Outline the psychometric approach to recruitment and selection. In Essay

Outline the psychometric approach to recruitment and selection. In what ways has this been challenged - Essay Example This paper gives an overview and description of the recruitment and selection process along with a description of the psychometric approach, its benefits and challenges. Main Body Recruitment and Selection Hiring a competent workforce has become quintessential in the midst of uncertainty in external environment, particularly changing customer expectations. Because of this, psychosocial considerations, which includes differences regarding the abilities, motivations, personality and emotions of individuals, are being taken into account while finding the correct fit for the organisation. Torrington, Hall & Taylor (2007) define recruitment as being either internal ( that is hiring of people from within the organisation ) or external (which involves advertising, approaching recruitment agencies, developing corporate websites that accept applications, using newspapers and trade press and various other methods). Furthermore, Newell defines recruitment as being a process that attracts people who possess the attributes that are necessary to perform the job (Newell 2005). Generally, promotion, retirement, transfer, redundancy and technological or customer changes drive the recruitment process (Watson 1994). While recruitment generates the pool of capable applicants that may apply to the organisation, selection involves determining the â€Å"right piece that fits correctly in the jigsaw puzzle†. Herriot (1984) defines the selection process as a social exchange whereby mutual exchange of information takes place between the company and its candidates. Organisations are, therefore, required to shape their expectations depending on the candidate’s personal experience rather than the other way round (Herriot 1984). Selection methods have further been defined as consisting of application forms, interviews as well as tests of which psychometric tests are a part. Traditionally, the recruitment process would be a three-step process involving the development of job de scription, job analysis and finally job specification (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2007). The last stage would require determining the human attributes that are necessary to perform the job (Marchington & Wilkinson 2000). Frameworks such as the Seven-Point Plan developed by Roger and the fivefold system of grading laid down by Munro-Fraser comprised of assessing the individual’s impact on others along with his/her qualifications, abilities, motivation and emotional strength (Taylor 2000). Both these models increasingly relied on human judgment which could be highly subjective and prone to bias. This led to the development of a competency-based approach to recruitment whereby the focus shifted on individual qualities to competencies required on the job (Newell 2005) (Redman & Wilkinson 2009). Furthermore, it was realised that traditional approaches assumed fixed personalities which was a self-defeating assumption as far as the candidate’s fit with the organisation was co ncerned. This led to the shift towards the psychometric approach whereby individual differences were recognised. The term psychometrics is merely an abbreviated version of â€Å"psychological measurement†. In other words, it attempts to measure psychological traits of individuals such as their intelligence, attitudes, personality and attributes. According to a research conducted by CIPD, approximately 45% of

Organizational behaviors and leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Organizational behaviors and leadership - Essay Example Advance scenarios played reflection 20 5.2 Appendix II leader self-sight reflection 22 1.0ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIORS AND LEADERSHIP 1.1Introduction Ability to not only influence but also inspire others to endeavor the leader towards leaders’ goal is referred to us leadership. On the contrary, it is argued that leadership is a process of an individual influencing others to attain a certain goal. Further, it is important to realize that leadership can be those qualities that viewers see but on the other hand, cannot describe. Leadership is manifested in the following ways, when there is a crisis and someone comes in to solve, or when someone influences others, or when some people tent to follows others. To crown it all, leadership usually comes in a visible state when there is someone who responds to something innovatively. Four main theories for generations erupt as follows: there are traits theories, contingency theories, behavioral theories and lastly transformational theories just to mention but a few. According to the article written by John Mark, it is evident that all of the four theories outlined above none of them is neither time bound nor mutually exclusive. However, according to experts, it is true that each of the generation above, it has to some extent benefit to the leadership debate although still debate continues up to date. There are different titles that are used to describe the division of modern management. Therefore, leadership can be discussed under the following categories, for instance charismatic leadership in the current ongoing debate on leadership that replaces transformational leadership. Secondly, there is an approach based on skills, self-management, and leadership that involves sharing just to mention but a few. Due to the above, it is pertinent to approach the above phenomena with the model of leadership that is classical. The following are some of the pertinent traits that a leader should have. It is, a leader should have a need for achievement, resolution, and courage, capacity to motivate individuals and should have trustworthiness character just to mention but a few. The above figure shows the New Reality of Leadership 1.2VIRTUE LEADERSHIP PRACTICE AND THEORY 1.2.1Origins of Leadership Theory According to the great man theory, it is evident that there are those people who are born naturally as a leader. The article goes further to site people like Alexander the great and Caesar Julius. In addition, people like Mahatma and bush George are related in the theory of Heroic conception of leadership (1880) as being leaders by natural phenomena. This is due to their high level of clear vision and ambitions to their destinations. The above is because they have a unique set of personal qualities, which propelled