Strategic Selection in Employee Resourcing

 What is Strategic Selection?

Selection is the process of selecting the best qualified candidate from a group of applicants. But Strategic selection is " linking the selection activities to company's strategic objectives, goals & culture".  "Strategic selection is not a technique; it is a managerial responsibility" (Bowman & Asch, 1987). An organization can only be successful and reach its strategic objectives by employing individuals who have the capacity and desire to contribute to its mission without any force.

Strategic Selection Methods

Head hunters and recruiters using various hiring methods to select most suitable candidates for a specific job role in multiple ways. But can a recruiter check and cover all the required qualification of a candidate if you have a vey short time period for the recruitment?

Here are some basic points that need to check when strategically selecting suitable employees from a group of candidates.

1. Test the job knowledge

This is a very basic and common selection method. It checked whether the candidate processes the required knowledge related to job role and does he/she has the ability to perform duties. In order to do so the companies need to implement Skill Assessment Tests.

There are some skills that the employee will learn on the job. Employers need not give these skills much importance. But, the necessary skills that the candidate requires cannot be ignored. Each job requires a different set of skills, with this, you need to assess the candidate by using another skill assessment based on the job role.

Example 1: In DFCC  Bank in Sri Lanka, they use completion of internal mandatory exams (Credit certification - for credit staff, Officer In Charge Certification - for operations staff) to apply for promotions or job role changes. Further, they should have at least 1 month training in particular area if the employee requested for a job role change.

Example 2: Most of the banks requesting proof when they recruiting people from the industry. As an example when apply for project management position  candidates need to submit proof for the projects that they actively participated and the success rate of those projects.

     2. Well structured interviews

Structured interview is which that the interviewer asked sane set of questions for all the candidates which are previously set in a particular order. It can be helpful the interviewer to collect all the information that they need in a comparison manner.   This is also known as Open-ended interviews.

This video explains latest hiring strategy called "Modern Hiring Puzzle" that most of the western companies use as a strategy to select the best candidate out of a group of applicants.

3. Internal processes and referrals

The internal process is involved to give a chance to existing employees to apply for internal vacancies for a different job role or promotion. In this case, the applicant should have the full confidence and required knowledge and competencies to perform the new job role. This is one way to streamline the recruiting process as these existing employees have already passed basic hurdles to get enter to the company & hiring managers can spend more time evaluating a few top candidates instead of looking for new options. On the other hand, it helps to increase employee retention in the company.

Employee referral programs can be internal or external. In recent days a well-known private bank in Sri Lanka started to reward employees with cash prizes for successful referral recruitments. In this program employees can nominate either internal or external people for specific vacancies which was already advertised by completing a Google form. It is also like a way of headhunting. 

Example 1: "Friends-Finders" - DFCC Bank

Through this concept, existing staff members can nominate their colleagues or other external person whom they think are suitable for the advertised vacancies. (Internal Source)

4. Group interview process

Under the process recruiters can either ask same questions from a group of candidates or assign them a short term project to complete together. It can also be a group conversation also. This helps recruiters to get and understanding about the applicants, their ability to work a team, leadership skills,  decision making, active participation etc.

References

Argue, M., 2015. The Importance of the Strategic Recruitment and Selection Process on Meeting an Organizations Objectives. esource, pp. 1-74

Bowman, C. & Asch, D., 1987. Strategic Management. In: Strategic selection. London: Palgrave, pp. 168-191.

Indeed Editorial Team, 2023. 17 Effective Employee Selection Methods To Consider. [Online]
Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/employee-selection-methods
[Accessed 29 July 2024]

Indeed Editorial Team, 2024. How To Create an Effective Employee Referral Program. [Online]
Available at: https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/5-ways-to-create-an-effective-employee-referral-program#
[Accessed 29 July 2024]