Lecture 2:Recruitment &

Selection
Dr Garrett Ryan
 A Question
Does structure follow strategy ?

•In which case the structure of

an organisation may be the
outcome of strategic decisions
 Or
• Does strategy follow = be
influenced by or decided by
structure ?
 In both situations
• The design of the structure will link to
HRM.
 Rationale
• According to a global survey of executives, the two
most important challenges facing are:
- a) Recruitment and Selection of high-quality people
across multiple territories, particularly as
competition for top talent grows more intense
- b) Improving the appeal of the company culture
and work environment

Source: Deloitte and Economist Intelligence Unit, Aligned at the top,2007 .

Classical form:
(usually hierarchical)

Chief

Head of Function Head of Function Head of Function

 Classical-Bureaucratic
• Clear definition of
duties/responsibilities
• Maximum specialisation
• Obedience to authority
• Maximum use of rules
• Remuneration by rank and job
responsibility
 Role of HR Management
• Originally Personnel
Management
• Then HR Management
• But in classical mode
• Seen as a staff function
• Not as a line function
 Organic = Looser structure
• Means allowing structure to develop
and change as suits the organisation.
• Might be said to link to --Structure
follows Strategy—but often “just
happens”
• Often suits knowledge based industries
• HR may be integrated; may even be no
separate HR function
 Linking to Jobs
• Whatever the view about structure and
strategy
• Whatever the style of management
• It is clear that Recruitment and
Selection are key HRM functions
 Why are Recruitment & Selection
Important?
• Ability to attract, hire, retain and develop
the most capable talent is single most
important determinant of an
organisations’ strategic effectiveness
(Millmore, 2003; Thomas & Ray, 2000)
• Labour turnover (CIPD, 2007)
Why are Recruitment & Selection
Important?
• Mistakes are both strategically and
financially damaging
• One Irish survey suggested that 20% of
new people leave within 6 months
• Huge cost of re-hiring crippling the
economy
 Avoid the cost of Re-hires
Exercise:
• In pairs-please draft up a list of areas that
a company can focus on to help retain
employees soon after hiring. In his list
include:
• Onboarding (in the first 30 days)
• After probation (before 6 months)
• After one year
 A key question
• Do you closely Or
define the job and Do you define the type
its responsibilities ? of person who will fit
the organisation as
• And pick somebody well as possible ?
whose skills and and who has
experience fits as appropriate skills and
closely as possible experience
 So-the options are :
• Systems Approach Process Approach

• Define the candidate Emphasis on possible

who most closely changes in the job and
fits the ideal profile in the person
for the job
And in possibility of
• Graham & Bennett emergent strategy
(1998) (Mintzberg)
 Systems Approach—Find
candidate who fits job
• Are there problems
with this approach ?
 Systems Approach—Find
candidate who fits job
• Are there problems
with this approach ?
• There may be—
Can the job be clearly
defined
Can the fit of person
be clearly made
What happens if the
job has to be
changed
 Class Discussion
• Lets talk about good and bad personal
recruitment experiences:
• What was it that made it good /Bad?
• Discuss:
The Recruitment & Selection
Process Gunnigle et al (2006)
 Recruitment
• The process of generating a pool of capable people
to apply for employment to an organisation
(Bratton & Gold, 2006)

• 3 Important Functions
1. To attract a pool of suitable applicants for
the vacancy
2. To determine unsuitable candidates from
applying
3. To create a positive image of the company
Pre-Recruitment/Job Analysis

• Job Analysis:
A means of identifying
the human behaviour necessary
for adequate job performance
(Schneider & Schmitt, 1986)
 Methods of Job Analysis
• Questionnaires • Diary Analysis

• Check Lists • Expert Analysis

• Individual and/or • Work participation

Group Observation
 Person-Specification
• Describes the ideal person for the job &
provides detailed description of criteria to
do the job effectively

• Elements include:
– Skills, knowledge, personality attributes,
education, qualifications & experience

• Identifies essential and desirable

characteristics
 Considerations within
Recruitment
Internal vs. External

Application Process: CV or Application form

Recruitment Method: Traditional or E-Recruiting

Legal Requirements
Are there other methods ?
• Unsolicited
approaches

• Friends of
existing staff
 Discuss in class
• What are the benefits of using recruitment
agencies?
• What are the disadvantages?

