Human Resource Management – Industrial Relations

Unit 03

Selection, placement and Induction: Selection procedure, Tests, Interviews; placement and Induction.

Introduction
The process of choosing the most suitable candidate for a job from among the available applicants is called
selection.
Selection is the process of preferring qualified individuals who are available to fill positions in an
organization.
Definition
The Selection is a process of picking the right candidate with prerequisite qualifications and capabilities to
fill the jobs in the organization.
According to Thomas Stone, “Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to
identify (and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success in a job”.
According to Dale Yoder, “Selection is the process in which candidates for employment are divided into
two classes, those who are to be offered employment and those who are not.”
Steps in Scientific Selection Process
1. Job analysis:
A job analysis is the process used to collect information about the duties, responsibilities, necessary
skills, outcomes and work environment of a particular job. Selection is influenced by several external
and internal sources.

2. Preliminary Interview
Initial screening is done to weed out totally undesirable / unqualified candidates at the outset. It is a
sorting process in which prospective candidates are given the necessary information about the nature of
the job and the organisation, also, the necessary information is elicited from the candidates about their
education, skills, experience, salary expected, etc.

3. Selection Test
A selection test is a systematic and standardized procedure of sampling human behaviour in order to
obtain qualified applications for organisational activities. It is used to assess the ability, aptitude and
personality of prospective candidates. Selection test is conducted in order to select a right person for the
right job who will be capable of performing organisational activities if hired.

Selection Tests:
• Aptitude Tests:
These measure whether an individual has the capacity or talent ability to learn a given job if given
adequate training. These are more useful for clerical and trade positions.

• Personality Tests:
At times, personality affects job performance. These determine personality traits of the candidate
such as cooperativeness, emotional balance etc. These seek to assess an individual’s motivation,
adjustment to the stresses of everyday life, capacity for interpersonal relations and self-image.

• Interest Tests:
These determine the applicant’s interests. The applicant is asked whether he likes, dislikes, or is
indifferent to many examples of school subjects, occupations, amusements, peculiarities of people,
and particular activities.

1
Email: [email protected] RVILS Batch: 2019 – 2024
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyas-d-b1981912b/
 Human Resource Management – Industrial Relations
Unit 03

• Performance Tests:
In this test the applicant is asked to demonstrate his ability to do the job. For example, prospective
typists are asked to type several pages with speed and accuracy.

• Intelligence Tests:
This aim at testing the mental capacity of a person with respect to reasoning, word fluency, numbers,
memory, comprehension, picture arrangement, etc. It measures the ability to grasp, understand and to
make judgement.

• Knowledge Tests:
These are devised to measure the depth of the knowledge and proficiency in certain skills already
achieved by the applicants such as engineering, accounting etc.

• Achievement Tests:
Whereas aptitude is a capacity to learn in the future, achievement is concerned with what one has
accomplished. When applicants claim to know something, an achievement test is given to measure
how well they know it.

• Projective Tests:
In these tests the applicant projects his personality into free responses about pictures shown to him
which are ambiguous.

4. Employment Interview
Interview is an essential element of selection and no selection procedure is complete without one or more
personal interviews, where the information collected through application letter or application forms and
tests can be cross-checked in the Interview, where candidates demonstrate their capabilities and strength
in relevant to their academic credentials.

Selection Interview
• Formal and structured interview
• Unstructured interview
• Stress interview
• Group interview method
• Panel interview
• In-depth interview

5. Reference Checks
The applicant is asked to mention in his application form, the names and addresses of two or more
persons who know him well. These may be his previous employers, heads of education institutions or
public figures.

6. Selection Decision
In this step, the selection panel will have a decision about all those candidates passed in the above steps;
usually the HR manager plays a crucial role in the final selection.

2
Email: [email protected] RVILS Batch: 2019 – 2024
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyas-d-b1981912b/
 Human Resource Management – Industrial Relations
Unit 03
7. Physical Examination
The result of medical fitness test is recorded in a statement and is maintained as a record.
There are several purposes behind conducting a physical test.
• Detect if the individual carries any infectious diseases.
• The test assists in determining whether an applicant is physically for to perform to work
• Medical check-up protects applicants with health defeats from undertaking work that could be
detrimental to them or could otherwise endanger the employer’s property.

8. Job Offer
A person who has successfully passed all the above steps will be offered a job. A letter of selection will
be sent to him with a date on which he is supposed to report in case he accepts the offer.

