Chapter 1

The Strategic Role of Human Resource Management

Learning Outcomes
• Explain what Strategy, strategic planning and strategic management
are
• Describe various strategic planning process
• Explain different steps of strategic management process in detail
• Describe the role of HR in formulating and executing strategy
• Explain Basic Model of how to Align HR Strategy and Actions with
Business Strategy
• Define HR scorecard approach in detail

2
Strategy and Strategic Management
• Strategy
• A course of action that a company can pursue to achieve its strategic aims.
• Adoption of tactics for long term courses of action
• Strategy is concerned with the overall goal of achieving sustainable
competitive advantage
• Strategy requires a holistic view, that is, a focus on the whole, not on partial
objectives, and not to specific components of business.
• Example, profit is not goal, rather it is the consequence of good strategy

3
Strategies in Brief
Name of the Company Strategic Principle
• eBay • Focus on trading communities
• General Electronics • Be number one or number two in every
industry in which we compete, or get out
• Southwest Airlines • Meet customers’ short-haul travel needs at
fares competitive with the cost of
automobile travel
• Wal- Mart • Low prices, every day

4
The nature of strategy

The Firm The Industry

• Goals & Environment
Values • Competitors
• Resources & STRATEGY
• Customers
Capabilities
• Suppliers
• Structure &
Systems

5
Strategic Plan
• The long term plan of a company about how it will balance its internal
strength and weakness with its external opportunities and threats to
maintain a competitive advantage.
• There are 3 types of strategic planning
• Corporate level strategy: where to compete
• Business level strategy: how to compete
• Functional strategy: how to implement

6
1. Corporate level strategy
a) Diversification strategy: firms will expand by adding new product
lines. For example Fair & Lovely multivitamin
b) Vertical Integration strategy: firms will expand by producing its
own raw materials or direct selling.
c) Consolidation strategy: reduces the size of the company
d) Geographic expansion strategy: expanding business across national
border.

7
2. Business level strategy
a) Low cost leadership strategy: the company aims to become the
market leader. For example Ryan Air
b) Differentiation strategy: a firm seeks to be unique in its industry.
Example: Emirates
c) Focus strategy: a firm seeks to carve out a market niche, and compete by providing a product or services customers can get in no other
way.

Example: Ela’s kitchen

8
3. Functional strategy
• Basic course of action that each department will look for to help
organization achieve its goals.
• Example: Square Pharmaceuticals should recruit more science
graduates.

9
• Strategic Management:
• The process of identifying and executing the mission of an
organization by matching its capabilities with the demand of its
environment.
• For example, Good business strategic decisions (e.g., new
distribution channels) helped HONDA to become successful in US
market
• “capabilities” are potential for work performance. A distinctive capability becomes a
competitive advantage when it is applied in a firm and brought to a market.
• Any features that allow an organization to differentiate its product or services
from those of its competitors to increase its market share.
• Vision means the broad picture of idea about what an organization wishes to
achieve in future.
• Mission is about what an organization does to achieve its vision. It is the action
statement to achieve vision.

10
• Honda
• Started exporting to US in late 1950’s
• Initially focused on selling their large motorcycles, thought to be attractive to
US consumers
• Their large bikes proved failure–prone in the US; retail outlets of bike
enthusiasts snubbed Honda
• Honda executives riding Honda 50cc bike attracted attention, including a call
from a Sears buyer
• Honda began to sell small bikes, through sporting goods stores, not
motorcycle dealers
• Within 5 years, one in three bikes sold in US was from Honda. Eventually,
large bikes sold too
Lessons:
1)Serendipitous success favours the ones who have strong capabilities for
something
2)Good business strategic decisions (e.g., new distribution channels) also critical
to unlock success

11
 Strategic Management Process

Perform Formulate a
Define the Translate the
internal strategy to
business mission into Implement Evaluating
and strategic
achieve
the strategy performance
and its strategic
external goals
mission goals
audits

12
Strategic Human Resource Management
• Strategic Human Resource Management means formulating and executing human resource policies and practices that increase employee competencies and

.
behaviours that required by the companies to achieve its strategic aims

• Linking of HRM with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve

business performance and develop organizational culture that foster
innovation and flexibility.

13
Linkage of SHRM to Strategic Aim
• Management formulates a strategic plan that requires certain
workforce.
• Example: company X needs more computer- literature employees.
• According to this requirement, HRM formulates strategies such as
policies and practices to produce the desired workforce skills,
competencies and behaviours.
• Actions are taken by HR managers to evaluate if the newly formulated
strategy is producing the required behaviour.

