Strategy for Human Resource

Management
Lecture 15

HRM 765
 Last Lecture
What is Selection?
Selection Process Steps
1. initial screening interview
2. completion of the application form
3. employment tests
4. comprehensive interview
5. background investigation
6. conditional job offer
7. medical/physical exam
8. permanent job offer
Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Last Lecture
• Completing the Application Form
• Employment Tests
• Interviews as a selection tool
• Impression management
• Structured interviews
• Unstructured interviews
• Behavioral Interviews
• Realistic Job Preview

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Topic

Foundations of Selection

Fundamentals of Human Resource

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 The Selection Process
Background Investigation:
• Verify information from the application
form
• Typical information verified includes:
– former employers
– previous job performance
– education
– legal status to work
– credit references
– criminal records
Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 The Selection Process
Background Investigation

• One-third of all applicants exaggerate their

backgrounds or experiences.
• A good predictor of future behavior is an
individual’s past behavior.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 The Selection Process
Background Investigation Methods:
• Internal investigation: checks former
employers, personal references and
possibly credit sources.
• External investigation: Uses a reference-
checking firm which may obtain more
information, while complying with privacy
rights.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 The Selection Process
• Background Investigation
• Documentation, including whom called,
questions asked, information obtained/not
obtained, is important in case an
employers’ hiring decision is later
challenged.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 The Selection Process
Conditional Job Offers:
• Offers of employment made
contingent upon successful
completion of background check,
physical/medical exam, drug test,
etc.
• If and Then.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 The Selection Process
Medical/Physical Examination

• Should be used only to determine if the

individual can comply with the essential
functions of the job.

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 The Selection Process
Job Offers
• Actual hiring decision generally made by
the department manager.

• Candidates not hired deserve the courtesy

of prompt notification.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

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 The Selection Process
The Comprehensive Approach
• Comprehensive selection approach puts
applicants through all the steps in the
selection process before making a
decision.
• Assesses both strengths and weaknesses
and is considered more realistic.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 The Selection Process
Now It’s Up to the Candidate
• The candidate now has to decide whether
this is the job for him or her.
• Applicants who are not hired this time will still
form an impression about the company.
• Management should assure the selection
process leaves them with a favorable
impression of the company.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Selection for Self-Managed Teams
• If teams are given management
responsibilities, it makes sense
for them to select their own
members.
• Team members bring to the
selection process varied
experiences and backgrounds.
• Team members need training in
selection and interviewing
techniques.
Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Key Elements for Successful
Predictors
• Reliability, validity, and cut scores can all
help predict which applicants will be
successful on the job.
• Reliability: The ability of the selection
tool to measure an attribute consistently.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Key Elements for Successful
Predictors
• Validity: The relationship between scores
on a selection tool and a relevant criterion,
such as job performance.
• Indicates how well a selection tool predicts
job performance.
– Content
– Construct
– Criterion-related

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Key Elements for Successful
Predictors
• Content validity: The degree to which
the content of the test, as a sample,
represents situations on the job.
• e.g. Negative and Positive feeling.
• Construct validity: The degree to which
a particular trait is related to successful
performance on the job. ( intelligence test
really measure intelligence)

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Key Elements for Successful
Predictors
• Criterion-related validity:
• The degree to which a particular selection device
accurately predicts the important elements of work
behavior. (Test results and Interview results)
– Predictive validity uses selection test scores of
applicants to compare with their future job
performance.
– Concurrent validity correlates the test scores of
current employees with measures of their job
performance.
Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Key Elements for Successful
Predictors
• Validity Analysis: Correlation coefficients
(validity coefficients) ranging from +1 to –1
summarize the statistical relationship
between an individual’s test score and
his/her job performance.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Key Elements for Successful
Predictors
Cut Scores and Their Impact on Hiring:
• Cut scores on a selection device can be
determined by validity studies.
• Applicants scoring below the cut score are
predicted to be unsuccessful on the job
and are rejected.

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Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Selection From a Global
Perspective
• Selection criteria for international
assignments includes
– interest in working overseas
– ability to relate to different cultures and
environments
– supportiveness of the candidate’s family
• Women executives have done well abroad
in Asia and Latin America, despite past
reluctance to assign them to these
countries.
Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Final Thoughts: Excelling at the
Interview
• Suggestions for making your interviews as an
applicant successful are:
– Do some homework on the company.
– Get a good night’s rest the night before.
– Dress appropriately.
– Arrive for the interview a few minutes early.
– Use a firm handshake.
– Maintain good eye contact.
– Take the opportunity to have practice interviews.
– Thank the interviewer at the end of the interview and
follow up with a thank you note.
Fundamentals of Human Resource
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Accept Error/ Reject Error

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 Summary
• Background Investigation

• Job Offers

• Medical/Physical Examination

• Reliability: The ability of the selection tool to measure an

attribute consistently.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
 Summary
• Validity: The relationship between scores on a selection tool
and a relevant criterion, such as job performance.
• Indicates how well a selection tool predicts job performance.
– Content
– Construct
– Criterion-related
• Selection From a Global Perspective
• Suggestions for making your interviews as an successful
applicant
• Accept Error/ Reject Error

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins