Employee Selection

1. Concept

Selection is essentially a process of choosing right applicant best suited for the organization's requirement. It is also the process of rejecting the unsuitable applicants and finally arriving at the most suitable one. The most common approach to the selection objective is to choose individuals who possess the necessary skills, abilities and personality to successfully fill specific jobs in the organization. The success of selection is largely dependent on success of recruitment process. Lets go through the following definitions of selection. 

Byars and Rue: "Selection is the process of choosing from the available individuals who are most likely to perform successfully in a job."

DeCenzo and Robbins: "The primary purpose of selection activities is to predict which job applicant will be successful if hired. "

Conclusion: In short, the role of selection in an organization's success is important because of two major reasons: 

• First, work performance depends on individuals. Therefore, effective selection has greater relevance.
• Second, costs of wrong candidate selection are much higher.

Difference between Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment is the process of searching prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization. It is often termed "positive" because its objective is to increase the selection ratio, that is, the number of applicants per job openings. Hiring through selection is "negative" because it attempts to eliminate applicants, living only the best placed in the firm. Following table gives a clear picture regarding the difference between recruitment and selection. 

Factors of Differences	Recruitment	Selection
1. Approach	It is often termed “Positive” because its objective is to increase the selection ratio, motivate the candidate.	It is often termed “Negative” because its objective is to decrease the applicants (living only the best hired in the organization).
2. Objective	Its main objective is to identify probable applicants.	Its main objective is to select and appoint the best candidate.
3. Dependency	Its success is not dependent on selection (directly).	Its success is directly dependent upon recruitment.
4. Cost factors	In general, it is less costly than selection.	In general, it is more costly than recruitment.
5. Contact	In most of the cases there is no direct contact between applicants and employers.	In most of the case there is face-to-face contact between applicants and employers.
6. Time demanded	In general, it demands more time than selection process.	In general, selection demands less time than recruit process.
7. Managerial involvement	It demands less degree of managerial involvement. Most of the activities of it are done by subordinates.	It demands a high degree of managerial involvement. Major activities have to be done by managers themselves. It cannot be assigned to subordinates.

Importance of Selection (selection as a source of Competitive Advantage)

Selection has become a crucial activity these days because it requires a heavy investment of money to get right types of people. Orientation and training costs are also increasing every year. If the right types of person are not chosen, it may harm the whole HRM functions. The role of selection in an organization's effectiveness is crucial for at least, four reasons.

1. Selection helps to improve performance: First, work performance depends on individuals. The best way to improve performance is to hire people who have the competence and the willingness to work. Arguing from the employee's viewpoint, poor or inappropriate choice can be demoralizing to the individual concerned (who finds himself or herself in the wrong job). Wrong selection can also be de-motivating factor to the rest of the workforce. Effective selection, therefore, assumes greater relevance. 

2. Selection helps to reduce cots of hiring: Second, cost incurred in recruiting an hiring personnel speaks volumes about the role of selection. Here is one instance to prove how expensive recruitment has become. 

3. Helps to reduce absenteeism and turnover: Third, absenteeism and employee turnover : Third, absenteeism and employee turnover are the important problems which are being faced by the most of the organizations. The intensity of these problem can be reduced if in the future all selections are made carefully so that there is right person at the right place. Whenever unsuitable employees are appointed, the efficiency of the organization will go down. Such employees will shirk work and absent themselves from the work more often. They may also be compelled to leave their jobs. If this happens, all the expenses incurred on the selection and training of such employees will go waste.

4. Helps to establish committed staff: Lastly, Proper selection and placement of personnel will go a long way towards building up a stable work-force. It will keep the rates of absenteeism and labour turnover low and will increase the morale of the employees. If the employees are quite suitable according to the requirements of the jobs, they will show higher efficiency and productivity. This enables the organization to achieve its objectives effectively.