The Challenge of Using the Classic Trio in Modern Times - Essay Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: First Assignment Course: The challenge of using the ‘classic trio’ in modern times Introduction The ‘classic trio’ of application form, interview and reference has been used for a long term in the recruitment of suitable employees to work in a firm. However, as globalization and other technological advancement take shape, the needs of the organizations and the recruitment procedures change. Many people have come to realize that the traditional ‘classic trio’ does not give the right candidates for the job and more tests and evaluations have to be involved before the final lists of applicants is approved. The recruitment and selection process is very important to any organization. These processes have to be done with the uttermost caution to make sure that the deserving individuals are selected for the positions advertised. Companies cannot afford to take casually the process of employee selection and recruitment. High employee turnover is caused by employee dissatisfaction and availability of better-paying jobs elsewhere (Mullins, 2004). A firm or an organization has to select someone who appreciates the needs of the organization and he is ready to give the best for its growth and development. In this time and age, the ‘classic trio’ cannot be solely depended on in the recruitment and selection process. Other forms of testing have to be applied in order to largely expose the real person interested in the job. The ‘classic trio’ can overlook important aspects about the individual which may determine his future at the company. Suitability of the candidate for the job is very important. In this study, the ‘classic trio’ application and its inadequacy have been explored while looking at other means of employee recruitment and selection and their efficiency as well as shortcomings. In human resource management, selection has been identified as integral to effective ‘strategic human resource management’. The decision made at selection affect the long term performance of the business. This is the process that organizations choose from a list of applicants to make a decisions on which of the individuals is best qualified for the position available with regard to skills, abilities, knowledge, experience, and other characteristics decided by the type of the job. The process is used to make accurate predictions concerning people and avoid the mistake of hiring wrong individuals for the job. Bratton and Gold (2012) explain that traditionally majority of firms have perpetually used the classic trio of application, interview, and reference for many vacancies. The application form provides the basic information that orients the job applicant to the panel of interviewers. The application form is the basic screening process where applicants complete the application blanks that possess adequate information to ascertain whether the applicants are minimally qualified. Interview represents the most visible, universal, and significant aspect of the process of selection as pointed out by Branine (2008). Empirical evidence indicates that characteristics of good citizenship behaviors and personal relations can be evaluated adequately in an interview. Personal relations refer to the ability to maintain and form effective relations with other people in the organization, such as communication and interpersonal skills. Good citizenship behavior is the willingness of the individual to contribute positively to the organization by going out of his way and doing things way beyond his job description. Early review on the validity and reliability of traditional interview is discouraging. The interview reliability was very low, and evidence of was either non-existent or scarce. This can be attributed to evaluation or rating errors in judging the responses of the interviewee. Some of the errors identified include: first impression, severity, stereotypes, central tendency, and similarity. Interviews, particularly those which are unstructured have been seen as unscientific and highly prone to prejudices and biases possessed by interviewers. Beardwell and Claydon (2010) argue that the rating given by interviewers can be affected by physical attractiveness and other non-verbal cues like smiling, hand movements, and body posture. There is evidence that women who put on masculine suits during an interview get rating that is more favorable. Research also show that negative information regardless of its relevance, is given more importance as compared to positive information which can lead the wrong decision during the recruitment and selection process. Drawbacks of the traditional, informal selection interview are: it is scarcely totally job-related and may encompass personal aspects that infringe on privacy of the candidate; it susceptible to legal attack and always indefensible if legally contested; it is a selection technique that is highly flexible and hence highly inconsistent; and there is always the tendency by the interviewer to concentrate on qualities that she or he prefers, and later justify the hiring decision using these qualities (Taylor, 2010). This is due to the fact that Interviews that are unstructured do not have predetermined script or protocol. Questioned to be asked are not formulated in advance and interviewers formulate their own questions in unstructured interviews. Questions that are asked may not be standard throughout the interviewing session. Structured interviews are designed to try and remove the inefficiency of unstructured interviews. Reliability and validity of structured interviews is increased by formulating a standardized list of questions that applicants are asked. The questions are arrived at after an extensive job analysis to identify particular types of information sought after during the interview. Managers are trained on how to apply interviewing techniques in order to eliminate the overreliance on personal judgment that can lead to possible bias. According to Scholarios, Lockyer and Johnson (2003), managers have to be trained on how to ask questions, being aware of biases, and properly recording the responses of the applicants. It can be deduced that interviews, particularly unstructured interviews, are not perfect and wrong decisions can be made if interviews are solely used as the only method of making the final decisions on the suitability of the candidate. Many small organizations still rely on the ‘classic trio’ of interview, application form, and reference to recruit even senior managers. Problems that arise during interviews have to make organization to use interviews in conjunction with other methods or techniques of employee selection so as to reach a sober decision that will not waste the companies’ resources. Structured interviews can be either situational interviews or behavioral description interviews. Situational interviews encourage candidates