Purpose of Selection, Its different Methods and their Validity/Reliability
The Purpose of Selection
The primary purpose of selection is to hire the most suitable job applicant who can meet organisational and employment requirements in a best possible manner. In other words, this process is followed with a sole purpose to determine and employ those candidates who can fulfil employer’s requirements .
Selection is different from recruitment because the former attempts to select only the right job applicants to fill a particular position whereas the latter creates a pool of talented candidates who can apply for a particular vacancy. Recruitment is a positive process where an organisation looks for talented applicants for employment whereas selection is a negative since it screens out candidates and chooses the most deserving candidate .
Validity and Reliability as well as Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Selection Method
There are different methods using which the human resource department of every organisation carries out the selection process depending upon job analysis and requirements. Validity means the usefulness and meaningfulness of a selection method whereas reliability measures the dependability of any method.
The first selection method is online screening and short-listing of candidates where job applicants are selected for further process based on their academic qualification and experience. This selection method is less valid and reliable because employers would have to define online metrics comprehensively. The advantage of this method is that job applicants do not need to physically the head office or branch for application submission. One can send the curriculum vitae (CV) using online employment database . The primary downside or disadvantage of this online selection method is that an organisation may lose a potential candidate if selection is based on strict measures. This is a less valid method since it requires definition of numerous screening metric. The reliability of this selection method is also low because the management is unaware about a candidate’s mental behaviour, activities and interests.
Aptitude and psychology tests stand as the second selection method where job applicants attend tests that examine their knowledge and psychological outlook based on answering the structured questions. This is a valid and reliable selection method to a certain extent because it supplements the interview process which is one advantage of this selection method. Despite this, one major disadvantage is that it only attempts to test the knowledge but not the experience and decision-making abilities for which conducting a face-to-face interview is imperative.
The third method is conducting structured and non-structured interviews. This is the most valid and reliable selection method because the management actually gets to know about the activities and interests of the candidate by conducting a face-to-face meeting. This is also a valid and reliable selection method since it helps analyse the psychology of every qualifying candidate that is the best biggest advantage of interviewing in selection.
The fourth widely used selection method is referencing. This is considered a valid and reliable selection method since it helps the management perform background checks of the candidate to determine if the job applicant has presented authentic personal as well as academic information and is not involved in any criminal (illegal and unethical) activity. Employee referral program is some sort of a referencing method in selection process. It has an added advantage that a position could be filled within a matter of time since employees themselves make effort to find and recommend a suitable candidate. Employers do not need to invite thousands of incoming applications. The disadvantage is that employers may be charged with a discriminatory attitude .
References
Bogardus, A.M., 2009. PHR / SPHR Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide. John Wiley & Sons.
Painter, R. & Holmes, A., 2015. Cases and Materials on Employment Law. Oxford University Press.
Rayasam, R.n., 2015. Difference Between Recruitment Process And Selection Process. [Online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/difference-between-recruitment-process-selection-ram-nihar-rayasam [Accessed 29 January 2017].
Reddy, K., 2015. 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee Referrals. [Online] Available at: http://content.wisestep.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-employee-referrals/ [Accessed 29 January 2017].
