Techniques and Approaches in Selection Methods - Essay Example

? People resourcing exam questions What does the academic literature tell organisations about the systematic approach to selection methods vs. competency approach? The greatest challenge facing today’s human recourse managers is the creation of an effective and a competent pool of employees in an organisation. Human resource managers use different approaches in achieving their goals. The two widely used employee recruitment methods are systematic selection and competency selection approaches. Systematic selection technique The term selection refers to the process of identifying individuals with the most suitable qualifications and competences from a pool of other applicants to fill a job opening in an organisation. Systematic selection technique aims at eliminating as many unqualified applicants as possible so that the recruitment panel remains with the most suitable candidate. Systematic approach uses several steps in identifying suitable applicants to fill a given job position (Goss 1994, p. 45). Job description The first step when using the systematic selection technique is to thoroughly and accurately describe the job offer. The job description should capture all aspects related to the job position in such a way that any interested candidate will be in a position to understand the job requirements easily. Essential information that should be captured on the job description include salary ranges, duties and responsibilities, desired qualifications, nature of the job such as contractual or permanent job, and any other information that may be deemed relevant in relation to the job in question. In addition to the job description step, HR managers have the responsibility to lay down the desired skills for a job, and this can be achieved by creating a skills inventory. A skills inventory helps in eliminating job applicants who do not meet the desired skills as described on the job description. Job posting After properly describing the job opening, HR managers should post the job opening for people to apply for the job. Therefore, HR managers should look for the most appropriate channel to reach potential job applicants in a cost effective manner. Selection and interviewing of applicants This is the most challenging task for many HR managers. With the numerous advancements in technology, programs that can scan applicants’ resumes for the desired job matches are now available. This advancement has given HR managers an easy time when selecting the most suitable online applicants for interviews. After short listing qualified applicants for the interview, HR managers should prepare for the interview by contacting shortlisted applicants, stating the purpose of the interview, developing relevant questions and expected answers, and determine how to record interviewee responses (Michael 2003, p. 133). The final step involves decision making, which is based on evaluating the applicant’s suitability for the job position. Choosing the right candidate depends on all the evidence gathered throughout the selection process. Competency approach Unlike the systematic approach, which utilizes that art of describing job requirements and qualifications, competency approach dwells on the concept of competency analysis as a way of gathering essential information to help in improving the selection and recruitment processes. Competency is the ability to apply knowledge, skills, behaviours, abilities, and one’s personality in performing critical tasks or solving problems successfully. When using this approach, the underlying principle is that HR managers are in positions to identify the desired skills, knowledge, abilities, and other attributes needed in performing a certain job. Therefore, competency approach is an excellent predicator of how well a job seeker will carry out the assigned tasks (Saiyadain 2003, p. 62). In simple terms, competency approach is a behavioural job description that applies to each occupation and task. Depending on the specification of the job, a set of competencies are necessary to perform the task effectively. It is also intriguing to note that some competencies are more essential than others within a given job position. The value of competency approach is known when the hired personnel demonstrate the results expected by the organisation (Michael 2003, p. 135). The use of competency approach has gained immense popularity both in the private and public sectors due to the increased competition in business and service delivery. Thus, organisations are aiming at recruiting employees who are competent enough to deliver the desired results within the shortest time possible. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the HR managers to come up with appropriate competency models that will help in identifying the desired characteristics and attributes required for a certain job. In order to achieve the recruitment objective, organisations should come up with competency frameworks that tend to be robust, fluid, dynamic, and flexible to match with the ever changing technological and economic status (Michael 2003, p. 140). What are the main elements of the Equality Act 2010? The Equality Act 2010 aims at harmonising the discrimination law, and strengthening it to support progress on equality. The first act developed to fight unlawful discrimination came in place in 1944, and since then, a number of amendments have taken place to address different aspects of discrimination. The Equality Act has some main elements that address unlawful discrimination against any person (Davies 2011, p. 3). Employment The Equality Act 2010 prohibits any employer from discriminating or victimizing employees and job seekers. This also covers for any unlawful harassment at the place of work. Employers should apply the employment provision when recruiting for job positions and in subsequent events that follow after a person gets the job. Under the employment element, the employer is prohibited from asking about an applicant’s disability or health unless the applicant has received the job offer or is short listed among other successful candidates to be considered for the job offer (Davies 2011, p. 40). The Act specifies that health related questions should be asked for several purposes. The purposes include determining whether a candidate is medically fit to undertake the assigned task, as well as making relevant adjustments that would help a disabled person fit in the new job environment. Other purposes include assessing how diverse job applications are, to identify the suitable actions to take for the sake of the disabled people and selecting the most suitable person to take a job that may be requiring a person with certain ability. In addition, under employment, employers should be held liable for any unlawful act of discrimination committed by their employees is situations where