Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment and Selection Acquiring Staff for the Flexible Firm

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HRM: Recruitment and Selection

Sample Examination Question

Chris Jarvis A large business wants its HRM recruitment staff to specify the quality of the recruitment service they will deliver to departments and to establish service level agreements for recruitment.

a) How will you specify the quality of recruitment services.

b) What issues, procedures and practices will you research?

c) What problems will you encounter in specifying recruitment service quality?

d) How can service quality be defined in terms of  functions and activities to be carried out   and the potential strategic contribution of recruitment to organisational success and changing culture?

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Descriptive-Functional View

• standardisation, risk reduction when filling vacancies • maintaining and delivering a quality service?

• strategic, proactive?

• prescriptive - model best practice • systematic analysis of requirements: organisational + job levels • transaction processing system: - advertising, applications and engagement - internal and external markets • ethics and equal opps policies - large + small firms • who does it?

• selection methods - reliability, validity and utility (cost effective) • legal constraints and contracts of employment • what could go wrong?

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HRM: Recruitment and Selection “I'm from recruitment ....... Here’s what I can do for you”

Chris Jarvis • • • • • • • • • • • • • vacancy authorisation to recruit job/role analysis and specification agree terms and conditions

Specifying the Quality of these Services

sourcing/attracting (target groups) in-house vs. external recruitment, design and administrate communications (boundary transactions) recommend and use recruitment methods/techniques process applications and responses organisation the "programme" selection: apply the methods (incidental techniques, questionable cohesion?) make the decisions and administer the offer finalise the contract receive/induct 4

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection

Normative view?

How we recruit and select reflects organisational culture?

Presentation of organisational FACE orientation to competitive forces hire and fire versus “we value our staff”   the lean, flexible firm - out-sourcing and sub-contracting our “core staff” and our core competencies 5

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Descriptive-Behavioural

  Focus on  actual recruitment experience/behaviour of personnel specialists and line managers Behaviour in front of audiences - on-stage, back stage, off stage Chris Jarvis 

Critical Evaluative

 How does behaviour compare with textbook normative rhetoric?

    Are the techniques reliable, valid, cost effective?

Is the process objective or prone to subjective bias?

Why?

Decision-making processes   Psychometric-objective versus Subjective, social action process 6

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Vacancy Processing

 involves  intra-organisational bargaining  Job/role and competence analysis  observation, interviews, knowledge of roles, skills, imperatives  Title, reports to, tenure, compensation package, scope of responsibilities and duties, authority, priorities, budget, staff team, location, conditions, knowledge, skills, experience, values, performance standards, problems/objectives, results/priorities, ideal candidate profile.

 copy writing and internal/external advertising 7

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Recruitment assumptions

…based on a

psychometric-objective model

.

   define job requirements ascertain personal qualities – traits and competencies match job requirements to person's profile.

 Use techniques to  Routinise and objectivise the process  Reduce the risks  Maximise

predictive

power 8

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Job description - what use?

Chris Jarvis  how can the manager operate effectively if he/she does not understand & cannot define the jobs of their staff? shared understanding about what the job is reliable, factual definition of scope of job and responsibilities??

  useful for organisational design and analysis of change?

it helps to minimise conflicts???

reference point for induction, performance assessment & grading a basis for the job advert & recruitment literature indicates competencies required - generic + job specific

Dull, boring Over-bureaucratic Out-of-date Written by???

Contractual?

"Burn the lot of 'em" Robert Townsend, "Up the Organisation"

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Job analysis products

   

Job description

 Title, reporting relationships (up, down, sideways, external)  job summary, responsibilities, duties, MbO/R: key result areas, scope of authority. Position of “organisation chart”. Career/promotion path.

 working conditions

Competencies specification

 levels, range of situations, performance indicators, knowledge/wisdom, experience, skills (psycho-motor, technical, analytical, literary, spoken, numeric, social and emotional), personal orientations and motivators.

