5

SELECTION

 

They first got the right people on the bus and then figured out where to drive it!

 

—Jim Collins, Good to Great

Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, writes how a Level 5 leader (of a great company) is different from a Level 4 leader (of a good company). A Level 5 leader first gets the right people in and builds a superior executive team before he figures out how to embark on the journey to greatness. On the other hand, a Level 4 leader acts like a ‘genius with a thousand helpers’ by setting the vision and roadmap themselves and then enlisting capable people to take the company there. The essential difference between both leaders is the priority that they give to the ‘selection’ of the right people. It is not surprising that Level 4 leaders can make a company, but it takes a Level 5 leader to take it to greatness. But then it is common parlance in matured hiring circle—‘if you hire for skills you will fire for attitude,’ so ‘hire for attitude and train for skills’.

5.1 DEFINING SELECTION

Selection is a process of choosing one candidate from a list of candidates for the desired role and level in the organization. It involves the use of one or more selection methods. An organization that takes pain in the selection of the right kind of employees reaps the fruit of its benefit. One bad apple can spoil the entire team. Competent employees must be available to ensure the attainment of organizational goals. To understand selection fully, it is very important to identify where recruitment ends and selection starts.

 

5.1.1 Differences Between Recruitment and Selection

The differences between recruitment and selection are given in Table 5.1.

5.1.2 Importance of Employee Selection

The best way to appreciate the importance of selection is by exploring what an organization stands to lose if selection is not done in the right manner. Given below are the direct costs associated with the filling of open positions and indirect costs associated with losing employees. Taking one look at this, one can understand the importance of not making a bad selection because it is too expensive to be taken lightly.

Direct costs (associated with filling open positions):

• Cost of advertisements, fees to employment agencies, job fairs and other sources of recruitment.
• Time, energy and other resources spent in sourcing applicants—including reviewing résumés, speaking to employment agencies, answering queries, providing job information, tracking applicant data corresponding with the candidate, interviewing etc.
• Selection process—interview costs, paid tests, hiring facilities (for videoconferencing), travel costs (of interviewer or interviewee).
• Relocation costs of the employee.
• Orientation costs.

 

Table 5.1 Differences between recruitment and selection

Recruitment	Selection
■  The process of recruitment commences from the time the manpower request is raised	■ The process of selection ends once the offer letter is given to the candidate
■  It is a process of sourcing and searching candidates to suit a particular role	■  Series of screening steps which helps in the elimination of candidates who may not be suitable and thereby short-listing the suitable one's
■  The objective is to create a talent pool of candidates	■  The objective of a selection process is to select the right candidates

Indirect costs (associated with losing employees):

• Time spent in conducting exit interviews.
• Cost of separation.
• Lost productivity from an open position.

Apart from the costs, good selection results in superior performance of the team and the organization. Employees that have been chosen carefully and with the right kind of skill set and attitude will achieve high deliverables compared to those that do not have the right skill set and attitude.

5.2 SELECTION PROCESS

The objective of the selection process (depicted in Figure 5.1) is to pick out, select or choose from a number of candidate alternatives. The selection should be objective and unbiased. At the end of the selection process, the person who best fits the person specification should be chosen.

 

Figure 5.1 Selection process

 

5.2.1 Prospective Candidate

Recruitment sources qualified candidates or applicants for a certain position. These form the pool of prospective candidates for the job. Sourcing through multiple sources generates a lot of résumés which are screened and then shortlisted. Each résumé is different and therefore comparing one candidate with the other is very difficult at this stage.

5.2.2 Preliminary Interview and Employee Application Form

Preliminary Interview

A brief interview could be conducted either on a telephone or on videoconferencing or with a face-to-face meeting. This could be an elementary screening interview. An example could be the small chat which the front desk person has during a walk-in. If the walk-in is for call centre agents for an American outbound process, the front desk executive has a standard list of questions about willingness to work in the night shift, openness to working on Sundays etc. The answer to these set of questions constitute the first round of eliminations.

 

Employee Application Form

An employee application form is a pre-designed format that is either given to candidates to seek information from the applicant as is pertinent to the selection process and the hiring decision. It is often a printed form or the candidates download it from the company site or directly enter details in it. This may either be in addition to a résumé, or as a replacement. Résumés may be referred to when application forms are optional.

 

These days résumés are becoming more and more creative in selling the candidature of the applicant and not revealing information which might jeopardize their chance of selection. In such a case, its main purpose is to make it easier for the recruiter and those involved in the hiring process to gather information about the applicant in a structured manner and not get lost in the clutter of the résumé as dished out by the applicant.

5.2.3 Review of Shortlisted Applications

The application form works as a test for rejecting candidates who do not qualify the requirements of the job. After this review process, the list of shortlisted candidates proceeds to the next stage where various selection tools are used to select them. There are many considerations in arriving at the short list. Apart from the obvious criterion of suitability to the job, other considerations such as the number of people who can be put through the selection process also plays a role. In such a situation, candidates who can be put through the selection tests are shortlisted.

5.2.4 Employment Interviews

No selection process is complete without an interview. It is usually the final selection tool used before deciding on the final candidate to be offered. The interview is an opportunity for the employer to describe the job and the responsibilities that a job- holder would need to take on in more detail. It also gives opportunity to have a face-to-face interaction with the candidate and verify and confirm the findings in the rest of the selection process. This event can also be used to discuss with the candidate details such as start dates, training provisions and terms and conditions such as employee benefits.

5.2.5 Selection Decision

This is the time when all who have been involved in the selection process discuss and make a decision as to who to offer the position to and the reason for that too. It is also a good idea to have a first and a second backup because in this talent-starved market, it is not unusual that the current employer of your selected candidates manage to retain them with an offer they cannot refuse.

5.2.6 Pre-employment Screening, Background and Reference Checks

Background Check

Many organizations conduct pre-employment screening, i.e., a background check on the last couple of jobs. The number of jobs looked at may vary from two to three—the purpose is to do a check on the last five to six years of experience. They may include certificates such as birth certificate, passport and education qualification. All of these must be verified and the original documents checked. the employer then retains a copy of the same in the employee's personal file. Any other job requirement documentation like driving licenses should also be verified. Professional memberships, if indicated, may be verified too. Companies may request for the documents either prior to the joining date or on the day of joining. The choice of undertaking the checks themselves or hiring the services of an outsourced vendor is always there. There are professional screening agencies that do such kind of work. At times, employees also camouflage their years of experience when they have worked for a few months at a job. Agencies investigating candidates’ backgounds obtain data from past employers, previous bosses, credit history and academic universities. Prior to the investigation, the employer needs to obtain the employee's acceptance on background investigation. Employers try to verify the applicant's current salary with the human resource department. This is done via phone or mail. Some employers go through credit verification agencies—they seek information on the applicant's credit standing, reputation, residence proof etc. As this process may take a long time, some companies may proceed with this stage once the candidate joins the company; they may issue the offer letter by issuing a clause in the offer letter, which could read as ‘your appointment could stand cancelled, if the background checks are unfavourable’. Additional check such as credit history check or criminal record check could also take place.

 

Reference Check

The background or reference check depends on the kind of job the candidate is to be hired for. Candidates are requested to submit two or three references that would aid in providing additional information about the candidate. The biggest drawback is that all candidates would give references who would speak highly of them. At times, even the references hesitate to give a clear picture of the candidate for reasons best known to them. Very few are honest and truthful in this process. Araoz (2007), a specialist in recruitment best practices, says, ‘I tell the candidate that I want references that will have a conversation with me about their performance. I request from them, a manager or two that has supervised them, as well as a peer who has worked side by side with them. Then I create a list of questions that you will ask the references. Be prepared and you will hear what the references are saying and what they are not saying’ (Araoz 2009). Some companies also get a reference check done through the process of their own contacts in the market. Companies also have a pre-designed questionnaire which elicits specific answers to specific questions. These are normally mailed across. Even referees find it easier to complete a pre-formatted questionnaire, and the information tends to be more accurate too. Many employers also visit social networking sites, postings such as LinkedIn, Orkut and Facebook.

 

Employers seek references, either before the offer is made or after, and at times a ‘conditional clause’ is indicated in the offer letter ‘subject to satisfactory references’. Ideally, professional work references are well taken by most organizations.

5.2.7 Pre-employment Medical Examination

Before the offer is given to the candidate, the organization may request the employee to go for a medical examination. This is done to ensure that the employee is physically fit for the job before being offered the assignment. It also serves as a baseline indicator for future compensation claims arising out of any kind of illness. His examination also helps to decrease absenteism and any kind of communicable disease that the candidate may have. Companies could either have a doctor in the premises who conducts such an examination or the same could be referred to a consulting physician.

5.2.8 Offer Letter

Once the employee has cleared the above stages, the offer letter is issued to the candidate. The terms and conditions of the offer must be clear, concise and communicated to the employees with an acknowledgement too. The employer should see that all negotiations are completed prior to the issuance of the offer letter. Ideally, once candidates sign the offer letter, they have committed to join that company.

5.2.9 Outsourcing Selection

Many organizations are faced with the challenge of handling hundreds of candidates through the selection process. This can be a very daunting task. Therefore, another option is to outsource some parts of the selection to an able partner. Handling selection in-house has its advantages such as complete control over the selection process and the data generated thereof and no or minimum dependence on external agencies. In addition to this, internal teams are conversant with the organizational process and culture and are better disposed to making a decision on the fitness of the candidate with the organizational culture. Having said all this, there are certain advantages of outsourcing the selection process.

• It saves time: When part of the selection process is outsourced, then the quality of candidates which come in for the final step of the selection process will have a higher probability of getting selected. This will save valuable time spent on meeting all candidates.
• It allows you to focus your energy on more strategic issues: Consider an HR team managing the selection process for an organization which is processing hundreds of candidates every week. Obviously, the department would be inundated with administrative work all through leaving little time for taking care of important things to be done after the candidate joins.
• It gives you the time to work on developing innovative sourcing strategies: The larger challenge today is that of sourcing a qualified talent pool or creating a qualified talent pool and organizations would have more time at hand to do this if the selection process up to a certain level is standardized and handed over to a partner to implement it.
• It forces you to articulate your assessment methods and process: Another associated advantage of outsourcing the selection process is that for handling over a process to a partner, it is imperative that the process is clearly articulated with process guidelines and measures in place. This would ensure that the selection process is handled by experts who would do it in the most compliant and process-efficient way as possible.

5.3 SELECTION METHODS

Selection methods are meant to assess the candidate on three aspects (Figure 5.2):

1. What have the candidates done?
2. What do the candidates want to do?
3. What can the candidates do?

The choice of selection methods should be such that all these three aspects are assessed. Every employer has its own way of assessing and selecting candidates. They usually rely on a combination of different methods to come to a conclusion. The candidate progresses through multiple stages and at each stage their ability, aptitude and attitude are assessed. Broadly, the following could be a list of selection methods:

1. Résumé and application form
2. Interviews
3. Ability tests
4. Personality tests
5. Simulation exercise

5.3.1 Résumé and Application Form

Through the résumé or the application blank (refer to Section 5.4 for further details) filled out by the candidate, a match between their experience and qualifications and the requirements of the job are sought. One must remember that the résumés by candidates is designed to put forth the best in them on paper and hide all that is not positive for their candidature. According to the research conducted by the Society of Human Resource Managers, over 53 per cent of individuals lie in their résumé in some way. Forbes Magazine has a list of top lies that people put on their résumés. Some of the more common ones include:

1. Lying about their degree
2. Playing with dates, i.e., date of joining and leaving companies and tampering with years of experience
3. Exaggerating numbers
4. Increasing previous salary
5. Inflating titles

Figure 5.2 What do selection methods assess?

 

An application blank does overcome this problem to some extent. However, this cannot be the only method on which a selection decision can be made.

5.3.2 Interviews

Interviews are the most frequently used and abused method of selection. Most faulty selections are a result of casual or ineffective interviewing. Very often interviewers base their questions in an unstructured manner on the résumé submitted by the candidate. If the interviewee has the art of presenting themselves well they would be able to guide the interview to their advantage and thus make a positive impression on the mind of the interviewer. If done well, an interview can also be used to develop a holistic view on a candidate and their candidature through a structured method of questioning. Conducting good interviews is a skill which need to be effectively taught to managers involved in selection processes.

5.3.3 Ability Tests

Ability tests look at the extent to which a candidate can carry out various aspects of a job. For example, it is important to check the computer skills and abilities of a candidate to handle technology as a user for the job of a secretary to the CEO, because a large part of his work would be dependant on the use of a personal computer, e-mail and various other means of communication for the boss. Often employers are also interested in the candidate's potential to do a task. In this case, they may use assessment methods that aim to simulate aspects of that task through a simulation exercise.

5.3.4 Personality Questionnaires

Personality questionnaires look at behavioural preferences of a candidate at work and life in general. For example, it might be important for accountants to have good interpersonal skills so that they are able to handle the internal customers of the organization in a congenial manner. In this case, a personality questionnaire is able to throw sufficient light on how they relate to people so that this could be further probed during an interview to make a correct selection decision. In personality questionnaires, there is no right or wrong; through this, a candidate's preference of style to handle situations can be found out.

5.3.5 Simulation Exercises

These exercises are designed to simulate a particular task/scenario in the target job to assess the candidates’ ability to handle it in real time. Examples of simulation exercises are group discussions, group exercises, presentations, role plays etc.

 

When a number of selection methods are strung together to evolve a composite selection process, it is known as an assessment centre (Section 5.6.4).

Most organizations do not rely on any one selection method.

5.4 EMPLOYEE APPLICATION FORMS

A filled in application form helps the selection process with four types of information:

1. The applicant's education and experience with a job which are often the basic requirements to be looked at the beginning of the selection process.
2. The applicant's progress and growth in their career can be used to predict the probability of their growth if given an opportunity in the future.
3. The applicants’ moves in their previous jobs can be used to predict their stability. The fact is that with mergers and restructuring of businesses nothing conclusive can be said about a candidate's stability; hence, the data should be interpreted cautiously.
4. Some of the details in the application form can also help in predicting the likelihood of a candidate succeeding at the job.

The application form should be a comprehensive one, it should be sectionwise and constructed in a chronological order.

The company application forms could be given to the candidates in advance and once duly filled, they should be submitted to the concerned recruitment executive.

5.5 EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW

Interviews are used in more than 90 per cent of selection processes. The reason for the popularity of interviews may be the fact that it is a very natural process. One study revealed that one in six employers asked managerial candidates to face three interviews or more, and this casts serious doubt on the efficacy of the first two interviews. This is perhaps the crux of the problem with interviews; indeed it can be a very effective technique if properly focused upon, used and analysed.

 

Interview is a discussion between the interviewer and the interviewee for the selection of a candidate for a specific role in the organization. An interview is all about asking questions. These questions can differ to an extent to which the control is in the hands of the interviewer or interview. On the basis of the control in the hands of the interviewer, questions can be as follows:

• Closed: Where do you live?
• Direct: ‘What skills do you have that relate to this position?’
• Leading: Our department wants hard working and dedicated employees. What kind of an employee are you?
• Loaded: Are you still as risk-taking as you were 10 years ago?
• Hypothetically Open: ‘Suppose you are working your first day in our laboratory, and a fire at a nearby work station breaks out. What would you do?’
• Open: Tell me something about yourself.

5.5.1 Best Practices for Effective Interviews

Interview Preparation

The entire process for interviews should be well thought of and planned in advance. The interview location should be quiet and peaceful. The interviewer should be knowledgeable about the specific areas and should have good oral communication skills too. The CVs (biodata) should be reviewed a couple of minutes prior to the interview. If there is a panel interview, all members of the panel should have reviewed the biodata. The resource manager also needs to see that there is a job fit between the biodata and the job description.

Interview Content

This should also be planned well. The interview flow should be sequential, or else the interview will leave the candidate confused. Questions could be on academic qualification and achievement, work experience, i.e., job content and the employee's achievement in specific roles. The interview may look out for specific qualities as per the job requirement such as leadership skills, team skills, selling skills or even personal attributes such as poise, command over the language, assertiveness, physical appearance and grooming.

Interviewee's Expectation

If the candidate has any clarification during the interview process, the same should be addressed by the interviewer. In case if there are doubts on the ‘job role’, the same should be explained properly, and clarification on the salary front should be resolved too.

Interview Panel Matrix

An interview panel matrix needs to be maintained for different functions, roles and levels in the organization. This matrix is normally decided by the functional head and the recruitment head. It should preferably be one level above the level that needs to be hired or at least at the same level. There is no rule on the number of panel members. Nevertheless, the panel size could range from two to four members for junior to mid-levels and higher for senior levels. There should be an effective decision-making process and the candidate should not get intimidated by the number of interviewers on the panel. There could be a blend of technical/functional expertise and human resources too. One could also involve peers for the process of selection.

FedEx is a good example of some best practices followed during the selection process, mainly comprising interviews. The company emphasizes the importance of a two-way communication. The organization takes the onus of giving all information that a candidate might be interested in to make an informed decision about joining the company. During the assessment process, the candidates are given the ‘Employee Guide for Recruitment’ and the ‘Career Leaflet’, which carry all the information that a candidate might be interested in. Besides this during the job introduction, videos and presentations concerning the company are also shown. During the formal interview, candidates’ fit with the company culture is evaluated through a variety of questions; one of them probing the understanding of the mission. The interview is conducted by two managers: the hiring manager and another manager or a representative of HR in order to assure the process’ impartiality. All candidates are given feedback. The candidates also have a ‘Recruitment Appeals Process Policy’ to complain against the correctness of the selection process.

5.5.2 Interviews

Interviews can be categorized based on many different factors. These could be:

• Types of interviews
  • unstructured
  • structured
  • exploratory
• Style of the interview
  • directive
  • meandering
  • stress
• Mode of conducting the interview
  • telephonic interview
  • video-conferencing interview
• Who is interviewing
  • one-to-one interview
  • panel interview
  • peer interview
  • group interview
• Line of questioning
  • situational interview
  • behavioural interview

 

Unstructured Interviews

An interview which does not follow a pre-decided order is known as an unstructured interview. The interviewer begins the discussion with a question. Depending on the response of the candidate, they would ask another question. Unstructured interviews carry the risk of getting hijacked by the candidate to go any way they wish to drive the interview. Also, it is difficult to compare two candidates based on anecdotal data or qualitative comments. However, if the interviewer is skilled at probing, then it can prove to be an effective method. Also, when you want to check the compatibility of the candidate with the company culture, an unstructured conversation helps a lot in getting a perspective about how the candidate views things and whether they would be able to gel well with the company culture or not.

 

Structured Interviews

Structured interviews are those interviews which follow a pre-decided order. The order may be based on the job specification or the competency profile for the position to be interviewed for. Such interviews reduce the subjectivity and irregularity of an unstructured interview. The interviewer questions the candidates on job knowledge, situational-related questions, job sample simulations questions, though not on personal attributes. The interviewer has a standard set of questions that are to be asked to all candidates. This makes it easier for the interviewer to evaluate and compare candidates in a just manner too. The questions are finalized after a lot of deliberations between the hiring manager and the recruitment team to ensure that all the required competencies are explored for assessment.

 

Exploratory Interviews

An exploratory interview is a discussion and investigation of possibilities of employment. Such interviews maybe conducted at job fairs, open houses, responses received from a walk-in advertisement and during campus interviews. The end objectives are the same: to establish continued interest on both sides and to determine preliminary job suitability. Some of them could also be conducted over the phone. These interviews are generally preliminary and are useful to screen out applicants that do not fit the requirement. At times, interviewers could feel pressured into making a decision based on what they perceive to be limited information.

 

Directive Interviews

An interview using preset questions and following a fixed pattern is known as a directive interview. This is the most common type of interview with a clear agenda, done at junior levels, where limited flexibility is involved.

 

Meandering Interviews

Meandering means to follow a winding and turning course. This style is used by inexperienced interviewers, where they move from topic to topic largely depending on the interviewee to direct the course. Such interviews normally have broad open-ended questions such as ‘Tell me about yourself’.

 

Stress Interviews

The candidate is made to feel stressed at the interview. Those who support stress interviews claim that they are able to find out how candidates will handle uncomfortable situations that cannot be discovered through a regular interview method. Some instance of stress interviews are: the interviewer seems disinterested in the interview and makes series of calls during the interview or the interview tends to be sarcastic and argumentative. Consider this situation. There were interviews being lined to select a news anchor. A news anchor's job is a very stressful job, quite a few things can go wrong at most times and the anchors task is to remain calm and composed under fire. The HR head would end each detailed interview in a typical fashion: ‘We are really not sure, if you are suitable for the job, we will revert to you within a month.’ One top contender for the position of the anchor was so upset with such a statement and she revealed her true colours by stating, ‘Well, I am not sure I want to work here anyway.’ She went out of the office in a ‘huff’. In the stress situation, her behaviour had given her up. She showed herself to be someone who could not handle the pressure of the job. She did not remain calm and she suffered from poor listening skills and so chose to hear a personal insult rather than an opportunity to set the record straight.

 

Telephonic Interviews

An interview which is conducted over the phone is known as a telephonic interview. Telephonic interviews are usually used for screening candidates and in no way a telephonic screening should be viewed as an alternate to a personal interview. These interviews either establish continued interest in candidates and usually result in fixing appointments for an interview or reject the candidates that do not suit the profile. They are generally used to:

• Gauge the interest of the candidate for the position.
• Gauge the suitability of the candidate in terms of certain basic criteria such as communication skills, willingness to work night shifts or willingness to travel.
• Take a preliminary interview before calling the candidate over to the company premises, especially if the candidate is from a different city.

There are certain basics which need to be kept in mind for telephonic interviews:

• The interview time needs to be fixed in advance and the time duration normally ranges from 10 to 45 minutes, depending on the level of candidate.
• During the interview call, the interviewer should first introduce themselves and confirm the interest of the candidate for the specific job.
• The interviewer must have the list of questions ready, probe on achievements and any other significant aspects of the job. Before winding up the interview, the candidate should be informed on the next steps.
• If the interviewer wishes to call the candidate for a second round, then they should indicate the same on the call.
• Alternatively, if the interviewer would like to review the same, they should inform the candidate when they could expect to hear from the company.

