Employee Resourcing - Essay Example

Client inserts his/her name Name of tutor Name of institution Course title Date of submission Evaluating the statement “organization can no longer rely on the “classic trio‟ to select which individuals would be best suited to work for that organization” Introduction Every job has its roles and people differ in their competencies and personalities and this are the two main things that make employee selection a highly challenging task. The main objective of any selection criteria is to choose the best candidate that can steer the organization towards achieving its organizational goal. Many researchers have argued that there is no perfect selection procedure for ensuring that companies choose the best employees. According to Cook (1993, p.72), many organization, over 70% heavily rely on the “classic trio” selection method as they perceive it to be the best in choosing employees who can register the highest performance. However, many people have criticized the classic trio selection method b7y pointing out that organizations can no longer rely on it to recruit the best personnel appropriate to work in their organizations. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate all the arguments for and against the classic trio selection method to determine whether it is still a valid method that organizations can rely on to select the appropriate personnel to work in their organizations. The ‘classic trio’ can be defined as the customary process or arrangement of activities that was mainly used in selecting new employees (Taylor, 1998, p.57).This set of activities include, application form, interviews and then referencing. All theses activities are widely practiced by many employers all over the word. There are many reasons as to why these activities are preferred by many employers. According to McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt, and Maurer (1994, p.599), the classic trio is viewed by many employers as straightforward selection method for recruiting new qualified employees. Many researchers have argued that many employers prefer the classic trio as it incurs minimum costs compared to all other people- resourcing methods. Another reason as to why the classic trio is highly embraced by many employers is because it is expected and accepted by many job applicants. This means that many job applicants get psychologically prepared for the selection process and hence are rarely to cause any stress. In addition, many employers view the modern methods f recruiting new employees such as psychological tests as highly controversial since personality is not easy to measure and does not remain constant over time. According to Taylor, there is new realization that the customary classic trio selection method is mainly driven by sector of employment or the style of management and hence is not suited for all organization (1998, p.63). Let us take for instance the industry of hospitality. In this industry, the classic trio is the main method relied upon for selecting the best new recruits. The nature of the hospitality industry, employees are required to possess good presentation skill and good personality. Therefore, interview which is an integral part of the classic trio enables employers in this industry to interact one-on-one with the job applicants in order to assess their personal characteristics and presentation skills. However, the validity of interviews even in these industries can bring about several drawbacks. From the various researches that have been carried out o this topic, there is enough evidence that no particular selection method can assure an organization success. According to McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt, and Maurer (1994, p.601) argue that the search for a perfect selection method is still on and currently, so many HR managers are utilizing selection methods with so many inadequacies. This argument emphasizes the importance for HR managers to carefully evaluate and choose the selection methods for their organizations. Getting the best employee for a job is an essential aspect for any organization in today’s competitive markets. Selection methods do not only affect an organization’s efficiency but also has various cost implications. This means that it is highly essential that today’s employer lay down some strategies to guide its decisions on the best selection method to use. The first feature of the classic trio is the application form or the curriculum vitae (CV), which is widely practice by both private and public organizations. The CV gives the applicant the opportunity to write down all the useful information pertaining the job position being applied for. On the other hand, the application form, is a constructed document by the employer, which collect only the useful information fro m the employer. Applications forms are used by employers to target highly qualified new recruits. According to Anderson and Cunningham-Snell (2000, p.89), applications forms or CVs have various inadequacies which makes them not valid method for choosing the best employee for the jobs available. Application forms are viewed by many applicants as scaring and hence discourage many potential employees from applying. Research has shows that many employers make a terrible mistake of judging an applicant’s competencies and qualification through the content contained ion the CV or application form only. This is not a reliable way of recruiting the best employee for the organization. The application form of the classic trio selection method is preferred over the curriculum vitae by many employers because of various reasons. Curriculum vitae can become a comprehensive document with so much information in such that it becomes tiring to analyze it. On the other hand, the application form limits the applicant on what information is to be included in the form. Hence only the essential information is collected, making it simple and easy to analyze it. This is the main reason as to why many employers believe that application form can be a highly effective tool of choosing the best candidate suited fort the job available. According to Sparrow (1997, p.67), the design of many application forms may incorporate the image and public relation of the employer. Referencing and short listing is another activity in the classic trio selection method. The employment reference creates a picture of the applicant’s past work experience, the job title, the salary received, responsibilities and the reasons for quitting the job. According to Sparrow (1997, p.71), many factors should be put under considerations when referencing and short listing, otherwise this step in people resourcing can lock out potential qualified job applicants. Referencing is locking out many qualified job applicants with no prior work experience. In today’s society, every organization using the classic trio require that their job applicants should have prior job experience. Many college and university graduates with up to date knowledge and skills possess no work experience. Therefore, the reference part of the classic trio method locks them out from seeking employment with the organizations that use this method of employee recruitment. This mean that organization who rely on the classic trio many times may recruit employees based on the pats experience and yet fail to perform since performance does not only depend on experience but the skills, knowledge