HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CHAPTER 4 STAFFING ORGANIZATIONAL JOBSChapter4 Staffing Organizational Jobs Objectives: After studying this chapter, you would be able to: 1. Define: Recruitment, Selection, Orientation, Performance appraisal, Transfer, promotion, demotion, termination and retirement 2. Describe how recruitment and selection strategies depend on job analysis and human resource planning. 3. Identify the different sources and methods of recruitment and know the various altematives to recruitment. Describe the recruitment and selection processes. Explain the role tests and interviews play in selecting the right person for a vacant job. Identify the environmental factors that affect the selection process. Explain orientation and describe its importance. Define performance appraisal, realize the main reason for appraising performance and describe the performance appraisal process and methods. 9. Distinguish the differences among placement, termination, promotion, transfer, demotion and termination. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS: ‘Staffing Organizational Jobs * The achievement of organizational objectives largely depends on effective utilization of human resources. In today's highly competitive market, the selection of the right person, in temns of quality and quantity, have far-reaching implications for any organization. Hence, the maintenance of staffing system becomes the important management functions. Staffing refers to the process of attracting, selecting, and placing of employee in the position. It begins with job analysis. In addition to its other roles in human resource management, job analysis has a role in staffing by specifying the requirements of job, which helps identify the kind of candidates required for vacant positions (Scarpello & Ledvinka, 1988). 1|PageRecruitment The Recruitment Process Recruitment is the process of attracting individuals on a timely basis, in sufficient numbers and with appropriate qualifications, and encouraging them to apply for jobs with an organization (Mondy & Noe, 1990). Itis one of the means of meeting the organization's staffing requirements. ‘As can be seen in the figure (Werther & Davis, 1996) next page, the groundwork for successful recruiting effort lies on Imuman resource planning and job analysis information. Once organizations identify job openings, thorough human resource planning, managers need to design and implement recruitment programs to attract qualified applicants, because the type of people selected are the one who determine the success or failure of the organization. However, in large organization, human resource department is responsible for the recruitment process. On the other hand, in small organization, recruitment is likely the responsibility of recruitment and selection committee or the individual manager. ‘The recruitment process of an organization aims at organizing recruitment activities in terms of who does the recruiting, how they do it, and where they seek recruits. As mentioned earlier, hnuman resource planning indicated the job vacancies now and in the future. In other words, before a recruitment decision can be made, the organization must reflect upon any vacancy that ‘occurs and link the decisions to the objectives set by the human resource plan of the organization (Howe, 1995). Once vacant positions have been identified, management initiates an employee requisition. As the figure (Mondy & Noe, 1990) below illustrates, the employee requisition is a document that specifies job title, department, the date the employee is needed for work and other related details. With this information, the recruiter can refer to the job description to determine what each job requires. zs| lg | |g g E . z Fe g|~ Efe] -|2z|~lee|-|22)-| £F as ze| |p | [Ee] | Be Be a & & t > [Manager's coments The Recruitment Process 2|Page‘Job Number Job Title Date OFJob | Date Replacement Vacancy Needed PLEASE CHECK Permanent ‘Temporary Part-Time REASON FOR REQUEST: Brief Description OF ‘Minimum Qualifications For The Job Candidates BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF JOB DUTIES LOCATION NAME: DATE: _/__/2022__| Manager's Signature: An Employee Requisition Form ‘The next major decision conceming recruitment is to identify the sources of recruitment. This is ‘a means of determining whether competent personnel are available within the organization (the internal source) or must recruit externally. 4.1.1. Features of Recruitment 4.1.2. Purpose of Recruitment 4.1.3. Factors Governing Recruitment 4.1.4, Sources of Recruitment The objective of recruitment is to provide a sufficient group of qualified candidates for employment. In order to realize this recruitment objective, organizations make use two sources of recruitment. These are internal and external sources. 1, Internal Recruitment 2. External Recruitment 3\Page1. Internal Recruitment Intemal employees are a major source for vacant positions in an organization. This usually takes the form of employee promotion or transfer within an organization. Intemal recruiting improves the probability ofa good selection, since all the necessary information on employ's performance and behavior is readily available. Moreover, it has the following advantages. 1. Itcan be a motivating factor for employees, since; it lets them know that hard work can lead to better jobs. 2. Intemal candidates do not need the extensive familiarization with organizational policies. 