Meaning and Definition
Selection is a procedure in which candidates are chosen from a pool of applicants who have the knowledge and abilities necessary to fulfil the position in an organisation. The process of selection involves a number of steps, including vetting candidates to see whether they are qualified for the position, selecting the best candidates from the pool of candidates, and rejecting the remainder.
As a result, selection may be seen as a negative process in its application since its major objective is to weed out as many people who are not acceptable for the organisation as possible.
“Selection is the process of making a hiring or no-hire choice about each candidate for a position,” says Terrie Nolinske “.
“Selection is a sequence of procedures from first candidate screening through final employment of the new employee,” claim Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn .
“Selection is the process of reviewing job applications to ensure that the most suitable individuals are recruited,” write Steven P. Robbins and Mary Coulter.
“Selection is the process by which applicants for employment are split into two classes—those who will get job offers and those who won’t,” says Dale Yoder.
Factors affecting Selection
1) Internal Environmental Elements: Internal elements that influence the selection process include:
i) Organizational Size: The size of the organisation affects the selection procedure. For instance, small organisations often depend on the formal and methodical selection process, but huge organisations typically utilise a more casual selection approach.
ii) Organizational Type: Complex organisational structures need highly developed operational structures. The majority of businesses divide their organisational structure into three categories. One kind is a line structure, where certain tasks are assigned and are to be carried out in that order.
In a line-and-staff organisation, the line managers’ responsibilities are supported by the staff departments, who in turn specify the obligations for the employees.
With the aid of departments, which have personnel with expertise in human resources, marketing, engineering, and finance, a departmental organisational structure operates. The method of selection differs depending on the kind of organisational structure.
iii) The nature of social pressure: Because every organisation must operate inside the society under certain social and legal terms and circumstances, the selection of human resources is also highly impacted by law, executive orders, court rulings, etc.
iv) Applicant Pool: The applicant pool has an impact on the selection process. Only a broad application pool with qualified candidates for a given employment vacancy can make the procedure efficient. The selection ratio is calculated by dividing the number of candidates chosen for a certain post by the total number of candidates.
v) Choice-Making Speed: The amount of time allotted for making the decision is a factor in the choosing process. By closely adhering to the selection criteria and processes, organisations may avoid legal issues.
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2) External Environmental Factors: Outside elements that affect the selecting process include:
i) The nature of the labour market: The nature of the labour market has an impact on the selection process as well. For instance, if there are few candidates who meet the necessary knowledge and skill requirements, the selection process will be quick and easy, and vice versa.
ii) Trade Unions: Trade unions have an impact on an organization’s hiring process. For instance, labour unions may suggest certain candidates for a position or even demand their nomination.
iii) Government Regulations: Organizations must abide by the selection standards outlined in the laws and rules that the government has established. Thus, laws and other governmental norms and regulations have an impact on how a company conducts its hiring process.
Importance of Selection / Objectives of Selection
1) Chooses Appropriate Applicant: The selection procedure attempts to choose the best candidate who satisfies all job criteria. Only after eliminating all unqualified candidates via a methodical selection procedure is the best candidate picked.
2) Verifies Applicant’s Capabilities: In order to choose the best candidate, the selection process helps to match the job criteria with the applicant profiles.
3) Selects the Appropriate Candidate for the Right Job: The selection process assists in matching the right candidate with the right position so that he may provide his best efforts toward achieving the objectives of the organisation by delivering the necessary performance standards.
4) Generates Information About Candidate: Selection aids in gathering information about the candidate so that it can be compared to those of the other candidates and used to make an informed choice.
5) Saves Money: In order to improve an employee’s productivity, it is essential that the suitable applicant and the job requirements match. Any discrepancy in this regard might cause the organisation to suffer significant losses. It may be measured in terms of money, time, and any other considerations, such the cost of operation, the cost of training, etc.
Employees who get dissatisfied with their jobs over time may lose interest in them and possibly quit. It is conceivable for a disgruntled employee to spread inaccurate information about the company, which might ultimately cause a significant loss. Therefore, for a selection process to be successful, it must be continuously monitored to ensure that the candidate’s skills and job requirements “fit.”
