Management Chapter 7 Recruiting Selecting Training And Developing Employees Ways Another Type Error Interviewers

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Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

ways.

• Another type of error interviewers make is that of nonrelevancy, when the interviewer

is influenced by information that is irrelevant to the job.

• A final type of error that is common in interview situations has to do with the

interviewer’s knowledge of the job.

E. Other Selection Techniques

References and Recommendations

The job applicant is usually asked to provide either letters of recommendation or the names

and addresses of individuals who may be contacted to write such letters. References and

Assessment Centers

Another selection technique that is used widely, but only for the selection of managers, is

the assessment center. An assessment center is not a physical location but is instead an

approach to selecting managers based on measuring and evaluating their ability to perform

critical work behaviors.

IV. The Selection Decision

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

The final step in the selection process is deciding whom to hire.

A. Multiple Indicators

By using multiple approaches, the organization is able to counterbalance the measurement

error in one selection technique against another, and it is also able to base decisions on the

basis of more complete information. The organization must decide if a candidate must pass

some minimum requirement on every selection technique, or if a high score in one area can

compensate for a lower score somewhere else.

Contemporary Challenges in HR: 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 today, many corporations use them to prescreen applicants,

and more importantly, because some HR departments rely on phone interviews

exclusively.

If one gets invited to a telephone interview, here are a few tips to remember: be flexible;

prepare for the interview; be positive; know what one is talking about and be specific; refer

to one’s notes; take the initiative; and know when a topic’s been covered (and when the

conversation’s over).

Microsoft’s Matt Aberham offers five ways to avoid failing at a telephone interview: keep

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

not “we”; be concrete instead of abstract; and don’t ask “How’d I do?”

Think It Over

1. As a job seeker, would you prefer a telephone interview or a face-to-face interview?

Why?

Students’ answers will vary. Some students may prefer a telephone interview as it

saves time, such as the time taken to travel to the location of the interviewer’s

workplace. Some students may prefer a face-to-face interview as it is more

convenient for them to meet the interviewer than to set up space for a telephone

interview that is free of disturbances or interruptions.

2. The preceding advice is directed at the job seeker. What advice might be useful for

the person conducting the telephone interview?

Students’ answers will vary. Advice to the interviewer may include scheduling the

interview well ahead of time and communicating the time to the applicant so that he

or she can plan for it accordingly. When the call begins, check whether all the

individuals attending the interview are audible to each other; this minimizes chances

of mishearing or being misheard.

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 that basis. In each case, some of the

predictions are correct and others are incorrect; these situations are illustrated in Figure 7.6.

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

organization. Specifically, it is possible to minimize the number of poor performers that are

hired by using more rigorous tests or more challenging interviews to make selection

decisions. The information in Figure 7.6 also provides some insight into the issue of test

validity. If a test is valid, then there should be many more “hits” than errors.

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

that the selection device measures whatever it is supposed to measure, without random

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.

D. Legal and Effectiveness Issues in Recruiting and Selection

Two final 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

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

The Civil Rights Act (and other nondiscrimination legislation) applies to all employment

decisions, but this legislation is clearly most critical for selection decisions. An

organization faced with a prima facie case of discrimination must prove that the basis for

the selection decision was job related, and this is demonstrated by establishing the validity

of a selection instrument.

Evaluating Recruiting and Selection

Because recruiting and selection are such vital parts of the HRM process for most

organizations, it stands to reason that organizations will periodically evaluate their

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.

Employee training can be defined as a planned attempt by an organization to facilitate employee

learning of job-related knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Development, on the other hand,

usually refers to teaching managers and professionals the skills needed for both present and

future jobs.

situations, organizations might prefer to rely upon various work-based programs. Work-based

programs tie the training and development activities directly to performance of the tasks. The

most common method of work-based training is on-the-job training. Two other types of work-

based training are apprenticeship programs and vestibule training. Apprenticeships involve a

combination of on-the-job training and classroom instruction. Vestibule training involves a

method that involves basic instruction as a training device is programmed instruction.

A. Management Development

The training and development issues discussed thus far are applicable to both standard

training programs and development programs. However, some specialized issues and

techniques come into play in management development. This process involves more

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

when an employee feels harassed.

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

interventions. The technique relies heavily upon behavioral science technology, and although

the development activities target the individual, the purpose is to ultimately change the way

the entire organization operates.

feedback and recommendations to the managers about how to improve these procedures.

At some point, when change begins to spread throughout the organization, one can actually

talk about “organizational learning” taking place. It refers to the process by which an

organization “learns” from past mistakes and adapts to its environment.

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,

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

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 will vary. One major challenge for the HR manager is supervising the

culture of the organization because temporary employees may feel negatively about

Discussion Questions

1. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of internal versus external recruiting.

The following are the advantages of internal recruiting.

The following are the disadvantages of internal recruiting.

The following are the advantages of external recruiting.

The following are the disadvantages of external recruiting.

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

• Being more expensive than internal recruiting

Note that the advantages and disadvantages of internal recruiting run directly counter to

those of external recruiting. Many organizations prefer to rely on both types of recruiting

so that the advantages and disadvantages of each particular recruiting effort can be

matched to unique contexts.

2. Identify and describe the basic methods used by organizations for external recruiting.

The following are the basic methods for external recruiting.

• Drawing from the general labor pool

• Using referrals from existing employees

3. What is a realistic job preview? What function does it serve?

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?

9. Which selection techniques would you feel most confident in using? Why?

10. What kinds of training would organizations prefer to “pay for”—specific skills training or

more general management development? Why?

11. How has the “Me Too” Movement changed how organizations deal with sexual

harassment training?

In light of the many women who came forward with complaints of sexual harassment,

organizations are now taking sexual harassment training very seriously. Employees at all

Additional Resource

Employees First, Customers Second

Chapter 7: Recruiting, Selecting, Training, and Developing Employees

TEDx Talk by Vineet Nayar, former CEO of HCL Technologies, titled “Employees First,