Selection

Introduction

Selection can be conceptualized in terms of either choosing the fit candidates, or rejecting the unfit candidates, or a combination of both. So, selection process assumes rightly that, there is more number of candidates than the number of candidates actually selected, where the candidates are made available through recruitment process. Selection is a process of choosing the most suitable persons out of all the participants. In this process, relevant information about applicant is collected through series of steps so as to evaluate their suitability for the job to be filled. On other hand, selection is the process of assessing the candidates by various means and making a choice followed by an offer of employment.

Therefore, in simple terms, selection is a process in employment function which starts immediately upon receipt of resumes and application letters, the major concern being reviewing resumes for basic qualifications. A job seeker who does not meet the required qualification is not an applicant and should not be considered. It is a process which should be based on job-related qualifications including, but not limited to: required or preferred education, experience and knowledge, skills and abilities as identified in the job description. Qualifications must be bona fide occupational qualifications. An applicant who is hired must meet the required qualifications listed in the job description. In this regard, Selection is a process of matching the qualifications of applicants with the job requirements; it is a process of weeding out unsuitable candidates and finally identifies the most suitable candidate.

Selection and Recruitment are compared

Selection is different from recruitment, where recruitment technically precedes selection. Recruitment involves identifying the sources of manpower and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organizations. On the other hand, selection is the process of choosing the best out of those recruited. Recruitment is positive as aims at increasing the number of applications for wider choices or for increasing the selection ratio.

Selection is an important function as no organisation can achieve its goals without selecting the right people, where faulty in selection leads to wastage of time, money and spoils the environment of an organisation. In this regard, scientific selection and placement of personal can go a long way in building up a stable work

force, where it helps to reduce absenteeism and labour turnover at the same time very helpful in increasing the efficiency and productivity of the enterprise.

With the same idea, argues that, recruitment and selection differ in term of objective, process, technique and outcome, which are discussed as follows:

Firstly, the ultimate objectives of both recruitment and selection are to acquire suitable candidates but their immediate objectives differ, where the basic objective of recruitment is to attract maximum number so that more options are available; the basic objective of selection is to choose best out of the available candidates.

Secondly, recruitment differs from selection in term of process, where it adopts the process of creating application pool as large as possible; while selection adopts the process through which more and more candidates are rejected and fewer candidates are selected or sometime not even a single candidate is selected.

Thirdly, in respect to techniques involved, recruitment techniques are not very intensive, requiring high skills, as against this, in selection process, highly specialized techniques are required. Therefore, in the selection process, only personnel with specific skills like expertise in using selection tests, conducting interviews and like is involved.

Fourthly, since recruitment and selection are two inter-linked steps in the process of manpower acquisition, they differ in term of outcome; where the outcome for recruitment is application pool which becomes input for selection process, on the other hand, the outcome of selection process is in the form of finalizing candidates who will be offered jobs.

Factors for Selection Process

The basic idea in a selection process is to solicit maximum possible information about the candidates to ascertain their suitability for employment, and given the fact that, there are factors which affect the seeking of such information. The following factors which determine the steps involved in a selection process;

Firstly, various steps involved in a selection process depend on the type of personnel to be selected. For example, more information is required for the selection of managerial personnel as compared to subordinate workers.

Secondly, selection process depends on the source of recruitment and the method that is adopted for making contact with prospective candidates. For example, in the case of advertisement, selection process is more comprehensive and time-consuming, where as in the case of campus recruitment; the process is shortened and may be completed in a day.

Thirdly, selection process depends on the number of candidates that are available for selection. If the number is large enough, there is a need for creating various filtering points and reducing the number of applicants at each successive point. However, where the number of applicants is small, lesser number of filtering points are required.

Fourthly, organization’s selection policy also determines the way to be involved in selection process.

Steps in Selection Process

Selection process consists of a series of steps, facts may come light which may lead to the rejection of the applicant. It is a series of successive hurdles or barriers which an applicant must cross. These hurdles or screens are designed to eliminate an unqualified candidate at any point in the selection process.

There is no standards selection procedure to be used in all organisations or for all jobs. The complexity of selection procedures increases with the level and responsibility of the position to be filled. Therefore, the strategy and method used for selecting employees varies from firm and from one job to another.

Scholars of Human Resource Management suggested the following steps to be involved in employee’s selections process, through not necessary to be implemented chronologically:-

I. Preliminary Interview (Screening Applications) Initial screening is done to weed out totally undesirable/unqualified candidates at the outset. It is essentially a sorting process in which prospective candidates are given the necessary information about the nature of the job and the organisation, at the same time, the necessary information is also elicited from the candidates about their education, skills, experience, salary expected and the like. It helps to determine whether it is worthwhile for a candidate to fill up the application form. At this juncture, test of authenticity for candidate’s relevant certificates is done.

II. Application Form Application form is a traditional and widely used device for collecting information from candidates. Is should provide all the information relevant to selection, where reference for caste, religion, birth place, may be avoided as it may be regarded an evidence of discrimination.

III. Selection Test

Psychological tests are being increasingly used in employee selection, where a test may involve some aspect of an individual’s attitudes, behavior and performance. Tests are useful when the number of applicants is large, as a best it reveals that the candidates who scored above the predetermined cutoff points are likely to be more successful than those scoring below the cutoff point.

IV. Employment Interview Interview is an essential element of selection and no selection procedure is complete without one or more personal interviews, where the information collected through application letter or application forms and tests can be cross-checked in the interview, where candidates demonstrates their capabilities and strength in relevant to their academic credentials.