14
HRD’s Strategic Roles
• HR professionals should be part of the firms’ strategic planning
executive team.
• Identify the human issues that are vital to business strategy
• Help establish and execute strategy
• Provide alternative insights
• Are centrally involved in creating response and market driven organizations
• Conceptualize and execute organizational change

15
HR’s Strategy Formulation Role
• HR help top management formulate strategy in variety of ways by
• Supplying competitive intelligence that may be useful in the strategic planning
process
• Supplying information regarding company’s internal human resource strength
and weakness
• Building a persuasive case that shows how- in specific and measurable terms-
the firm’s HR activities can contribute to create value for the company

16
HR’s Strategy Execution Role

• The HR department’s strategies, policies and activities must make

sense in terms of the company’s corporate and competitive
strategies, and they must support those strategies

17
Basic Model of how to Align HR Strategy and Actions with Business Strategy

Formulate Business Strategy

Identify Workforce
Requirements
Formulate HR strategic
policies and activities
Develop detailed HR
scorecard Measures

18
1. Formulate Business Strategy
• What are the strategic goals of the business?

2. Identify Workforce Requirements

• What employee competencies and behaviours must HR deliver to enable the
business to reach its goals

3. Formulate HR strategic policies and activities

• Which HR strategies and practices will enable HR to produce these employee
competencies and behaviours?

19
4. Develop detailed HR scorecard Measures
• HR Scorecard
• The way HR functions efficiency and effectiveness in producing employee competencies
and behaviours is measured which is required to achieve company’s strategic goals.
• Creating an HR scorecard
• Must know the strategy of the company
• Must understand the casual links between HR activities, employee behaviours and
organizational outcomes.

20
• Shanghai Portman Ritz-Carlton Example
• Ritz-Carlton company took over Portman Hotel
• The new management decided to provide superior customer service
• They admitted that to achieve this strategic goal, employees would have to
exhibit new competencies and behaviours.
• To produce these behaviours, they interviewed each candidate and selected
only those who cared for and respected others.
• That means, they focus on talent and personal values because these are the
things that cannot be taught
• Thus they became the best employer as well as business hotel in Asia.

21
• References
• Dessler, G., 2013. Fundamentals of human resource management. Pearson.
• Dutta, S., Narasimhan, O., & Rajiv, S. 2005. Conceptualizing and Measuring Capabilities:
Methodology and Empirical Application. Strategic Management Journal, 26(3): 277-285.
• Grant, R. M. (1991). The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for
Strategy Formulation. California Management Review, 33(3): 114-135.
• Rumelt, R. (1991). “How much does industry matter?”, Strategic Management Journal, 12, 167-
186
• Grant, Robert M. (2013). Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 8th ed. Wiley

22
 Chapter 2

Job Analysis and the Talent Management Process

Learning Outcomes
• Define talent management and explain why it is important.
• Discuss the process of job analysis, including why it is important.
• Explain how to use at least three methods of collecting job analysis
information.
• Explain how you would write a job description.
• Explain how to write a job specification.
• Explain competency-based job analysis and how it’s done in practice.

2
Talent Management
• the holistic, integrated and results and goal-oriented process of planning,

recruiting, selecting, developing, managing, and compensating employees .

3
Actions required to take Talent Management Approach

• Starting with the results and determining the kind of recruiting,

testing, training, or pay action should be taken to produce the
employee competencies we need to achieve our company’s goals.
• Recruiting, training etc. are viewed as interrelated activities. For
example, the manager knows that having employees with the right
skills depends as much on recruiting and training as on applicant
testing.
• Using the same “profile” of required human competencies for
formulating a job’s recruitment plans as for making selection,
training, appraisal, and compensation decisions for it.
• Takes steps to actively coordinate/integrate talent management
functions
4
Job Analysis
• The procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a
job and the kind of person who should be hired for it.
• Job analysis produces information for writing job descriptions and
job specifications.

5
Elements of Job analysis
• Job Description
• A list of job duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships, working
conditions and supervisory responsibilities. That means, it is a list of what the
job entails. It keeps on relevant information about a job.