Video-conferencing Interviews

Interviews using videophone and video-conferencing facilities are known as video-conferencing interviews. These interviews provide the transfer of audio and video between remote sites allowing interviewers to observe long-distance applicants while simultaneously talking to them. Increasingly Indian companies are utilizing videoconferencing. It is a convenient communication method and a cost-effective alternative compared to costly face-to-face meetings (especially if the interviewer or interviewee has to travel long distance for the interview). Videoconferencing is available on the Internet too. Its continual drop in cost is making it a popular resource for interviewing. This method is ideally used for mid- to senior-level employees.

 

Though technology has become very reliable, our experience in the industry tells us that it is always wise to check the facility before the interview starts. Often the audio needs to be fine-tuned and broadcasting quality needs to be checked to ensure an interview without any glitches which end up in an embarrassment for the company and wastage of precious time.

One-to-One Interviews/Personal Interviews

In such an interview, the candidate meets one-on-one with an interviewer. The interviewer may have an in-depth discussion on the work assignments, candidates’ achievement and any other relevant information the interviewer may wish to discuss. The final interview before the candidate is given the offer is usually a personal interview either with human resources or with the hiring manager.

 

Panel Interviews

These interviews involve two or more interviewers, interviewing the candidates. In majority of the cases, it consists of a three-member panel, i.e., the HR representative, the functional/technical manager and the functional/technical head. They tend to save time of the interviewers and are also important to get three different opinions on the same candidate. This interview ideally commences with a brief round of introduction by the HR representative, the interviewers normally agree in advance on their areas of coverage, as there should not be any overlap. These interviews can be highly effective, as one is interviewing the candidate, the others can observe the body language too.

 

Peer Interviews

There are many organizations which believe that before a candidate is hired, the team should have the opportunity of assessing them from a fitness perspective. Therefore, they have a process by which the candidate's potential peers (colleagues and team members) meet and have an informal discussion. This kind of a discussion is known as a peer interview. Interviewers in the peer group may not be skilled interviewers; hence, it is good to have at least one or two skilled interviewers in the panel. The participants in the peer interview should have experience of the job and be clear about the job description too. They should also be aware of departmental goals and must be free of bias. At times, peer interviews are broken down into smaller components; each panel member probes a particular area. Following a peer interview, participants compare their observations before coming to a common conclusion.

 

Group Interviews

In a group interview, many candidates are interviewed together. The candidate may be given a problem to solve as a group or complete a task together. The candidates can then be asked questions in front of one another on the exercise. A group interview can help interviewers assess the leadership capability of the candidates and how well they can interact and socialize in a group to influence the performance of the group. This method is normally used at a fresher level or at junior levels. It saves a lot of time and helps in elimination of candidates that do not suit the job profile.

 

Situational Interviews

A situational interview is one in which candidates are given typical situations faced on the job and they are assessed on how they would handle these.

 

How are these situations created? When job analysis is done using a critical incident method, it generates data on a huge number of situations that are encountered in a job and how successful people handle these. A selection of these incidents is converted into situations which can be used in the situational interview. Each question also has a scale. The scale may be defined in terms of low average and high with the help of typical responses to represent low, average and high. Depending on the answer of the candidate and the scale definition, the interviewer will note the candidate's response and do an assessment accordingly to mark them on the scale.

Examples of Situational Interviews and Scoring Scales.   Your spouse and two teenage children are ill. There is nobody to look after them. You have to reach work in four hours. What will you do?

1. Low: My family comes first—I will not go to work.
2. Average: I'd phone my supervisor and explain the situation.
3. High: Since they only have a cold, I would organize things which they would need to take care of themselves and go to work.

A customer comes into a store to pick up a toaster she had left for repair. The repair should have been over two days back but the toaster has not come back from the workshop. How will you handle the irate customer?

1. Low: Be honest to the customer and tell them its not back from the workshop and that they should call up next time before coming to save the bother.
2. Average: Apologize to the customer—tell them that they would check on the problem and give them a call back.
3. High: Call the repair shop while the customer waits and then brief the customer.

This kind of an interview facilitates the comparison of candidates, otherwise it will be difficult in other unstructured methods.

Behavioural Event Interviews (BEIs)

Traditional interviews rely on what the candidates say they can do. But what people think or say about their motives or skills is not credible. Only what they actually do in the most critical incidents they have faced ought to be believed. Behavioural interviews use the past behaviour to predict the future behaviour of the candidate. Interviewers ask specific examples of past behaviours that relate to the competencies required to execute the job well. Therefore, responses to the BEI questions are much more difficult to exaggerate or distort than any other types of questions. If the interviewer is skilled in the art of reading body language, they can tell whether people are recalling information or making it up. Interviewers can also probe the answers to previous questions to assess the credibility of the candidate.

 

An illustration would clarify this. Take a look at the question design in a BEI—this is an interview for a sales manager.

 

Sales manager:	I use the participative style of management for my team. I get my team together, share information with them, get them to contribute—they feel good and that's what makes a good team.
Interviewer:	(using the BEI method). That is wonderful! Can you share with me a specific incident when you have used your participative style of management to your advantage?
Sales manager:	Oh! There are many! There was one such in this one quarter when sales were really down in my area—I handled the entire Delhi state. I got all the sales data, broken down districtwise and then called a meeting of my area managers. I told all of them ‘These results (which are terrible) are a poor reflection of us. We need to change these or there would be a lot fewer people in the next meeting. So, how do you intend to fix it?’ That generated some discussion and people got all charged up. And guess what?—we achieved our numbers by the end of the quarter (Grins!!).
Interviewer:	Is this an example of your participative management?
Sales manager:	Oh! Yes! I made everybody participate in the meeting and I guess that's what got all of them to meet their numbers.

 

The BEI interview brought out the candidate's real understanding of ‘participative management’. He thought that threatening people was a part of being participative.

At Reckitt Becnkiser, BEI is the preferred method of interviewing. Some of the questions asked are—Tell me about a time when you anticipated an opportunity or problem and were ready for it when it happened. Talk me through a particularly complex negotiation that had a positive outcome for the business. What was your role? Which were the results? Give an example when you could make a positive impact on net revenue or gross margin from a customer plan.

The Behavioural Event Interview follows a structure:

1. Introduction:
   1. To develop satisfactory initial rapport with the interviewee.
   2. To set clear expectations about the process and scope of the interviewing.
   3. To reduce the anxiety of the interviewee, so that he can provide the details sought in the interview.
2. Trigger:
   1. To make the candidate recollect the critical event among the events that comes to his mind.
   2. To judge whether the event has the characteristics of the event solicited by the trigger.
   3. To give an opportunity to the candidate to change the event, if in the opinion of the interviewer/panelists, the event does not meet the characteristics sought by the trigger.
3. Structure of the event:
   1. To get a clear outline of the event that the interviewee is going to speak about.
   2. To get from the interviewees, the start of the event for them or their involvement in the event and the end of the event or the end of their involvement.
   3. To divide the event into logical/critical and chronological substages between the start and the end of the event.
   4. To create the skeleton for probing.
4. Probing and details of the event:
   1. To get the details of the event.
   2. To understand the nature of the interviewee's involvement in the event.
   3. To probe the thoughts, feeling and actions of the interviewee during the course of the event.
   4. To ‘live’ the event with the interviewee.
5. Closure of the interview:
   1. To give an opportunity to the interviewee to add anything related to the event that has been missed out.
   2. To thank the interviewee and close the interview.