A selection in interview serves three purposes:a) Obtaining information about the background, education,

training, work history and interests of candidateb) Giving information to candidates about the company, the

specific job and human resource policies; andc) Establishing a friendly relationship between the employer and

the candidate so as to motivate the successful applicant to work for the organisation.

However, in practice interviews becomes a one-sided affair serving only the first purpose.

V. Medical Examination Applicants who have crossed the above stages are sent for a physical examination either to the company’s physician or to a medical officer approved for the purpose. Such examination serves the following purposes:-

a) It determines whether the candidate is physically fit to perform the job, where those who are physically unfit are rejected.

b) It reveals existing disabilities and provides a record of the employee’s health at the time of selection. This record will help in setting company’s liability under the workmen compensation Act for claim for any injury.

c) It prevents the employment of people suffering from contagious diseases.

d) It identifies candidates who are otherwise suitable but require specific jobs due to physical handicaps and allergies.

VI. Reference Checks The applicant is asked to mention in his application form, the names and addresses of two or more persons who know him well. These may be his previous employers, heads of education institutions or public figures. These people are requested to provide their frank opinion about the candidate without incurring any liability. In government and public sector organisations, candidates are generally required their applications through their present employers, if any. The opinion of referees can be useful in judging the future behaviour and performance of candidate, but is not advisable to rely exclusively on the referees because they are generally biased in favour of the candidate.

Also a clear, unbiased and comprehensive description of candidates abilities and behaviour by his or her employer would be of enormous value in selection, particularly if the employer also supplied job satisfaction, but unfortunately this ideal is never realised, for several reasons:-

a) Most candidates are employed at the time of their application, and do not wish their employers to know they are looking elsewhere.

b) A prospective employer would be breaking a confidence if he or she asked for a reference before an offer of a job had been made and accepted.

c) By the time an offer has been accepted, selection is over and the reference is too late to affect it.

d) An offer may be made ‘subject to satisfactory references’, but as most references are received after the candidate has started work, they can only be used to warn managers of possible faults in the candidate which in serious cases may eventually lead to warnings followed by dismissal.

e) Employers giving references are usually extremely cautious; many references merely state the job title, the date of employment, and reasons for leaving.

f) References are occasionally biased, giving a good reference to hasten an employee’s departure or a poor one because of a grudge.

Therefore, the best references are obtained in person, where there is a chance to see whether nonverbal behaviour matches what is said. If such a meeting cannot be arranged, telephoning is the next best alternative.

VII. Final Approval In most of the organisations, selection process is carried out by the human resource department, where the decisions of the department are recommendatory. The candidates shortlisted by the department are finally approved by the executive of concerned departments or units.

VIII. Employment Employment is offered in the form of an appointment letter mentioning the post, the rank, the salary grade, the date by which the candidate should join and other terms and conditions in brief. In some organisations, a contract of service is signed by both the candidate and the representative of the organisation. It is at this point where a selected applicant is handled with a letter of offer for a job, the initial offer of a job needs special care, particularly as regards the following points:-

a) The wage or salary offered must not only be appropriate to the job and attractive to the candidate but consistent with the earnings of present employees.

b) The job must be named and any special conditions stated, for instance, the first year you will be under training at the head office, then you will be transferred to up-country branches.

c) The candidate must know the essential conditions of employment, such as hours of work, holidays, bonuses and fringe benefits.

d) Any provisos must be clearly stated, for example, your employment will be subject to satisfactory references and medical examinations.

Appointment is generally made on probation of one or two years, where upon satisfactory performance during this period, the candidate is finally in the job on the terms employed with, whether permanent or contractual basis.

IX. Induction The process of receiving employees when they begin work, introducing them to the company and to their colleagues, and informing them of the activities, customs and traditions of the company is called is called Induction. At this juncture various induction courses are done to new recruit in order to acclimatize them with the new working environment.

X. Follow-Up (Evaluation) All selection should be validated by follow-up. It is a stage where employee is asked how he or she feels about progress to date and the worker’s immediate supervisor is asked for comments, which are compared with the notes taken at the selection interview. If a follow-up is probable that selection has been a fault; the whole process from job specification to interview is then reviewed to see if a better choice can be made next time. Though evaluation is not strictly a step of selection process but helps in ensuring its effectiveness as it tries to measure the reliability and the validity of various steps used in the selection process.

Therefore, it is essential to follow up newly engaged employees to ensure that they have settled in and to check on how well they are doing, if there any problems, it is much better to identify them at an early stage rather than allowing them to fester.

Concluding Remarks

Therefore, the basic objective of selection is to hire those candidates with a high probability for job success. A multiple hurdle plan is the best selection strategy. Selection hurdles or tests include pre-employment inquiries, application forms, initial screening interviews, background investigations, work sample tests, and interviews.

Also, Recruiting and selecting the right people for your business is a challenge, and every situation is unique. If one is innovative, persistent and realistic, and can communicate the strengths of the business and the benefits of the positions one offer, one should be successful in attracting high quality employees to build careers with his or her organisation.

Generally, characteristics which employers look for while hiring are: the person should be hungry for success and have a risk taking capacity. He or she must also be able to ‘think-out-of-the-box’, learn to live with stress, be a great team player and have a commitment outlook. Hence, the organisations will end up having strong committed team to meet its goals and objectives.