• Job Specification
• It is a statement of the skills, abilities, education, work experience physical
make up, intelligence etc. that are required to perform a job. That means,
what kind of people are required to perform the job is job specification

6
Significance of Job analysis
• A clear description of roles and responsibilities through job analysis ensures that
every level of organizational hierarchy understands its contribution and adds
value to the product/service development and delivery with minimum overlap or
wastage of resources.
• A proactive job analysis also contributes to organizational performance by
promoting positive job attitudes and work commitment.
• it offers a useful opportunity to assess the physical and social context of work and
make necessary changes to enhance employees’ interest in their jobs (Dessler et
al., 1999).
• job analysis can be used to identify factors that shape workers’ motivation and
job satisfaction. Example: salary structure of NSU
• Timely and accurate information on job duties and responsibilities as well as level
of performance required to achieve results provides workers with clear direction
and definite targets to pace their performance efforts efficiently.
7
information collected through job analysis
1. Work activities
2. Human behaviors
3. Machines, tools, equipment, and work aids
4. Performance standards
5. Job context
6. Human requirements

8
Uses of Job Analysis Information
Recruitment & Selection
• Information about what duties the job entails and what human
characteristics are required to perform these activities.
• These activities helps managers to decide what sort of people to
recruit and hire.
Performance Appraisal
• Job analysis is crucial for all major human resource practices which
helps to compare the actual performance with the standard.
Compensation
• Compensation (such as salary & bonus) usually depends on the job’s
required skill and education level, safety hazards, degree of
responsibility and so on- these all factors are assessed through job
analysis.
Training
• The job description lists the job’s specific duties and required skills
– thus pinpointing what training the job requires.
Steps in Job Analysis
Decide how will you use the information

Review relevant background information

Select Representative Positions

Actually Analyze the Job

Verify the Job Analysis Information

Develop Job Description and Job Specification

10
1. Decide the way of using information:
• At first the job analyst should decide how they will use the
information which will help them to decide which data is to be
collected and how it will be collected.
2. Review background information:
• In this step, the job analyst needs to review the background
information such as organizational hierarchy that describes the
organization – wide division of work, with titles of each position
and inter connecting lines.
3. Select Representative Positions:
• An HR manager with the help of various line managers will identify
and priorities the jobs to be analysed.

11
4. Actually Analyze the Job:
• In brief, job analysis process involves greeting each employee, briefly
explain the job analysis process and the participant role in the process,
interview the employee to get agreement on the basic summary of the job,
identify the job’s broad areas of responsibility, and interactively
identifying specific duties/task within each area.
5. Verify the Job Analysis Information:
• It is to verify the job analysis information with the worker performing the
job and with his/her immediate supervisor. This will help to confirm that
the information is actually correct and complete and help to gain their
acceptance
6. Develop Job Description and Job Specification:
• Job description lists the duties, activities, and responsibilities of the job,
as well as its important features like working conditions.
• Job specification summarizes the personal qualities, traits, skills, and
background required for getting the job.
12
Methods for collecting job analysis information

Interview

Questionnaire
Methods for collecting
Job Analysis
information
Observation

Participant Diary/log

13
1. Interview
• Information Sources
• Individual employees
• Groups of employees (when
large of employees performing
similar task)
• Supervisors with knowledge of
the job
Interview Formats
•Structured (Checklist) interview contains
specified terms or predetermined terms
to check off.
•Unstructured interview involves with the
interview questions like “Tell me about
your job”.

Advantages
• Quick, direct way to find overlooked
information

Disadvantages
• Distorted information
Typical Questions asked in Job Analysis Interview

• What is the job being performed?

• What are the major duties of the job?
• What other locations you work in?
• What activities do you participate?
• What type of qualification do you think needs to perform this
job?
• What are the basic performance standards?
• What are your working conditions?

15
Guidelines for conducting interview

• Quickly establish rapport with the interviewee

• Follow a structured guide or checklist that lists open ended
questions and provide spaces for the answer
• Ask the workers to list his duties in order of importance and
frequency of occurrence
• After completing interview, review and verify data

16
2.Questionnaire
• Information Sources
• asking employees to describe their
job-related duties and
responsibilities through
questionnaire
• Either open-ended or structured
Questionnaire Formats
•Structured Checklist questionnaire
contains specific question with
specific options to check off.
•Open-ended questions involves with
questions without specification like
“Describe the major duties of your
work”.

Advantages
• Quick and efficient way to gather
information from large numbers of
employees
• Less costly

Disadvantages
• Time consuming
• Filtered information
3. Observation
• Especially useful when jobs consist mainly of observable physical
activities such as assembly-line worker.
• Observation is usually not appropriate when the job entails a lot of
mental activity (lawyer, design engineer).
• Managers often use direct observation and interviewing together

18
4.Participant Dairy/Logs
• Information Sources
• Workers keep a
chronological diary/ log of
what they do and the time
spent on each activity.

