Threshold Selection - Case Study Example

? Threshold Selection Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3 Section One………………………………………………………………………………..3 Section Two……………………………………………………………………………….5 Section Three……………………………………………………………….......................6 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………9 Introduction This paper will be focusing on the emerging trends in the human resource management. The main focus will be of the more progressive selection process known as the ‘Threshold Selection’ which incorporates a positive discrimination in the selection process through resolving the tension between suitability and acceptability criterions. It motivates transparency and formalization in the selection criteria of the organization and ties the selection needs to the organizational goals rather than mitigating them on the basis of personal bias. There are many positive as well as negative responses to the various approaches that are followed by the human resource management while selection of the candidates for any job opening and the changes that the candidates that are selected in such a way bring about in the organization; these will be analyzed in this paper to assess how they influence the organization. Section One: Critical Assessment of the Article With the launch of the UK’s 2010 Equality Act, that provided the opportunity for the human resource management to shift towards more progressive approach and selection on the basis of social group characteristics that included gender, ethnicity/race, disability, age, religion and sexual orientation. There was a large amount of hostile response towards this act. It was declared to be positive discrimination by stealth. Though discrimination usually means unfair, but selecting a candidate for a job on the basis of a set of characteristics is not only necessary but also a general practice. Every candidate has to be selected with respect to the job requirements as well as the needs of the organization. This article has provided a comparison of a variety of HR policies that are in place for the selection of suitable candidates for a job opportunity. There are a number of characteristics that are kept in mind while hiring the new staff for an organization. Such criteria and selection procedures often raise the concerns regarding unfair discrimination while the candidates are being interviewed, if not carefully monitored and responded to, these concerns can lead to legal issues not only for the organization but it can also effect the HR policies as a whole. For these reasons the governments launch general HR policies so that the points raised by the critics can be properly responded to. As mentioned in the article, various criticisms have been raised regarding the gender discrimination as there are various jobs that are not meant to be for the female staff. Or selection of the candidates with respect to the political favors, one can avail by appointing politically favorable employees. Such discriminations are clearly discussed in the article and the response that such unfair differentiation gets by the commentators and the legalities that one organization might have to face as a result of the validation of such criticisms it can cost the organization a lot and it can also adversely influence the profession of human resource management. Thus the article suggests that acquiring the threshold selection model will be helpful and suitable to the organizations, their management and the candidates in general. Section Two: Summary of the research methods and findings This article has researched on the various selection policies and standards that are set by the general human resource management with the main focus on the threshold selection process and its acceptability by the organization and the human resource managers in general. The writer of the article has shown through research and surveys that how the general managers and job candidates respond to the normally practiced selection processes. There are a number of selection techniques and basis that can be applied while selecting a job candidate. Among the various selection criteria, above all there is the discrimination suggested by the UK Equality Act of 2010 which permits the HR policies to be designed while discriminating on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity/race, age or religion. This act was met with a lot of hostile response which declared this act to be unfair and discriminating. Other techniques that are being found through research in the article include the selection of the candidate once they have met the defined set of criteria that is laid by the organization. During such times, when there is more than one suitable candidate for a job, the management either hires a candidate that is appropriately qualified more than desired or whose appearance is more suitable for the work place. Either of these approaches can lead to disputes among the candidates in the work place so they should be properly monitored. Furthermore there are a few organizations that have laid down aptitude tests to assess the compatibility of the candidates and on the basis of these tests the candidates are then approved and selected for the advanced stages of interview. But the research has also shown that many of the organizations either do not update these tests or do not assess them properly to establish their validity. Among such selection criterion there are also many jobs that are assigned on the basis of ethnicity. It is a general concept that African- Americans are not very obedient, they possess an attitude that does not assist them in following orders. Further more the candidates that are from Latin origins are deemed to be more obedient and are considered to be well adapting in following orders. Thus for lower skilled jobs that require obedient and a large number of employees, the management has been noticed to value candidates form Latin origin as they adjust to lower level of wages and are more obedient. Another glitch in the general selection criteria is the political values assigned to the candidates. Managers tend to hire candidates that will be politically more favorable to them than the other candidates. Though the selection criteria set by the general human resource management always help the organization by finding the most suitable candidates by assessing their level of qualification and their compatibility with the job description ad organizational needs, there are always a few glitches as mentioned above that raise concerns by the commentators. Section Three: Impact on the Value of the Human Resources Profession In response to the various concerns raised against the discrimination acts that are either conducted by stealth or to serve the best interests of the hiring manager, there are various policies in action that govern the appointment of employees through methodical procedures. One such policy is the two-level personnel selection fuzzy model: this model administers the hiring of the employees through short listing and the hiring the most appropriate candidate. The main purpose of this model is to minimize the subjective judgment in the process of distinguishing between an appropriate employee and an inappropriate employee (Petrovic-Lazarevic, 2001). Furthermore various studies have been conducted on the processes of selection decisions with respect to many factors like decision strategy and number of job openings in an organization. These studies showed that the decision strategy greatly affected the selection decisions with regards to the number of candidates affected, the number of job openings and the decision time. The effect of decision strategy was more than the number of openings in the over all context (Huber, Northcraft and Neal, 1990). In the light of all the research that has been carried out till now and the recent criticism regarding the human resource management policies there is a compelling motivation that is trying to shift the overall policies towards the threshold selection. Colrelli (2003) once argued that random selection over a threshold raise concerns by not only the candidates but the management as well. The main argument is that randomly selecting employees over a threshold plays dice with the skills level of all the candidates that might result in the loss of a more compatible candidate than the others, thus a system should be designed to monitor the selection of candidates at the threshold and above the threshold. Thus with the development of the threshold selection model, the main purpose of the model is to stay in line with good professional ethics while selecting candidates for the job. This model is formed to assess the candidates against the suitability criteria of the job and the organization. Further more it mitigates the tension between the concepts of suitability and acceptability that always draw confusion in the minds of the managers. After the suitability criteria is met, this model tends to evaluate the candidate on the basis of the goal achievement for the whole organization, this leads to total transparency and formalization in the decision making and thus opens the whole decision making to scrutiny that lowers the chances of unfair discrimination. Initially when the candidates are able to pass the threshold selection criteria, another set of selection characteristics are laid that helps in the complete profiling of the candidate as to how he/she can be helpful in achieving the goal of the organization. With help of such strategies the human resource management can formulate a proper selection criteria that will not only help in the overall selection of appropriate candidates but will also lessens the chances of criticism against the discrimination policies that are in place. Bibliography Petrovic-Lazarevic, Sonjia. (2001). Personnel selection fuzzy model. (Blackwell Publishers Ltd.) Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Huber, V. L., Northcraft, G. B., & Neale, M. A. (April 01, 1990). Effects of decision strategy and number of openings on employment selection decisions.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 45, 2, 276-284. Colarelli, S. M. (2003). No best way: An evolutionary perspective on human resource management. Westport, Conn: Praeger Read More