Chapter 4: SELECTION OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Objectives:

 Understand and familiarize future HR managers/personnel with the basic and necessary
procedures in selecting the most qualified employee for the vacant position in a company;
 Design interview questions that will yield information about the future employees;
 Design an up-to-date testing procedure to further measure the applicant’s qualifications; and
 Be aware of the importance of checking the references of applicants.

Selection - can be defined as the process of determining from among the applicants who can meet the
job requirements and can be offered the vacant position in the organization. It is the deciding point,
which determines who among the applicants has the personal qualities that match the requirements for
the position.

The different department of the organization make personal requisitions to the HRD on their manpower
requirement through a Personnel Requirement Form (PRF) duly approved by the management
concerned. This PRF specifies the following:

1. The positions and the number required.

2. The job specifications — What is required to do the job. This tool consolidates the necessary
employee qualifications identified in the job analysis schedule and lists them in terms of
knowledge, abilities, skills, or licenses. The employee selection requirements may emphasize
skills and knowledge not easily learned on the job. It is often wise to select candidates who
already have these skills rather than a hope candidate will be able to learn them after hiring.
3. The personal qualities needed for a worker toy the job successfully. A frequent
sentiment among employers is at a good attitude and a lack of bad habits are the most
important ingredients in the personal makeup of personnel. It is indisputable that a good
attitude is essential, but attitude alone does not make up for poor skills any more than good
skills make up for a poor attitude.

The HRD determines the selection procedure on how to get the most qualified applicants. Managers
and top executives must approve these standard operating procedures. The following stages may be
implemented:

STAGE 4 – Making communication decision to select or reject.

STAGE 3 – Gathering and evaluating information about applicants

STAGE 2 – Identifying and choosing selection criteria, predictors, and instruments to be used.

STAGE 1 – Establishing selection procedure

Selection Procedure on How To Get the Most Qualified Applicants

1. Stage 1 - Establishing selection procedure. Successful employee selection is dependent on a clear

Understanding of a job's components.
2. Stage 2 - Identify and choose selection criteria, predictors and instruments to be used. Weighing
job duties can help the employer assess the qualifications of competing candidates. Each skill,
 knowledge area and ability is rated according to its importance to the job. A skill may be given
less importance, for instance, if it can easily be acquired or is seldom used.
3. Stage3 - Gather and evaluate information about applicants. Applicant skills can be evaluated
through applications, interviews, tests, reference checks, letters of recommendation and
physicals. Some selection tools are more effective than others, but a combination of tools is
usually best. Factors reflecting worker motivati0ff such as punctuality and attendance may be
elicited within the interview, but contacting previous employers, may give more reliable
information. If possible, try to verify evidence of specific skills, knowledge and abilities at more
than one point in the selection process.
4. Stage 4 — Make communication decisions whether to select or reject. Following a thorough
selection process enables you to base a decision on substantial data rather than on intuition
alone. It is worth starting over with the recruitment process if you are not satisfied with any of
the applicants, Offering the job to someone "because we've come this far" could mean hiring the
wrong person for the job. Unfortunately, too often candidates who are not selected for a
position ever hears from the employer. Others may find out a position was filled when they see
the new employee. In addition to common courtesy, a reason for promptly notifying all
applicants is that firm employers may want to stay in touch with contenders to fill future
openings. Do not commit yourself to calling all candidates and letting them know if they got the
job or not. When you telephone the candidates, this will rage their hopes only to be let down a
moment later. Sending thoughtful rejection letters to those who were not selected could be
done.

Sample of a Rejection Letter:

Date: __________________

Dear Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in the _______ position with our company. We regret to inform; you are not
selected. There were over ____applicants, and we could choose only one of the several well-qualified
candidates. We enjoyed meeting you and were particularly impressed with your ____________. Please
keep us in mind in the future. Thank you for your time and interest. We wish you well in your career.

Who Makes the Selection Decisions?

The HRD is a staff department and has a functional authority to assist line managers in all related
personnel functions. The final decision to hire usually left up to operating executives. The final user of
the human resources makes decision on who is to be hired among applicants screened by the HRD
according to the PRF submitted by the department. It is functional authority of the HRD to screen the
applicants and to submit the names of those who passed the initial screening to the operating
department for its final decision on whom to select and finally hire for the job.

