5.5 Principles of Selection
To effectively evaluate candidates before reviewing resumes and applications, companies must clarify who they want to hire by establishing both the qualifications and the methods for assessing them. The job specifications derived from the job analysis will help to identify the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other Attributes (“KSAOs”). Besides identifying which KSAOs are required, it is equally important to determine how they will be evaluated. HR managers can choose from a wide range of assessment tools to measure candidates’ KSAOs, and there are several key principles to consider when designing the selection process.
Cost of Hiring
Some KSAOs are objective and very easy to measure. For example, whether someone has a bachelor’s degree in Biology or a truck driver’s license is easy to determine by looking at the resumes. Whether someone is a team player or can handle stress is not as straightforward. This KSAO could be measured with an interview or a simulation, two relatively costly processes. To efficiently narrow down a list of applicants, HR managers will begin by screening for those more objective, easier-to-assess KSAOs and leave the expensive tests and checks for later.
Similar to the recruitment process, the selection process is expensive. The time it takes for all involved to review resumes and applications and interview the best candidate takes away time (and costs money) that those individuals could spend on other activities. In addition, there are costs associated with testing candidates.
According to a 2015 report by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) (2016), the average cost of hiring is $4,129.
Because of the high cost, hiring the right person is essential to ensuring your selection process is fair, effective, and aligns with the organization’s needs. Hiring the wrong person or someone with the wrong set of skills can lead to significant negative consequences for both the person and the organization.
Check out the infographic on the cost of a bad hire.
A bad hire can affect your organization’s financial success. The loss is not just the cost of recruitment fees and money spent on training. A bad hire can hurt staff morale and performance, along with a loss of productivity. It may even affect the organization’s reputation. These costs are not as easy to calculate, but research suggests that the costs of a bad hire can reach as much as three times the recruit’s annual salary (Recruitment and Employment Confederation, 2017). Ensuring appropriate selection methods will reduce the risk of a bad hire and help businesses select and retain the best person for every job!
“5.8 Criteria for Interviews” from Human Resources Management – 3rd Edition by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Used sections Principles of selection & Sequencing based on cost, edited; Added content on cost of selection and bad hire.