3. Intemal recruiting efforts are much less expensive than extemal efforts (Scarpello & Ledvinka, 1988). However, a policy of filling vacant positions using the intemal recruiting approach has its own disadvantages. Some of the major ones are: 1. ‘nbreeding’ is a drawback. ‘The employee tends to demonstrate on the job only what he(she has leamed in the organization and has few new ideas. 2. Inadequacy of supply would also arise since fewer people would be available to choose from as opposed to extemal recruitment. 3. Recruiting friends/ relatives of present employees may often create unnecessary tensions and charges of favoritism, nepotism, etc. It often leads to serious erosion of discipline as well (Chattterjee, 1995), In order to acquire candidates within the organization, who are capable of filling vacancies, organizations, use an approach called job posting and bidding. 11. Job Posting ‘© Job posting is a method of internal reeruitment, which can facilitate promotion and transfer within the organization. It is a procedure used to notify the current employees that job openings exist. Job bidding, on the other hand, is a technique that permits employees who believe that they possess the required qualifications to apply for a posted job (Mondy & Noe, 1990). In organizations vacant positions are posted on a bulletin board. Any stalf who can satisfy the criteria is encouraged to apply. 4\PageIt is important here to remember that qualifications and other facts typically are drawn from the job analysis information. Then, through self‘nominations or the recommendation of a supervisor, ‘employees who are qualified and interested in the posted opening report to the human resource department and apply (Werther & Davis, 1996) 2. External Recruitment ‘ When vacant positions cannot be filled intemally, the desired employees must be attracting from a mumber of extemal sources. In other words, according Mondy and Noe (1990), at times, a firm must look beyond itself to find employees, particularly when expanding its workforce. The following circumstances require extemal recruitment: 1. To fill entry-level jobs; 2. To acquire skills not possessed by current employees, and 3. To obtain employees with different backgrounds to provide new ideas (Mondy & Noe, 1990) External recruiting can offer many advantages. Among the advantages of extemal recruiting are: 1. Outside people can often bring new and innovative ideas to the workplace. 2. New recruit is less susceptible to conformity pressures and other negative group phenomenal that adversely affect employee morale and productivity. 3. Iris less expensive to hire a well-trained specialist or professional from outside the organization than to train and develop existing personnel (Scarpello & Ledvinka, 1988). Depending on the type educational qualifications desired, individuals may be attracted from a member of extemal sources. These are: 2.1) High Schools and Vocational Schools “& High schools and vocational schools are excellent sources for hiring clerical and other entry-level operative employees. For example, many vocational school in Ethiopia have outstanding training programs for specific occupational skills, such as auto-mechanics, wood-works, electricity, and the like. 22) Colleges and Universities “& This is a major source of entry-level administrative, technical, and professional talent. College and university recruiting provide @ good opportunity for both graduates and 5|Page23) 2.6) 27 organizations. According to Chatterjee (1995), for students coming out of educational institutions, this form of recruitment is very convenient and satisfying. For employers, it serves a great deal of time and processing costs and they get access to a large number of bright, young people at one place from among whom they can choose and with whom interviews can be fixed at short notice. Walk-ins and Write-ins ‘These are inexpensive sources of qualified job seekers. Walk-ins are job candidates who physically arrive at the organization in search of a job. Write-ins are job seekers who send application letter to an organization's employment office. ‘Self-employed Workers This may also be a good potential recruit. The self-employed workers constitute a source of job applicants for any number of jobs requiring managerial, technical or professional within an organization. ‘External Methods of Recruitment Once recruitment sources are identified, organizations then seek to attract job seekers by specific recruitment methods. Advertising, employee referrals and ernployment agencies are external recruitment methods most commonly used by many organizations. Advertising Many job seekers are attracted through advertising. It is a means of communicating the organization employment requirements to the general public. To this effect, various ‘media are used such as daily newspapers, magazines, television and radio broadcasts. The advertisements should provide a clear and honest picture of the job and also the organization to the prospective employees. In other words, a good, carefully worded advertisement can help in building the image of the organization since very often, potential candidates are first introduced to the organization through advertisements in the media (Chatterjee, 1995). Employee Referrals This is a technique in which current employees refer job seekers from out side the organization. The technique is inexpensive and effective when organizations are looking for candidates in particular job skills that may be urgently required within the organization. According to Werther and Davis (1996), employee referrals have several advantages including the following: 6|PageEmployees with hard-to-find job skills may know others who do the same work 2. ‘New recruits already know something about the organization from the employees who referred them. 3. Employees tend to refer their fiends, who are likely to have similar work habits and attitudes. Although employee referrals appear to be an easy and quick way to attract potential candidates to an organization, they tend to maintain the status quo of the workforce in terms of race, religion, sex, and other characteristics, possibly leading to charges of discrimination (Werther & Davis, 1996). 