5.5.3 Pitfalls During an Interview Process

• Too much talking by the interviewer with little time given to the candidates to make an informed judgement about them.
• Inconsistency of questions asked to different candidates making it difficult to compare findings to make a selection decision later.
• Candidates are either rated positively or negatively—whether they are similar or dissimilar to the interviewer. This happens in a subconscious manner (similar or not similar to me effect).
• Judgements are normally formed about candidates within a couple of minutes of an interview (first impression effect).
• Judgements are formed on candidates within the last couple of minutes of an interview (last impression effect).
• Interviewer allows the quality of the applicants who precede the present applicant to influence the ratings of the present applicant (contrast effect).
• At times, candidates are rejected on the basis of cultural, educational, physical disabilities, social background, age or some such bias in the mind of the interviewer (stereotyping error).
• The interviewer evaluates all characteristics of a person alike, because of an overall positive or negative impression based on one or two distinctive attributes in a person (halo or horn effect).
• Interviewer tends to evaluate everybody at the same level either ‘average’ (central tendency error), ‘below average’ (stringency error) or ‘above average’ (leniency error).
• Interviewer tends to ask leading questions to prove their own judgement about the candidate.
• Interviewer does not document his observations properly which make the selection decision very difficult later.
• Most interviewers have peaks of concentration during the first five minutes and the last five minutes. Interviewers often get distracted too.

5.6 EMPLOYMENT TESTS

Written, oral or other tests used as means of determining the suitability of a job applicant are known as employment tests. The underlying belief or assumption here is that there is a strong correlation between the test result and job performance.

5.6.1 Characteristics of Tests

A well-designed selection test would be standardized, objective, following the norms, reliable and valid. Let us see what each of these terms means.

 

Standardization

If the test is to be administered to a candidate pool and selection depends on the performance in the test, then it is fair that all candidates attempt it in the same environment with the same constraints. Hence, it is important that elements of a test should be standardized. This would mean that conditions under which the test is taken should be same all across administration of the test. This obviously means that the time given and the instructions provided at the beginning of the test should also be the same.

Objectivity

An objective test is one in which the scoring of the answers to the test is done in a standard manner with no room for subjectivity. This occurs when everyone scoring a test obtains the same results. True or false and multiple-choice tests are the examples of objective tests.

Norms

A norm is a frame of reference for comparing an applicant's performance with that of others. A norm reflects the distribution of many scores obtained by people similar to the applicant being tested. A score by itself is insignificant. It becomes meaningful only when compared with other applicants’ scores. For example, an IQ of 100 does not make any sense till you know that the average IQ is 100, someone with a score between 80 and 90 will be slow to grasp and that Einstein's IQ (162) is the highest one estimated till now. Therefore, when a prospective employee takes the test, the score obtained is compared to the norm and the significance of the test score is then determined.

Reliability

It is the extent to which a selection test provides consistent results. A reliable test is one that yields consistent scores when a person takes two alternate forms of the test of when they take the same test on two or more difference occasions. There are different types of reliability:

• Test–retest
• Internal consistency
• Parallel forms
• Split half

Test–retest Reliability.   It is concerned with the stability of test scores over a period of time. It involves administering the test to the same individuals on two or more separate occasions, normally a few weeks or months apart. The results that have been obtained on the two occasions must be consistent.

Internal Consistency.   This is concerned with the idea that all the items within a test should be measuring the same thing and therefore should be correlated with each other. For example, do you prefer seeing a movie or learning a new skill? It would be an inconsistent question as the first part of the questions is linked to ‘extroversion’; and the second part of the question is linked to ‘openness to experience’.

Parallel Forms.   This is the ability of a test to measure the same way as another test designed to measure the same construct. In most cases, two versions of the same test will be produced, they should be highly correlated.

Split Half.   The test is divided into two halves and marks are scored separately, and the score of one half of test is compared to the score of the remaining half to test the reliability (Kaplan and Saccuzzo 2009).

Validity

Any test must be valid and it is a mandatory requirement. Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. If a test cannot indicate the ability to perform the job, it has no value. There are different types of validity:

• Face validity
• Criterion–related validity
• Content validity
• Construct validity

Face Validity.   Face validity answers the question, ‘Does this test measure what it is intended to measure?’ Essentially, researchers are simply taking the validity of the test at face value by looking at whether a test appears to measure the target variable. Validity refers to the correctness of the inferences that we can make based on the test. It often refers to the evidence that the test is job related, i.e., performance on the test is a valid predictor of subsequent performance on the job. It is not a true kind of validity. This is concerned with people's perceptions on what a test measures. For example, one might look at a measure of math ability, read through the questions, and decide that it seems like this is a good measure of math ability.

Criterion–related Validity.   A test is said to have criterion-related validity when the test has demonstrated its effectiveness in predicting criterion or indicators of a construct. There are two different types of criterion validity:

• Concurrent validity: It occurs when the criterion measures are obtained at the same time as the test scores. This indicates the extent to which the test scores accurately estimate an individual's current state with regards to the criterion. For example, on a test that measures levels of depression, the test would be said to have concurrent validity if it measured the current levels of depression experienced by the test taker.
• Predictive validity: It occurs when the criterion measures are obtained at a time after the test. Examples of test with predictive validity are career or aptitude tests, which are helpful in determining who is likely to succeed or fail in certain subjects or occupations.

Content Validity.   When a test has content validity, the items on the test represent the entire range of possible items the test should cover. Individual test questions may be drawn from a large pool of items that cover a broad range of topics. It is a validation method whereby a person performs certain tasks that are actually required by the job or completes a paper and pencil test that measures relevant job knowledge. It relates to the question ‘do the items in the test adequately cover every aspect of what the test is supposed to measure?’ It shows that the test constitutes a fair sample of the content of the job. The normal procedure followed is to identify job task that are critical to performance and then randomly select a sample of the task that needs to be tested. For example, the ‘analytical reasoning’ is defined as a general mental ability involving both numerical and verbal components and so any test designed to measure analytical reasoning must have both these components. The analysis of computer skills for an administrative executive position would be content validity.

 

Construct validity.   Construct validity refers to the extent to which the construct of test actually measure what it claims to measure. For example, to what extent does the EQ questionnaire actually measures emotional intelligence? Job analysis does point out the traits which are important in performing of the job. Construct validity is concerned with the question that does the test actually measures those traits as outlined by the job analysis.

 

Convergent validity refers to the degree to which a measure is correlated with other measures that it is theoretically predicted to correlate with.

Discriminant validity describes the degree to which the operationalization does not correlate with other operationalizations that it theoretically should not be correlated with.

5.6.2 Types of Employment Tests

Employment tests can be broadly classified into two groups:

1. Ability tests: These are designed to test a wide range of abilities. Organizations would use those tests which would test the knowledge, skill and ability required for the job.
2. Personality tests: These are aimed to assess aspects of a candidate's personality. Therefore, there is nothing good or bad, correct or incorrect in these tests. These tests are used to evaluate the fitment of a person with the job or the organization.

These tests use a variety of methods to be administered with. Computer–based testing is a test administered by a computer. It allows test takers to read the questions and instructions from a computer monitor and then respond by clicking on a ‘button’ or typing out the answers. Regardless of the method used, the answers to test questions are then keyed directly into the computer. With computer adaptive tests (CATs), the computer adapts itself according to the test taker's ability by selecting the next question based on the performance of the previous question. If the test taker answers a question incorrectly, the next question is less difficult. The process continues till the accuracy of the test score reaches a certain pre-determined levels or the test ends after a pre-determined number of questions administered.

 

Ability Tests

Cognitive Tests.   Cognitive tests include tests of intelligence and tests of mental ability and inductive reasoning, general reasoning ability, verbal fluency and numerical ability.