Difference between Recruitment and Selection
| Basis of Difference | Recruitment | Selection |
| 1) Sequence | Recruitment is always conducted before the Selection process. | Selection is always conducted after the recruitment selection process |
| 2) Objective | The main objective of recruitment is to attract maximum number of potential applicants in order to get a large applicant pool. | The main objective of selection is to choose the best suitable candidate from the applicant pool. |
| 3) Process | Recruitment is called a positive process because it involves the process of generating a large pool of applications. | Selection is called a negative process because as it involves the process which rejects a large number of applicants and only few best applicants are selected for the job |
| 4) Methods | Methods of recruitment are not very comprehensive and therefore there is no more a requirement of persons with highly skilled personnel. | Very specialized methods are required in selection process. Therefore, in this process, only skilled personnel like experts of selection tests, conducting interviews, etc., are considered. |
| 5) Service Contract | Service contract is not the outcome of recruitment process. | There is a service contract between employer and the selected candidate. |
| 6) Result | Recruitment results in pool of applications which serves as an input for process of selection. | Selection process results in the form of selecting the final candidate who will get the job offer. |
Steps in the Selection Process/Selection Procedure
There are many obstacles or phases in the choosing process. The goal of selection is to gather comprehensive information about applicants so that it may be decided whether or not they are qualified for the position. The hiring procedure differs from company to company and job to job.
1) Screening of Applicants (Application Forms): Candidates must fill out application forms as part of the applicant screening process. These application forms include information on the candidates’ personal histories, qualifications, and experiences, among other things. To find the best applicant who is qualified for the open job, this sort of information is used.
Additionally, a permanent record of the chosen applicants may be kept using it. Only those candidates who pass the first screening and fulfil the job criteria and organisational standards are then invited to go further in the selection process. If there are more applicants than there are open jobs, the organisation chooses just a limited group of applicants for further consideration.
2) Selection Tests: Each organisation has its own guidelines for the selection process, in order to get the necessary data about the applicant or to exclude applicants who are ineligible for an interview.
The information supplied by candidates in their application forms is often supported by selection exams. A selection exam may reveal important details about a candidate’s ability, interests, personality, etc. that are impossible to learn from an application form.
3) Selection Interviews: Personal interviews with candidates are conducted after the selection exams. A personal interview’s primary objective is to thoroughly assess each applicant for the position. Additionally, it offers the applicant the opportunity to learn all there is to know about the company. Before administering the examinations, there may be an initial interview.
4) Medical Exam: Given that many occupations demand a lot of patience, a medical test is conducted to determine a candidate’s endurance or degree of tolerance under pressure. A medical exam determines whether or not the applicant exhibits these qualities. It highlights the shortcomings of location that is carefully chosen and of high quality, not just to reject.
It also shows that the correct applicants are placed in the right employment, where they can work without any sort of difficulty, and it prevents the movement of a candidate to other job positions. Effects on their health from a medical checkup. Usually, a medical officer approved by the organisation or a doctor who works for the organisation does it.
5) Reference Check and Background Verification: This part of the selection process involves checking references and doing a background check to learn more about the applicant. Organizations ask applicants for references who they may contact for further information. These details could relate to their history, personality, employment, etc.
These references might be former coworkers, alumni from the candidate’s alma mater, or other significant people who are familiar with the candidate’s character and abilities. Due to their subjectivity, references are not meant to be given much weight in India, although they are a vital source of knowledge that cannot be found elsewhere.
6) Hiring Decisions or Approval by Appropriate Authority: Lastly, the personnel department or selection committee recommends the qualified applicants for selection based on the preceding processes. The ultimate selection of the applicants for the position, however, may fall within the purview of the personnel department or selection committee; in certain cases, organisations employ their own employees to make recommendations to the top management.
Organizations often designate several authorities to approve the final candidate selection. Following approval, the applicants are informed of their hiring by the company and asked to report to the relevant staff.
Selection Tests
Psychological tests are another name for exams. These exams are important instruments that are used in the hiring process. According to the job analysis, certain sets of skills and capabilities of a worker must exist for a good employment result. To assess these skills and capacities, a psychological test is administered. A test is a tool used to assess certain psychological components.
The main goal of the test-taking phase of the hiring process is to quickly and accurately compare candidates’ abilities and capabilities for various job roles. Human skills must be understood in relation to one another since they are intricately interrelated and complex in nature.
“A psychological test is a standardised assessment of behaviour”, according to Wayne F. Cascio.
“A test is a systematic technique for comparing the behaviour of two or more individuals,” claims Cronbach.