to respond to hypothetical situations that they may come across on the job. The assumption made is that situational questions are able to predict future behavior due to the connection between future behavior and intentions. Research on situational interviews demonstrate that questions concerning past experience possess higher validity as compared hypothetical questions that are future oriented (Zibarras & Woods, 2010). Behavioral description interview asks applicants to connect actual incidents from their past work experience that is relevant. The assumption here is that the past has the ability to predict the future. Regardless of the presence of structured interviews that are more reliable and predictable, interviews have to be supplemented and complimented by other recruitment techniques in the modern times in order to come up a sound decision. Presence of likelihood of bias and prejudice in the interviews make them to be susceptible to abuse (Iles, 2007). Consequently other forms of selection processes have to be applied. Application forms, interviews and references cannot be used as the only way of selecting the best candidate suited for the job. References can be bought and interviews can be coached, application forms can be faked, and hence the ‘classic trio’ cannot be depended on as a reliable way of selecting the best candidate for the advertised position. Organizations have to go for other methods of determining suitability of the candidate. Application forms are designed to make the selection process efficient through reducing number of applicants that have to be to go through the interview process and interviewers have the time to focus on other type of information that is not easy to obtain. Nevertheless, just like interviews, application form is subjected to same legal standards. Anderson (2001) says that the application forms sometimes indirectly or directly go against laws of employment discrimination. Therefore, enough precaution has to be taken to ensure that when designing application forms such thinks like religion, race, sex, disabilities, and age are not revealed. A survey done in managerial vacancies indicated that above 90% of firms used references (Arthur, 2012). The study supported most common methods used for managerial staff and for filtering out candidates who are not suitable. References are people who are either personal or work-related that the applicant provides and will speak favorably about him or her. Compared to other forms of selections, references cost less and are therefore very popular with smaller firms than big firms. Small forms cut costs by not employing other forms of employee selection. References are hugely criticized with regard to its fairness when used in selection since it hardly provides an organization with meaningful information that can accurately point out to the suitability of the candidate. Negative recommendation by the reference can open a door for defamation law suit (Wilk & Capelli, 2003). Providing confidential information about a former employee can be interpreted as a breach of the employee’s privacy and right. The challenges and inadequacies accruing from the use of references make it imperative for the organization to look for other means of testing the suitability of the candidate who has shown interest in the position advertised. It follows that the ‘classic trio’ of reference, application form, and interview is waning in its popularity as organization find other methods of recruitment and selection reliable and valid. Employee turnover forces a company at one point or another to look for suitable individuals to take up vacant positions. Other methods like employment tests and assessment centers have been employed to determine suitability of employees. Employee test is a mechanism that tries to measure certain characteristics of a person starting from aptitudes, to personality, and to intelligence. The traditional ‘classic trio’ is less efficient as compared to employment test. Tests are bound to increase the selection’s efficiency. However, it is normally very expensive to purchase or develop, and there are always additional costs which come with application of tests in selection as observed by Cook (2009). The devices have to be validated to determine their authenticity before they are used. Assessment center is a kind of a process that applies several techniques for selection in a blend. A common scenario is assembling twelve applicants following screening and making them to go through presentations, employment tests, group work, and interviews. Regardless of their efficiency, assessment centers are costly to design and time consuming and comprise of several selection techniques. But due to the costs accompanying bad decisions and managerial work complexities, assessment centers are normally employed when recruiting middle and upper level executives. This is a valid way of selecting managers. Normally few people are selected for these kinds of positions and the cost implications may not be enormous as when applied for any other subordinate staff position. Personality traits cannot sometimes be revealed using the ‘classic trio’ of interview, reference, and application form (Cole, 2003). The classic trio is important but it should only be applied in the initial stages of recruitment particularly for senior position in the organization. Conclusion The ‘classic trio’ has been the traditional method of recruiting candidates for vacant positions. Empirical evidence indicates that interviews, applications forms and references have shortcomings that cannot be overlooked. Regardless of the financial implications that other techniques have, the importance of good decision making at the recruitment stage calls for the worthwhile investment. Assessment centers and employment tests have to be applied not only to executive positions but also to the other positions in the organization. The ‘classic trio’ can result into the selection of the wrong candidate for the job. A bad decision that has been made at the recruitment stage can adversely haunt the performance of the company in future. Companies have to invest in the recruitment process in order to avoid future problems with the selected candidate. The recruitment is a crucial stage that has to be given the attention it deserves. A wrong decision done at recruitment can lead to loss of money and other resources being wasted on recruiting another candidate or due to the mistakes done by the ill-selected candidate. Companies can no longer over rely on the ‘classic trio’ of reference, interview, and application form to select the best candidate for the job. Personality traits and other behavioral aspects about the candidate has to be revealed during the recruitment and selection process, and this can successfully done when other techniques like employment tests and assessment centers are also incorporated. 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