Selection, Placement and

Induction
Chapter 7
 Selection
• The selection procedure is the system of functions and devices
adopted in a given company to ascertain whether the candidates’
specifications are matched with the job specifications and
requirements or not

• Selection is the process of choosing individuals who have relevant

qualifications to fill jobs in an organization
 Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment Selection

•The process of searching for •A series of steps by which

prospective employees and potential candidates are
stimulating them to apply for screened for choosing the
jobs in the organization most suitable persons for
vacant posts

•Prime purpose - to create a •Prime purpose - to choose

pool of best suited the right candidate to fill the
candidates for the vacant position in the
organisation organisation
 Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment Selection

•It is a positive process •It is a negative process

•It precedes selection •It proceeds recruitment

•Involves publishing •Involves screening selected

advertisements, internal resumes, conducting
postings, job portal postings interviews, reference checks
for the vacant positions to select the best suited
candidate
 Process of Hiring
• Take a few minutes and write down the process that you had to
undergo when you were hired for your current role

• Now, let’s share and understand some of the selection processes

our companies employ
Selection is specific to companies?!
• Every company/organization is unique and has specific
requirements

• The selection process is designed in a manner so as to

– choose a suitable candidate in the optimum amount of time

– choose suitable candidates using suitable indicators to find a good job
match
– choose suitable candidates keeping costs to a minimum during the
selection procedure itself
 Process of Hiring
• Correct the order •Recruitment

• Selection
•Selection
• Induction
•Placement
• Recruitment

• Placement •Induction
 Selection process
Note:
Hiring decision
1. Some steps may be
eliminated per
company
Medical examination
requirements
2. An applicant may be
Supervisory interview
rejected after any step
in the process Preliminary selection in HR Dep.
Background verification
Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Review of Application
 Selection Process

Application Review
 Application Review
• What do you understand by an application sent for a job?

• Technically, even a resume sent for a job opening can be viewed as

a job application

• What happens at this stage?

• Review of the applications and/or resumes to find the most suited

candidates

• Selecting the most appropriate applicants for the next steps

 Selection Process

Initial interview in HR department

Application Review
 Initial interview in HR Department
• Highly Structured Interview with questions pertaining to

• Job Requirements
• Experience
• Salary
• Family background
• Openness to joining the company
 Types of interviews
• Structured Interview

• Nondirective Interview

• Behavioural Interview

• Stress Interview

• Situational Interview
 Structured Interview
• Interview that uses a set of standardized questions asked of all job
applicants
Gary Dessler

• Predetermined script and protocol

• All the participants are asked the same questions so comparisons

can be made easily

• These are well documented

• These are found to be more reliable and consistent in nature

 Nondirective Interview
• Interview that uses general questions, from which other questions
are developed
Gary Dessler

• No predetermined script and protocol

• Usually used in psychological counselling and also in some selection

processes

• High impact of the interviewer’s perception

 Situational Interview
• A structured interview composed of questions about how
applicants might handle specific job situations

• Interview questions are based on job analysis

• Questions comprise of three types

• Hypothetical: Ask the applicant what he or she might do in a certain

job situation

• Knowledge-based: Asking for explanation or method/procedure

• Requirements-related: Work Explores areas such as willingness to

work the hours required and meet travel demands
 Behavioral Interview
• Interview in which applicants give specific examples of how they
have performed or handled problems in the past
Gary Dessler

• For e.g. applicants might be asked the following questions:

• How did you handle a situation in which there were no rules or

guidelines on employee discipline?

• Why did you choose that approach?

• Think of a mistake that you committee in your work?

• Why do you think you committed that mistake

 Stress Interview
• Interview designed to create anxiety and put pressure on an
applicant to see how the person responds

Gary Dessler

• The interviewer assumes an extremely aggressive and insulting

posture

• The stress interview is a high-risk approach for an employer

• An applicant might turn down the job offer. Even so, many
interviewers deliberately put applicants under stress
 Types of interview questions
• Warm up/ice breaker

• Work history

• Family History

• Education

• Career goals

• Questions to check Behavioural indicators

• Ethics related questions

• Values related questions

 Exercise
Do’s of Interviews Don'ts of Interviews

•Planning the interview •Snap judgments

•Controlling the interview •Halo effect

•Professionally sound and •Biases

ethically correct questions

•Politically correct questions •Sexual innuendos

 Selection Process

Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Application Review
 Employment test
• Take a few minutes and write down any employment tests that you
may have taken to for a current or past job

• Now, let’s share and understand some of these options

 Employment tests
• Employers can put the prospective candidates through a range of
tests. For e.g.

• Ability test
• Aptitude test
• Work sample test
 Employment tests
• Ability test - Tests that assess learned skills.

• Aptitude test - Tests that measure general ability to learn or acquire

a skill

• Work sample test - Tests that require an applicant to perform a

simulated job task

• Mental ability tests - Tests that measure reasoning capabilities (for

e.g. spatial orientation, comprehension and retention span, and
general and conceptual reasoning)
 Assessment Center
• What is an assessment center?

