Introduction
The Hiring process should be basically rewarding compared to activities like making tough decisions, firing and disciplining. This is because the need to fill a new position indicates the growth and prosperity of a business. However, there exist challenges in the process for example in cases where human resource specialists believe that not hiring problem-causing employees is the best way to handle problematic workers. Therefore, good hiring requires effort from the human resources department. It involves ensuring that all components are working in order such that jobs posted have correct information, background checks have been carried out and evaluation of all information regarding different candidates done.
As a C.H.R.O one of the main duties is that whenever there is an office expansion, it’s important to ensure that the right people are selected and hired in the new openings. To do this, one needs a strategy of knowing the legal statutes involved in the process, the number of positions that need filling and the qualifications of each position, the selection devices used and their weaknesses and strengths and finally the utilization of drug and integrity tests. Therefore this research discusses the ways the criteria used to select new employees into the organization.
Legal Statues in Selection and Hiring of Employees
Job applicants are usually entitled to legal rights long before they become employed. This is because an employer is not allowed to illegally discriminate a job applicant when hiring basing on their race, gender, religion, age, disability or national origin. Therefore as a CHRO, one needs to be conscious to abide by the anti-discriminatory laws throughout the hiring process of advertising the job, interviewing and selecting candidates. Moreover, there are legal duties that as an employer ought to fulfill in the hiring process just before a new employee begins working. They include acquiring an identification number for federal employment from the IRS for every new employee. Additionally, the employer is also required to obtain the worker’s compensation insurance as well as assisting the employee to register for employee benefits. Moreover, the workplace should post the required notices as it’s a requirement of the labor department. It is also important for the employer to avoid making promises they don’t intend to keep or are not capable of keeping to the new employee. This is because false statements may result to the breach of a contract that was implied and hence the employee may be considered responsible for the damages incurred for relying on the employer’s promise. This therefore means that if a prospective employee believes that their rights were violated during the process of hiring, they can speak to an attorney of employees to discuss their options.
It is also important for the supervisors of a recruitment process to be trained on conducting interviews and hiring since a supervisor who communicates inappropriately to the job applicant may create legal problems to the company.
Positions Available in New Office
The positions most key to a new office are five which include a front desk agent, a department head, an accountant, a repair technician and a sales person. The work of a front desk agent is to provide a customer service of high level through acquiring as much knowledge as possible about the company. Moreover, they should have a passion for services as well as promote company’s affirmative action. They should also be able to communicate effectively with others and be flexible to change. The academic qualifications for this job is a high school graduate who will work full time.
The role of the department manager is to supervise the duties performed by other employees with regard to applicable law and company policies. This will entail distributing the work among staff while keeping an overview of the duties to be accomplished. Moreover, they should make decisions and take actions that maximize sales through a commercial focus that obtains maximum profits. Additionally, the manager should ensure that team members have knowledge regarding the products of the company. The manager is also required to effectively schedule department employees based on company needs and restrictions. Moreover, they should ensure high quality services are offered to the customer while also overseeing the budgets, cost and sales plan together with accurately recording sales and worked hours. For this position, the education level should be a college graduate with preferably a bachelor’s degree and a two to three years’ experience in retail management. The manager should also have great interpersonal skills, work strategically, have proven analytical skills, have an ability to give feedback professionally and be in apposition to work full time.
Meanwhile the role of a repair technician is to properly operate and maintain equipment and installation tools. They should be in apposition to use basic hand tools and cable installation tools to perform duties. Moreover, they should be able to manipulate fasteners, connectors and wires as well as have basic knowledge in Mathematics. The job experience for this category ranges from 0 to 2 years with an academic qualification of high school as well as work part time. As for the accountant, they are required to have understanding of financial concepts and principles as well as being in a position to communicate them effectively and efficiently. Moreover, they should be able to understand the way business works and the up and down activities that impact finance. They should also be able to think analytically while drilling into details and understanding the impacts. Qualifications for this post include a 3 year operations experience with certifications of CPA or CIA. An added advantage would be a degree in the field. They must be willing to be a full time employee. The other position required is that of a sales person. They are required to be able to handle required transactions, pack merchandise and issue receipts. Moreover, they should provide excellent customer services either directly or indirectly even by answering phones promptly and courteously. Additionally, they should be able to recognize selling opportunities, meet deadlines, and have a flexible work schedule and good organizational skills. The academic qualification for the job are a high school graduate with 1 year experience in the retail industry. For this job they should be able to work part time or full time.
Job Selection Devices
For one to determine the suitable employee of the company, a selection process is followed. It starts by determining the job applicants that meet the minimum job requirements through their resumes and application blanks. Next, the applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are assessed to determine those shortlisted for interview. The most common methods of selecting applicants involves an interview and a reference check. Other techniques involve oral presentations, aptitude tests, written tests, work place observation, third party report, simulation and print portfolio. Additional techniques involve checking criminal record and drivers records which require a written consent.