Milton M. Blum asserts that a test is a representative sample of one element of a person’s behaviour, performance, and attitude “.
Types of Tests
1) Aptitude tests: This kind of exam is used to evaluate a person’s progress relative to certain predetermined ability. These skills might be related with precise dimension visualisation, numerical ability, or emotional capacity. These exams are meant to gauge a person’s capacity or, if given the right instruction, his innate capacity to acquire new material.
i) Intelligence Exams: These tests are designed to assess a variety of mental abilities, including judgement, understanding, and reasoning. An intelligence test aims to provide a general understanding of a person’s mental capacity. Simply said, compared to any other instrument, these exams efficiently examine the numerous human behaviours.
These exams provide experts a uniform method of comparing an individual’s performance to that of another person who is in the same age group. These exams also provide accurate information on the biological and cultural distinctions between individuals.
ii) Mechanical Aptitude Test: Mechanical aptitude exams, often known as mechanical ability tests, are another kind of examination. These exams assess a person’s aptitude for resolving mechanical issues without the use of manuals or other resources. Most companies, including the Navy, Army, Air Force, and many commercial organisations, take these examinations into consideration.
Employers utilise these exams throughout the application stage, and passing them demonstrates a candidate’s suitability for the position he is seeking. Before being given the job, any applicant seeking a new position in the mechanical industry or a promotion must pass this exam.
iii) Psychomotor Tests: Psychomotor tests are taken into consideration when assessing a person’s suitability for a certain position. This exam also aids in making decisions on mental and motor skills, as well as certain other attributes where a person must employ muscle movements and exhibit control and coordination. These assessments are taken into account when hiring people for semi-skilled, tiresome activities like packaging, testing, examination, assembly labour, etc.
iv) Clerical Aptitude Tests: These exams are designed to identify applicants with the necessary skills to perform correctly and actively in administrative tasks. Any error in the shipping, accounting, or billing information might result in significant losses for the organisations.
Employers utilise this exam when selecting candidates for clerical positions, cashiers, warehouse workers, bank employees, etc., where accuracy and high levels of focus are crucial. These assessments look at specific skills needed for professional job. Spelling, copying, math, word length, understanding, and other skills might be tested on this exam. Due to the wide range of employment needs, these examinations are vary in character.
2) Achievement Tests: This kind of exam is standardised and used to evaluate a person’s proficiency in a certain subject area. In contrast to an aptitude test, which measures a person’s capacity for learning, this exam measures a person’s knowledge of a specific subject or disciplines, such as arithmetic, geography, or science. The following exam types are included in achievement tests:
i) Job Knowledge Tests: A work knowledge exam assesses a person’s degree of job-specific knowledge. For instance, a junior lecturer who applies for a senior lecturer position in the commerce department must pass a test of job-related knowledge that may include questions on accounting principles, banking rules, company management, etc.
ii) Work Sample Tests: In this exam, the applicant is given a portion of real work to complete as part of the form test. For instance, if someone applies for a position as a management professor, they could be required to give a lecture on the management information system as part of the work sample examination.
As a result, a person’s professional performance is assessed based on his or her understanding of the subject matter of their employment and practical work experience.
3) Situational Tests: Situational tests are created to allow for the observation of a person’s spontaneous response in actual circumstances. These tests are predicated on placing participants in real-world scenarios and watching their responses to get insight into how they react.
In order to reveal a person’s personality qualities, these tests put participants in stressful, exciting, boring, or other settings. These examinations take a lot of time and money. The following sorts of tests may be used to categorise these tests:
i) Group Discussion: Typically, this exam is managed via group discussion by finding a solution to an issue. Candidates are judged on their abilities to start, lead, offer important ideas, mediate, coordinate, and come to a conclusion during group discussions, among other things.
ii) In Basket: In this kind of exam, the executives of the organisation provide the applicant real letters, mobile phone and telegraphic messages, reports, and other requirements, including accurate information about the position and the company. The applicant must make certain decisions based on material found in their in-basket that relates to the message’s needs.
4) Interest Tests: Interest tests are inventories of all the applicants’ preferences with regard to their jobs, occupations, hobbies, and other free time pursuits. This test’s primary goal is to determine if the applicant is interested in the job that has been provided to him and to determine the field in which he or she is most interested.
