Selection: Meaning and Steps Involved in Selection

Procedure!
Finding the interested candidates who have submitted their
profiles for a particular job is the process of recruitment, and
choosing the best and most suitable candidates among them is
the process of selection. It results in elimination of unsuitable
candidates. It follows scientific techniques for the appropriate
choice of a person for the job.

The recruitment process has a wide coverage as it collects the

applications of interested candidates, whereas the selection
process narrows down the scope and becomes specific when it
selects the suitable candidates.

Steps Involved in Selection Procedure:

A scientific and logical selection procedure leads to scientific
selection of candidates. The criterion finalized for selecting a
candidate for a particular job varies from company to
company.

Therefore, the selection procedure followed by different

organizations, many times, becomes lengthy as it is a question
of getting the most suitable candidates for which various tests
are to be done and interviews to be taken. The procedure for
selection should be systematic so that it does not leave any
scope for confusions and doubts about the choice of the
selected candidate (Figure 5.6).

1. Inviting applications:
The prospective candidates from within the organization or
outside the organization are called for applying for the post.
Detailed job description and job specification are provided in
the advertisement for the job. It attracts a large number of
candidates from various areas.
2. Receiving applications:
Detailed applications are collected from the candidates who
provide the necessary information about personal and
professional details of a person. These applications facilitate
analysis and comparison of the candidates.
3. Scrutiny of applications:
As the limit of the period within which the company is
supposed to receive applications ends, the applications are
sorted out. Incomplete applications get rejected; applicants
with un-matching job specifications are also rejected.
4. Written tests:
As the final list of candidates becomes ready after the scrutiny
of applications, the written test is conducted. This test is
conducted for understanding the technical knowledge, atti-
tude and interest of the candidates. This process is useful
when the number of applicants is large.

Many times, a second chance is given to candidates to prove

themselves by conducting another written test.
5. Psychological tests:
These tests are conducted individually and they help for
finding out the individual quality and skill of a person. The
types of psychological tests are aptitude test, intelligence test,
synthetic test and personality test
6. Personal interview:
Candidates proving themselves successful through tests are
interviewed personally. The interviewers may be individual or
a panel. It generally involves officers from the top
management.

The candidates are asked several questions about their

experience on another job, their family background, their
interests, etc. They are supposed to describe their
expectations from the said job. Their strengths and
weaknesses are identified and noted by the interviewers which
help them to take the final decision of selection.
7. Reference check:
ADVERTISEMENTS:

Generally, at least two references are asked for by the

company from the candidate. Reference check is a type of
crosscheck for the information provided by the candidate
through their application form and during the interviews.
8. Medical examination:
Physical strength and fitness of a candidate is must before
they takes up the job. In-spite of good performance in tests
and interviews, candidates can be rejected on the basis of their
ill health.
9. Final selection:
At this step, the candidate is given the appointment letter to
join the organization on a particular date. The appointment
letter specifies the post, title, salary and terms of employment.
Generally, initial appointment is on probation and after
specific time period it becomes permanent.
10. Placement:
This is a final step. A suitable job is allocated to the appointed
candidate so that they can get the whole idea about the nature
of the job. They can get adjusted to the job and perform well
in future with all capacities and strengths.

UNIT : 5
Career Management and Career Planning
Effective HRM encompasses career planning, career development and succession
planning. An organization without career planning and career development initiatives is
likely to encounter the highest rate of attrition, causing much harm to their plans and
programmes. Similarly without succession planning managing of vacancies, particularly
at higher levels, become difficult. There are examples of many organizations that had to
suffer for not being able to find a right successor for their key positions. With the
increase scope for job mobility and corporate race for global headhunting of good
performers, it is now a well established fact that normal employment span for key
performers remains awfully short.

The term career planning and career developments are used interchangeably in most of
the organizations. It is also correct that but for their subtle difference in the definitional
context, their process remains the same.

1.1.1 Definition of Career

Career is a sequence of attitudes and behaviours associated with the series of job and
work related activities over a person’s lifetime.
Yet in another way, it may be defined as a succession of related jobs, arranged in
hierarchical order, through which a person moves in an organization. As the literal
definition of career focuses on an individually perceived sequence, to be more accurate,
career may be either individual-centred or organizational-centred. Therefore, career is
often defined separately as external career and internal career. External career refers
to the objective categories used by society and organizations to describe the
progression of steps through a given occupation, while internal career refers to the
set of steps or stages which make up the individual’s own concept of career progression
within an occupation. For such two different approaches, in organizational context,
career can be identified as an integrated pace of vertical lateral movement in an
occupation of an individual over his employment span.
1.1.2 Important Elements of Career
Analysing definitional context, it is clear that career has following important elements-

1. It is a proper sequence of job-related activities. Such job related activities vis-a-vis

experience include role experiences at diff hierarchical levels of an individual, which
lead to an increasing level of responsibilities, status, power, achievements and rewards.

