Recruitment, Selection and

Competencies
Managing People
October 2014

Session Objectives
To introduce the activities associated with
recruitment and selection
To outline alternative approaches to recruitment
and selection
To identify key processes and activities associated
with recruitment and selection
To critically discuss the use of competencies in
contemporary employee resourcing
To highlight the importance of competencies in
recruitment processes

Recruitment and selection

Employee recruitment required under strategies for
organisational growth, diversification or development,
or where organisations seek to replace leavers
R&S represents two sequential but separate processes
Recruitment: The initial activity undertaken to attract a
pool of suitable applicants for a vacancy
Selection: The process of selecting the most competent
individual from this pool.

Considerations in one process ultimately shape

activity in the other

The systematic approach to

recruitment and selection
Systematic approach often believer to ensure both
effectiveness and procedural fairness in recruitment and
selection
Rational assessment and comparison of candidates to meet preestablished criteria based on prior job evaluation and person
specification.
Open to all qualified candidates
Formal to ensure it is auditable, transparent and eliminates
unlawful personal bias.
Process of:
Job or Role Analysis
Job descriptions
Person specification

Potential sources and

channels of recruitment
Advertising
E-recruitment (internet/company intranet)
Word of mouth recommendation Friends, relatives or associates
Succession planning
Job centres
Employment agencies
Recruitment consultants - Head-hunting/executive search
agencies
Walk-ins/casual callers/unsolicited approaches/waiting lists
University milk round
Schools or university careers services
Student placements/internships
Government training schemes
Open days and recruitment fairs

Key considerations in
recruitment
Cost-effectiveness
Fairness
Adequately conveys the nature of
work and the terms and conditions
on offer
Appropriate accomplish
Employer branding

Employee Selection
Employee Selection is the process of
putting right men on right job. It is a
procedure of matching organizational
requirements with the skills and
qualifications of people. Effective
selection can be done only when
there is effective matching. By
selecting best candidate for the
required job, the organization will get
quality performance of employees

Selection Methods

Application forms/Curriculum Vitae (CV) Biodata

Self-assessment

Interviews
Psychometric testing (Aptitude testing to assess physical or
mental ability
Analogous tests
Personality tests

Assessment centres

Work sampling/portfolios with relevance to job analysis (e.g.

typing sample, hypothetical case studies, presentations, in-tray
exercise)

References

Interviewing
Main means of assessing applicant suitability for a job
Variety of forms
Useful for assessing personal characteristics, practical
intelligence and conduct.
Means by which to:

Explore the information contained in the CV or application form

Assess the fit between the person and the organisation.
Negotiate the terms and condition of employment
Answering applicants questions
Sell the organisation.

BUT, can lead to highly personal decision-making

Competencies and
Competences
Competency
A competency can be regarded as the characteristic and
capabilities of an individual which leads directly to
superior job performance (Martin 2010)
Related to the behavioral dimension of job performance

Competencies reflect the range of behavioural and

technical attributes required for proficiency within a
particular organisational context.
(Organizational) competences created where
individual activities are executed through application
of a range of individual competencies

Competency Frameworks
A competency framework defines the knowledge,
skills, and attributes needed for people within an
organization. Each individual role will have its own
set of competencies needed to perform the job
effectively. To develop this framework, you need to
have an in-depth understanding of the roles within
your business. To do this, you can take a few
different approaches:

Use a pre-set list of common, standard

competencies, and then customize it to the specific
needs of your organization.

Use outside consultants to develop the framework

for you.

Competency
Frameworks
Competency Cluster

Competencies

Levels

Behavioura
l Indicators

Builds
relationships
internally

Working with
People

Managing
Relationships

Teamworking

Builds
relationships
externally

Maintains
external
relationships

Influencing

Takes account of the impact of own role on the needs of external

contacts
Identifies and nurtures external contacts who can contribute to the
business
and so on

Competency Framework
at Tesco
1. Customer Focus - Maximises personal contribution to the business to deliver
"Every Little Helps".
2. Analysis and Decision Making - Analyses problems thoroughly and makes
good and timely decisions.
3. Managing Change - Champions, supports and delivers changes to improve
things. Helps others by overcoming barriers.
4. Developing Self/Others - Creates or contributes to an environment in which
self and others are motivated to learn and develop.
5. Team Working - Builds and maintains positive relationships within and across
teams.
6. Managing Performance - Supports and challenges individuals to achieve their
full potential. Sets stretching objectives and measures progress against them.
Manages resources effectively.
7. Gaining Commitment - Energises and influences others to get the job done and
uses relationships to deliver great results.
8. Drive - Strives to achieve results through determination and commitment. Keeps
going when things are difficult.
9. Personal Integrity - Matches words with actions to build trust and respect.