Advantages
• Produce more concrete picture.
• Employee participation.

Disadvantages
• Distortion of information.
• Depends totally on employees.
Writing Job Descriptions
• There is no standard format for writing a job description. However,
most descriptions contain sections that cover:
1. Job identification
2. Job summary
3. Responsibilities and duties
4. Authority of incumbent
5. Standards of performance
6. Working conditions
7. Job specification

20
Writing Job specifications (Trained vs. untrained)
• In case of trained candidates, focus is given mostly on factors such as length of previous service, quality of relevant training, and previous job performance

• Here you must specify qualities such as physical traits, personality,

interests, or sensory skills that imply some potential for performing
the job or for trainability
• Employers identify the job’s human requirements.

21
Approaches of identifying job’s human
requirement
1. a subjective, judgmental approach
2. statistical analysis.

22
1. Specifications Based on Judgment
• The basic procedure here is to ask about the key human qualities
required to do this job well.
• One can simply review the job’s duties, and deduce from those what human traits and
skills the job requires
• One can also choose human traits and skills from those listed in Web-based job
descriptions like those at www.jobdescription.com.
• Generic work behavior, taking initiative, practicing self development, displaying high
integrity, drives for results, develops others hard working nature etc. are some key
human traits highly valued by employers.

23
Job Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis
• The aim of this approach is to measure relationship between human
traits and job effectiveness. The aim here is to determine if these
traits predict the performance.
• This procedure has five steps:
• analyze the job and decide how to measure job performance
• select personal traits like finger dexterity that you believe should predict performance;
• test candidates for these traits
• measure these candidates’ subsequent job performance
• statistically analyze the relationship between the human trait (finger dexterity) and job
performance

24
Competency based job analysis
• Instead of listing the job’s duties, company today are listing the
knowledge, skills, and experience someone needs to do the job.
• Such models or profiles list the competencies employees must be
able to exhibit to get their jobs done.
• cluster of highly interrelated attributes are treated as competency
that give rise to the behaviors someone would need to perform a
given job effectively

25
Redesigning a job
• Job analysis in a worker-empowered world can be done in three ways:
1. Job enlargement
• Assigning workers additional same level activities. Thus, for example, the
worker who previously only bolted the seat to the legs might attach the back
too
2. Job rotation
• Moving workers from one job to another
3. Job enrichment
• Redesign job in such a way that increases the opportunity to experience
feeling of responsibility, growth, responsibility and achievement and
therefore, more motivation. It does this by empowering the worker—for
instance, by giving the worker the skills and authority to inspect the work,
instead of having supervisors do that.

26
• References
Allan, L. (1997) ‘Internet Fits HR in a Nut Shell’, Computing Canada, 23 June: 48. Anthony,W.P.,Kacmar, K.M.andPerrewe,P.L.(2002)Human
ResourceManagement: AStrategic Approach, 4th edn. New York: South-Western.
Arthur, J.B. (1994) ‘Effects of Human Resource Systems on Manufacturing Performance and Turnover’, Academy of Management Journal, 37:
670–87.
Ash, R.A. and Levine, E. (1980) ‘A Framework for Evaluating Job Analysis Methods’, Personnel, November–December: 53–9.
Belcourt, M., Sherman, A.W., Bohlander, G.W. and Snell, S.C. (1996) Managing Human Resources, Canadian edn. Toronto, ON: Nelson Canada.
Bemis, S.E., Belenky, A.H. and Sodner, D.A. (1983) Job Analysis: An Effective Management Tool. Washington, DC: BNA Books.
Bowin, R.B. and Harvey, D. (2001) Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cardy, R. and Dobbins, G. (1992) ‘Job Analysis in a Dynamic Environment’, News (Academy of Management, Human Resources Division), 16: 4–
6.
Cascio, W.F. (1998) Managing Human Resources. Boston, MA: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Clifford, J. (1994) ‘Job Analysis: Why Do It and How Should It
Be Done?’, Public Personnel Management, 23: 321–40.
Cornelius, E., Carron, T. and Collins, M. (1979) ‘Job Analysis Models and Job Classifications’, Personnel Psychology, 22: 693–708. Daft, R.L.
(2001) Organization Theory and Design, 7th edn. New York: South-Western.
Delaney, J.T. and Huselid, M.A. (1996) ‘The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Perceptions of Organizational Performance’,
Academy of Management Journal, 30: 949–69.
Dess, G.G. and Robinson, R.B. (1984) ‘Measuring Organizational Performance in the Business Unit’, Strategic Management Journal, 5: 265–73.
Dessler, G. (2003) Human Resource Management, 9th edn. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dessler, G., Cole, N.D. and Sutherland, V.L. (1999) Human Resource Management in Canada, Canadian 7th edn. Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall
Canada.
Drucker, P. (2002) ‘They’re Not Employees, They’re People’, Harvard Business Review, 80: 70–7. Fitz-Enz, J. (1990) ‘HR Forecasts that will Benefit
your Bottom Line’, Computers in HR Management, March: 24–33.
Gael, S. (ed) (1988) ‘The Job Analysis Handbook for Business, Industry, and Government’, Vol. 1. New York: Wiley.