2. It may be individual-centered or organizational–centered, individual-centered career

is an individually perceived sequence of career progression within an occupation.

3. It is better defined as an integrated pace of internal movement in an occupation of

an individual over his employment span.

Overview
Career planning generally involves getting to know who you are, what you want, and
how to get there. Keep in mind that career planning is a continuous process that allows
you to move from one stage to another stage as your life changes. You may even find
yourself going back to look at who you are again after exploring how to get there.
Learning to negotiate the career planning process now is essential, considering most
people will change careers several times in a lifetime.

If a career plan is to be effective, it must begin with an objective. When asked about
career objectives, most managers will probably answer by saying that they want to be
successful. What is success? Definition of success depends on personal aspirations,
values, self-image, age, background and other different factors. Success is personally
defined concept. In order to plan your career, you need to have an idea of what
constitutes career success.
Do you want to be president of the company?

Do you want to be the senior executive in your field of expertise?

Would you be happier as a middle manager in your area?

Whatever the choice it must be yours.

Career management is a process by which individuals can guide, direct and influence
the course of their careers.
Fig.1.2 General Periods in Careers
In the course of our career we move from one stage to another setting and
implementing appropriate goals at each stage. Our goals differ from getting established
on job at early career stage to career reappraisal, moving away from technical areas &
becoming more of a generalist. Movement form one career stage to another will require
individuals to update self & to appropriate change goals. When required danger exist
that individuals may too long stay in a job they don’t like or miss career opportunity

A sensible early step in career planning is to diagnose. You might answer questions:

• What types of positions and career experiences do I need to achieve my goals?

• What personal traits characteristics and behaviors require change in order for me to
improve my professional effectiveness?

CAREER PLANNING IN AN ORGANIZATION

Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals and the path to these
goals. The major focus of career planning is on assisting the employees achieve a
better match between personal goals and the opportunities that are realistically
available in the organization. Career programmers should not concentrate only on
career growth opportunities. Practically speaking, there may not be enough high level
positions to make upward mobility a reality for a large number of employees. Hence,
career-planning efforts need to pin-point and highlight those areas that offer
psychological success instead of vertical growth.

Career planning is not an event or end in itself, but a continuous process of developing

human resources for achieving optimum results. It must, however, be noted that
individual and organizational careers are not separate and distinct. A person who is not
able to translate his career plan into action within the organization may probably quit
the job, if he has a choice. Organizations, therefore, should help employees in career
planning so that both can satisfy each other’s needs.
1.3.1 Career Planning vs. Human Resource Planning
Human Resource planning is the process of analyzing and estimating the need for and
availability of employees. Through Human Resource planning, the Personnel
Department is able to prepare a summary of skills and potentials available within the
organization. Career planning assists in finding those employees who could be groomed
for higher level positions, on the strength of their performance.

Human Resource planning gives valuable information about the availability of human
resources for expansion, growth, etc. (expansion of facilities, construction of a new
plant, opening a new branch, launching a new product, etc.). On the other hand, career
planning only gives us a picture of who could succeed in case any major developments
leading to retirement, death, resignation of existing employees.

Human Resource planning is tied to the overall strategic planning efforts of the
organization. There cannot be an effective manpower planning, if career planning is not
carried out properly.

1.3.2 Need for Career Planning

Every employee has a desire to grow and scale new heights in his workplace
continuously. If there are enough opportunities, he can pursue his career goals and
exploit his potential fully. He feels highly motivated when the organization shows him a
clear path as to how he can meet his personal ambitions while trying to realize
corporate goals.

Unfortunately, as pointed out by John Leach, organizations do not pay adequate

attention to this aspect in actual practice for a variety of reasons. The demands of
employees are not matched with organizational needs; no effort is made to show how
the employees can grow within certain limits, what happens to an employee five years
down the line if he does well, whether the organization is trying to offer mere jobs or
long-lasting careers, etc. When recognition does not come in time for meritorious
performance and a certain amount of confusion prevails in the minds of employees
whether they are ‘in’ with a chance to grow or not, they look for greener pastures
outside. Key executives leave in frustration and the organization suffers badly when
turnover figures rise. Any recruitment effort made in panic to fill the vacancies is not
going to be effective. So, the absence of a career plan is going to make a big difference
to both the employees and the organization. Employees do not get right breaks at a
right time; their morale will be low and they are always on their toes trying to find
escape routes.