Personnel specification (person profile)

 characteristics of ideal candidate. Essentials - desireables disqualifiers

Applicant profiles

 built up from evidence/data from forms, interviews, other tests, references 10

HRM: Recruitment and Selection

Job Analysis Orange: Label the Key Result Area segments

Now define the key tasks of KRA 5 KT1 KT2 KT3 KT4 KT5 KRA 1 KRA 2 KRA 3 KRA 4 KRA 5

• role demands • choices, constraints • ambiguities • possible overload • pressures/conflicts • organisational change Chris Jarvis 11

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Personnel Specification: Rodger's 7 Point Plan

Chris Jarvis       

physique, health and appearance

 height, build, hearing, eyesight, health, looks, grooming, voice, disability?

attainments

 education/qualifications (school, HE), job training, experience & learning

conceptual and reasoning ability

 knowledge-base, perception, intellectual & conceptual capacities, wisdom

special aptitudes

 physical, verbal (speech/writing), technical, figures, art, music, social?

interests

 intellectual, cultural, practical, physically active, international, aesthetic

disposition

 acceptability, relationships, leadership/initiative, motivation and drive, reliability, stability/adjustment, proactivity, influencing

circumstances

 age, plans, domestic ties, mobility, domicile, other

Essential?

Desireable?

Disqualifier?

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Core Competencies (example from major software house)

People relationships Customer relationships management Communication and persuasiveness   Business and financial judgement Knowledge sharing/management Vision, change and accountability Drive, motivation, planning and organising Problem-solving and decision-making   People management capabilities Role specific technical and specialist capabilities Professional standards and values

We sell our skills and abilities!

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Finding and attracting candidates

 

Sources



internal:

word of mouth, internal vacancy notifications, staff newsletters. Staff analysis. Career planning 

external:

where are the candidates located, in what type of job? Local, national, overseas. Do they want to move? Schools, colleges, careers centres, job shops, employment fairs.

Agencies

 recruitment consultants/agencies, head hunters,   media: newspapers, journals, radio, WWW/Internet advertising  advertising accounts, writing & designing the copy, targeting the advert, proof reading, publishing deadlines, costs  The emergence of on-line recruitment - suitable for all jobs?

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Attract Candidates - Internal vs. external sources

 

Nature of vacancy and open access?

Internal

 known qualities, locals vs. cosmopolitans   fluid internal market and contribution to culture, rewards/expectations staff database, career support planning - quicker/cheaper, incestuous?

External

 - time consuming, uncertain, new blood, socialisation inexpensive, limited choice approaches?

 staff recommendation, on-spec applications, school-college links etc.

 expensive, wider access approaches  head-hunters, general/specialist recruitment agencies, local/national press, professional & trade journals  poaching/fishing Come and live/work in our house - forming, fight/flight, norming & performing 15

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Recruitment Information System



data in/out flows

 inquiries, application packs (out/in +CVs), requests for references, security vetting, invitations for interview + joining instructions, offer letters, rejections, contract documentation   

sources and sinks

 candidates, dept. managers, receptionist, security, referees, clients data capture/storage? Find/collate, candidates in progress. Printing volume, handling, copying & distribution, short-listing, briefing.

use of IT - PC networks,word processing, databases, Intranet/Internet, Data Protection Act, Asylum & Immigration Act filtering & co-ordination of selection decision-makers?

expenses, agency fees, costing the whole process 16

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Skeletons in cupboards: References & testimonials

Chris Jarvis Obligation at law to provide a reference?

Importance/value of references? Reciprocity, validation and reliability. Security   Costs? Consequences for employee (job, mortgage, bank loan). Legal issues? Where could it go wrong?

 defamation (false statement & reputation), deceit (intention that receiver will act on the reference)  negligence - duty of reasonable care in compiling the reference, accuracy (sue for damages/loss) Organisational policy on giving references?

Right to see what is written about you? 17

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Selection - Statutory rights and requirements

Chris Jarvis   discrimination in advertising, selection methods (direct or indirect), TU. membership and activities, pregnant women in employment + failing to offer job Remedy 

GOQs Sex:

physiology, decency/privacy, living in, single sex establishments, personal services, working outside UK (culture)

GOQs Race:

dramatic performance, authenticity, restaurants, personal services • • • • • • Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 Sex Discrimination Act 1975 Race Relations Act 1976, 2000 Employment Rights Act 1996 Disability Discrim. Act 1997 Asylum and Immigration Act

CRE/EOC Codes of Practice

for advertising and selection (RRA and SDA) 18

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Selection Tests

Application form Biodata analysis Interviews  one-to-one, panel  formal and informal settings References/security screening

• • • •

reliability validity utility acceptability

  Ability tests  paper-based, practical/trade, social Aptitude, intelligence and personality Group methods & assessment centres Work experience/short term contracts Medical 19

HRM: Recruitment and Selection The Psychometric-Objective Model

Chris Jarvis Characterised by  Eternal optimism Smoothly administered/programmable Measured, controlled, predictable, systematic search often using psychometric techniques  Match evidence of competences & stable qualities to job demands

Compare with "social process" approach

  Interplay between selection events Candidate & selector feelings/responses organisational negotiations and mutual adjustments 20

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Why an Interview?