27
 Chapter 3

Personnel Planning and Recruiting

Learning Outcomes
• Explain the main techniques used in employment planning and
forecasting.
• Explain and give examples for the need for effective recruiting.
• Name and describe the main internal sources of candidates.
Discuss a workforce planning method you would use to improve
employee engagement.
• List and discuss the main outside sources of candidates.
• Explain how to recruit a more diverse workforce.
• Discuss practical guidelines for obtaining application information

2
Steps in Recruitment and Selection Process

candidates
Employment Recruiting:
planning and building a pool
forecasting of candidate
employees

Use selection Supervisors and

Applicants tools like tests others interview
complete to screen out final candidates
application forms most to make final
applicants choice

3
 Employment Planning and Forecasting
• Employment/Personnel Planning
• Personnel planning is the process of deciding what position the
firm will have to fill, and how to fill them.
• Its aim is to identify and address the gaps between the employer’s
workforce today, and its projected workforce needs

• The process of deciding how to fill the executive jobs are called
succession planning.

4
Approaches of Personnel/workforce Planning

reviewing the client’s business plan and workforce data

identifying what positions the firm will have to fill and potential
workforce gaps

developing a workforce strategic plan

implementing the changes

5
a. strategy and workforce planning:
• Personnel planning or workforce planning is the result of firm’s
strategic planning
• Example: plans to enter new businesses, to build new plants, or to r
educe activities will all influence the number of and types of
positions to be filled.
• At the same time, decisions regarding how to fill these positions will
impact other HR plans, for instance, training and recruitment plans.

6
a. Personnel/employment forecasting:
• Personnel plans are built on forecasts—basic assumptions about the
future.
• Managers will usually need three sets of employment forecasts:
i. Personnel needs
ii. The supply of inside candidates
iii. The supply of outside candidates
• With these, the manager can identify supply–demand gaps, and
develop action plans to fill the projected gaps

7
i. Personnel needs
• Forecasting workforce demand starts with estimating what the
demand will be for your products or services.
• Forecasting revenue and then decide the number of staff required
• However, managers must also consider other factors. These
include projected turnover, decisions to upgrade (or downgrade)
products or services, productivity changes, financial resources, and
decisions to enter or leave businesses.

8
Tools for projecting personnel needs:
a) Trend analysis
• studying past employee needs over a period of years to get
idea for future needs
b) Ratio analysis:
• making forecast on the basis of historical ratio between (1)
some causal factor (like sales volume) and (2) the number of
employees required (such as number of salespeople).
c) Scatter Plot
• A scatter plot shows graphically how two variables—such as
sales and your firm’s staffing levels—are related

9
ii. The supply of inside candidates
• The main task here is determining which current employees are
qualified or trainable for the projected openings.
• They can use two techniques
i. personnel replacement charts
ii. position replacement card
iii. The supply of outside candidates
• Forecasting workforce availability depends first on the manager’s
own sense of what’s happening in his or her industry and locale.
• For example, unemployment rates above 7% a few years ago
signaled to HR managers that finding good candidates might be
easier

10
Recruitment
• Recruitment is the process of attracting candidates for a vacant
position.
• It is the process of having the right person, in the right place,. at the
right time. It is crucial to organisational performance.
• A key element of human resource management is the recruitment of
staff, as this function generates the human capital that forms the
foundation of an organization.
• Whether an organization will have competent human resources or
not, depends predominantly on its ability to attract and retain
qualified applicants.

11
Cont.
• Recruitment is an important factor for the organizations since it
performs the essential function of capturing an important resource
and has a strategic aim as it focuses on the need to attract high-
quality people in order to gain a competitive advantage (Parry &
Tyson, 2008).
• Recruitment might be the “most critical human resource function for
organizational success and survival” (Taylor and Collins, 2000).
• the set of activities and processes used to legally obtained a sufficient
number of qualified people at the right place and time so that the
people and the organization can select each other in their own best
short and long term interests (Randall, 1987).