High Performance Behaviours

at Jaguar Land Rover
Our High Performance Behaviours describe things everyone at Jaguar Land
Rover can do to help us reach our goals. They will also feature in our
selection process
MY BUSINESS - We need people who will ensure our current successes are
continued and act with the interests of the whole business at heart. To
achieve this, you'll be able to demonstrate accountability in your role, and
identify and then balance business needs and customer priorities.
EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS - No matter who you are, you cannot deliver
things in a large organisation on your own. The building of relationships,
both internal and external, are key to this.
CLEAR DIRECTION - This is closely linked to 'My Business'. You need to
consider if you're passionate and willing to drive the business forward to
meet business needs and customer priorities.
STRONG TEAMS - You'll be part of a team in your immediate department,
but we are all part of the bigger Jaguar Land Rover team.

High Performance Behaviours

at Jaguar Land Rover
EFFICIENT DELIVERY - It's essential to be able to use a costefficient, quality-focused approach to deliver our business plan on
time, within budget and to expected standards of quality.
AGILITY & FLEXIBILITY - In Business, as in life, nothing is
guaranteed. We all have to be able to embrace and react to change
quickly and strive to continually improve how we think and operate.
POSITIVE IMPACT - Whilst much of the time we operate as part of a
team, do not under-estimate the impact you can have as an
individual in terms of positively influencing others.
HIGH PERFORMANCE - We need to strive to always improve,
otherwise the competition will catch us. We're looking for people who
will take responsibility for high performance, while encouraging
others to do the same.

Benefits and criticisms of

competency-based systems
Benefits
Communicate a well-defined set of behaviours required in their work
Lead to greater employee effectiveness
Clearly communicates performance expectations
PM, appraisal and recruitment systems, and career management are
fairer, more open and more effective.
Improved training needs analysis
Recruiters are able to assess transferable skills and identify required
behaviours regardless of career background.
There is a link between effective individual inputs to work and
organisational performance.
Processes are measurable and standardised across organisational
and geographical boundaries

Benefits and criticisms of

competency-based systems
Criticisms
Focus on the past - Keep pace with rapidly-changing
environments?
Over-stresses important of behaviour on organisational
performance
Problem of reflecting whole job performance in single set of
competencies (e.g. management jobs)
Focus on individual competency undermines the strength of
teams where specific mix might be critical
Problems of equating personality traits with competency
Problem of ensuring understood by employees
Create organisational clones based on previous high-fliers
Problem for organisational diversity and renewal

Create over-emphasis on job inputs, rather outputs

Summary Points
Systematic approach to R&S often regarded as
inflexible and unresponsive to change
Increasing use of competencies as unifying
approach to HRM (including R&S)
Contribution to vertical and horizontal integration

Range of benefits and drawbacks associated

with competencies and competency
frameworks
R&S critical area of ethical decision-making

References
Armstrong, M. (2000) Performance Management: Key Strategies and
Practical Guidelines (2nd Edition), London: Kogan Page
Boyatzis, R. E. (1982) The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective
Performance, London: Wiley
Forrester, G. (2011) Performance management in education: milestone
or millstone? Management in Education, 25:1, 5-9
Holton, E. F. (2002) Defining HRD: Too much of a good thing? Human
Resource Development Review, 1:3, 275-276
Martin, J. (2010) Key Concepts in Human Resource Management,
London: Sage
Neal, A. and Griffin, M. A. (1999) Developing a Model of Individual
Performance for Human Resource Management, Asia Pacific Journal of
Human Resources, 37:2, 44-59