they fail to prove that they had taken the necessary measures to prevent their employees from engaging in such acts. In order to set the employer free from the accusations, the employer must demonstrate several requirements under the act. First, job descriptions inform employees to conduct their duties in accordance to the provisions of the Equality Act, the employer has trained employees on Equality Act within the past 2-3 years, and the employer has reminded the employees on a regular basis on the importance of working according to the requirements of the Equality Act (Davies 2011, p. 76). The employer must also provide evidence of a staff handbook and key policies highlighting the importance of the employees conducting themselves in accordance to the Equality Act. Disability related aspect The Equality Act dictates that no one should be discriminated due to his/her disability. Discrimination arising from disability is kept into consideration when a person serving a disabled person does it in an unfavourable manner, which the service provider cannot prove otherwise. Anyone serving a disabled person should do it in a more favourable way than when serving a person who is not disabled (Davies 2011, p. 89). Under disability related aspects, organisations, landlords and premises managers should construct structures that are easily accessible by disabled people. The Act prohibits any act from housing providers that will limit or prevent a disabled person from gaining access to any premises. Service provision The Equality Act prohibits against discriminating or harassing any person due to a protected characteristic. Protection of a certain characteristic is valid when a person is requesting for a service and during the process of receiving the service. Premises This element addresses unlawful acts that might be committed by premises providers during the process of dealing with their clients. Persons who deal with the selling, letting or subletting of properties are prohibited against conducting their businesses in a discriminatory manner. Persons conducting such businesses should not sell or let their premises in an unfavourable manner or mistreat their clients once they have occupied the premises. Therefore, premises managers should not harass or forcefully evict their tenants. Genuine occupational requirements The Equality Act clearly notes that any protected characteristics may become a real asset for some jobs under certain circumstances. Any job that requires to be filled with a person having a protected characteristic should outline such a requirement on the job description section. This fact makes persons with a protected characteristic to use their disability as an asset in securing the job. Socio-economic inequalities The Equality Act adds a new duty to governments, departments and public bodies of considering the necessary action to undertake in order to reduce various socio-economic inequalities that people face. Procurement Equality Act requires the organization to take into account equality and diversity when conducting key procurement procedures. These procedures include pre-procurement considerations, tendering, and selection of suitable contractors, awarding contracts, and monitoring contract performance. What does academic literature tell an organisation about HR planning? Human resource planning is an essential operation in any organization. Any organisation that does not do proper HR planning may fail to survive any form of competition that may arise in the future. Human resource planning is defined as a systematic analysis of HR needs with an aim of ensuring that enough and competent employees are available in an organisation at any moment. When HR managers are doing the HR planning, they should ensure that the employees have the necessary skills and clearly understand the objective they are required to achieve (Saiyadain 2003, p. 74). Importance of planning Human resource planning is an exercise, which requires a lot of effort and dedication in order to come up with a program that will make work easy for HR managers. Successful HR planning involves gathering of relevant information that will help HR managers in making sound decisions. Information gathered is also useful in determining the right action to take for the realisation of the organisation's objectives. Therefore, HR managers should examine their checks and balances in order to come up the right program that will help in achieving the organisation’s objectives (Saiyadain 2003, p. 32). A sound HR planning strategy should be in a position to address several issues, which include the number of staffs in an organization, nature of skills and abilities that the employees’ offer, the best way to utilize the resources available in an organisation, and the appropriate way the organization can apply to keep its employees. Human resource planning is an exercise, which cannot go unrecognised by any organisation in the 21st century. Its main contribution is in the planning management of staffs within an organisation. In addition to staff management, HR planning also helps in career planning of the employees. Management of information systems is also achieved through sound HR planning (Saiyadain 2003, p. 34). Human resource planning programs should be flexible enough to keep in pace with any changes that may arise in an organisation. When flexibility is achieved in the HR planning program, the organisation will always have the right workforce with the desired competencies at any point in time. Poor HR planning results to massive losses in terms of money and time within an organisation. An effective HR planning can be achieved through a number of steps as discussed below (Saiyadain 2003, p.35). Forecasting This step requires the HR mangers to gather all relevant information related to the organisation’s objectives. Therefore, planning personnel should know where the organisation intends to go, and the means to get there. In order to achieve this, there must be enough human, financial, and physical resources and a backing from the top management (Michael 2003, p. 143). Inventory This step requires the HR mangers to take a recording of all employees present in an organisation. The recording is not only limited to data related to the number of employees, ages, and locations but also takes into account employees’ competencies and skills. The latter is essential in informing the organisation the immediate available skills within the organisation. Audit Any data recorded on the HR inventory requires systematic analysis due to the changing nature of human resource management. Auditing focuses on any changes that may have occurred in relation to labour turn over, sex and age grouping, absenteeism, and training costs. Auditing information helps in predicting any future outcomes that may arise in an organisation (Michael 2003, p. 145). HR resource plan This step