2.8) Employment Agencies ¢ An employment agency is an organization that helps firms to recruit employees and, at the same time, aids individuals in their attempts to locate jobs (Mondy & Noe 1990). They conduct recruitment and selection activities for many organizations. For example, the main public employment agency in Ethiopia is the Civil Service Commission which coordinates recruitment and selection functions for service organizations, where as the Ministry of Social Affairs is responsible for all labor cases regarding workers in the production organizations. * + Alternatives to Recruitment > Recruitment is not always the best method to fill vacant positions in an organization. Recruitment and selection are not only time consuming activities but also expensive. Moreover, they don't solve the immediate employee demand of an organization. Therefore, an organization should carefully consider all viable altematives before involving in recruitment functions. Altematives to recruitment include overtime, temporary employees, subcontracting and employee leasing. 1) Overtime 2) Temporary Employees 3) Subcontracting 4) Employee Leasing 7\Page1) Overtime + Overtime is the most commonly used technique to deal with temporary increase in work volume. It benefits both the organization and the employee. The Organization is able to satisfy employee demand while avoiding recruitment, selection and training costs. The employee who is employed on overtime basis may benefit fiom a higher rate of pay. Although organizations benefit by using overtime, they should carefully check their use of overtime as it also has its own problems. Some of major problems of related to the use of overtime include the following. 1. Employees may become f ied and lack the energy to perform at a normal rate, especially when excessive overtime is required. 2. Employees may, consciously or not, pace themselves so that overtime will be assured. 3. Employees may elevate their standard of living to the level permitted by the additional income. Then, when overtime isno longer required, and the paycheck shrinks, employees ‘may become disgruntled (Mondy & Noe, 1990). 2) Temporary Employees + The total cost of permanent employees h. To minimize costs and usually hi maintain flexibility as work volume varies, most organizations make use of temporary employees. The costs of recruitment, selection and employee benefits are avoided since organizations will agree with the employee to only pay wage for a specific period of time, It is important here to note that unless the tasks that the temporary employee is asked to do are simple and easy to leam, however, the organization may encounter quality control problems and additional training expenses. Further, management should recognize that a temporary person is not going to possess the same degree of loyalty to the organization that a permanent employee has (Scarpello & Ledvinka, 1988). 3) Subcontracting ‘ Another altemative of meeting increases in demand for employees is choosing someone else as a sub contract to perform tasks, According to Mondy and Noe 8|Page1990), this approach has a special appeal when the subcontractor actually has szeater expertise in producing certain goods or services. 4) Employee Leasing 4 In this method, organizations acquire certain employees by contracting for the services of employees from another organization. Instead of the organization having to recruit, select and hire employees, they simply lease employees. Employee leasing is desirable for small business organizations because it climinates the problem human resources management. 4.2, Employee Selection 4.2.1 Selection ‘hat is Selection? “© The human resource planning indicates that additional employees are required to get organizational job done, hence, recruitment process takes place. This process provides a group of potential candidates to enable the organization select and hire the best person or persons from the group. Selection is the process of choosing from a group of applicants ‘the individual best suited for a particular position Mondy and Noe, (1990). The purpose of selection is to identify the recruits that most likely help the organization in achieving its objectives. Selection is affected by, and also affects other human resowce management activities. For instance: Y Job Analysis identifies the personal attributes to seck out among job candidates v Human Reson -ce Planning can play a role in employee selection by providing a forecast of position openings. ¥ Recruiting is related to selection in that 2 high selective selection procedure requires the recruitment program to generate a larger or more qualified candidate pool ¥ Training is, in one sense, a substitute for selection: if selection neither does nor results inhiring employees with the necessary skills, training might be used to impart those skills, Y Career Management focuses on intemal selection. Ifa career management system is in operation, the selection system should identify employees with the aptitude to benefit 9\Pagefrom the career sequence that is planned. If there is no formal career planning system, then the selection system should focus more on identifying candidates who already have the skills that would be developed through a well-planned career in the organization. ¥ Compensation is critical aid in selection because if pay is not high enough, the organization will not attract enough candidates who can pass the selection requirements. ¥ Labor Relations are important in selection because an effective selection process can contribute of a positive union-management relationship. Although union contracts often specify promotion based on seniority, ifthe organization does a better job of selection in its initial hiring, it is less likely to have to promote less-qualified people later on (Scarpello & Ledvinka, 1988). 