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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
HR in the 21st Century: The Converse of In-Person Communication
A job interview is a job interview, and interviews conducted on the phone pose all the
challenges of a face-to-face interview—and then some. One needs to take telephone
interviewing seriously because many corporations now use them to prescreen applicants,
and more importantly, because some HR departments rely on phone interviews
exclusively.
B. Selection Errors
No selection system is perfect, and an organization will always make at least an occasional
selection error and hire the wrong person. Actually, two basic types of selection errors can be
made: false positives and false negatives. In each case, the decision maker examines the
information available, predicts whether the applicant will ultimately succeed or fail on the job,
and then decides to hire or reject the person on the basis. In each case, some of the predictions
are correct and others are incorrect; these situations are illustrated in Figure 7.6.
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
C. Reliability and Validity
Reliability and validity are important concepts for any psychological type of measurement
and are especially important for establishing the “job relatedness” of a selection technique.
Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of a particular selection device. Specifically, it means
Validity
Validity refers to the extent to which a measure or indicator is in fact a real reflection of
what it is assumed to be. Criterion-related validity refers to the extent to which a
Different relationships, or correlations, are illustrated in Figure 7.7.
• It is important that both the test and other selection devices be reliable and that the
measure of performance or success be reliable.
D. Legal and Effectiveness Issues in Recruiting and Selection
Two issues of importance for selection decisions, as well as recruiting, are an awareness of
legal issues and the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of these activities.
Legal Issues in Recruiting and Selection
The Civil Rights Act (and other nondiscrimination legislation) applies to all employment
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Evaluating Recruiting and Selection
Because recruiting and selection are such vital parts of the HRM process for most
V. Training and Development
Once new employees have been hired, HR managers must take steps to ensure that they can
perform to their full potential as soon as possible. This generally involves training and
development.
Several basic steps in the design of any training or development program are illustrated in Figure
7.8. The process should begin with a needs analysis where human resource managers responsible
for training and development determine the organization’s true needs vis-à-vis training. This
analysis generally focuses on two issues: the organization’s job-related needs and the capabilities
of the current workforce.
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
training.
Finally, once the organization has decided on whether to conduct training and development in-
house or through outsourcing, it must decide upon the specific techniques to be used. For some
Instructional-based programs are also quite common, especially the lecture or discussion
approach. In these situations, a trainer presents the material to those attending the program in a
lecture format; although lectures continue to play a role in most training programs, there is
evidence that their use has been declining, and they are being replaced with training outside the
classroom, primarily using electronic technologies.
A. Management Development
The training and development issues are applicable to both standard training programs and
development programs. This process involves more generalized training for future managerial
B. Organizational Development
Organizational development (OD) is a system-wide effort, managed from the top of the
organization, to increase the organization’s overall performance through planned
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Finally, in process consultation the OD consultant observes managers in the organization to
develop an understanding of their communication patterns, decision-making and leadership
processes, and methods of cooperation and conflict resolution. The consultant provides
feedback and recommendations to the managers about how to improve these procedures.
C. Evaluating Training and Development
The purpose of training and development is to enact fundamental change in individual
performance behavior (or other outcomes), and it is relatively easy to quantify such changes,
making evaluation more straightforward. This type of evaluation might be relatively simple,
Closing Case: The Temptation of Temping
Case Summary
In the current economic climate, unfortunately, overall job postings are down on Craigslist—and
everywhere else—except for short-term gigs that usually include no health benefits, sick days, or
paid vacations. If one is employed short term or part time for economic reasons (probably
because you got laid off), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classifies you as
“underemployed.” Naturally, most people who are “underemployed” are, by definition,
“overqualified.” In fact, they often have years of professional experience but are willing to take
jobs that don’t call for their levels of training or experience.
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Case Questions
1. You’re a senior manager at a growing business and you’re ready to add employees. Your
HR manager has recommended a temp-to-perm policy. You know the advantages of this
approach, but what might be some disadvantages?
Students’ answers might vary. Some of the disadvantages of using the temp-to-perm
2. Assume that you’re a prospective job seeker (which you may very well be). What do you
personally see as the advantages and disadvantages of taking a temp-to-perm position?
Under what circumstances are you most likely to take a temp-to-perm position?
Students’ answers might vary. A disadvantage of taking up a temps is that one would be
3. What challenges are likely to confront a manager who supervises a mix of temporary and
permanent employees? In what ways might these challenges differ if the temporary
workers have been hired on a temp-to-perm basis rather than on a strictly temporary
basis?
Students’ answers might vary. One major challenge for the HR manager is supervising the
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
The following items appear on the in-text Instructor Prep Cards. These notes and
suggested talking points should help instructors conduct these exercises with the students.
Discussion Questions
1. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of internal versus external
recruiting.
Advantages of internal recruiting include:
• Motivation for current employees
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
2. Identify and describe the basic methods used by organizations for external recruiting.
The basic methods for external recruiting include:
• Drawing from the general labor pool
• Using referrals from existing employees
3. What is a realistic job preview? What function does it serve?
A realistic job preview is an attempt to paint a more realistic picture for an applicant of a
4. How would you feel if you thought you deserved to be promoted, but instead the
organization hired someone from outside and made that person your boss? What would
you do?
Students’ answers will vary. Students may say that they would feel a sense of unfairness or
5. Which recruiting methods are most likely to attract your attention?
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Students’ answers will vary. However, students will likely cite the Internet as a major
6 What are the general steps in the selection process?
The three steps in the selection process are:
• Gathering information about the members of the pool of qualified recruits in terms of
7. What are the most common selection criteria that organizations use when making selection
decisions?
The most common selection criteria include education and experience, skills and abilities
8. Identify and describe several popular selection techniques.
Employment applications ask individuals for various bits of personal information such as
name, educational background, career goals, and experience. More sophisticated
applications include the weighted application blank and the biodata application.
Employment tests are devices for measuring characteristics of an individual such as
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
9. Can you identify various kinds of jobs where experience is more important than education?
Where education is more important than experience?
Students’ answers will vary. Generally, experience will be more important than education
for jobs that are more effectively learned by doing the actual job. Many types of jobs
include physical components, such as working with machinery or using the hands, which
10. Which selection techniques would you feel most confident in using? Least confident in
using? Why?
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Students’ answers will vary. Many students may say they would feel most confident using
the interview as a selection technique, because this is the technique with which they are
11. What kinds of training would organizations prefer to “pay for”—specific skills training or
more general management development?? Why?
Students’ answers will vary. Students should point out that it depends on the organizational
Ethical Dilemmas in HR Management
Scenario Summary
Students are asked to assume that after working for several years, they returned to graduate
school to take some advanced courses and earn a master’s degree as a way of improving both
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Questions
1. What are the ethical issues in this situation?
An issue is whether the job applicant should misrepresent him- or herself through the
2. What are the basic arguments for and against “cheating” on the personality tests?
For:
• The job candidate is highly motivated to work for the company, which may be more
important than whether he or she has the personality that the organization is seeking.
Against:
• It may be unethical to answer the personality measure inaccurately, because the job
3. What do you think most job seekers would do? What would you do?
Students’ answers will vary. One influence on answers will be the extent to which students
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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees
Assignment
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you insights into effective and ineffective
recruiting via advertisements.
Step 1: Obtain a section of a newspaper (no longer than one page) that contains numerous
Step 2: Ask students to form pairs with their classmates. Exchange ad pages with the student in
Step 3: Each student should next reveal his or her own choices for most and least effective
recruiting ads, along with his or her rationales for his or her choices.