Selection and Job Matching

Selection tries to match the personal qualities of the applicants with the job requirements. This matching
procedure begins with and is based upon an evaluation of the applicant's strengths and weaknesses. The
results of this evaluation are then measured against the job standards of the position.
In the selection process we cannot separate the person from his personal characteristics. The applicant
has positive and negative factors and the progress of determining factors requires a thorough analysis of
the individual's qualifications.

Tests and interviews commonly focus on the applicant's social abilities as well as his task abilities.
Selection procedures seek to measure the ability of the applicant over the existing organizational
structure. The assumption is that ability determines performance. While This assumption may be true, it
cannot assure that the results is one hundred percent accurate as motivation plays great factors in
productivity.

The Selection Process

The employer can think of the selection process as a series of hurdles that applicants must clear in
order to obtain the job. Each hurdle eliminates some applicants from contention. The sequence of these
hurdles needs to be designed with care. Generally, the most expensive and time-consuming selection
tools are used later in the selection process.

If there are only few applicants, progressive hurdles are unnecessary. When selection tools are not used
as hurdles, their sequence is less important. If all applicants will be interviewed and all take a practical
test (or job sample), it does not matter much which of the steps comes first.

Often employers use bio-data (information from applications and resumes) as the first step in eliminating
applicants. Furthermore, employers should not be overly influenced by nice-looking applications that
may have been typed or completed by someone other than the candidate. Professional resume services
can make candidates appear quite attractive on paper. The caution here, then is that there is little
relationship between an applicant on paper and on the job.

The HRM MANAGER must be able to devise the most valid instrument in determining the job selection
process. He must be able to identify which are the best predictors of success to specific jobs. The
manager must establish these as qualities sought among prospective and design a selection procedure
that will find out to what extent a given applicant possesses them.

The Selection Process

1. Preliminary Screening

The first step in the assessment of an applicant for the job is the initial interview or preliminary
screening. This step deals with obvious factors such as voice, physical appearance, personal grooming,
educational background, professional training and experience that need to be assessed.

The following personal traits and qualities are the important things to consider in the preliminary
screening process:

a. Aptitude and interest indicate our natural abilities, capacity for learning, and desires to do
certain jobs.
b. Attitudes and needs indicate an applicant's frame of mind, emotional and mental maturity,
sense of responsibility and authority, and future motivation.
c. Analytical and manipulative abilities indicate our thinking process, intelligence level and ability
to use knowledge effectively in any assigned task.
 d. Skills and technical abilities indicate ability to perform specific operations and technical aspects
of the job. This results from educations, training and experience and tends to predict what one
can do if properly placed, oriented, developed and motivated.
e. Health, energy and stamina indicate physical ability to perform the assigned task satisfactorily
especially those involving manual and managerial duties.
f. The person’s value system provides a clue to motivation, goals, objectives and work values and
perseverance.

Applicants who pass the preliminary interview are asked to fill out an application form provided by the
company. The interviewer usually asks the applicant to answer specific questions and looks for
significant reactions and expressions. The interview is usually directed toward discussions of
points that the interviewer considers important.

There Are Some Styles Of Interview:

A. STRUCTURED INTERVIEW follows a set of procedures and the interviewer set the leads.
Directive interview is usually structured. Structured interviews are usually more effective in
promoting equal opportunities for all applicants.
B. UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW is where the applicant takes the lead. The unstructured interview
provides no specific reference and the applicant is given a free hand in talking about himself and
the interviewer makes an assessment.
C. PANEL OR ROUND-TABLE INTERVIEW is usually done for managerial and supervisory employees.
The applicant meets a panel of interviewers and seeks to facilitate the polling of judgments with
prominent members of the working organization.

2. The Application Form

The applicant is required to fill out the company's official application form after passing the preliminary
interview. The company's application forms contain more information that the company may
need in MIS files or some information that may be required during the in-depth interview. Application
forms vary from company to company. Employment details are important during the interview process.

By careful screening the employee's information about education, the school where courses were
attended, employment data, years of experience in a particular job, salary received and membership in
organizations may be found closely related success on the job.

GRAPHOLOGY - some companies would require the applicant to write in not less This would reveal some
personality analysis of the person's characteristics. Graphology is the art and science in the analysis of
the traits through his handwriting. It can reveal the level of intelligence, emotional stability imagination
and ability to work with others as well as discover talents and capacities.

