L2 - Workplace Selection

Question 1

Define selection

Answer 1

Selection: involves matching the person to the job or organisation, and then evaluating the effectiveness of that match

Need information on:
o What the job requires
o What the person has to offer (KSAOs)
o How well the person performs in that type of work

Question 2

Discuss the UTILITY of the Selection Process

Answer 2

1. Company performance depends on employees
2. It is costly to recruit and hire employees
3. There are legal implications of incompetent selection
4. Can depend on selection ratio and base rate of success

Question 3

What are the 4 stages of the Employee Selection Process?

Answer 3

1. Employee recruitment
2. Employee screening
3. Employee selection and placement
4. Validity check

Question 4

Describe the EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT stage of the Employee Selection Process

Answer 4

• Employee recruitment: Process by which companies attract qualified applicants
• Employee referrals and applicant-initiated contacts yield higher quality workers with lower rate of turnover than newspaper ads or employment agency placement
• Internet sites have lots of job seekers and employers, and require sifting through many potential applicants
• It’s a two way process:
  o Employees try to sell themselves to companies, but companies also try to sell themselves to employees
• Characteristics of recruitment program and recruiters can influence applicants’ decisions to accept or reject job offers
  o E.g. if they smile and nod a lot, it is extremely encouraging

Question 5

Within Employee Recruitment, what are Realistic Job Previews (RJP)?

Answer 5

• Realistic job previews (RJP): an accurate presentation of the prospective job and organisation made to applicants
• RJPs increase job commitment and satisfaction; decrease turnover
• RJPs allow applicants to self-select, lower unrealistically high job expectations, and may provide applicants with information that will later be useful on the job
• But, applicants are more likely to turn down a job offer when RJP is presented

Question 6

Describe the EMPLOYEE SCREENING stage of the Employee Selection Process

Answer 6

Employee screening: the process of reviewing information about job applicants to select workers

Applications and resumes

References

Employment testing

Assessment centres

Interviews

Question 7

What are the 4 types of questions in a structured interview?

Answer 7

Situational questions

Behavioural questions

Job knowledge questions

Background questions

Question 8

Describe the EMPLOYEE SELECTION & PLACEMENT stage of the Employee Selection Process

Answer 8

Employee Selection: the actual process of choosing people for employment from a pool of applicants

Employee placement: the process of assigning workers to appropriate jobs

Question 9

Employee selection decisions can be made using 3 tools.

Answer 9

o Multiple regression: a statistical decision-making model

o Multiple cut-off model: uses a minimum cutoff score for each of the various predictors of job performance (which is an improvement on the previous one)

o Multiple hurdle model: requires an acceptance or rejection decision to be made at each of several stages in the screening process. Applicants who do not pass one of the hurdles are no longer considered for the job

Question 10

Describe the VALIDITY CHECK stage of the Employee Selection Process

Answer 10

Test the selection procedures to determine if they succeeded in identifying the best workers for the job

Question 11

Why is Equal Employment Opportunity in employee selection and placement?

Answer 11

Adverse impact: occurs when members of one sub-group are selected disproportionately more or less than members of another sub-group

When any minority group of job candidates is treated markedly worse than the majority group, that minority group is said to be the target of adverse impact in the selection process

Question 12

How can reverse discrimination occur in the job selection process?

Answer 12

The impetus to recruit, hire and promote members of minority groups and to implement EEOC rulings has sometimes resulted in discrimination against members of the majority group is referred to as reverse discrimination

Question 13

What are 2 (plus 1 extra) way applicants can endorse ‘impression management’ on the interviewer?

Answer 13

Two approaches job applicants can take:
 Ingratiation: ways of behaving that attempt to persuade the interviewer to like you (e.g. complimenting their style)
 Self-promotion: praising your accomplishments, character traits, and goals

Another approach discovered:
 Self-monitoring: the extent to which people observe, regulate, and control the image of themselves they choose to display in a public setting such as a job interview