4.2.2. The Selection Process 4 The selection process as shown in the figure below is a series of specific steps through which job candidates pass. Although the sequence of steps may differ from one organization to another, the process ends in acquiring the right person for the right job. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT 1, [Preliminary Reception Of Applications T 2. Selection Tests. 7 7 3 Selection Interview +) 2 : 2 4. | References And Back Ground Checks > *| 3 7 = 5. Hiring Decision + g & T 6 “Medical Examination = T 2 Employed Individual = ‘Steps in the Selection Process (Mondy & Noe, 1990 Modified) 10|Page1. Preliminary Reception of Applications 4 Selection process often starts with preliminary reception of applications. At this stage, the job seekers may visit the organization in person or send job application letter. The organization then examines the applications to check whether there is a atch between the applicants’ qualification and the vacant position Although the information requested on application forms vary from one job type to another and even from organization to organization, it generally contains sections for personal data, job interest, education and training and work-related history. Those applicants who best satisfy the selection criteria will be selected for selection tests. 2. Selection Tests Selection tests are instruments that enable organizations to assess the match between the prospective employees and the requirement of job opening. They enable the management to make rational hiring decision. On the other hand, ability and motivation to perform a task determine employee job performance. Selection tests, therefore, may accurately predict an applicant's ability to perforin the job, but be less successful in indicating the extent to which the individual will want to perform it. According to Glueck (1978), there are various kinds of tests. Of which performance tests, simulations of performance and paper-and-pencil tests will very briefly be discussed below. A) Performance Tests “> A performance testis an experience that involves actually doing a sample of the work the job involves in a controlled situation. Examples of this type of ests inchude typing tests for secretarial position. B) Performance Simulations ‘© A performance simulation is a non-paper-and-pencil experience designed to determine abilities related to job perfonmance. The simulation is not direct performance of part of the job, but it comes close to that through simulation. For example, drivers may have leamed to drive by performing first on simulation machines. ©) Paper-and-Pencil Tests 11 |Page‘The paper-and-pencil tests are designed to measure general intelligence and aptitudes. Intelligence and mental ability tests attempt to sample intellectual and mental development or skills. Examples of paper-and-pencil tests include math test for a bookkeeper. Characteristics of Selection Tests \Well-designed and properly administered tests have the following characteristics. These are: 4 1. Standardization 2. Objectivity 3. Norms 4. Reliability 5. Validity Standardization > This refers to the uniformity of the procedures and conditions related to administering tests (Mondy & Noe, 1990). In order to compare test results of candidates, its important to ensure uniform conditions. For example, if group of candidates takes a test in a hall where the light is dim and another group takes the same test in a hall where the light is bright, differences in performance are likely to occur. Management, therefore, should strictly observe that standardized conditions are provided wien test is administered. Objectivity > Objectivity in testing is achieved when everyone scoring a test obtains the same results (Mondy & Noe, 1990). ‘The job candidates taking objective tests either choose the best answer or do not. Multiple-choice questions and true-false questions are examples of objective test. Norms > Anomn provides a frame of reference for comparing an applicant's performance with that of others (Mondy & Noe, 1990). It indicates the distribution of many scores obtained by people similar to the applicant being tested. Reliability > The term reliability refers to the extent to which a test provides dependable or consistent results. Reliability data reveal the degree of confidence that can be placed ina test. Ifa 12 |Pagetest has low reliability, its validity as a predictor will also be low. But the existence of reliability does not in itself guarantee validity (Mondy & Noe, 1990). 