Intelligence Tests.   IQ (Intelligence Quotient) or Intelligence tests are tests on general intellectual abilities. These are tests that determine general reasoning ability, mental abilities such as memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency and numerical ability. An adult's IQ score reflects the extent to which the candidate is below or above the ‘average’ adult's intelligence score. The very famous intelligence tests are the Stanford Binet or the Weschler Test. Other intelligence tests such as the Slosson Intelligence Test, Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test are also widely used.

Specific Cognitive Abilities.   These are specifically aptitude tests as these tests measure aptitude for the job in question. It reflects a candidate's aptitude for the job in question. The Revised Minnesota Paper Form Board Test consists of 64 two-dimensional diagrams cut into separate pieces. This provides insights to applicants for jobs such as mechanical draftsmen and engineers.

Aptitude Tests.   They are normally the tests to check one's numerical ability, spatial ability, verbal reasoning, mechanical reasoning and related tests. They are called ‘Differential Aptitude Tests’ (DAT). They normally form a battery of tests that touch upon: general cognitive abilities—verbal reasoning and numerical ability; perceptual abilities—abstract reasoning, mechanical reasoning, space relations; clerical and language skills—spelling, language usage, clerical speed and accuracy.

Psychomotor Abilities Tests.   They are tests that measure strength, coordination and dexterity such as finger dexterity, manual dexterity, reaction time on speed-related activities. Some tests such as the Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test measures the speed of finger, hand and arm movements. Some tests such as the Roeder Manipulative Aptitude Test screens individuals for jobs where dexterity is the main requirement. Tests of physical abilities are also required. These normally include testing of an applicant's such as lifting weights, pull-ups, for example, gym instructors, life guards.

Job Knowledge Tests.   They are tests that measure the applicant's knowledge of the duties of the job for which they are applying. Most companies design their own tests or purchase them too.

Work Sample Tests.   They are tests that require an applicant to perform a task or a set of tasks representative of the job. Candidates are presented with jobs that represent the task which they are applying for and evaluate their responses. The advantage is that they measure job performance directly. For example, work sample for a secretary would include shorthand (if relevant), typing and independent correspondence.

Vocational Interest Tests.   They are tests that indicate the occupation a person is most interested in and would gain satisfaction from. They compare the individual interest with those of successful employees in a specific job. One's vocation and interest need to match for the employee to be productive on the job.

Achievement Tests.   These tests measure what a person has learnt, i.e., the knowledge and skill which the person has acquired. Most of the tests that college students take are achievement-oriented tests. They measure the candidate's job knowledge in marketing, finance, operations, human resources and related. They could also measure the applicant's ability, for example, a machine operator tests the job knowledge of experienced machinists, ‘What is meant by tolerance?’ A test for typists and bricklayers are examples of achievement tests.

Personality Tests

These are tests, usually involving a standardized series of questions or tasks, used to describe or evaluate a subject's personality characteristics. They are self-reported measures of traits, temperaments or dispositions such as motivation, introversion and stability. They are not time constrained and do not measure specific problem-solving skills. Some of these tests are projective, i.e., the candidate must interpret or react to the picture shown. The candidate is supposed to project the picture in his own emotional attitude. An example of a Projective Test—Make a Picture Story (MAPS).

 

HR departments routinely resort to using personality tests to solve interpersonal problems. But there are a few things that one has to be careful about while using personality tests. First, they should be interpreted by experts. Second, its results should never be used in isolation with any other assessment method. It is advisable that findings from these tests should be verified or confirmed through an interview. Let us look at some of the popular tests used for assessment in the industry today.

Big Five Model.   In the 1960s, a number of studies served to support the view that personality could be divided into five factors. These factors, which are commonly called ‘The Big Five’, include: (1) openness to experience, (2) extroversion, (3) agreeableness, (4) conscientiousness and (5) emotional stability. The Big Five factors soon proved to be valid predictors of work performance too. There is a growing evidence of the usefulness of these factors in predicting job performance (Barrick and Mount 1991).

The Big Five factors and their constituent traits can be summarized as OCEAN:

1. Openness to experience: The extent to which individuals are creative, curious and cultured (open to experience) versus practical and with narrow interests (closed to experience).
2. Conscientiousness: The extent to which individuals are hardworking, organized, dependable and persevering (high conscientiousness) versus lazy, disorganized and unreliable (low conscientiousness).
3. Extraversion: The degree to which individuals are gregarious, assertive and sociable (extraverts) versus being reserved, timid and quiet (introverts).
4. Agreeableness: The extent to which individuals are compassionate towards others. Warm (highly agreeable) versus cold and belligerent (highly disagreeable).
5. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability: The degree to which individuals are insecure, anxious, depressed and emotional (emotionally unstable) versus calm, self-confident and secure (emotionally stable).

The results of the test could also be used to probe during interviews to get an idea about the candidate's personality.

16 Personality Factors.   Cattell's 16PF, which has a global significance now, came around the 1950s. The test which has had a tremendous influence on the development of occupational suitability comprises of 16 factors. The 16 factors use bipolar (where each pole represents an opposite preference) dimensions of personality. This can be understood by studying Table 5.2, which illustrates all these 16 factors with their polarities described.

The test is a questionnaire in a multiple-choice format. It is not a timed and an untimed administration takes an average of 35–50 minutes for paper-and-pencil and 25–35 minutes for computer administration. The test can be administered individually as well as in groups. The test concludes with a short section consisting of ability items. Before administering the test, it should be communicated to the test takers that the test asks about feelings, attitudes or behaviour and that there are no right and wrong answers except for the 15 ability questions asked in the end. As mentioned earlier, all the 16PF scales personality factors are bipolar—that is, each end of each scale has a distinct definition and meaning. Scores are given in ‘standard-ten’ or sten scores, which range from 1 to 10.

 

Table 5.2 16 Personality factors

Descriptors of Low Range	Primary Factor	Descriptors of High Range
■  Impersonal, distant, cool, reserved, detached, formal	■  Warmth (A)	■  Warm, outgoing, attentive to others, kindly, easy-going, likes people
■  Concrete thinking, lower general mental capacity, less intelligent, unable to handle abstract problems	■  Reasoning (B)	■  Abstract-thinking, more intelligent, bright, higher general mental capacity
■  Reactive emotionally, changeable, affected by feelings, emotionally less stable	■  Emotional Stability (C)	■  Emotionally stable, adaptive, mature, faces reality
■  Deferential, cooperative, avoids conflict, submissive, humble, obedient, easily led	■  Dominance (E)	■  Dominant, forceful, assertive, aggressive, competitive, stubborn
■  Serious, restrained, prudent, taciturn, introspective	■  Liveliness (F)	■  Lively, animated, spontaneous, enthusiastic, happy go lucky, cheerful
■  Expedient, non-conforming, disregards rules, self indulgent	■  Rule Consciousness (G)	■  Rule-conscious, dutiful, conscientious, conforming, rule bound
■  Shy, threat-sensitive, timid, hesitant, intimidated	■  Social Boldness (H)	■  Socially bold, venturesome
■  Utilitarian, objective, unsentimental, tough minded, self-reliant	■  Sensitivity (I)	■  Sensitive, aesthetic, sentimental, tender minded
■  Trusting, unsuspecting, accepting, unconditional	■  Vigilance (L)	■  Vigilant, suspicious, sceptical, distrustful
■  Grounded, practical, prosaic, solution oriented, steady	■  Abstractedness (M)	■  Abstract, imaginative, absent minded, impractical
■  Forthright, genuine, artless, open, guileless, naïve	■  Privateness (N)	■  Private, discreet, non-disclosing, shrewd, polished, worldly
■  Self-assured, unworried, complacent, secure, free of guilt, confident	■  Apprehension (O)	■  Apprehensive, self doubting, worried, guilt prone, insecure, worrying
■  Traditional, attached to familiar, conservative, respecting traditional ideas	■  Openness to Change (Q1)	■  Open to change, experimental, liberal, analytical, critical, free thinking
■  Group-oriented, affiliative	■  Self-reliance (Q2)	■  Self-reliant, solitary, resourceful, individualistic
■  Tolerates disorder, unexacting, flexible, undisciplined, self-conflict, impulsive	■  Perfectionism (Q3)	■  Perfectionist, organized, compulsive, self-disciplined
■  Relaxed, placid, tranquil, patient	■  Tension (Q4)	■  Tense, high energy, impatient, driven, frustrate

Another test famously used in the USA has been the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). The CPI measures 22 personality tests.