12
Factors that affect recruitment

Image of the organization

Image of job

Size and growth potential

of the organization

Demographic factors

13
• Image of the organization
• An organization with good image have the potentials to attract large pool of
candidates. Example: Unileaver, British American Tobacco
• Image of the job
• It means the attractiveness of the job. If the job to be filled is unattractive,
recruiting a large and qualified pool of applicants will be difficult.
• Size or growth potential of the organization
• Higher the size and growth potentials, higher the advancement opportunities.
• Demographic factors
• Gender ratio, age group, education level, economic condition, per capita
income etc. have influence on recruitment

14
Recruiting Yield Pyramid
50
(new hires)
100 (offers
made) 2:1

150 (interviewed 3:2)

200 (candidate invite 4:3)

1200 (leads generated) 6:1

15
• The first stage is to generate interest from candidates and there is a range of ways
of doing this. There are basically two sources of supply from where potential
employees can be drawn. These are:

Sources of recruitment

Internal source External

source

a) Informal Recruiting and the Hidden Job

job posting Market
b) Recruitment via internet
c) Advertisement
d) Employment agencies
e) Temporary agencies and alternative staffing

16
a) Internal Sources
a) Job Posting
• Publicizing an open job to employees (often by literally posting it on
bulletin boards) and listing its attributes, like qualifications, supervisor,
working schedule, and pay rate
• External Sources
a) Informal Recruiting and the Hidden Job Market
o Many (or most) job openings aren’t publicized at all; jobs are created and
become available when employers serendipitously encounter the right
candidates.
b) Recruiting via internet
o Most employers recruit through the organization’s won websites, or use job
boards.
o Intelligent automated resume screening is another trend. Employer use
online tracking software to identify likely candidates based on resume key
words.

17
c. Advertisement
▪ It is a method of recruitment frequently used for skilled workers, clerical and
higher staff.
▪ Advertisement can be given in newspapers and professional journals. These
advertisements attract applicants in large number of highly variable quality.
▪ Preparing good advertisement is a specialized task. If a company wants to
conceal its name, a ‘blind advertisement’ may be given asking the applicants
to apply to Post Bag or Box Number or to some advertising agency.

18
• Advertisements, whether online or on paper, should be clear and
indicate the:
• requirements of the job
• necessary and the desirable criteria for job applicants (to limit the number of
inappropriate applications received)
• nature of the organisation’s activities
• job location
• reward package
• job tenure (for example, contract length)
• details of how to apply.

19
d. Employment agencies
o Employment agencies can be public or private.
o Employment agencies are important sources of clerical, white-collar and
managerial personnel.
o They charge fee for each applicant they place
o Most are “fee-paid job” in which employer pays the fee.

e. Recruitment Process Outsourcers

o Recruitment process outsourcers are special vendors that handle all or most
of an employer’s recruiting needs. They usually sign short-term contracts with
the employer, and receive a monthly fee that varies with the amount of actual
recruiting the employer needs done.

20
Temporary workers and alternative stuffing
a. Offshoring and Outsourcing Jobs
b. Executive Recruiters
c. Referrals and Walk-Ins
d. on-demand recruiting services
e. college recruiting

21
Cont..
a. Offshoring and Outsourcing Jobs
• Outsourcing means having outside vendors supply services (such as benefits
management, market research, or manufacturing) that the company’s own
employees previously did in-house.
• Offshoring means having outside vendors or employees abroad supply services that
the company’s own employees previously did in-house.
b. Executive Recruiters
• Executive recruiters (also known as headhunters) are special employment agencies
employers retain to seek out top-management talent for their clients.
c. Referrals and Walk-Ins
• employer posts announcements of openings and requests for referrals on its
website, bulletin boards, and/or wallboards. It often offers prizes or cash awards for
referrals that lead to hiring

22
Cont..
a. on-demand recruiting services
• Services that provide short-term specialized recruiting to support specific
projects without the expense of retaining traditional search firms.
b. college recruiting
• Sending an employer’s representatives to college campuses to prescreen
applicants and create an applicant pool from the graduating class

23
Developing and using application form
• Application forms allow for information to be presented in a
consistent format, and therefore, make it easier to collect information
from job applicants in a systematic way.
• Application form design and language is also important - a poorly
designed application form can mean applications from some good
candidates are overlooked, or that candidates are put off applying.
• Example: For example, devoting lots of space to present employment
disadvantages a candidate who is not currently working.