5. Validity > In personnel measurement, the term validity refers to how well a test measures what itis supposed to measure. In other words, validity means that test scores relate significantly to job performance or to another job-relevant criterion (Werther & Davis, 1996) if a selection test cannot be used to assess a candidate's suitability for employment value as a predictor. Hence, validity should be a concern of organizations that use tests as one of the selection tool. 3. Selection Interview Interview isa formal conversation conducted to assess the suitability of candidate for a particular job. According to Werther and Davis (1996), the interviewer seeks to answer three broad questions. These are: - = Can the applicant do the job? - Will the applicant do the job? ~ How does the applicant compare with others who are being considered for the job? Interviews are the most common selection technique. They can be used to evaluate candidate acceptability for all types of employment in an organization. Moreover, selection interviews allow two-way face-to-face communication in which organizations not only obiain additional information from the candidates but also provide information concerning the organization. ‘The selection interview is especially significant because the applicants who reach this stage are the most promising candidates (Mondy & Noe, 1990). ‘They have successfully passed the preliminary screening and obtained good results on selection tests. Hence, the candidates seem to be qualified for the jobs in question. The specific content to be used in selection interviews varies from organization to organization and the level of the job. However, the following general topics (Mondy & Noe, 1990) appeal consistently in interviews: ~ Academic Achievement. The interviewer needs to try to discover any underlying factors related to academic performance. 13 |Page- Personal Qualities. Personal qualities normally observed during the interview include physical appearance, speaking ability and assertiveness. - Occupational Experience. Exploring an individual's experience requires finding out about the applicant's skills, abilities, and willingness to handle responsibility. - Interpersonal Competence. The interviewer should ask questions regarding the applicant's interpersonal relationships with family and friends and how he/ she behaves in other social and civil situations. - Career Orientation. Questions ebout a candidate's career objectives may enable the interviewer to determine whether the applicant's aspirations are realistic. Types of Interviews Interviews have to be appropriate for the job and the candidate. They are tools used by many organizations to predict applicant future success. Moreover, interviews solicit the following types of information from applicants. These are: - = Ability to perform the job; ~ Motivation to stay on the job; and ~ Adaptability to the job situation ‘There are different interview types. Organizations may use one or more of the interview types to select the best among applicants. In general, interview types that are used are:- Structured interview Unstructured interview Mixed interview Behavioral interviewing Stress interview payee 1. Structured Interview Structured or directive interview depends on a predetermined set of job-related questions. List of questions is prepared before the interview begins and the interviewer does not allowed to deviate fiom it. In this type of interview, interviewers should follow a structured, systematic interview procedure in order to obtain the information necessary to evaluate the candidate fairly 14|Pageand objectively (Mondy & Noe, 1990). The interviewers use a standardized evaluation form to note the candidate's responses to the questions. A structured job interview typically contains four types of questions (Mondy & Noe, 1990). ‘These are: - Situational questions pose a hypothetical job situation to determine what the applicant ‘would do in thet situation. ~ Job knowledge questions probe the applicant's job-related knowledge. These questions may relate to basic educational skills or complex scientific or managerial skills. - Job-sample simulation questions involve situations in which an applicant may be required to actually perform a sample task from the job. ~ Worker requirement questions seek to determine the applicant's willingness to confirm to the job requirements. For example, the applicant's willingness to work in the rural part of the country. The problem with the structured interviews is that itis very restrictive. The information obtained is confined within certain parameters only and the interviewer has no chance of displaying either his own talents or skills nor adapt to the individual candidate (Chatterjee, 1995). The rigid format is equally constraining to the candidate, who is not in a position to elaborate or qualify on answer to the questions. 2, Unstructured Interview ‘The unstructured interview consists of open-ended questions such as: ~ What do you believe are your primary strengths and main weaknesses? = How will our organization benefit by having you as an employee? In this type of interview, the interviewer can prepare questions while the interview is in progress. The overriding advantage of the unstructured type is the freedom it allows the interviewer to adapt to the situation and to the changing stream of applicants (Glueck, 1978). Unfortunately, this method, which also is called non-directive interviewing, lacks the reliability of structured interview because each applicant is asked a different series of questions. Even worse, this approach may overlook key areas of the applicant's skills or background (Werther & Davis, 1996). 16|Page3. Mixed Interview This is an interviewing method in which the interviewers use harmonious combination of structured and unsaturated set of questions. According to Werther and Davis (1996), the structured questions provide a base of information that allows comparisons between candidates; the unstructured questions make the interview more conversational and permit greater insights into the unique differences between applicants. 