Myers Brigg's Test Indicator.   The Myers–Briggs Test Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences and how people perceive the world and make decisions. The original developers of the personality inventory were Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. MBTI is based on the theory of psychological type originally developed by Carl Jung. The instrument proposes the existence of four dichotomous pairs of cognitive functions:

1. Extraversion (E)–Introversion (I): This means what an individual prefers to focus on—the world outside (E) or the world inside (I).
2. Sensing (S)–Intuition (N): This means what an individual prefers to draw information from what they see (S) or do they derive meaning by interpreting what they see (N).
3. Thinking (T)–Feeling (F): This means how an individual makes decisions—based on logic (T) or on people and circumstances (F).
4. Judgement (J)–Perception (P): This means that when dealing with the world the individual wants to come to a conclusion (J) or prefers to stay open to new information coming in (P).

These four preferences interact with one another to give rise to 16 personality types each represented by the combination of the letters which represent the preference. For example, ENTJ would mean that the individual has preference for extraversion, intuition, thinking and judgement. The important thing to note about this test is that it does not tell you whether a person is an extrovert or an introvert—it only indicates the preferred behaviour by the person.

Interest Tests.   Interest tests or inventories compare one's interest with those of candidates in various occupations. The one commonly used is the Strong–Campbell Interest Inventory. It compares the applicant's interest to those of people already in various other occupations.

5.6.3 Unique Forms of Testing

Genetic Testing

It is given to identify predisposition to inherited diseases, including cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders and congenital diseases. As such research progresses, confirmed links between specific gene mutations and diseases emerge. Such tests may predict predispositions to having a disease.

 

Graphoanalysis

It is the study of individual strokes in handwriting to determine the character and personality of an individual. In certain countries, many employers use graphoanalysis to help screen and place job applicants. It refers to the use of handwriting analysis to determine the writer's basic personality traits. The handwriting expert studies the applicant's handwriting and signature to discover information and details about the applicant. Quite a few studies suggest that they are not valid predictors of one's personality.

Polygraph Tests

This is a lie-detector test. This can be used to confirm or refute the information contained in the application blank. This is normally not used in private sectors. It is a device that measures physiological changes such as increased perspiration. Such changes reflect changes in emotional state that accompany lying.

Online Testing

There are a variety of personality, aptitude and attitude which can be conducted online. These tests can used to test applicant's skill level too. They have become so popular that they have now replaced the tradition paper and pencil test and other kind of manual tests. In India, many graduate entrance tests are online. Employees go to the web worlds and take such tests.

Video-based Situational Testing

This kind of testing presents the candidates with many online-based video scenarios, followed by multiple-choice questions. It could depict a scenario of an employee handling a situation on the job. At a decisive moment, the scenario in the video ends and the candidate is asked to choose from several alternatives.

5.6.4 Assessment Centres

There is no substitute for objectively observing and systematically measuring how candidates actually perform in an actual job environment. A well-designed assessment centre is the most effective tool available for assessing prospective candidates in both individual and group-based environments for selection. The exercises can last as little as half a day, while others can go on for two days or so.

What is an Assessment Centre?

Assessment centres typically involve the participants completing a range of exercises, which simulate the activities carried out in the target job. Various combinations of these exercises and sometimes other assessment methods such as psychometric testing and interviews are used to assess particular competencies in candidates.

 

Brief History of Assessment Centres

One can trace the existence of assessment centres back to 1942 in the UK when they were used by War Office Selection Boards (Anstey 1989). The existing system then was resulting in a large proportion of those officers it had predicted would be successful being ‘returned to unit’ as unsuitable. The system relied on interviewing to select officers and had as selection criteria things such as social and educational background.

The assessment centre approach then was adopted as an attempt to accurately elicit the types of behaviour that an officer was required to display in order to be successful in their job. The tasks included leaderless group exercises, selection tests and personal interviews by a senior officer, junior officer and psychiatrist, respectively. This new system resulted in a substantial drop in the proportion of officers being ‘returned to unit’ as unfit for duty. From then on, the method became very popular and during the post-war years, this system was introduced for the selection to the civil services too. A variation of it is still used for the officer selection in the armed forces to this day.

Globally AT&T was the first to use assessment centres. The first assessment centre in India was born in 1974 to select project leaders for the entrepreneurship development program in Gujarat. Subsequently, in 1975, Dr. T.V. Rao and others tried to apply the concept for promotion purposes in Larsen & Toubro (L&T). L&T did a lot of work on job profiling but never really got to the stage of developing an assessment centre for potential appraisal. Crompton Greaves attempted to use an assessment centre approach for selecting general managers from within. This was again a onetime effort and was not repeated. It is only after liberalization in the 1990s that interest in assessment centres got renewed. It is estimated that over a dozen Indian companies have established assessment centres and many others are still exploring the same. Some of these names include Aditya Birla Group, Cadburys, Castrol (India), Glaxo, Eicher, Escorts, Grindwell Norton, J&J, ONGC, Mahindra & Mahindra, RPG Group, SAIL, Siemens, TISCO, Wipro, Wockhardt and others.

Types of Assessment Exercises

The assessment centre develops a set of varied exercises, which are designed to simulate different aspects of the work environment. These exercises usually last from half-a-day to two full days or so. The most common types of assessment centre exercises are discussed below.

 

An in-tray or in-basket exercise asks the candidate to assume a particular role as an employee of a fictitious company and work through the correspondence in their in-tray (i.e., ‘inbox’ of your mail). This exercise is designed to measure the candidate's ability to organize and prioritize work.

In a presentation exercise, the candidate will be given a range of topics and asked to make a presentation of around five minutes and a couple of questions would be asked at the end for clarification. This is designed to measure presentation skills including the ability to organize and structure the information and to communicate points clearly and concisely.

In a leaderless group discussion, the candidates assemble in groups of four to eight after individually considering an issue or problems and making specific recommendations. A leader is not designated for the group during the process of the group discussion, a leader normally emerges. This could last for around 15 minutes or so. These exercises are designed to measure interpersonal skills such as leadership skills, team skills, negotiation and group problem-solving skills.

A roleplay exercise allows the assessors to see if one can play the role that is necessary to address the situation that has been created. Role playing is a method of adopting roles from real life, other than those being played by the person concerned and understanding the dynamics of the role. It can be used as an evaluation technique as it helps to gain insight into various processes of human relations and also the person's attitudes and behaviour in a particular role.

 

 

A simulation game is a game in which activities of real life are replicated by way of a situation which the candidate has to analyse, review and act upon. A simulation game has the advantage of seeing a participant in action than having to believe what they say they would do in a situational interview.

A case study is given to the participants where they have to find facts, analyse and then discuss it in a group. This gives an idea about the analytical skills of the candidates and also their ability to influence opinions.