Exchange sufficient & necessary information to decide suitability Social and ritual aspects. Audition. Group/power vetting Candidate asserts abilities & presents experience.

Communicate relevant information about job/organisation - objective & subjective   Seduce candidate to become an organisational member Satisfy candidate - give fair opportunity Importance of not over-selling 21

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Interview Strategies

     Frank and friendly Problem-solving “imaging yourself in the job...what would you do if...?

Behavioural event - critical experiences - what, why, how, options, plans, outcomes Simulate stress. Put on the spot? Validity? Spurious appeal?

Strengths and weaknesses of

 individual interviews   sequential interviews panel interviews 22

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Reception

Schedule for the day candidates, Cooks Tour, guides & interviewers, domestics & catering receiving applicants   site security, car parks travel and subsistence arrangements waiting place 23

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection The GASP Interview

Interviewer Preparation

 G A

reeting cquiring Information

 S P

upplying Information arting

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection GASP Interview - Greeting

        Move towards genuine welcome, positive regard Calm, neutral, with no interruptions Put at ease, build and maintain rapport seating voice, eye contact, warmth and body posture.....NVC

Preparation and “contract of interest and expectation” Opening conversation CHANGING GEAR - Moving smoothly into main substance of the interview.

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection GASP - Acquiring Information

Listen more - talk less. Ratio % interviewer/interviewee.

Objectivity vs. personal preference, stereotyping & early judgement Not adversarial. Halo, horns and doppleganger effects Taking notes (on application form or interview plan) Question strategy (preparation)  Structured conversation   open-ended questions, probe and link direct, leading, trick and taboo questions Emphasise biography and experience, explanation and analysis Mental agility and hypothetical questions Let interview flow but control it: - use space/time Non-verbal signals and skills. Cover key points (interview plan) Summarise periodically and conclude 26

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection GASP - Acquiring Information - the Journey

  Recent and significant past jobs/projects  contributions, events/phases, initiatives, products, achievements and decisions. Evaluation of strengths and gaps Competence embedded in REAL experience  knowledge/understanding, analytical skill, written/numeric, specialist  attitudes and values, drives and motivation Interpersonal relations - the candidate as a person with others   Education, training, learning and development Personal and domestic topics - relevance/irrelevant Applicant’s questions about  the organisation and job - current + prospects  the terms of employment 27

HRM: Recruitment and Selection GASP - The Good Interviewer

Chris Jarvis • • • • • • ….at times well-prepared, sharp & in focus, specific & rational at other times intuitive, picking up nuances and rationalisations at others stepping back to see the whole interaction, fitting things together and noting the time left and areas to cover....

Interviewer "genuine regard for the other" helps to relax the candidate clear perception • allows productive silences & easy asking of questions. • counteracts habituated boredom in interviews • intuitive processes as well as the usual thinking, evaluating ones.

Legge - descriptive behavioural research interest 28

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection GASP Interview: Supplying Information

cutting it short (horns/halo, premature judgement) equal opportunity to all candidates intimation of success/rejection (verbals and non-verbals)?

beware misunderstandings over contractual terms. No promises.

 Communicating a decision  hints to attractive candidates (in a competitive situation)    intra-organisational bargaining the decision in writing subject to references giving career advice to rejected candidates?

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection GASP Interview: Parting

Signal closure - NVC plus statement requires as much skill as opening the interview clarify future steps - the remaining interview schedule  verify  dates - holidays and availabilities  phone, post stand up, move, exchange parting courtesies 30

HRM: Recruitment and Selection

Chris Jarvis “Utilised properly; depending on its exact purpose, the interview emerges as a valid reliable tool in candidate assessment. Moreover its flexibility to act as a medium for mutual preview or as a final stage forum for negotiation between the parties, renders the interview more useful in selection than narrowly focused definitions of validity and reliability can convey”

Anderson and Shackleton, Successful Selection Interviewing, Blackwell, 1993 pp 69

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HRM: Recruitment and Selection

Chris Jarvis

GASP Interview Issues

 

premature decision

 Tentative, pre-determined views seldom altered at interview  accept/reject within 3-4 min. Gather evidence to confirm first impression   Weak candidates make average candidates look good Unstructured interviews vs impression management and random selection

propositions

 interview practice does not improve performance  training does

dramatic performance may not reflect job.

