Personnel selection
Encyclopedia
Personnel selection is the process used to hire (or, less commonly, promote) individuals. Although the term can apply to all aspects of the process (recruitment, selection, hiring, acculturation, etc.) the most common meaning focuses on the selection of workers.
to ensure that the selection criteria are job-related. The requirements for a selection system are knowledge, skills, ability, and other characteristics, known as KSAO's. U.S. law also recognizes bona fide occupational qualifications
(BFOQs), which are requirements for a job which would be discriminatory were they not necessary -- such as only employing men as wardens of maximum-security male prisons, or enforcing a mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, or a religious college only employing professors of its religion to teach its theology.
The goal of personnel selection, as all business processes, is to ensure an adequate return on investment. In the case of selection, this entails assurances that the productivity of the new hires produce more value than the costs of recruiting, selecting, and training them. Within industrial psychology, the area of utility analysis specifically addresses this issue.
Several screening methods exist that may be used in personnel selection. Examples include the use of minimum or desired qualifications, resume/application review, scored biodata
instruments, oral interviews, work performance measures (e.g., writing samples), and tests
(cognitive ability, personality, job knowledge). Development and implementation of such screening methods is sometimes done by human resources departments; larger organizations hire consultants or firms that specialize in developing personnel selection systems.
, which were established in 605, may be the first documented, modern selection tests. As a scientific and scholarly field, personnel selection owes much to psychometric theory and the art of integrating selection systems falls to human resource professionals
.
Much of the US research on selection is conducted by members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). Primary research topics include:
and training performance.
Overview
The professional standards of industrial psychologists require that any selection system be based on a job analysisJob analysis
Job analysis is the process of describing and recording aspects of jobs and specifying the skills and other requirements necessary to perform the job.-Purpose:...
to ensure that the selection criteria are job-related. The requirements for a selection system are knowledge, skills, ability, and other characteristics, known as KSAO's. U.S. law also recognizes bona fide occupational qualifications
Bona fide occupational qualifications
In employment law, a bona fide occupational qualification or bona fide occupational requirement is a quality or an attribute that employers are allowed to consider when making decisions on the hiring and retention of employees—qualities that when considered in other contexts would constitute...
(BFOQs), which are requirements for a job which would be discriminatory were they not necessary -- such as only employing men as wardens of maximum-security male prisons, or enforcing a mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, or a religious college only employing professors of its religion to teach its theology.
The goal of personnel selection, as all business processes, is to ensure an adequate return on investment. In the case of selection, this entails assurances that the productivity of the new hires produce more value than the costs of recruiting, selecting, and training them. Within industrial psychology, the area of utility analysis specifically addresses this issue.
Several screening methods exist that may be used in personnel selection. Examples include the use of minimum or desired qualifications, resume/application review, scored biodata
Biodata
Biodata is a commonly used term in industrial and organizational psychology for biographical data.Biodata is a commonly used term in industrial and organizational psychology for biographical data....
instruments, oral interviews, work performance measures (e.g., writing samples), and tests
Assessment
Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community , the institution, or the educational system as a whole...
(cognitive ability, personality, job knowledge). Development and implementation of such screening methods is sometimes done by human resources departments; larger organizations hire consultants or firms that specialize in developing personnel selection systems.
History and development
Selection into organizations has as ancient a history as organizations themselves. Chinese civil servant examsImperial examination
The Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...
, which were established in 605, may be the first documented, modern selection tests. As a scientific and scholarly field, personnel selection owes much to psychometric theory and the art of integrating selection systems falls to human resource professionals
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
.
Much of the US research on selection is conducted by members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). Primary research topics include:
- The practicality, reliability, validity, and utility of various forms of selection measures
- Methods for demonstrating return on investment for selection systems
- Assessing fairness and making selection systems as fair as possible
- Legal issues—such as disparate treatmentDisparate treatmentDisparate treatment is one of the theories of discrimination under Title VII of the United States Civil Rights Act; the other theory is disparate impact....
and disparate impact—and overall compliance with laws - The generalizability of validity across different work contexts
- Alternative methods of demonstrating validity, such as synthetic validity
- The predictive validity of non-traditional measures, such as personality
Predicting job performance
A meta-analysis of selection methods in personnel psychology found that general mental ability was the best overall predictor of job performanceJob performance
Job performance is a commonly used, yet poorly defined concept in industrial and organizational psychology, the branch of psychology that deals with the workplace. It's also part of Human Resources Management. It most commonly refers to whether a person performs their job well...
and training performance.