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• References
• ACAS. (2010) Recruitment and induction [online]. Advisory booklet. London: Acas. Available
at:http://www.acas.org.uk
• GOVERNMENT EQUALITIES OFFICE. (2011) Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know? A quick start guide to
using positive action in recruitment and promotion. London: GEO. Available
at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-quick-start-guide-to-positive-action-in-
recruitment-and-promotion
• INCOMES DATA SERVICES. (2011) Recruitment. HR studies. London: IDS.
• RECUITMENT & EMPLOYMENT CONFEDERATION. (2012?) Back to the future. REC working paper. Available
at: https://www.rec.uk.com/store/item/1542
• EMPLOYERS FORUM ON DISABILITY. (2011) Recruitment protocol. Available
at: http://www.businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/uploads/files/EFD_Recruitment_Protocol.pdf
• Useful contents:
• GOV.UK - Recruiting and hiring
• GOV.UK - Employers: preventing discrimination - recruitment

• Department for Business Innovation & Skills - professional recruitment guide

• Recruitment & Employment Confederation

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 Chapter 6

Interviewing Candidates
Learning Outcomes:
• List the main types of selection interviews.
• List and explain the main errors that can
undermine an interview’s usefulness.
• Define a structured situational interview and
explain how to design and conduct effective
selection interviews
• Discuss how to use employee selection methods
to improve employee engagement

2
 Interview
• An interview is a procedure designed to obtain
information from a person through oral
responses to oral inquiries.
• A selection interview is a selection procedure
designed to predict future job performance based
on applicants oral responses to oral inquiries.

3
cont..

• Interviews are widely used in the selection

process.
• For the employer, the interview is an
opportunity to:
▪ gauge candidates’ experience, ability to perform in the
role and suitability for the team
▪ discuss details such as start dates and terms and
conditions
▪ explain the employee value proposition, including
training provision and employee benefits
▪ give the candidate a positive impression of the
organisation as a good employer.
• For the candidate, the interview is an
opportunity to:
▪ understand the job and its responsibilities in more detail
▪ ask questions about the organisation
▪ decide whether they would like to take the job if offered
it.
• Despite their popularity as a selection method, evidence
highlights the limitations of the traditional interview. In
general, it's a poor predictor of a candidate’s performance
in the job, as information is gathered in a relatively
unsystematic manner.
• Judgements can be made for a variety of reasons that
differ between candidates and even shift during the
course of the interview.

5
Types of Interview
• We can classify selection interviews according to
• 1. How structured they are
• 2. Their content - the types of questions they
contain
• 3. How the firm administers the interviews

6
1. Structured Versus Unstructured Interviews
a. Unstructured Interviews
• A conversational- style interview in which the interviewer
pursues points of interest as they come up in response to
questions
• Managers does not follow any set format therefore, there
is no guide for scoring right or wrong answers
b. Structured Interviews
• the employer lists all the questions ahead of time, and may
even list and score possible answers for appropriateness.
• Consistent, reliable and valid since all applicants are asked
same questions

7
2. Content - types of questions
asked
a.Situational interview
b.Behavioral interview
c.Job-related interview
d.Stress interview

8
a. situational interview
• A series of job-related questions that focus on
how the candidate would behave in a given
situation.
• Example, asking a supervisory candidate how
he or she would act in response to a
subordinate coming to work late 3 days in a
row.

9
b.Behavioral interview
• A series of job-related questions that focus on
how the candidate reacted to actual situations
in the past.
• example “Tell me about a time you were
speaking with an irate person, and how you
turned the situation around”

10
 C. Job-related interview
• A series of job-related questions that focus on
relevant past job-related behaviors.
• Example, which courses did you like best in
business school? It helps interviewer to assess
candidate’s ability to handle the financial
aspects of the job the employer seeks to fill.

11
d. Stress interview
• An interview in which the applicant is made
uncomfortable by a series of often rude
questions. This technique helps identify
hypersensitive applicants and those with low or
high stress tolerance.
• Example, “your frequent job change is nothing
but a sign of your irresponsibility”

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3. How Should we Administer the Interview?
a.Unstructured sequential interview
b.Structured sequential interview
c.Panel interview
d.Phone Interview
e.Video/Web assisted Interview
f. Computerized interview

13
a. unstructured sequential interview
○ In a sequential (or serial) interview, several
persons interview the applicant, in sequence,
one-on-one, and then make their hiring
decision.
○ An interview in which each interviewer forms an
independent opinion after asking different questions
○ each interviewer generally just asks questions as they
come to mind.
b. structured sequential interview
○ each interviewer rates the candidates on a standard
evaluation form, using standardized questions.

