General Information and Applicability of Selection Tool - Essay Example

Module Selection Interview Evaluation Selection systems are processes that apply measurement techniques to assess, understand and predict the possession of work related skills, capabilities and characteristics of potential employees. They apply tools meant to assist organizations to achieve the set goals and priorities. This is through hiring efficient employees who can deliver the required input for organizational goal achievement. The most essential objective of any selection tool in an organization is to identify the best match between the candidate’s profile and qualities needed for the job. The paper below discusses the relevance of interview as a form of selection tool in organizational personnel management with reference to Changing Mind’s article on a selection system that works. The discussion will focus on general information and application of the process, factors considered when undertaking it, psychometric properties, advantages, limitations and conclusion. General Information and Applicability Selection interview is a significant selection tool that assesses a candidate’s suitability for a post. It involves a personnel selector interacting with a candidate to determine whether he/she is interested in the stipulated post and is competent for the obligation (Changing Minds 5). An interview describes the job requirements to the candidates. Interviews set expectations on both parties involved in the process and allow discussion on any potential challenges that may arise. This enables the candidates to decide whether they want the obligation or not. According to the article, proper interviewing and conduction of reference checks save an organization the agony of dealing with future consequences related to poor personnel selection. The main objectives of an interview are assessment of candidate’s suitability, providing information on obligation requirement to the candidate and presenting the values of the company to the applicant. Factors Considered During An Interview Process Past Behavior. The candidate’s past behavior enables the interviewer to predict whether the candidate will contribute to the growth of an organization or not. Behavior assessment is significant in ensuring that the candidate measure up to the ethical standards of organization (Changing Minds 10). Past behavior is crucial in positions that require higher authority, for instance, managerial and supervisory positions. This is because behavior affects the decisions made. Some of questions that an interviewer can use to predict interviewee’s past behavior are; if I spoke to your previous boss, which are some of the areas he can recommend improvement? Tell me about your strengths? Describe an experience where you had to deal with a difficult customer or you found the cashier’s safe open with no one else in the office? Past Experience. Candidates with a wide experience on the job will deliver more efficiently compared to inexperienced ones. Hiring experienced candidates saves the organization the training costs as the hired candidates already possess the required skills. Information on past experience helps to signal the possible future performance. This helps the interviewer to decide on the suitability of the post. This measure is applicable in all job positions in most contemporary organizations (Changing Minds 10). Most contemporary organizations bank on the experience factor when selecting new staff. Interviewer’s Intuition. The opinion of the interviewer with reference to the first impression created by the candidate may be used to predict the suitability of the interviewee in relation to job qualification. However, perception should not conclude the candidate’s suitability as the first impression may be deceiving. Accurate results on the candidate’s suitability are portrayed by a combination of the individual traits obtained during the full process (Changing Minds 2). Organizations that the interviewer’s perception to determine the right candidates may experience future challenges related workforce. Scientific Analysis. This takes into account the psychological preparedness of the candidate for the stipulated job. Some positions like research dockets require such information to ensure caution in the sensitive department. The interviewer should be able to analyze factors like emotional condition of the candidate that may have tragic psychological effects. Information on body health may also be obtained although this is normally conveyed in written applications. Organizations with psychologically stable employees experience faster growth as all departments run efficiently. Psychological analysis can be ascertained through assessment of medical history. For those jobs that demands scientific applications, the interviewee may pose some questions like; the different chemicals used in production of certain drugs as well as the safety precautions expected of them in case they get the job. The manner in which an interviewee presents himself/herself should be noted by the trained interviewer through professional assessment to help them in drawing personal intuitions. Professional References. A Reference check predicts future behavior. Hiring decisions requires reference and background checks as they provide useful information such as dates of driving record, criminal history and work attendance. Managers should realize that a positive reference indicates high probability that the applicant will fit well in the company workforce. Probation Period. The period enables managers understand the real suitability of the applicant to the position. During the period, the candidate is assigned various roles to determine whether they can measure up to the set standards. Manual jobs like driving may require probation period as a practical manifestation of the theoretical information