Organizations are not going to benefit from high employee turnover. New employees

mean additional selection and training costs. Bridging the gaps through short-term
replacements is not going to pay in terms of productivity. Organizations, therefore, try
to put their career plans in place and educate employees about the opportunities that
exist internally for talented people. Without such a progressive outlook, organizations
cannot prosper.

1.3.3 Objectives
Career planning seeks to meet the following objectives:

i. Attract and retain talent by offering careers, not jobs.

ii. Use human resources effectively and achieve greater productivity.

iii. Reduce employee turnover.

iv. Improve employee morale and motivation.

v. Meet the immediate and future human resource needs of the organization on a
timely basis

1.3.4 Career Planning Process

The career planning process involves the following steps:

i. Identifying individual needs and aspirations:

Most individuals do not have a clear cut idea about their career aspirations, anchors and
goals. The human resource professionals must, therefore, help an employee by
providing as much information as possible showing what kind of work would suit the
employee most, taking his skills, experience, and aptitude into account. Such
assistance is extended through workshops/seminars while the employees are subjected
to psychological testing, simulation exercises, etc. The basic purpose of such an
exercise is to help an employee form a clear view about what he should do to build his
career within the company. Workshops and seminars increase employee interest by
showing the value of career planning. They help employees set career goals, identify
career paths and uncover specific career development activities (discussed later). These
individual efforts may be supplemented by printed or taped information. To assist
employees in a better way, organizations construct a data bank consisting of
information on the career histories, skill evaluations and career preferences of its

employees (known as skill or talent inventory).

ii. Analyzing career opportunities:

Once career needs and aspirations of employees are known, the organization has to
provide career paths for each position. Career paths show career progression
possibilities clearly. They indicate the various positions that one could hold over a
period of time, if one is able to perform well. Career paths change over time, of course,
in tune with employee’s needs and organizational requirements. While outlining career
paths, the claims of experienced persons lacking professional degrees and that of young
recruits with excellent degrees but without experience need to be balanced properly.
iii. Aligning needs and opportunities:
After employees have identified their needs and have realized the existence of career
opportunities the remaining problem is one of alignment. This process consists of two
steps: first, identify the potential of employees and then undertake career development

programmers (discussed later on elaborately) with a view to align employee needs and
organizational opportunities. Through performance appraisal, the potential of
employees can be assessed to some extent. Such an appraisal would help reveal
employees who need further training, employees who can take up added
responsibilities, etc. After identifying the potential of employees certain developmental
techniques such as special assignments, planned position rotation, supervisory
coaching, job enrichment, understudy programs can be undertaken to update employee
knowledge and skills.
iv. Action plans and periodic review:
The matching process would uncover gaps. These need to be bridged through individual
career development efforts and organization supported efforts from time to time. After
initiating these steps, it is necessary to review the whole thing every now and then.
This will help the employee know in which direction he is moving, what changes are
likely to take place, what kind of skills are needed to face new and emerging
organizational challenges. From an organizational standpoint also, it is necessary to find
out how employees are doing, what are their goals and aspirations, whether the career
paths are in tune with individual needs and serve the overall corporate objectives, etc.

FIG.1.3 The New “Portable” Career Path

1.3.5 CAREER PLANNING MODELS
There are many models one may use while career planning. The two main models are

1.3.5.1 Waterloo University Model

FIG.1.5 Water University Model

1.3.5.2 The SODI Career Planning Model
Given the complexity of career development and the fluidity of the world of work, we
need to be able to navigate our career paths with purpose and clarity.

Law and Watts (1977) devised a simple model of career education which has stood the
test of time. This model has been changed slightly to become a career planning, rather
than a career education model and named the SODI model where the last element is
‘implementation’ rather than ‘transition learning’, and ‘decision learning’ becomes
‘decision making and planning’.

The model encapsulates four concepts which are:

Self-awareness – individual having knowledge about and understanding of their own

personal development. Self-awareness in a careers context involves an understanding
of kind of personal resources (both actual and potential) they bring to world.
Opportunity awareness – an understanding of the general structures of the world of
work, including career possibilities and alternative pathways.
Decision making and planning – an understanding of how to make career decisions,
and being aware of pressures, influences, styles, consequences and goal setting.
Implementing plans – having the appropriate skill level in a range of areas to be able
to translate job and career planning into reality