3. Testing and Evaluation of Results

Testing in the parlance of HRM, is commonly associated with the prediction and selection of subsequent
performance on the job. Tests are still the commonly used instruments for determining the qualifications
and talents of the application for a particular job. It is the most objective of all selection instruments in
the selection process.
Tests can be classified on the bases of personal characteristics sought from the applicant. They are the
following:

a. Intelligence Test — it is widely used to measure mental ability or general learning ability. There is
no good definition of intelligence but it is commonly associated with one's personal capacity for
learning and doing things that he learns. The outstanding feature of this type of test is its ability
to predict the general capacity for learning or problem – solving. Intelligence tests that are
designed by the psychological society of the Philippines are adaptable of the local condition.
They are now available for use by practitioners of HRM.
b. Aptitude Test — It measures the person's capacity to learn a given job, provided there is
adequate training. This type of test is usually administered for mechanical and clerical positions.
c. Interest Test —It is derived from hereditary and environmental factors. It tries to predict the
success in the job if the person's interest and the job are properly matched. For example, if the
person is interested in operating mechanical instruments he should be placed in a situation
where there are mechanical operations. If his interest is in art, the nature of the job must be
related to art works.
d. Personality Test — It is considered as an important instrument to test the personality of the
applicant especially of supervisory and managerial positions as they have to relate with their
co-workers in the industry. Practitioners of HRM believe that selected personality characteristics
may be even more important than job knowledge or skill, as emotional maturity influences the
ability to withstand stress and strain to be objective and gain the respect and cooperation of
others in the organization.
e. Achievement or Proficiency Test — It tries to measure the applicant's knowledge of a given job.
It tries to eliminate "trade bluffers" who profess to know a particular type of work. Trade bluffers
are people who claim knowledge of a particular type of work or experience that they do not
actually possess. Work sampling is commonly used to determine the individual ability to perform
certain to type of work. A trade Test is a part of this type of measuring the ability to perform a
certain type of task.

Tests that measure specific skills, knowledge and abilities are the most useful selection tests. Intelligence
and personality tests on the other hand, are normally of limited utility. Intelligence tests may indicate a
person's potential practical to analyze and digest information quickly but may do little to show a person's
skills. Neither will an intelligence test predict an applicant's motivation, confidence, or need for
achievement.

Personality and honesty are important but tests provide little help in evaluating these characteristics in a
selection setting. Applicants can easily fake answer and these tests are often offensive, prying into
people's personal lives in areas that are not job related.

Interaction with applicants especially during the interview, can be a more useful means evaluating
attitudes and personality. Honesty tests may be prohibited by law in some instances and it is doubtful
that they are very helpful. This trait may be measured in part by checking references.

What are the requirements for effective testing?

A test can be made more productive and rewarding if it conforms to the following:
 a. It should be properly tested and validated.
b. It should be used with proper discretion and used along with other instruments.
c. Use a battery of tests to determine the person’s real worth.
d. Set the critical cut — off score in advance.
e. Do not use raw scores: Interpret them.

4. In-Depth Interview

The in-depth interview is the most important part of the selection After passing all tests required, the
applicant is now ready to formally the selection process. All the relevant information about the applicant
is into focus at this point as the final decision to hire the individual is made this interview.

The factors of aptitude, proficiency and personality as measured by the drives, social adaptability,
emotional control and conscience are related employee's productivity. These subjects should be
thoroughly discussed during the interview. Relatively important is the interviewer must be able to
attempt to evaluate the person's ability to utilize available resources in solving problems and to search
for the right attitude, knowledge and skills needed for successful performance on the job.

Experience is valuable in interviewing techniques. Increased training of interviewer is a promising

method for improvement as it is crucial factor in the interview process. Some types of significant
information may surface during the interview that may not be available from other sources. An example
for this is the hardship that the applicant experienced while working and at the same time studying.
Experiences along this line are contributory factors to the perseverance and consistency of the applicant
to go through college to get a better job and better employment. This would not surface in the
preliminary interview or in any test conducted to assess the applicant's qualifications.

There are three important characteristics that the interviewer must possess.

