Research Paper On Selecting Personnel

Personnel Selection

Overview
The dynamics of business organizations dictate that changes in roles that employees play have to change with time. Workers within the organization have different skills that make each of them unique and best suited work descriptions. It is, therefore, the role of the management and persons tasked with controlling the work environment, to identify the capabilities of all the employees. The managers may seek to change thejob description through either promotion of deserving workers or even transfer to a different department as a strategy for increasing productivity. Various organizations have laid out definite processes of selection of personnel to ensure only the most deserving persons get the jobs. Personnel selection will always employ a practice that are evidence-based to determine the most qualified candidate and involves the newly hired and individuals who get promotions (Evers 2005).
Following the promotion to District Manager in our Auto Parts retailchain company, management would follow a detailed personnel selection procedure to look for the replacement. As a store manager, there are specificattributes that the replacement should have. A selection criterion develops from knowledge, abilities, and skills identified in job analysis (Evers 2005).The job description, in this case, is a store manager, and thus the selection criteria are fundamentally based on a manager`s role. The criteria range from values of theapplicant, accountability, problem-solving skills, and communication skills to interpersonal skills.

Criteria in personnel selection

The individual should be visionary and goal-oriented. A candidate who can quickly formulate new problem-solving procedures would increase production efficiency of the company. The store`s manager role would require that the person analyzes the issues from a variety of perspectives and make informed decisions based on available data. (Mitchell 2006) In cases of conflicts, the manager has to resolve the issues affecting the employees under him. The importance of the problem-solving criteria is that it limits theselection of individuals to only those who can address arising issues within the department. The stores have matters that arise on adailybasis. Thus, flexibility of management determines whether the whole process is a success.
Accountability is prerequisite to any store manager. They have a responsibility for controlling storage and disbursement of products for sale. The manager should explain all transactions involving the products from time of delivery to the store to the date of release for sales. Real accountability ensures no under dealings and prevents loss through theft or corrupt dealings. The criteria will filter applicants to retain those with a good track of accountability. The aspiring store manager should be well educated and skilled with a managerial qualification. Previous experience and exposure in a management position is an added advantage.
A manager should have sound communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills. Applicants with well-developed writing skills have a capability to keep an inventory of goods that come and those taken from the store. They have ability to deliver an interpretation on all proceeds and the roles played by the different employees under their supervision (Mitchell 2006). The communication skill is handy in making negotiations with the company that will improve thefunctionality of the organization. Advanced computer skills as a criterion of selection are necessary where accounting uses spreadsheets and other software. The skills neededfor updating thedatabase of the store and analyze performance.
Recruiting of employees is a precarious process that demands management attention and resources. With the very high cost of hiring and training of the new staff to the skills matching the job description, making any mistake would substantially harm the production process of the company. The management has to place consideration on whether to hire external persons or promote an employee within the organization (Minnaar 2014).

Internal recruitment

The internal replacement strategy mainly involves promotion of employees to fill the new positions or may mean the employee has a new job description to fit the new role. The process may involve shuffling temporary teams to perform certain tasks, which may also result in permanent changes. Most internal candidates for promotion are very familiar with the mechanisms within the organization and its goals. (Mitchell 2006) They understand how production works, and they know who is responsible for what. The primary benefit of internal selection of personnel is that it cuts on orientation cost and saves on the time required in onboarding of new employees.
Internal promotions have strategic advantages in that it motivates the rest of the staff to hard work in aspiration of such promotions. (Minnaar 2014) They realize that similar efforts have a potential to pay off with time. Internal Sourcing is a form of rewarding and promotes positive performance. There are disadvantages that may arise with internal sourcing. While the employee receiving the promotion may be excellent in their previous field, they may not have skills required to perform the new role. The new task, which could be management, is very different from task-oriented job that the employee used to play. They may thus encounter many challenges in a new job.

External recruitment

In external recruitment, the human resource department systematically selects an employee from a pool of applicants outside the organization. The management makesjobadvertisement through the media to target a broad range of qualified candidates. The main advantage is, unlike internal recruits, the company gets a new set of ideas from an employee who has not received much exposure in the old corporate culture. (Minnaar2014) They come with new methodologies and information from previous employers that will work to improve the new employer. External recruitment allows for rebalancing if needed. External sourcing requires more funds and time. The process is very detailed from advertising, selection and training.

References

Evers,A.,Anderson,N., & Voskuijl,O. (2005). The Blackwell handbook of personnel selection.Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
Minnaar,R. (2014). Control and governance of internal and external outsourcing.Nederland: uitgevernietvastgesteld.
Mitchell,R. (2006). The Store Manager.Vantage Pr.