This exam is predicated on the idea that a job candidate’s interest in the position will have a significant impact on its success. After the age of 30, interest inventories tend to be more accurate and more constant.
5) Personality exams: Personality tests look closely at the subject to learn about his or her morals, emotional stability, outlook, and emotions. Self-assurance, skill, emotional control, optimism, certainty, friendliness, consistency, objectivity, tolerance, fear, uncertainty, initiative, judgement, domination or submission, spontaneity, dependability, and firmness are all ways in which they might be conveyed. The following categories may be applied to this test:
i) Objective Tests: A questionnaire often makes up an objective exam. Each question has many answers or true/false options for the applicants to choose from. Because the topic has few options for each question, these examinations are prepared in a structured manner. These examinations are designed to evaluate a candidate’s mental aptitude, independence, submissiveness, and self-confidence.
ii) Projective Tests: Projective tests challenge candidates to make decisions based on an unstructured task and a test input that may be ambiguous or imprecise. For instance, the applicant could be asked to describe what they see in a blot of ink on a sheet of paper or to make up a tale based on a card that depicts a fuzzy image of certain individuals in a specific setting, like a surgery room.
This test is predicated on the idea that how a person structures and interprets an uncertain test stimulus would reflect the core elements of their personality or psychological functioning, revealing their demands, anxieties, and conflicts. Projective exams thus do an indirect assessment of a person’s personality.
Standards for Selection Tests
1) Suitability: A test has to be appropriate for the group being tested on. For instance, administering a written examination with challenging terms to employees who are not very literate is pointless.
2) Standardization: The word “standardisation” refers to the consistency or stability of the guidelines and practises used to carry out a certain test. Norms, interpretation, methods, and test-administration procedures must all be established as part of this process in order to finalise the scores.
3) Qualified Personnel: A test requires highly skilled and knowledgeable staff to administer testing procedures. These professionals are great at what they do, therefore the judgments they provide are reliable and correct.
4) Preparation: A test with a complicated framework could not provide high-quality results. A test must thus be created extremely effectively and rapidly while also being simple to administer.
5) Validity: A test’s validity is a crucial component since it indicates how well it measures the things it was designed to measure. A selection test must be legitimate in order to be used to screen job candidates since validity offers a rational and recognised legal justification for doing so.
A test must be reliable in a particular setting and for a particular population. As a result, a test is considered legitimate if it can accurately measure the variables for which it was created. a
6) Reliability: This word refers to the consistency of the selecting process. Only when a test regularly yields the same findings can it be deemed to be dependable. In the case of an unreliable test, a person could, despite the fact that both events are near in time, score well at one and extremely poorly at the other.
When applicants are reexamined using the same test on two or more occasions, or using any other way to assess the consistency of the test result, this uniformity is produced.
7) Utility: It describes the monetary benefits made by using a certain technique of selection. After subtracting the costs spent during the application of a certain technique, the primary goal is to evaluate the increase in income as a function of the chosen method.
Low selection ratios are necessary for a typical level of usefulness. Therefore, it is entirely dependent on an organization’s capacity to draw in a sizable number of skilled and qualified candidates for each open post.
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Advantages of Tests
1) Reliable Method: Selection tests are regarded as a reliable and objective tool to assess and choose the top applicant for an open job. In contrast to other methods used for selection, such interviews, selection tests are never subject to personal prejudice or discrimination.
2) Perfect for Big Groups: Selection tests have an advantage over other examinations in that they may be administered to many candidates at once. The only method for an organisation to choose applicants from a big pool while saving time and money is via a selection exam.
3) Intangible talent predictor: Selection tests are a valuable technique for locating people’s hidden abilities and talents. an attribute of the person.
4) Goal-Specific and Target-Oriented: Organizations utilise a variety of selection tests to assess a specific candidate. For instance, accomplishment exams may be used to assess applicants’ current performance, while aptitude tests are taken into account when assessing candidates’ future performance.
5) Save a Record for the Future: The organisation may use selection tests as a record-keeping instrument and keep them for future research and investigations. By examining the results of selection tests, some suggestions for future enhancements to the test’s administration and content may be developed. By identifying the discrepancy between the applicants’ real performance and test performance, it is simpler to determine a test’s usefulness.