1. Knowledge — Better understanding of the psychology of the person is an important factor in the
interview. The interviewer must know the behavior of the person and must be able to determine
and decipher the answer to questions as he may take down important details during the
interview process. He must be able to relate the qualities and qualifications of the individual
according to the needs and culture of the organization.
2. Empathy — The interviewer must be able to discover the inner behavior of the individual by
understanding his own personality and relate this with the feelings of the applicant. The
interviewer must be able to understand, anticipate and infer what the interviewee is feeling and
draw out a more accurate reflection of the person's characteristics. It is establishing rapport and
opening the communication channel that develops understanding. This requires tact and
experience.
3. Communications skills – the interviewer must have facility of communication. This refers to the
use of language, gestures and voice inflection. Words must be clearly chosen to put the
individual at ease during the interview and draw from him the inner self that is necessary to fully
assess the individual’s fitness to the job. The questions must be clearly stated and the
interviewer must be a good listener in order to evaluate the desired personal characteristics of
the individual.

5. Evaluating References
References are important in finally assessing the applicant's worth for the position. References to be
credible must be checked with utmost confidentiality if one would like to get a true picture of the
individual who would like to join the organization.

Generally, there are three kinds of references:

1. Academic Reference —This may be requested from applicants who are new graduates. This may
be addressed "to whom it may concern" which tells about the individual's academic
performance together with his transcript of records. Details may include co-curricular activities
and the student's performance in college.
2. Character Reference — This reference may come from some persons in the community that are
familiar with the individual in their place of residence. This may reveal records on the applicant
about his relations with the people in the community. A barangay clearance is usually required
from the applicant so that the organization will know that he had no adverse records in the
community. While this may be of little significance to his employment, as most would like to
please the person concerned, the reference check could also work to the company's advantage.
3. Work or Experience Reference —To get the most valid information about the applicant, the
work reference check must be mailed to the previous employer stating the confidentiality of
the information. It must be in the form of a checklist for the convenience of the person giving
the information. Sometimes the form is delivered personally for more confidential information
especially for some critical positions where confidentiality is very strictly necessary.

Here are some policy guidelines in reference checking:

1. The reference should be used to develop the integrity of the whole selection process.
2. For very important confidential positions, reference should be conducted on a face-to face basis
since the applicant may be reluctant to divulge significant information.
3. If face-to-face information is impractical, telephone inquiries should be used rather than mailed
requests for information.
4. In any kind of follow-up, inquiries should be in structured form to relate information to job and
career requirement.
5. inquiries should discover the “why” behind whatever impressions are disclosed. Those who
supply information may have their own biases and peculiar standards.

6. Physical Examination

This may be the last hurdle in the selection process. The applicants undergo physical examination at the
company clinic or an authorized hospital to determine the physical fitness of the applicant for the job.
The applicant must pass the physical test as he is certified as being in good health.

Medical Examinations are important for the following reasons:

a. To screen out those physically incapable of doing the job.

b. To prevent employment of those with high incidence of absenteeism due to illness or accidents.
c. To prevent hiring of people with communicable diseases or who are influenced by drugs.
d. Ward off unwanted claims with worker's compensation laws, SSS, medical care and suits for
damages.
7. Placements

The applicant who is cleared in all requirements is finally offered the job. Final acceptance for production
workers is usually dependent on the approval of the immediate manager or supervisor of the
department where the applicant will be assigned. In practice the approval is usually arranged early in the
selection process. Practice in placement has been generally more formal and usually covered by
company policies and procedures in the hiring of the employees.

The applicant is now formally introduced in the group and undergoes an intensive orientation and
induction program. Some companies assign the buddy system to formalize the new employee with the
workings of the department. He is given company manuals, rules and regulations and company
brochures, and other company magazines to familiarize him with the work environment.

Types of Employees

1. Probationary — An employee is hired for regular position based on an organizational staffing

pattern. A probationary employee can be terminated if he does not pass required reasonable
standards in the performance of the job or there exists a just cause for his termination. The
probationary period is for six months and after that period he is deemed a permanent or regular
employee.
2. Regular or permanent employee – an employee who passed the probationary period and is
performing a regular activity in the business of the company covered in the regular company
staffing system.
3. Contractual employee - The employee is hired for a fixed period or specific project of the
company, the completion of which is specifically explained to the employee concerned. Direct
hiring of contractual employees should not be more than six months or else they may be
converted to regular employees. Hiring of contractual is usually done through an employment
agency to avoid regular employment.
4. Casual or Seasonal Employee —An employee is hired for a particular work or service that is
seasonal in nature. Employment is temporary according to the volume of work.
5. Apprenticeships — Apprenticeships is the development of the required skills for a particular type
of work. It is a learner's job to familiarize himself with the required skills. They may be regular or
probationary employees after passing the trade skills test during the apprenticeship period.
Some may come from on-the-job training required of students to graduate with certain degree.