for all
applicants

2 types: situational and behavioural
50
Situational Interview
Based on job analysis
 Presents candidate with a dilemma –
“What would you do…?

◦ Candidate must answer by saying how s/he
would respond to the dilemma

Rationale for situational interview
◦ “intention predicts future behaviour”

Explicit scoring system
◦ 1 = least effective; 5 = most effective

Good reliability and validity
51
Sample Situational Interview ?

A student comes to your office, expresses
disappointment about an assignment grade,
and asks if you would consider reviewing the
assignment. What would you do?
◦ Dismiss the student from your office and ignore
the request
◦ Tell the student that you don’t re-grade
assignments
◦ Acknowledge the student’s disappointment, listen
to their specific concern about the assignment,
and then decide whether or not changing the
grade is appropriate
52
Behaviour Description Interview
Based on job analysis
 Candidate is asked to describe a specific
situation s/he has been involved in that relates
to a specific skill or competency

◦ “Tell me about a time when you had to work on a
team with someone you didn’t get along with.”
◦ May involve more than 1 interviewer (e.g., panel)

Rationale for behavioural interview
◦ “past behaviour is the best predictor of future
behaviour”

Good reliability and validity
53
Sample BDI Question

It is often necessary to work together in a group to
accomplish a task and, at times, conflict arises between
group members. Tell me about a time when you were
working with a group and a conflict arose between two
group members.

5 (High)
◦ Talked with parties and encouraged them to resolve conflict
◦ Acted as a mediator; resulted in resolution of conflict

3 (Average)
◦ Did not directly address conflict but encouraged parties to
remained focused on group task
◦ Maintained harmonious relationships with conflicting parties but
did little to address the conflict between the parties

1 (Low)
◦ Did not become involved (avoided conflict); got drawn into the
conflict
54
Issues to Consider

Screen on “hard” criteria, select on “soft”
criteria

Screen out those who do not possess
essential “hard” job specifications
◦ E.g., specific degree, license, etc. that is critical

Select those who possess essential
“soft” skills/characteristics
◦ Using structured behavioural interview
55
Issues to Consider

Focus on factors that are not readily
trained
◦ Often, specific job content skills can be
trained
◦ Less tangible skills/characteristics are not as
readily trained
 Fit with organization culture
 Initiative, conflict resolution, adaptability, stress
management, etc.

Consider “multiple hurdle” approach
56
Issues to Consider

Consider “multiple hurdle” approach

Advantages

Disadvantage
◦ Is a sequential approach
◦ Applicants must pass minimum cutoff on each
predictor before moving to the next
◦ Makes process less costly
◦ Good if applicant pool is relatively large
◦ Good if a certain level of each KSA is
important and can’t be compensated for by
others
◦ Makes process more time consuming
57
Final Thought…

Selection system signals how
organizations value the people they hire
◦ A good selection system may be costly and
time-consuming (and demanding for
candidates)
◦ But it has many benefits:
 High quality hires – organizational performance
 Legal defensibility
 Fosters commitment and motivation of new hires
58