In relation to psychological inventory, one may say that today some of these tests, particularly intelligence tests (general ability tests), are being used again in conjunction with assessment centres. Research data show that the combination of intelligence data and behavioural observations provide a markedly better means of evaluating people than either used alone (Thornton and Byham 1982).

360-degree feedback can be used to provide an assessee feedback from all the people they interact with at work, for example, his boss, peers, subordinates and external customers. Feedback can be sought on various managerial and behavioural dimensions. Such multirater feedback can then be compiled to prepare a profile of the assessee. Such a profile highlights how well they are performing, as well as their strengths and areas of improvement as perceived by themselves and others. If it is a development centre, then on the basis of the above feedback, the assessee can then prepare action plans to improve their managerial effectiveness and have positive impact at the work place. 360-degree feedback is more objective and participative in nature. It enables better performance planning, helps discover blind spots and provides scope to get new ideas.

There are a host of methods which could be adopted for assessment in an assessment centre—however, all cannot be adopted! The choice of the methods should drive an optimal set of methods. While multiple assessment leads to objectivity, using too many methods would also increase sophistication, costs and time investments. Appropriate choices should be made depending on the advantages and disadvantages of these methods for the organization. Table 5.3 can be used as a guide for selecting methods depending on the level of the candidates to be assessed.

Requirement for an Assessment Centre

• An assessment hall that can accommodate participants at a time with individual workstation arrangements as well as special arrangements to seat assessors.
• Interview rooms with video recording facility.
• Independent computers/laptops for all participants to work in various exercises.
• A data bank of tests, questionnaires and other test items such as in-basket exercises, business simulations and management games should be ready.
• Open space at the centre for group exercises.

Assessor Skills

The quality of the assessment centre is a function of the quality of the assessors— Table 5.4 enumerates the skills that an assessor should have.

 

Table 5.3 Methods and levels—assessment centre

 

Table 5.4 Skills an assessor should have

Analytical skills	Communication skills	Personal qualities
■  Observation	■  Listening	■  Integrity
■  Recording	■  Questioning	■  Confidence
■  Classification	■  Empathy	■  Open-mindedness, non-judgemental approach
■  Evaluation	■  Interpersonal skills	■  Credibility based on experience
		■  Professionalism

The assessment staff usually consists of managers who are one to three levels above the position for which people are assessed. Psychologists can also be used, but they are generally preferred at high levels in the organization or when general management dimensions are required for the job. It is always better to train senior managers as assessors for the assessment centre as they have a better idea of the job and competencies required for it. They also enjoy more credibility and their evaluations are more acceptable.

The primary role of assessors is to collect and record data on the performance and views of the participants during the assessment. They also collate and interpret information about the abilities of the participants. It is part of their responsibility to provide participants with feedback and assistance in formulation of development action plans in case of diagnostic assessment centre or development centres. Assessment decisions about the performance of participants are based on observation and recorded evidence, so the accuracy of the data produced in an assessment centre is heavily dependent upon the skills of the assessors.

The relationship between the assessors and participants also needs to be considered while selecting assessors. If assessors are the line managers of the participant population, care is needed to avoid placing a line manager in the position of directly assessing a member of their own staff. This will avoid assessment errors arising from previous knowledge and perceptions of the participant and will probably also alleviate extra pressure for the participant. An ideal assessor to participant ratio is 1:2, but this ratio may face constraints related to resources and other practical considerations.

Finally, the scores from the various activities received from the assessors are then added and ranked accordingly and companies may also have a round of personal interviews if need be.

5.7 HOW TO MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTION

There is definitely no ‘off the shelf’ method available to assess the effectiveness of selection. Nevertheless one could develop measures internally which can be used to control efficiency and effectiveness of the process, to pinpoint problems and to identify opportunities. Measures should be viewed from an individual and organizational performance point of view.

The measures of individual performance could include the following aspects:

• Productivity (with a measured output or sales or some other measures)
• Performance is quality criteria such as error rates, level of competency and length of service in the organization

By gathering the individual data on such measures and comparing and contrasting similar data of other employees, it is possible to see whether people recruited were a good choice and then reflect on the quality of selection process decisions.

Some of the organization-wide measures can also be a useful indicator especially when there is a mass recruitment intake which can influence the organization on a dynamic basis. Such measures include:

• Productivity
• Quality measures, for example, error rates, downtime absence rate, labour turnover and measures of motivation and morale

They could also include the following:

• Staffing cost: This involves determining the cost per hire, which involves the sourcing and recruiting costs too. The cost per hire can be calculated by dividing the recruitment expenses by the number of hired recruits. Obviously, knowledge employees will be more costly. Over the years, when companies calculate such costs, they can set a benchmark cost per hire for the various positions against which a yearly audit helps in assessing the recruitment and selection process.
• Interview rate: The number of applicants interviewed will give us the interview rate. At every stage, there is a drop in the number of candidates that commit to attend the interview and actually attend the same.
• Selection rate: This refers to the number of candidates that have been hired vis-à-vis the total number of candidates that have been called. The parameters used in the selection process will impact the selection rate.
• Offer and acceptance rate: The number of offers that have been released and the numbers that actually join refer to the acceptance rate. Most of the time, there is a drop out of prospective candidates in these two stages. If the rate is low, it is then advisable to review the process and also find out the reasons that the offers are being turned down.
• Rate per recruitment source: Segregate the various sources of hire per joinee. Mathematical models can be developed to identify which sources yield the best results and one needs to keep in mind that information pertaining to performance appraisals, turnover, training costs etc., could also be taken into consideration to check the effectiveness. For example, it could be calculated that management trainees from which B schools make better-quality employees.

1. http://www.merittrac.com/webpages/ MeritTrac designs and delivers assessments to evaluate knowledge, abilities and skill for corporate, educational institutions, governmental and individual customers in India. A walk through the website would give you an idea of the different kinds of tests which can be done for the purpose of hiring. It is also an organization which provides outsourced selection services.
2. Essentials of 16PF assessment by Heather Birkett Cattell, James M. Schuerger 16PF is one of the most popular psychometric tests used. This book written in an engaging manner tells you all that you need to know about 16PF and how to use it for selection.
3. Recruitment and Selection, Gareth Roberts, Jaico Books, 2008.
4. Manager's guide to recruitment and selection By Margaret Dale.

1. What is the significance of employee selection? What are the costs of a bad quality selection?
2. What is a BEI and for which levels in the organization one could you this?
3. Describe an assessment centre and what is its purpose?
4. What are the various interviewing styles organizations used today? Cite relevant examples.
5. How would you conduct an effective interview for a management trainee?
6. How will you measure selection? Support your answer with relevant examples.
7. What is the purpose of a reference and background check?
8. What are the different types of reliability and validity? Explain them.

1. Group exercise: Contact one company per group and review their selection process vis-à-vis the inputs provided in the chapter.

2. Group exercise: Design an assessment centre for a B-school. Which interviewing style would you use to hire B-school graduates?

3. Group exercise role play: Each group (four participants) to choose one industry and one position in the junior level of management, for example, operations executive for a BPO. Each student to take on various roles, i.e., GM–Operations, Manager–Operations, Sr. Manager–HR and the fourth student to play the role of the candidate. The interviewers to prepare a list of at least 20 questions related to the position. Time limit: 20 minutes. Other groups can choose Finance, Marketing, Human Resources and Information Technology areas too.

4. Individual exercise: Design an interview assessment sheet for different industries.

5. Individual exercise: Big Five Test. Check out your personality type. Web site link http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

6. Group exercise: Find out five organizations that run a BEI as a part of their selection process. Compare the five organizations with each other and review how different they are in their style?

 

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