There, however, exist strengths and weaknesses of these methods. The strengths of an oral presentations is that they provide immediate feedback and assist to explore skills in greater depth. The weaknesses of an oral feedback is that it requires a skilled assessor and the performance of an applicant may be influenced by the assessor. As for written tests, their strengths include testing for recall and the applicant maybe familiar with the approach while the weakness is that the applicant performance may be affected by stress and writing skills are required. The strengths of a work place observation is that evidence is valid and authentic, the applicant doesn’t have to leave work place and it can be helpful in testing high risk activities. The weaknesses of this method is that the applicant may feel pressured hence affecting performance and the assessor needs assess to work place.
As for the simulation test, its strength is that it allows assessment under simulated emergency conditions and enables to assess infrequent events that cannot be assessed at the workplace. Its weakness is that it requires a simulator. When it comes to third party report, its strength is that it provides useful backup and it doesn’t have to be complicated. The weakness for this technique is that the third party has to be credible and informed and the information needs confirmation for authenticity. As for print portfolio such as a hard copy documentary, its strength is that the applicant may be familiar with the approach and various forms of evidence may be included hence showing experience. The weaknesses for print portfolio is that money may be a problem, confirmation of authenticity may be difficult and judgment may not be on content but presentation. Interviews determine how well one is prepared for company roles applied for.
The strengths of an interview is that it appraises the verbal fluency of a candidate, can assess the job knowledge of an applicant and modification for gathering important information is possible. The weakness of interviews is that negative information is given more weight, interviewers form stereotypes about the characteristics required for job success and evidence of validity of limited. From this research, the most suitable method is interviews because its gives a direct feedback hence takes lesser time and resources to obtain an employee.
Integrity Testing and Drug Testing
An integrity test denotes a personality test that assesses the ability of a candidate to be honest, dependable and trustworthy. Behaviors such as theft, sabotage, violence and absenteeism is associated with lacking integrity. Moreover, these tests can determine the overall job performance. Integrity tests are of two main types, namely cover and overt. Cover tests assess traits associated to adherence to rules while overt measures the attitude of an applicant against counterproductive work behaviors. Companies perform integrity tests so as to reduce risk of theft by employees for instance in retail sales, while some assess safety violation risks for example in manufacturing industries. Employers can therefore save costs and time as well as minimize risks when integrity tests are performed in the process of hiring. These tests therefor add validity to the selection process as individuals who perform poorly in the test make the less productive employees.
As for drug testing it’s not always legal but some employees attempt to perform the tests on prospective employees. Therefore the U.S Supreme Court holds that urine and blood samples are un-harmful minimal procedures for job applicants being tested by employees. However, the Drug-free Act of 1988 does not provide statements regarding workplace drug testing but many States have granted the employer the legal right of testing job applicants for alcohol or drugs when offered a position. Additionally, an employer is only allowed to test all applicants of the same job for drugs without pick on an individual applicants. Moreover, the employer is not allowed to test an applicant without their knowledge as they may face legal difficulties. In the recent past, State statutes have set forth companies or laboratories that perform the testing. Moreover, an employer can only report positive results discretely for example by only informing those that need to know only. For employers considering of drug testing, they can only do so through first writing a policy that indicates the time the testing will be done and the manner it will be conducted. Moreover, the types of drugs to be tested should be indicated as well as the actions to be taken when an applicant tests positive. Having evaluated the integrity test and drug testing, it would be more practical and beneficial to do an integrity test in some companies more than others while a drug test should be conducted when the company is in a position to follow the legal guidelines of their States.
Conclusion
The Hiring process should be basically rewarding compared to activities like making tough decisions, firing and disciplining, therefore good hiring requires effort from the human resources department. As a C.H.R.O one of the main duties is that whenever there is an office expansion, it’s important to ensure that the right people are selected and hired in the new openings. Its important to know that job applicants are usually entitled to legal rights long before they become employed. Therefore as a CHRO, one needs to be conscious to abide by the anti-discriminatory laws throughout the hiring process of advertising the job, interviewing and selecting candidates. The positions most key to a new office are five which include a front desk agent, a department head, an accountant, a repair technician and a sales person. For one to determine the suitable employee of the company, a selection process is followed and some most common methods of selecting applicants involve interviews oral presentations, aptitude tests, written tests, work place observation, third party report, simulation and print portfolio. As for integrity test, it aims at performing a personality test that assesses the ability of a candidate to be honest, dependable and trustworthy. As for drug testing it’s not always legal but some employees attempt to perform the tests on prospective employees. Therefore a CHRO ought to be well informed in all sectors of hiring and selection for the sake of picking the best candidate.
References
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Hrcouncil. (2016). Getting the Right People. Retrieved from Hrcouncil.ca: http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/right-people-selection.cfm
KingCounty. (2015, September 25). Public Health-Seattle & King. Retrieved from KingCounty.Gov: http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/jobs/hiring.aspx
Reuters, T. (2016). Legal Rights During Hiring. Retrieved from FindLaw: http://employment.findlaw.com/hiring-process/legal-rights-during-the-hiring-process.html