• It is composed of a series of evaluative exercises and tests used for

selection and development

• It may also be called Assessment Development Center (ADC)

• An assessment center is not necessarily a place

 Assessment Center
• Candidates go through a comprehensive interview, pencil-and-
paper test, individual and group simulations, and work exercises

• The candidates’ performance is then evaluated by a panel of

trained raters
 Psychological/Personality Tests
• Refer to Semester I notes
 Is this is a legitimate employment
tests?
• Polygraph

• Honesty Testing What do you think these

tests imply?
Take a minute and
• Graphology take a guess!

• Psychics

• Blood types
 Is this is a legitimate employment
tests?
• Polygraph

• The polygraph, more generally and incorrectly referred to as the “lie

detector,” is a mechanical device that measures a person’s galvanic
(affected by emotion as if by electricity) skin response, heart rate,
and breathing rate.

• The theory behind the polygraph is that if a person answers

incorrectly, the body’s physiological responses will “reveal” the
falsification through the polygraph’s recording mechanisms.
 Is this is a legitimate employment
tests?
• Honesty Testing

• Individuals who take honesty tests answer “yes” or “no” to a list of

questions. Sample questions include:

• Would you tell your boss if you knew another employee was
stealing from the company?
• Is it all right to borrow company equipment to use at home if the
property is always returned?
• Have you ever told a lie?
 Is this is a legitimate employment
tests?
• Graphology

• Graphology is a type of “test” in which an “analysis” is made of an

individual’s handwriting

• Psychics

• Some firms use psychics to help select managerial talent. However,

most businesses would not want anyone to know that they used
“psychic advisers
 Is this is a legitimate employment
tests?
• Blood type

• In Japan, many people think blood type is an excellent predictor.

• Type O blood - indicates a person who is generous and bold

• Type A, one who is industrious
• Type B, one who is impulsive and flexible
• Type AB, one who is both rational and creative
• A manager at Mitsubishi Electric chose people with type AB blood
to dream up the next generation of fax machines
• One Japanese nursery school divides children based on their blood
types
 Selection Process

Background investigation
Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Application Review
 Background Verification
• One Line Debate

• How does it work?

• Take 3 minutes and think

• Everyone gets an opportunity to speak only one line/statement

• The next speaker may either support the statement (same team)

• Or the next speaker may oppose the statement

 Background Verification
One-Line Debate
• Team A – Background check is a must for all positions in the
company

• Team B - Background check is a must only for top positions in the

company

• Team A - Background check must happen before the job offer is

made

• Team B - Background check must happen after the employee joins

 Background Verification
• This may include:

• Academic references
• Prior work references
• Financial references
• Law enforcement records
• Personal references
 Selection Process

Preliminary selection in HR Dep.

Background investigation
Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Application Review
 Preliminary Selection in HR Dep.
• Ranking of applicants based on previous processes

• Select the candidates for “second” round

 Selection process

Supervisory interview
Preliminary selection in HR Dep.
Background investigation
Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Application Review
 Supervisory Interview
• In depth interview by single supervisor or a panel of interviewers

• Interview may be any of the types discussed earlier depending on

the type of work at hand
 Selection Process

Medical examination
Supervisory interview
Preliminary selection in HR Dep.
Background investigation
Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Application Review
 Medical examination
• Primarily to ensure that the health of an applicant is adequate to
meet the job requirements

• Today, it is also done by medical insurance carriers to allow

coverage

• Sometimes, to award protection against possible law suits later

 Selection Process
Hiring decision
Medical examination
Supervisory interview
Preliminary selection in HR Dep.
Background investigation
Employment tests
Initial interview in HR Dep.
Application Review
 Hiring Decision
• Outcome of the entire process of selection

• Chosen candidate is made an offer and may also get an offer letter

• Once the candidate accepts and joins the next step of placement
and then induction begins
 Placement
• Placement - Fitting a person to the right job

• It may happen before or after selection

• For new graduates the candidate is usually on rotation while on

probation and gets placed for a fixed role later in the company
 Induction
• The action or process of introducing a new employee to a position
or organization

• It happens after an employee has joined the organization

• It may happen on the first day or within the first month of joining
 Process of Induction
• Welcome message and ice breaker

• Company induction which many include

– The company’s market standing
– The company’s vision, mission and objectives
– The company’s value system
– Processes and procedures
– Products and services
– Departments within the company
– Business units or LOBs and locations
 Process of Induction
• HR induction which may include
– Hours of working
– Norms of behaviour
– Dress code
– Facility tour
– Leaves and other policies
– Safety procedures
– Performance appraisals

• IT induction/systems induction
– The company’s intranet, if any
– Quality systems and procedure
 Process of Induction
• Specific group/division and department induction which may
include
– Introduction to colleagues
– Introduction to buddy
– On-the-job training begins
 Highlights of Induction
• Specific to companies
• Some companies may have an elaborate induction spanning
multiple weeks while others may only have it for a day
• Some companies induct employees on the first day of work
• Some companies may have a norm per which an employee will be
inducted anytime during the first month of his employment
• Induction is essential as it greatly reduces the incubation or lag
phase and gives an employee important information needed to
familiarize himself/herself with the organization
 Exercise
• Team A: Design an assessment centre for a new data entry company
that has projects into medical data entry

• Team B: Design an assessment centre for a voice-based customer

centre for travel operations based in the UK
End of Chapter 6