Discuss
 In-house recruitment
• Advantages:
– Can keep recruitment costs down
– Prior knowledge of business operations and culture
– Motivates existing staff

• Disadvantages
– Difficult to manage employee expectations if not selected
– Can restrict pool of candidates
– Tension with commitment to equal opportunities and creation of diverse work
force

• Considered good practice when combined with consideration of external candidates

 The Classic Trio
Traditional activities used to select
Application form Interview Reference-checking
Although extremely popular in practice, these
techniques have been criticised by occupational
psychologists on the grounds of validity – how
accurately they predict job performance.
Validity studies reveal them to be markedly poorer
than more sophisticated techniques such as
personality tests and assessment centres.
 Selection
• The process by which managers & others
use specific instruments to choose the
optimal candidate from a pool of
applicants

• The person most likely to succeed in

the job, given management goals &
legal requirements (Bratton & Gold,
2006)
 Selection
• Suitability: how well candidates match the job
requirements (largely determined by job
description & person spec)

• Validity: the extend to which the selection method

used measures what it is supposed to measure

• Reliability: the extent to which the decision is

consistent (i.e. if another person made it would it
be the same?)
 Key Question
• How do we identify people with knowledge,
skill, ability and the personality to perform well
at a set of tasks we call a job?
• Even more difficult, how do we do this before
we have ever seen the person perform on the
job? (Polyhart et al. 2006, P.10)
 Selection Methods

• Application Form
Interview (structured vs. unstructured)
• Psychometric Testing
• Work Examples
• Assessment Centres
• References
• Medical Examinations
 Assessment Centres-1
• Employers use assessment centres to select the best
candidate for the job or position within an
organisation
• Assessment centres usually include a combination
of exercises and tasks that can measure
candidates‟ strengths and weaknesses in
competencies relevant to the job
• Participants work in small groups of five or six, and
are assessed by a team of observers
 Assessment Centres -2
• ACs typically last from half a day to two days
and are highly structured and organised
• At the end, assessors consider each
candidate‟s individual performance
throughout the assessment centre and select
who is the most suitable.
• Participants rarely receive feedback other
than they did not succeed in getting the
position
Alternative Selection Methods

Psychometric Testing:
• Standardised test of performance attitudes or personality

• Major types: cognitive ability, personality, attitudes &

values, career choice & guidance

• Contribution: predictive accuracy, allows comparison with

similar people, indication of interpersonal skills or
managerial style which can be followed up at interview or
AC
Anderson & Shckelton (1993)
 Interviewing approaches

Biographical
What did you do during you last summer break from
college? What did you study in college?

Situational
Suppose you are a sales assistant and you are approach by a customer who
proves both difficult and rude. What would you do?

Behavioural:
Can you tell me of a time when you had to make recommendations to
others and you faced and overcame resistance?
 Situational Judgement Tests
• Are well regarded (only in certain roles)

• Deal with potential actual work

situations

• Reduce possible bias regarding eg

language difficulties
 Before Interview
 Study all available information
 Agree coverage plan
 Appoint chairperson
 Allow adequate time
 Climate & physical setting
 Prepare for note-taking
 Be familiar with the law on
employment
 During Interview
 Establish rapport – start with open questions
 Listen (80%)
 Outline purpose & structure
 Follow the coverage plan – interview in turn
 Maintain continuity
 Maintain eye contact & give positive feedback –
use silence
 Treat all candidates equally
 Advise candidate of next stage
 Five Fundamental Questions
- Interviewer

1. Why are you here?

2. What can you do for us?
3. What kind of person are you?
4. What distinguishes you from the 19
candidates with the same skills?
5. Can we afford you?
 Five Fundamental Questions -
Interviewee
1. What does this job involve?
2. Do my skills (etc.) really match this job?
3. Are these the kind of people I would like to
work with?
4. Can I persuade them that there is
something different about me than the
other 19?
5. Can I persuade them to give me the salary I
need/want?
 After Interview
 Assess candidate against criteria immediately
 Concentrate on solid facts of past behaviour
 Incorporate information from other selection
methods if used
 Advise candidate of outcome A.S.A.P offering
letter of offer.
 Advise unsuccessful candidates also
 Take care of notifying unsuccessful internal
candidates
 Induction and probation period
 The Selection Decision
• Involves measuring candidates individually against
selection criteria (not against each other)