4. Behavioral Interviewing Behavioral interviewing focuses on problem or a hypothetical situation that the applicant is asked to solve (Werther & Davis, 1996). In this type of interviewing, questions are limited to hypothetical situations and the candidate is asked what should be done. The purpose is to understand the candidate's analytic abilities and reasoning. Here not only the candidate's answer but his/her approach is also evaluated. The interview might consist of situations similar to the following Suppose you had to decide between candidates for a promotion. Candidate A is loyal, cooperative, punctual, and hardworking. Candidate B is a complainer and is tardy and discourteous but is the best producer in your department. Whom would you recommend for promotion to supervisor? Why? (Werther & Davis, 1996). 5. Stress Interview ‘The idea of using this type of interviewing is to understand the candidate's ability to cope with stress on the job. Chatterjee (1995) noted that stress interview is a deliberate attempt to create tension and pressure in an applicant to see how well he/ she responds to these tensions and pressures. For example, candidates for police duty are selected using a stress interview in connection with other relevant interview formats. ‘The major purpose of interviewing is to increase the effectiveness of selection by: ~ Identifying the basic qualities necessary for success on the job and using those qualities to evaluate candidates. ~ Standardizing the interview method, and 17 |Page- Training interviewers to gather, interpret, and relate data to qualities of success on the job (Scarpello & Ledvinka, 1988). Interview needs to identify the application and job description. Moreover, the entire nature of interview is directly related to the job. The following summary indicates the type of interviews (Werther & Davis 1996) discussed earlier. 4. References and Background Checks Is the applicant a good, reliable worker? Are the job accomplishments, titles, educational background, and other facts on the resume’ or application true? What type of person is the applicant? Most important, what information is relevant to matching the applicant and the job? (Werther & Davis 1996). In order to provide answer to these questions, organizations use references and background investigation. Checking references and investigating the candidate's background history are important tools that enable organizations to determine whether past work experience is related to qualification required for the new job. Moreover, candidates may also be required to submit recommendation letters. The letters reveal past behavior, the candidate's job interest, relation with immediate boss and co-workers, and reason for termination. According to Glueck (1978), fora letter of recommendation to be useful, it must meet certain conditions: - The writer must have known the applicant's performance level and be competent to assess it - The writer must communicate the evaluation effectively to the potential employer. ~The writer must be truthful. Another major reason for conducting references and background checks is to verify candidate's credential. Itis important to bear in mind that some people are not what they present themselves to be and not even whom they say they are. Background checks can confirm or disprove claims made by job applicants (Mondy & ‘Noe,1990), 18 |PageInterview ‘Types Of Questions Useful Application Format ‘Unstructured | Few if any planned questions. | Useful when tying to help interviewees Questions are made up during the | solve personal problems or understand interview. why they are not right for ajob. Structured | A predetermined checklist of questions, | Usefil for valid results, especially when usually asked of all applicants. dealing with large numbers of applicants. Mixed | A combination of structured and | Realistic approach that yields luistructured questions that resemble | comparable answers plus in-depth ‘what is usually done in practice. insights Behavioral | Questious limited to ypothetical | Useful to understand applicant's situations. Evaluation is one the | reasoning and analytic abilities under solution and the approach of the | modest stress applicant Stress | A series of harsh, rapid-fire questions | Useful forstressful jobs, such as handling intended to upset the applicant complaints 5. Hiring Decision Different question formats in Interview fier obtaining and evaluating information about the finalists, the manager rust take the most critical step of all: making the actual hiring decision (Mondy & Noe, 1990). Manager's decision to select those individuals best suited for employment must be based on reliable and valid information. Moreover, since the success of any organization largely depends on employee performance, the manager before making the final employment decision must: - Be familiar the job requirements, = Organize a forum with the selection committee or human resource department, whereby the entire selection process is reviewed. - Be convinced that rational decision is made at every stage of the selection process. ~ Obtain information from the immediate supervisor of the new employee conceming the match between their qualifications and the requirements of the new vacant posi 19 |PageAmong the candidates decided to be hired, some of them may not accept the job offer or may even fail the physical examination, itis, therefore, important to keep a waiting list. This, among other things, enables the organization to fill the vacancy immediately rather than starting the recruitment process, and it also avoids additional cost of recruitment and selection. 