Disadvantages of Tests
Despite the fact that selection tests offer many benefits, they also have certain drawbacks, including the following:
1) Inappropriate for Smaller Groups: If the applicant pool is limited, selection tests are not particularly cost-effective in terms of selecting the best candidate. To develop a selection test and determine if it is valid and trustworthy or not, it takes a lot of time and money.
2) Unable to predict work performance with 100% accuracy: Selection tests are not always able to provide a precise prediction about a person’s success in their line of work. They may somewhat say that individuals who scored higher than the cut-off mark will be more successful than those who did not.
3) Can be used as a supplement: Tests should only be used in conjunction with other techniques of selection, such as applications and interviews, and not as a replacement for them.
4) Lack of Flexibility: Selection tests are pre-planned and cannot be often altered to accommodate the evolving circumstance. Additionally, since it uses an impersonal approach, it may overlook important individual characteristics that are necessary for work effectiveness.Tests and its users are often criticised for discriminating against the poor classes.
5) Criticised for Discrimination: Criticized for Discrimination Tests are seen as a danger to privacy as well. These rejections may sometimes prevent organisations from considering the advantages of testing.
Developing a Test Programme
Making a test programme is not simple. It requires meticulous planning, investigation, testing, understanding of procedural requirements, etc.
Additionally, hiring psychological consultants, using psychometrics, and using statistical techniques may be necessary for the establishment of a test programme. The many procedures needed to create a sound include:
1) Choosing the Program’s Objectives: Selecting the Program’s Objectives is the first stage in the establishment of a test programme. A test programme may have a number of goals, including recruiting, training, or providing individual counselling. The programme may first be created for a small number of occupations before being subsequently expanded to include more positions within the organisation.
2) Examining the Job: The Job is thoroughly examined to ascertain the different human qualities and abilities required for effective job performance.
3) Choosing Tests to Assess Characteristics: A battery of tests, or a set of tests, is used to measure different sorts of characteristics. When choosing tests, it is important to take into account the test’s cost, difficulty level, case of administration, reliability, and validity. The choice of tests is often made based on a set of rules, such as prior knowledge, research, and intuition.
4) Giving the Tests to the Candidates: The tests are given to the candidates once they have been chosen in order to identify the necessary abilities and characteristics.
5) Establishing Job Success Criteria: Success criteria for a job are often specified in terms of specific outputs that meet pre-determined quality and quantity standards, attendance history, secrecy rates, rate of promotion, professional accomplishment, etc.
6) Examining Test Results: Lastly, the candidate’s test score is thoroughly evaluated in light of success criteria. Final judgement on whether to accept or reject a candidate is made on the basis of the evaluation.
Precautions in using Selection Tests
Tests are useful in choosing the best applicant for the position, which may assist management make decisions that are much better. However, the following safety measures must be remembered while utilising selection tests:
1) Norms are fixed scores that assist in turning unprocessed results into comparisons. All tests should have norms established as a point of reference. They must be developed using example data pertaining to a certain position inside an organisation. Utilizing standards established by other organisations is not a smart idea.
This is due to the diverse cultures, structures, and philosophies of various organisations. According to a poll on the usage of psychological testing, just one Indian firm has developed standards for selection exams.
Additionally, for the last 15 years, the bulk of Indian firms have used the same exam. While some businesses have just required a minimal score, others have been employing a minimum cut-off score.
2) Different individuals have varying levels of trepidation when it comes to selection examinations. Some people could be at ease with it since they’ve taken exams before. While others could be nervous since it’s their first time taking a selection exam.
Whatever the response, it is preferable to provide some kind of “warm up” before the exam. You may do this by offering test sample questions or by responding to exam-related inquiries.
3)Just because a test is thought to be useful for a certain profession doesn’t mean that it has to be applied to the job consistently across various organisations. Even while businesses may use the same technology and provide the same employment, they nonetheless have unique cultures. Therefore, the test should be verified for the organisation before being used.
4) Organizations employ selection tests as a supplementary tool for interviews and as a means of candidate screening. They are thus not given any consideration. It is appropriate to give the test considerable weight if an organisation has confirmed its value. A test’s weighting indicates that the selection process was reasonable and objective.
5) Training and technical expertise in the area of testing are required for test administration, competency measurement, and result interpretation. The majority of businesses believe they can give the exam without a professional help.
They think exam administration can be done with only instructions. The “unauthorised” implementation of the selection technique was the issue, however. As a result, its usage must be restricted to recognised “registered authorised users.”
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