and how to put them into practice. In many companies short listing of job applicants is mainly done by the human resource manager and his or her subordinates. Short listing has been criticized by many researchers due to its various inadequacies. Human resource manager is human and as we all know human is to many errors. Many are the times that the people in charge of short listing, may become biased and select the wrong applicants for interviewing locking out the right applicants suited for the job. According to Hunter and Hunter (1984, p.73), in order for organizations to remain relying on referencing and short listing to get the best employees, they have to invest in training the human resource managers in order to equip them with the right skills and expertise of short listing the best applicants for interviews. Research also shows that many applicants are not comfortable with the referencing activity of the classic trio since many former employers may give wrong information on their previous job performance. Therefore, for organizations to conduct a successful reference checking with their applicants, they can create a template with the necessary questions to ask the previous employer in order to collect unbiased information on their applicants (Hunter and Hunter 1984, p.73). Through this way, the referencing will produce only the necessary information that will enable the employer to accurately assess the job performance of the person being recruited. Organizations should also consider giving fresh graduates from colleges and universities the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice by using other selection methods apart from referencing such as personality tests. Research points out that fresh graduates form the generation Y in the workplace which has the synergy to push an organization towards achieving its organizational goals. The next activity after application form in the classic trio is the interview. According to McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt, and Maurer (1994, p.609), interviews is one of most effective ways of choosing the best applicant suited for the job available. Interviews give the interviewer the opportunity to probe questions in order to thorough reveal the personality, strengths and weaknesses of the interviewee. Interviews also enable face-to-face interactions hence one can judge the validity of the information given by the interviewee by studying their reactions and facial expressions. Despite the fact that interviews are widely used by many employers, it still faces much criticism that organizations can not rely on it alone to choose the best job applicants. Interviews lack the validity and reliability in accurately predicting the employee’s job performance. Interviews rely on the skills of the interviewer. Many researchers indicate that many of the interviewers are poorly trained and hence this is one of the reasons as to why this method of selection is no longer as viable in choosing the best suited applicants (Hunter and Hunter 1984, p.75). Due to lack of training many interviewers fail to assess the necessary competence and expertise needed for a particular job. Instead, the interviewers assess other unnecessary competences and hence may choose an employee who is not suited for the job and on the other hand lock out a qualified applicant. Poorly trained interviewers many times become biased in their face to face interactions with their interviewees. When an interviewer is biased, he or she tends to ask the wrong questions during the interview. This will make him or her fail to collect the necessary information that enable predict an applicant’s job performance. Various academic researches also pin point out that the validity of the customary classic trio selection method lacks the reliability to predict an applicant consistence in maintaining the required professional behavior. This is because, interviewees can pretend and show out their best during interviewees but fail to maintain the pretence the moment they get the job. According to Scholarios and Lockyer (1996, p.53) point out that due to these inadequacies associated with interviewees many large companies have started embracing other improved selection methods such as personality test since they are perceived as more accurate and reliable. Research also point out that the classic trio method is inappropriate for today’s working styles characterized with increased remote working and projects based on teamwork. This explains the emergence of new selection methods such as personality tests since they are more practical with contemporary workplaces. However, interviews can be enhanced to enable employers to get the best applicant suited for their various jobs. One way is through the use of structured interviews. According to McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt, and Maurer (1994, p.612), with structured interviews, the interviewer will only ask the required questions and hence avoid asking the wrong information. This means that the relevant information required for evaluating the qualifications and predicting the job performance of the applicant is collected through the use of structured interviewing methods. The interviewer should also be trained on focusing on competencies and attitudes of the interviewees in order to avoid becoming biased and hence make he classic trio a more reliable method of selection. Conclusion From the paper, it is quite clear that the classic trio has various shortcomings that are making it become an unreliable selection method that organizations can solely rely on to choose the best suited applicants for their various jobs. The classic trio which starts with the application form, short listing and references and then interviews has been criticized by many as a selection method which is no longer reliable for today’s contemporary work places. Despite the fact that the classic trio is cheap and simple selection method, the paper has revealed that it has various weaknesses such as business, locking out potential qualified applicants just to mention but a few. Therefore, it is highly advisable that organization should la strategies of ensuring that the classic trio selection method remains reliable and efficient in selecting the hest suited applicants. In addition, organization should diverse into more update selection methods such as personality tests. Bibliography Anderson, N. & Cunningham-Snell, N. (2000). Personnel selection. In N. Chmiel (Ed.) Introduction to work and organizational psychology: A European perspective. Oxford: Blackwell. Cook, M. (1993). Personnel selection and productivity (2nd ed.). Chichester: Wiley. Hunter, J.E. & Hunter, R.F. (1984).Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 72–98. McDaniel, M.A., Whetzel, D.L., Schmidt, F.L. & Maurer, S. (1994).The validity of employment interviews: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 599–616. Scholarios, D. & Lockyer, C. (1996) Human resource management and selection: Better solutions or new dilemmas? In B.Towers (Ed.) The handbook of human resource management. Oxford: Blackwell. Sparrow, P. (1997). Organizational competencies: creating a strategic behavioral framework for selection and assessment. In N.Anderson & P. Herriot (Eds.) International handbook of selection and assessment. Chichester: Wiley. Taylor, S. (1998). Employee resourcing. London: Institute of Personnel and Development. Read More