• Can be completed separately by each assessor or

collaboratively
Selection Methods in Ireland

Gunnigle et al. 2011

 Errors and Biases in Selection
 Inadequate preparation
 Expectancy effect
 Information seeking bias
 Halo effect
 Primacy effect
 Accuracy of recall
 Stereotyping
 Similar to “me”
 Contrast and quota effect
 Employment References
• This is the final stage in the classic trio – rarely used in the
initial selection of an employee, but more to double-check
facts and confirm the suitability of the selected candidate.
• Dangers include:
- subjectivity
- carelessness on the part of the former employer
- a tendency to give ‘good’ ratings/central ratings in a five-
point Likert scale
- Previous employers may not be helpful
 Skills
• Questioning Techniques
– Probing, elaborating, silence
• Establishing rapport
– Welcoming,
• Listening
– Active, engaged, notes
• Controlling
– Timing, covering all areas
• Reporting
– Summarising, accurate recall, evaluation

Interviewing at Google
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w887NIa_V9w
How to Write a Job Ad… Chandler
& Scott (2005)
• Show job title, salary & location in big, bold type in the
header- if there is a fit potential candidates will read on
• Spell out the criteria in the first few line- people want to
know quickly if they could be a candidate
• Describe the job in detail to ensure you get the right
candidates applying
• Use questions- research shows that ads that contain
questions get much higher response rates
• Tell a story about your company
• If possible use your logo in the advert as people
respond better to dealing directly with the company
than intermediaries
 Job Description
• Broad statement of purpose, scope, duties &
responsibilities attached to the job

• Elements include:
– Job Title
– Location
– Reporting Structure & Relationships
– Job Purpose Summary
– Key Responsibilities
 Costs of Poor R & S
 Unnecessary costs to organisation
 Re-advertising
 Training a replacement
 Potential customer loss
 Decreased productivity
 Low employee morale
 Preventative measures

 Structured Format
 Use job description & person
specification
 Training & experience
 Record during & after against criteria
 Awareness of non-verbal behaviour
Behavioural/ Competency based
• Structured questions eliciting behavioural
information about specific, predetermined,
job-related criteria
• Previously exhibited behaviour predicts
future performance

• Detail oriented – i.e. circumstances, action

carried out, consequences

• E.g. Tell me about a time where you had to

use time management skills.
 Pro’s & Con’s
• Pro
– Based on careful job analysis
– More objectively rated
– Consistent across interviewees
• Con
– Multiple competencies = long interview
– Over-rating based on self-report
– Narrow focus
 E-Recruitment

• Advantages:
Convenience, speed, lowers costs (by at
least half), no geographical limits, high
volume of applicants, particularly useful
for graduate recruitment
• Disadvantages: Inappropriate
applications, volume of applicants, need
internet access
 E-Recruitment
• Increasing investment in technology and broadband
allows greater access to internet
• Economic growth produced a demands for both
quantity and quality of employees that local labour
markets could not satisfy (Thomas & Ray, 2000)

• Types of E-Recruiting Techniques:

– General commercial sites (e.g. www.monster.ie), specialised
job sites (e.g. www.cipd.ie), chat rooms & newsgroups (
www.HRNet.com) , company websites (e.g.
www.debenhams.com)
 So-the options are :
• Systems Approach Processual Approach

• Define the candidate Emphasis on possible

who most closely changes in the job and
fits the ideal profile in the person
for the job
And in possibility of
• Graham & Bennett emergent strategy
(1998) (Mintzberg)
 Process Approach
• Recognises that jobs and people may
change—emphasises flexibility
• Used for example by Dell and Cisco
• But
• Too much flexibility may divert focus
from strategy and business needs
• Doesn’t guarantee right selection for
organisation or right job for candidates
 Case Study
• You are an American company opening up
a subsidiary in Ireland. You need to recruit
30 new employees within 4 months:
• What R&S methods would you use?
• Would you use in-house or an agency?
• What possible implications/risks do you
need to advise the CEO of?