9. Employment Contract
This is written contract of employment to be given to those candidates who accept the job offer. Certain
documents need to be executed by the employer and the candidate. This form contains vital details about
the candidate which are authenticated and attested by him/her.

10. Evaluation of Selection Procedure

The organisation should have a committee to find out whether the adopted selection procedure is helping
the organisation in getting committed, competent and talented workforce or not.

11. Placement
The organisation has to place the selected candidate, once he reports to duty. The candidate will be
trained in the job during the training or probation period. The final placement of the candidate is decided
only after the probation or training period is over.
Placement
Placement may be defined as the determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned
and his assignment to that job.
Placement is “the Determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned and his
assignment to that job.”
Placement is a process of assigning a specific job to each of the selected candidates. It involves assigning a
specific rank and responsibility to an individual.
Problems in Placement
• Expectation of the employee
If employee expectation of high salary, independent and challenging works is not matched, the employee
finds himself misfit for the job.

• Job expectations
Sometimes the abilities or skill of the employees will be lower than the job assigned to them. The HR
manager finds the mismatch between the employee and the job.

• Technological changes
The technological changes bring radical changes in the job. These changes result in mismatch between
the job and the employee.

3
Email: [email protected] RVILS Batch: 2019 – 2024
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyas-d-b1981912b/
 Human Resource Management – Industrial Relations
Unit 03

• Changes in the structure of organisation

Strategies like mergers, acquisitions, downsizing bring changes in the organisation structure and thereby
in the jobs.

• Psychological and social factor

Psychological and social factors involved in team work result in mismatch.
Induction
The introduction of the new employee to the job is known as induction. It is the process by which new
employees are introduced to the practices, policies and purposes of the organisation.
Induction literally means helping the worker to get or with his own environment. After an employee is
assigned his job, it is necessary to introduce him to his job situation, his associates in the job and the overall
policies of the company.
Orientation is one component of the new employee socialization process. It is a process through which a new
employee is introduced to the organisation. The new employee is handed over a rulebook, company
booklets, policy manuals, progress reports and documents containing company information which are
informational in nature. It is responsibility of the human resource department to execute the orientation
programme.
Objectives of Induction:
1. An induction process properly designed should serve the following objectives.
2. Introduce the new employee and the organisation to each other.
3. Create interest in his job and the company.
4. Provide basic information about working arrangements.
5. Make the new employee feel ‘at home’ in the new environment.
6. Indicate the standards of performance and behaviour expected from him.
7. Inform him about the training facilities.
8. Reduce any misunderstanding about the job or the enterprise
9. Facilitate good employee relations.
10. Assist the new employee to adjust to the company and Establish a favourable attitude about the company
in the minds of the employee.
Need for Induction
• Induction is needed to reduce start-up costs and save time
A comprehensive introduction of the organisation to the employees can help them acquire the necessary
skills to get on with their jobs immediately. It helps in speeding up the learning process of the newly
employed staff, saving the manger’s time.

• Induction is needed to reduce employee turnover

If there is no induction program, an employee is left on his own, to sink or swim in the new environment.
As a result, he is either confused and takes a longer time to contribute or leaves the organisation,
frustrated and helpless.

• Reduces anxiety
It is also important for new employees to know what is expected of them and what they can expect from
others in return. This will help the employees to have clarity about their roles and responsibilities and
reduce their anxiety about the new job and environment.

4
Email: [email protected] RVILS Batch: 2019 – 2024
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyas-d-b1981912b/
 Human Resource Management – Industrial Relations
Unit 03

• Provides well defined information

A good induction program ensures that the new employees have a well defined idea about all aspects of
the organisation structure, its policies and communication methods.
Induction Process:
Each industry develops its own procedure as per its requirements. Generally, an induction procedure
involves the following basic steps:
• Reporting for duty before the concerned head of the department at a certain place.
• The head of the department welcomes the new employee.
• Introduction to the organizational head / branch head by the head of the department.
• Organizational head/ Branch head introduces him to the important employees.
• Supervisor concerned introduces him to his co-workers in that section.
• Providing information about the duties, responsibilities, rights, facilities, welfare measures, etc.
• Supervisor clarifies the doubts of the new employee about the work. Formal and Informal Induction
Programme
*****

• What are the different types of interviews involved in selection process? Explain (Dec 2018), (Dec
2016), (June 2016), (Dec 2020), (June 2019)
• Short note Problems in Induction procedure (Dec 2020)

5
Email: [email protected] RVILS Batch: 2019 – 2024
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyas-d-b1981912b/