focuses on career planning and HR plans. Since people can be considered as the greatest assets in an organisation, the organisation has the right to develop its human resource to the fullest capacity. Improving the capabilities of the human resources goes in line with organization’s objectives. This is because, without competent human resources, the objectives are unachievable (Michael 2003, p. 147). The major issues of concern at this step are whether the organisation is making use of the available talents, whether there are enough human resources for the future or whether the employees are getting satisfied with what the organisation offers. Monitoring and control This marks the final stage of HR planning in any organisation. This calls for a well designed control over the accepted human resource planning program. Human resources managers are required to make strict follow ups on the planning program to determine its performance. Proper follow up ensures that there is maximum utilization of all the talents available within an organisation. It is evident that human resource planning forms the basis of human resource management. Therefore, it is vital for all human resource managers to develop sound HR plans so that their impact can be felt in the management pool (Michael 2003, p. 148). What does academic literature tell us about technology & recruitment? The use of internet technology and advanced technology has transformed and revolutionized the way human resource departments select and recruit employees. The process of hiring competent human resources can be considered as highly vital for organisational success. For many years, the human resource hiring process has been conducted manually. However, the advent of the internet has positively impacted on the way selection and recruitment of employees is carried out. Many organizations have now adopted the use of computer based applications, which increasingly replace the old methods that involved the use of paper and pen when hiring employees (Saiyadain 2003, p.87). The use of computerized techniques in the recruitment and selection processes has emerged remarkably effective in processing a large number of applications, dissemination of information in a quick manner, and scaling down of cases of duplication of duties within an organisation. Time is an essential resource in any organisation, and the application of technology in the recruitment process has drastically reduced cases of time wastage. Online recruitment is on a high rise and many organisations are making use of it. E-recruitment proves to be highly effective in attracting, testing, recruiting, employing, and retaining competent work force within an organisation (Saiyadain 2003, p. 102). The growth of ICT’s is among the driving forces for the numerous changes taking place in human resource departments. Traditionally, many organisations relied on publications and newspapers to post their job adverts, but today, online job advertisements have taken the centre stage in many organisations. Examples of technologies available for the recruitment and selection process include tools for online job preview, online situational judgment questionnaires, which enable applicants to assess their competence for the task, online tests that tend to be job specific, and online competency tests (Goss 1994, p. 97). The application of currently available technologies in the recruitment process can be cited as an inexpensive exercise to reach a wider pool of potential job applicants. This is made possible through the use of advertising websites that appeal to audiences, can be easily reached, and users have an easy time while using them. It is also easy for recruiting personnel to handle numerous job applications through the use of applications, which automatically go through various job applications to produce the desired candidate. Applicant tracking system is one such application which works by taking job applications and grouping them into various groups. Applications within each group are then scanned using a key word search tool to identify suitable job applicants (Saiyadain 2003, p. 116). Email recruitment has made its way into the job market due to its potential to reach hundreds of potential candidates through the click of a button. Job recruiters prefer the use of emails to contact the qualified applicants instead of using phone calls. There is also an increasing growth of social networks that are connecting different professionals within the job market. An example of such social networks is the LinkedIn which many recruiting personnel are making use of in getting profiles for potential job candidates. LinkedIn allows HR personnel to reach suitable candidates within a short time even after having paid the high membership fee for being a member (Saiyadain 2003, p.113). Advantages that come along with the use of advanced technology in the recruitment process include: 1. It is a quick way for obtaining the desired candidate. 2. Highly cost effective. 3. Ability to reach a large number of competent applicants. 4. Internal job openings are easily known by interested persons outside an organisation. 5. Serves as a clear indication that an organization is changing with the advances in technology. 6. Applicants can manage to apply for jobs at any time of the day. 7. The organization can store job applications in its databases for future references However, the wide adoption of technology in the recruitment process comes with a number of challenges that are worth noting. 1. People who do not have knowledge in the use of online applications are delimited from online job adverts. 2. Too many applications are usually made even by job applicants who do not have the desired qualifications. 3. Discriminates against persons with disabilities that prevent them from embracing technology in searching jobs. 4. Organisations with poorly designed websites may fail to get the desired candidates. Despite these challenges, the use of technology has contributed tremendously in today’s human resource recruitment process. The use of traditional recruitment procedures is quickly fading out due to the proven effectiveness and the use of advanced technology in recruiting job candidates. Therefore, for a more effective recruitment process, it would be in order to embrace technology by the HR departments in every organisation. References List Davies, A. (2011). Workplace Law Handbook 2011: Employment Law and Human Resources, New York, Workplace Law Group. pp.2-550. Goss, D. (1994). Systematic selection technique, London, Routledge. pp.20-120. Michael, Z. (2003). The Handbook of Human Resource Management Policies and Practices, London, Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 131-150. Saiyadain. (2003). Human Resources Management,3e, London, Tata McGraw-Hill Education. pp.3-100. Read More

 

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