Organisations show an increasing awareness, in this current economic climate, of the costs of different HR processes. Discuss how organisations can attempt to balance the requirements of cost constraints with the need to develop effective, valid and relia

Competency based interviews (CBI) can be used effectively where there may not be any particular academic or vocational qualification required to perform a job role. Within the public sector there may not be a specific requirement for an academic or vocational qualification, in those instances CBI may be used. In other instances academic or vocational qualifications may be required to fulfil a job role, in those instances the applicant’s possession of the qualification becomes more important than proxy measures of suitability demonstrated through CBI. In some jobs it will be more appropriate to select a candidate based on CBI and also the qualifications they hold e.g. HR professional – experience, qualifications, CIPD status are often a pre-requisite for employment, however employers may also use CBI as part of the selection in order to establish the difference in candidates and to select the most appropriate. A problem with CBI is the interviewer is often making a judgement based on what the individual is saying which tends to be a reflection of the candidates perception of themselves. CIPD reported (2007) that competency frameworks are becoming more popular as 60% of organisations use them.

I believe CBI provide a structured and systematic process to explore the candidates competencies, however this can be time consuming, lack flexibility and doesn’t always offer opportunities for open questions. This could offer cost savings as the consistent structure enables every candidate to be tested fairly, the scoring offers a reliable measure of suitability for the role. However you cannot always be sure that the individual will perform satisfactorily, this could potentially cost an employer e.g. additional selection. Employers often use this method because they can make an assessment of a candidate’s skills, particularly their soft skills, such as communication, teamwork etc. Pilbeam&Carbridge (2002) state these types of interviews show 0.6 predictive validity. Harel et al (2003) reported that interviews that are structured and job related increase fairness and standardisation; this improves the validity and reliability, unstructured interviews are more social and personality based. I agree with this statement because everyone should be treated fairly and also for the procedure to remain consistent for all.

Gareth Roberts defined psychometric testing as “a mental measurement that measures candidates ability or personality”. Ability measures vocabulary and numeracy, and looks at the aptitude required for a particular role, whereas personality tests look at personal characteristics, values and beliefs. It could be argued that personality tests do not accurately measure performance in all types of jobs, so ability testing is more accurate when assessing/predicting a candidate’s ability to perform a specific job, however the merits of the different tests will vary depending on the job type. Psychometric testing only has a validity of 0.4, however it was reported there is medium popularity within organisations. Doving (2005) reported 51% of employers in Europe are conducting psychometric test in selection. The problem is the requirement to have competent experts to implement the system effectively and professionally. Employers will have to purchase the system which will be expensive but also it will require time and resources to train people.

Another selection process would be e-recruitment. This selection method has been made available to employers by the advancements in technology and has developed rapidly recently. E-recruitment could be in the form of job boards, internet job sites i.e. NHS Jobs etc. This enables job applications to be standardised and short listing to be carried out in a timely manner, which reduces dependency on recruitment agencies. A consequence has been the increase in redundancies in both the Private and Public sectors and the number of people unemployed and in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance. Those in receipt of Job Seekers Allowance need to evidence to Job centreplus that that they are actively seeking work in order to qualify for the benefit. The high numbers of people registered as unemployed and genuinely seeking work coupled with the need to evidence that they are actively seeking work has led to employers receiving a high number of applications for vacancies. It is important that employers ensure that they have cost effective/time saving selection processes in place, in order that they are able to quickly sift and then select the most suitable candidate. Guardian (2010) reported that BT received 24,000 applicants for 200 apprenticeships; BT stated this is more than 100 applications for each of its places..

Despite e-recruitment not necessarily attracting local geo-geography, employers are using this when seeking employment within the local community e.g. NHS Salford who employ 53% of staff from the local area, in addition it reduces costs e.g. advertising and reduces unemployment, currently the UK unemployment is 2.45million. In my opinion e-recruitment could reduce potential bias on the part of the recruiter, which will deliver equal opportunities for all. Louise Peacock (2009) reported that out of the 400 employers surveyed 48% of them are using e-recruitment and 66% use their own websites for recruitment.

In instances where employers have a large number of entry level jobs (low skilled) they can take advantage of government programmes. The needs of a large employer e.g. Tesco, could be met through the use of a local employment partnership e.g. Job centreplus. Job centreplus and the employer work together to open up vacancies to those who are disadvantaged in the labour market. Job centreplus and local training providers  perform initial selection and pre-employment training, which could be a significant benefit to the employer, they are not spending large amounts of time on initial selection but are been provided with job ready candidates for work trials. Pre employment training tends to be aimed towards people who have been out of work for a period of time and need the competencies and employability skills to do the job e.g. time keeping and communication skills.

When considering the cost of selection the employer must always consider the cost of not doing things in the most appropriate way in order to prevent unsound cost saving measures, which could lead to additional selection costs. Justification for cost is important, therefore there has to be a balance between the cost of associated processes and the effectiveness of the process.

Employers are looking at online profiles e.g. facebook etc. People Management (2010) reported that 4 in 10 HR managers did not hire a candidate as a result of negative online profiling. This could potentially indicate to employers what people are like out of work, in their social environment and if they will prove suitable e.g. work ethics, beliefs and values of the prospect employer.

Overall selection processes are important within any organisation. The ultimate objective is to select the best candidate e.g. the person with the right skills, qualifications and competencies, who will be able to apply these to the job, whilst at the same time ensure that the cost of the selection is kept to an absolute minimum. The cost of selection will vary for different types and levels of jobs e.g. Director of HR will typically cost more than a HR assistant, also the process will need to differ in order to ensure appropriate selection. In this current economic climate I believe that the need to adopt the correct selection process is possibly more important than ever before.

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