Interviewee actors.

panel interviews

- defer to most influential member. Poor correlation of views when choice is confidential

psychometric tests

- weak evidence but belief and practice strong.

psychometric-objective model vs. social process?

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Stereotyping

What is it? What form does it take? How and why does it occur? Common stereotypes   Positive and negative value? Problems of signs, signifiers, interpretation. Body language.

Presentation of self - "Front" - stage and audience What dangers for fairness and equity?

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HRM: Recruitment and Selection Assessment Centre Methods

Chris Jarvis   

Group work:

 Problem-solving in team situations, interpersonal skills, listening, thinking on feet, influencing and coordinating. Realistic/unrealistic scenarios. Organising/prioritising. Emotional resilience.

Competence of observer-testers Presentations:

 verbal/non-verbal skills, use of media, presentation content. Analysis differentiation of higher/lower order issues, ability to construct a case. Influencing and argument. Awareness of wider issues and implications.



Work Demo or Simulation

- news reader, drivers, brick-layers, chair meetings, computer programming, counselling, typing/shorthand,

Portfolio Psycho-tests

• • • •

reliability validity utility acceptability

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Assessment Centre Programmes

Programme (battery) of different tests Systematic job analysis: performance criteria, skills & behaviours Select valid, reliable, cost effective exercises   Validate the exercises on a sample of subjects Train tester-assessors to observe and rate Feedback to candidates Evaluate the techniques and process outcomes

External & internal candidates?

Psychometric-objective model vs social process

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Assessment Centres - identifying promotion potential

Superior assessments?

High degree of validity?

  Recognising formal & informal qualities - not all job-related required for organisational success Post-assessment centre judgments coloured by knowledge of individual's performance in the assessment centre Assessment centres define and construct potential > discover it.

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Competitive advantage and core competencies

Skill, capability, competence as "keys" to competitive advantage Job demands arising from performance oriented organisational change, TQM & IT initiatives Emphasis on managerial competences for performance Boyatzis (1982), Bethell-Fox (1992), MCI (1990) Communication, leadership, group and decision skills, project management, entrepreneurship Outward-looking, market-focused, team-oriented Psychometric assessment techniques e.g. tests of cognitive ability to identify potential 37

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Intelligence and Aptitude Testing

verbal fluency & comprehension logical & numerical spatial & mechanical memory

GMAT Graduate Management Admissions Test

What is IQ?

Tests for

 clerical, apprentice & general staff selection     health, fitness, mental agility verbal & numerical problems IT skills honesty, neurosis, tolerance, ethics?

What employability tests would you use for airline cabin crew?

Chris Jarvis 38

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Personality Tests



Cattell 16 PF

 warmth        intelligence emotional stability dominance impulsiveness conformity boldness sensitivity         suspiciousness imagination shrewdness insecurity radicalism self-sufficiency self-discipline tension 

Myers-Briggs (Type Indicator)

    Introvert Intuitive Feeling Extrovert Sensing Thinking Perceptive Judging

TYPES

• Testing industry - sales + training the testers • Administration? interpretation?

• Supplementary information for decision-making?

• Predictive value?

39 Chris Jarvis

Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection The Decision and Follow-up

       Job criteria & information on candidates Reaching a consensus, taking a risk?

Zombie theory of recruitment Letters of  hold  rejection  the offer (risks and uncertainties) Contract finalisation & documentation Commencement & induction plan Organisational communications & reassurances 40

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Evaluation of the Recruitment Process

Chris Jarvis costs/methods/effort involved by stage DROP-OUT: inquirers   seen candidates “quality” of short-list per post   service indicators & client satisfaction/dissatisfaction in-house process vs. out-sourcing and agencies quality of Equal Opps provision job criteria vs. criteria used in action (actor behaviour) added PR value - image projected SURVIVAL: number retained after 6 months recommendations for improvement

Evaluate reliability, validity and utility of methods used Psychometric-objective model versus social process

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Chris Jarvis

HRM: Recruitment and Selection Evaluation of Selection Process

candidate feedback on selection methods & experience observation and incident analysis e.g. re-equal opportunities selector “self-evaluation”?

relevance, reliability, validity and utility of selection methods/tests recommendations for improvement 42