Selection

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 Selection
The objective of selection decision is to choose the individual
who can most successfully perform the job from the pool of
qualified candidates. The selection procedure is the system of
functions and devices adopted in a given company to ascertain
whether the candidates’ specifications are matched with the job
specifications and requirements or not. The selection process
cannot be effective until and unless:
1. Requirements of the job to be filled, have been clearly specified
(job analysis, etc.)
2. Employee specifications (physical, mental, social behavioural,
etc.) have been clearly specified.
3. Candidates for screening have been attracted.

Thus, the development of job analysis, human resource planning

and recruitment are necessary pre-requisites to the selection
process. A breakdown in any of these processes can make
even the best selection system ineffective.

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Essentials of Selection
Procedure
The selection process can be successful if the
following requirements are satisfied:
1. Some one should have the authority to select. This
authority comes from the employment requisition,
as developed by an analysis of work-load and
work-force.
2. There must be some standard of personnel with
which a prospective employee may be compared,
i.e. a comprehensive job description and job
specification should be available beforehand.
3. There must be a sufficient number of applicants
from whom the required number of employees may
be selected.

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 Using Selection
Agencies/Consultants
Some private agencies/consultants in India
perform the function of recruitment and
selection so as to enable the organisations to
concentrate on their functions. The advertise,
conduct tests and interview and provide a
short list. Some companies have started
using the services of these agencies as they
provide expertise and reduce work load.

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The organisations has to take
these following factors into
consideration in selecting an
agency
1.
oreffectiveness,
Reputation, a consultant:
sincerity and punctuality
of the organisation;
2. Advertisement copy, design and media plans of
various agencies;
3. Amount of fee, payment period and mode;
4. Objectivity, fair and justice in selection;
5. Selection techniques to be adopted, particularly
psychological tests, interview methods etc.
6. Competence of the human resources of the
agency/consulting firm.

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The company has to do the
following in case of using an
agency or a consultant:
1. Briefing the agency about the requirements, terms
and conditions and employment;
2. Providing job and employee specifications and
helping the consultant in modifying them;
3. Checking and reviewing the draft of the
advertisement;
4. Ensuring that all arrangements are made for
conducting tests and interview.

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 Factors Affecting
Selection Decisions
The goal of selection is to sort out or
eliminate those judged unqualified to meet
the job and organisational requirements,
whereas the goal of recruitment is to create a
large pool of persons available and willing to
work. Thus. It is said that recruitment tends to
be positive while selection tends to be
somewhat negative.

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 A number of factors
affect the selection
decision of candidates.
The important
1. Profile matching
among
them are:
2. Organisational and social environment

3. Successive hurdles

4. Multiple correlation
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1.Profile Matching
Tentative decisions regarding the selection of
candidates is taken in advance. The scores
secured by these known candidates in
various tests are taken as a standard to
decide the success or failure of other
candidates at each stage. Normally, the
decision about the known candidates is taken
at interview stage. Possible care is taken to
match the candidate’s bio-data with the given
specifications.

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 2. Organisational and
Social Environment:
Some candidates who are eminently suitable
for the job, may fail as successful employees
due to varying organisational and social
environment. Hence, candidates’ specifications
must match with not only job specifications but
also with organisational and social
environmental requirements.

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3. Successive Hurdles:

In this method hurdles are created at every

stage of selection process. Therefore,
applicants must successfully pass each and
every screening device in case of successive
hurdles.

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4. Multiple Correlation:
Multiple correlation is based on the
assumption that a deficiency in one factor
can be counter-balanced by an excess
amount of another. A candidate is routed
through all the selection steps before a
decision is made. The composite test score
index is taken into accounting the selection
tests. Hence, for border line cases multiple
correlation method is useful and for other
successive hurdles method is useful.

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 Selection
Procedure
There is no standard selection process that can be
followed by all the companies in all the areas.
Companies may follow different selection techniques
or methods depending upon the size of the company,
nature of the business, kind and number of persons
to be employed, government regulations to be
followed etc. Thus each company may follow any
one or the possible combinations of methods of
selection in the order convenient or suitable to it.

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 Steps in Scientific
Selection Process
1. Job Analysis
2. Recruitment
3. Application Form
4. Written Examination
5. Preliminary Interview
6. Business games
7. Group discussions
8. Tests
9. Final Interview
10. Medical examination

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1. Job Analysis : Job analysis is the
basis for selecting the right candidate. Every
organisation should finalise the job analysis,
job description, job specification and
employee specifications before proceeding
to the next step of selection.
2. Recruitment: Recruitment
refers to the process of searching for
prospective employees and stimulating
them to apply for jobs in an organisation. It
is the basis for the remaining techniques of
the selection and the latter varies depending
upon the former
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3. Application Form: Application form
is also known as application blank. The technique of
application blank is traditional and widely accepted for securing
information from the prospective candidates. It can also be
used as a device to screen the candidates at the preliminary
level. Information is generally required on the following items in
the application forms: (i) Personal background information (ii)
Educational attainments. (iii) Work experiences. (iv) Salary
(v) Personal details (vi) References.

4. Written Examination: The

organisations has to conduct written examination for qualified
candidates after they are screened on the basis of the
application blank so as to measure the candidate’s ability in
arithmetical calculations, to know the candidates’ attitude
towards the job, to measure the candidates’ aptitude, to know
the candidates’ attitude towards the job, to measure the
candidates’ aptitude, reasoning, knowledge in various
disciplines, general knowledge and English language.

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5. Preliminary Interview: The
preliminary interview is to solicit necessary
information from the prospective applicants and to
assess the applicant’s suitability to the job.
Preliminary interviews are short and known as stand-
up interviews or sizing-up of the applicants or
screening ,interviews.
6. Business games: Business games are
widely used as a selection technique for selecting
management trainees, executives trainees, and
managerial personnel at the junior, middle and top
management positions. Business games help to
evaluate the applicants in the areas of decision-
making, identifying the potentialities, handling the
situations, problem-solving skills, human relations
skills etc.

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7. Group discussions: The
technique of group discussion is used in order
to secure further information regarding the
suitability of the candidate for the job. Group
discussion is a method where groups of the
successful applicants are brought around a
conference table and are asked to discuss
either ma case study or a subject-matter. The
candidates in the group are required to
analyse, discuss, find alternative solutions and
select the sound solution. A selection panel
observes the candidates very closely and rank
them according to their merit.

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8. Tests: The next stage in the selection
process is conducting different tests. The objective
of the tests is to solicit further information to
assess the employee suitability to the job.

1. Final Interview: Final interview

is usually followed by testing. This is the most
essential step in the process of selection. In this
step the interviewer matches the information
obtained about the candidate through various
means to the job requirements and to the
information obtained through his own observation
during interview.

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10.Medical examination:
Certain jobs require certain physical qualities like
clear vision, perfect hearing, unusual stamina,
tolerance of hard working conditions, clear tone, etc.
Medical examination reveals whether or not a
candidate possesses these qualities. Medical
examination can give the following information (i)
Whether the applicant is medically suited for the
specific job. (ii) Whether the applicant has health
problems or psychological attitudes likely to interfere
with work efficiency or future attendance. (iii)
Whether the applicant suffers from bad health which
should be corrected before he can work satisfactorily
(such as need for Spectacles) (iv) It reveals the
applicant’s physical measurements. (v) And it is
used to check the special senses of the candidates.

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