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c. panel interview/ board interview
○ an interview conducted by a team of interviewers (usually two
to three), who together interview each candidate and then
combine their ratings into a final panel score
d. Telephone Interview
○ These can actually be more accurate than face-to-face
interviews for judging an applicants conscientiousness,
intelligence, and interpersonal skills.
e. Video/Web assisted Interview
○ Applicants use their own camera-supported PC or iPads to face
interview
However, it is often the obvious things people overlook
* Make sure you look presentable.
* Clean up the room.
* Test first.
* Do a dry run.
* Relax.
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f. Computerized Interview
○ A computerized selection interview is one in which a
job candidate’s oral and/or computerized replies are
obtained in response to computerized oral, visual, or
written questions and/or situations.
○ Questions on computerized interviews come in rapid
sequence and require the applicant to concentrate.
○ The typical computerized interview program measures
the response time to each question

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Errors associated with interview
1. The self-fulfilling prophecy effect.
2. The stereotyping effect.
3. The halo and horns effect.
4. The contrast effect
5. The similar-to-me effect.
6. The personal liking effect.

17
• Drawing on a range of research, Anderson and Shackleton1 summarise
the common weaknesses of interviews:
• The self-fulfilling prophecy effect. Interviewers may ask questions designed
to confirm initial impressions of candidates gained either before the
interview or in its early stages.
• The stereotyping effect. Interviewers sometimes assume that particular
characteristics are typical of members of a particular group. In the case of
sex, race, disability, marital status or ex-offenders, decisions made on this
basis are often illegal. However, the effect occurs in the case of all kinds of
social groups.
• The halo and horns effect. Once interviewers rate candidates as ‘good’ or
‘bad’ in some aspects, they often replicate this judgement across the board,
reaching unbalanced decisions.
• The contrast effect. Interviewers can allow the experience of interviewing
one candidate to affect the way they interview others who are seen later in
the selection process.
• The similar-to-me effect. Interviewers sometimes give preference to
candidates they perceive as having a similar background, career history,
personality or attitudes to themselves.
• The personal liking effect. Interviewers may make decisions on the basis of
whether they personally like or dislike the candidate.

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• Structuring the interview can help improve its
ability to predict performance in the job and a
growing number of employers take this
approach.
• A structured interview means that:
▪ questions are planned carefully before the interview
▪ all candidates are asked the same questions
▪ answers are scored using a rating system
▪ questions focus on the attributes and behaviours
needed in the job.

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Three Ways to Make the Interview
Useful
1.Use structured situational interviews
2.Carefully select traits to assess
3.Beware of committing interviewing errors

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Designing a Structured Situational Interview
analyze the job

rate the job’s main duties

create interview questions

create benchmark answers

appoint the interview panel and

conduct interviews

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How to design and conduct an effective interview

1. First, make sure you know the job

2.Structure the interview
3.Get organized
4.Establish rapport
5.Ask questions
6.Take brief, unobtrusive notes during the
interview
7.Close the interview
8.Review the interview

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1.First, make sure you know the job
a. Donot start the interview unless you understand the job
and what human skills you re looking for. Study the job
description first.
2. Structure the interview
a. It
includes preparing the questions earlier and setting
benchmark for each of the answers.
3. Get organized
a. Hold the interview in a private room where telephone calls
are not accepted and you can minimize interruptions
(including text messages).
b. Prior to the interview, review the candidate’s application
and résumé, and note any areas that are vague or that
may indicate strengths or weaknesses.

23
4.Establish rapport
. Greeting the candidate and starting the interview by asking
a noncontroversial question. As a rule, all applicants even
unsolicited drop-ins should receive friendly, courteous
treatment, not only on humanitarian grounds but also
because your reputation is on the line
5.Ask questions
following the situational, behavioral, and job knowledge
questions that is written out ahead of time.
6.Take brief, unobtrusive notes during the
interview
It helps to avoid making a snap decision early in the
interview, and may also help jog your memory once the
interview is complete.
Taking notes, writing down the key points of what the
interviewee has said.

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7.Close the interview
Leave time to answer any questions the candidate may have
and, if appropriate, to advocate your firm to the candidate.
Try to end the interview on a positive note.

8.Review the interview

After the candidate leaves, review your interview notes,
score the interview guide answers (if you used one), and
make a decision.

25
• References
• Dessler, G., 2015. Human Resource Management, Global Edition.
• TAYLOR, S. (2014) Resourcing and talent management. 6th ed.
London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

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