contained in the certificates of the applicant. Completion of the probation period should be followed by ramping up salary and incentives of the applicant (Changing Minds Par 11). Probation serves as a practical form of the interview process as theoretical knowledge may be deceiving. Most selecting panels may not be contented with the results of the interviewer. This makes them employ probation period to ascertain the efficiency of the candidates. However, probation period is not applicable in all professions like managerial jobs. Psychometric Properties Reliability and Validity The job related interview that the article discusses has a reliability criteria value of .39. However, the article does not outline the reliability of the component factors that are causing such a low reliability. This validity level is tending to uncorrected validity level. The article outlines that interviews should be reliable within reliability criteria values of .51 (common), tending to .63, when applied with other psychometric tests. (Changing Minds Par 17) The validity is higher for job related interviews (.39) compared to other interviews for instance, (.29) for behavioral interviews. Situational interviewing is normally used for low complexity jobs contrary to behavioral interviewing that is convenient for higher level jobs (Changing Minds Par 18). Some of the properties of a valid and reliable interview process are effective questioning, active listening, professional evaluation of information in the course of the process and controlling the flow of the interview. Interviews are not easy to conduct. Therefore, most organizations encourage interviewers to undergo training. Most managers purport that they can carry out the process efficiently but are occasionally disappointed with the results of most interviews. Some of the validity properties tested was cognitive ability, tacit or job knowledge (situational interviewing), fitness in personal organization and social skills that include openness and emotional stability (7). Research Support The reliability and validity of job interviews has been cited by the business community as an effective tool of organizational selection process. A personnel psychology study by Michael Campion on structured interviewing dwells on examination of psychometric properties of hiring of employees (n= 149). This revealed a higher interrater reliability (r= .88) and the validity was predicted; (uncorrected r= .34, corrected r = .56). The study also reveals evidence for utility and fairness of the study. This suggests that interviews have strong cognitive aptitude components that make the process effective. Other research articles have reported a similar reliability coefficient with changing minds article outlining that interviews should be reliable with reliability criteria values of .51 common, tending to .63 when applied with other psychometric tests. Advantages and Limitations Advantages. The scale is determined by structure, validity and reliability of the interview process. The scale is efficient because it analyzes the necessary information that is required for an effective interview process. This includes cognitive ability, job knowledge, fitness in personal organization and social skills that include openness and emotional stability. Other scales do incorporate the complete employee traits used by the scale. This implies that the value reflected by this scale is accurate and reliable (Par 19). Limitations. The scale relies on the assumption that an interview is an accurate selection tool whereby the interviewee is a passive participant and the interviewers are trained. The use of interviewer’s perception of the organization on the candidate’s suitability might be biased or unfair to the candidates. Most interviewers may be deceived by personal qualities of the applicant over the selection of required skills. This leads to hiring of the wrong personnel. At a social level, the interviewer may cultivate personal relationships that lead to unfair choices. Most of the interview processes are prone to bias and misjudgments due to factors related to contrast effects and even primacy in the ordering of the candidates (12). However, this can be minimized through training interviewers. In most cases, positive information is weighted more than negative attributes as it takes more time to process. Halo effect may result if one positive attribute of a candidate overshadows the underlying negative attributes. The Horns effect may also occur if a negative attribute overshadows a positive one. The outcome of the process is limited to the organization and interviewer factor as well as interviewee cooperation. Application. The scale can be applied to review the effectiveness of various interview processes ranging from unstructured, semi structured and structure. Its significance is more useful in different types of interviews ranging from situational, job-related, psychological and competency. Conclusion The process is crucial for organizations that are recruiting personnel to promote achievement of the set goals and strategies. Highly valid and reliable interview processes are responsible for increased employee turnover rate, effective personnel reorganization, and abolition of ineffective traditional organization management strategies to new improved ones. Training of the interviewers can assist in making the interview process more efficient. During the process, it is eminent that fairness is maintained. This includes ensuring that all candidates experience equal process with genuine report on their work, related traits. This implies that the opinion of interviewers should not form part of the final decision. Works Cited Camion, M. A., Work Sampling for Personnel Selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1998 Vol. 56, 40-44. Print Changing Minds., Selection Interview. Massive Content, 2012. Print Read More