6. Medical Examination © Affler the hiring secession has been made, the next process of selection involves medical examination for the successfull candidate. In most cases, a job offer is conditional upon presentation of a medical certificate that testifies the applicant is both mentally and physically capable of performing the job in question. Ifthere is no disqualifying medical problems during the examination, the candidate can now be employed and be given a letter of employment. 4.2.3. Factors Affecting the Selection Process ~ The following environmental factors (Mondy & Noe, 1990) can affect the selection process. A) Legal Considerations ~ Legislation, executive orders and court decisions have had a major impact on selection. B) Speed of Decision Making ~The time available to make the selection decision can have a major effect on selection process. An organization may only conduct an interview to fill a vacant position if a certain department cannot operate unless that particular position is immediately filled. On the other hand, speed may not be crucial to select a deputy dean of a college. Here a carefill attention need to be devoted to study the application, intensive reference and background checking and time for the interview. © Organizational Hierarchy: ~ Different techniques to selection are required for filling job openings at different levels in the organization. For instance, consider the variations in hiring a Head of Finance and Administration Department and in hiring a person to fill a secretarial position. Extensive reference and background checks and in-depth interviewing needs to be carried out to verify the character and capabilities of the applicant for a high-level position. However, 20|Page‘an applicant for a secretarial position would most likely take only a word processing test and perhaps have a short selection interview. ‘D) Application Pool - The number of available people to be recruited from the labour market for a particular jjob can affect the selection process. If there are many candidates as compared to the number of people to be hired, the selection process can be complicated and takes a long, period of time. On the contrary, if there is only two candidates for one vacant position, the selected process is relatively easy and it also takes a short duration. This can best be illustrated using selection ratio (Werther & Davis, 1996): Number of Applicant's Hired Total Number of Applicant's Thus, if the selection ratio is 1:40, the selection process is detailed and high. High selection ratio, SelectionRatio = among other things, implies that either the job is attractive or the inability of the labour market tomatch would-be-employees to jobs. On the other hand, ifthe selection ratio is 1:3, the selection process is short and unsophisticated. A low selection ratio means that there are few applicants from which to select. In many instances a low selection ratio also means a low quality of recruits (Werther & Davis, 1996) E) Type of Organization The public, private or not-for-profit sectors of the economy for which people are to be hired can also affect the selection process. A government in the public sector is heavily service oriented. Civil servants are hired with regard to how they can help accomplish service goals. In business organizations selection process largely depends on how employees are able and motivated in achieving the organization's profit objectives. On the other hand, not-for-profit organizations in ‘most cases provide free services to the community. Their salary schemes may not be attractive as compared with business and public sectors. Therefore, a person who is going to apply in these organizations must be dedicated to their objectives. 21/PageF) Probationary Period Many organizations use a probationary period to check the employee's ability and motivation to work. This may be either a substitute for or a supplement to, the use of interview and/or tests. If ‘an individual is found to be produetive during the probation period, the management will confirma for the permanent. 4.3, Orientation Once suitable applicants have been selected to join the organization, itis desirable to integrate them into the organization and the job to which they are responsible. Helping new employees fit in, i. designing orientation program is one of the functions of nman resource department. Orientation, therefore, is a formal program of indoctrination to introduce new employees to their ‘job responsit ies, organizational policies, co-workers, and work environment (Holt, 1993). The orientation program is composed of two elements. The first involves general topics of interest to most employees which includes organizational issues and employee benefits, and job- related issues of concern only to specific jobhiolders. "Organizational issues” like history of the organization, names and titles of key executives, organization policies and rules, and “employee benefits” like salary scales, training and education benefits, retirement, vacations and other similar fringe benefits are explained by the human resource department. On the other hand, the employee's immediate boss presents job-related matters such as the job and its objectives, tasks, safety requirements, and the like. 4.3.1. Purposes of Orientation Orientation serves a number of purposes if effectively done. In generel, the orientation process is similar to what sociologists call socialization (Glueck, 1978). The major purposes of orientation (Holt, 1993) are as follows: * It develops realistic job expectation. 4‘ Itimpervious productivity “> It saves time and effort ‘© Itimproves employment stability 4 Itreduces conflict 22 |Page