Substantive assessment methods for external selection

There are several methods used to narrow down applicants to the desired amount. The internal applicant pool is narrowed down to the candidate using the Initial Assessment methods. A decision as to which internal candidates that will become finalists is usually made using the following Substantive Assessment Methods. These include Seniority and Experience, Job Knowledge Tests and Performance Appraisal among other methods. The methods that were selected represent the second stage of the selection process.

Seniority and Experience

Over the years individuals have often confused the concept of seniority and experience and used them interchangeably; however they are quite different when related to reality. Seniority refers to the length of service one has been with an organisation, department, or job, seniority measures the difference between the first date of hire and the present date of employment, so therefore seniority is a quantifiable measure, which is not related to the type or quality of experience. On the other hand experience takes on a broader perspective. Experience not only includes the length of service in an organisation or in various positions, but also the kinds of activities employees have done in the position.

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At JPS seniority and experience should be among the most prevalent methods of internal selection. There are various reasons why this method is used as one of the methods of selecting internally. Direct experience in a job content area reflects the KSAO's that are required to perform the job. Secondly the information obtained from seniority and experience is easily and cheaply obtained, as the information is readily available. Finally seniority and experience at JPS should be used as a means of rewarding loyal employees, who have helped the company to gain the reputation it currently has. The method of seniority and experience is used to assess the candidates' experience in power station operations and management.

The information will be gathered by reviewing the candidates' files to identify how long they have been in the organization and the scope of task that they have done. Based on research evidence, several conclusions about the use of seniority have been made: Employees believe that promotions will be made to the most senior or experienced employee, so using this method may receive positive reactions from the employees and Experience is more likely to be content valid if the past or present jobs are similar to the future job.

Job Knowledge Tests

In recruiting for the position of Operations Manager, job knowledge test should be one of the methods used to select the final candidate. Job knowledge measures one's mastery of the concepts needed to perform certain job activities. Job knowledge is a complex concept that takes into consideration the ability of the candidate or the capacity to learn and the seniority which is the opportunity to learn. This is a written test that should be developed by the HR department of JPS to evaluate the job knowledge of the individual. The content domain from which the questions will be created should be clearly identified; this information would come from the Job Analysis. Included in the job knowledge test for the position of Operations Manager, it will identify the specific knowledge necessary for being a successful operations manager such as their analytical skills.

Job Knowledge Test is not an area that has been well researched, neither for external or internal selection but is believed to be a huge predictor of job performance, because it reflects an assessment of previous experiences of an applicant and an important, KSAO, namely cognitive ability. Performance Appraisal A candidates past performance is a great predictor of future performances; this is obtained from data that is routinely collected as a part of the performance appraisal process and thus is available for use in internal selection. This is another type of method that is should be used to select internal candidates at JPS, as the information that is needed is readily available.

Performance Appraisal captures both ability and motivation, because it offers a complete look at the person's qualifications for the position of operations manager or any other vacant position. However in using the performance appraisal the HR department should take the necessary precaution when screening the applicants as sometimes there is no direct correspondence between the requirements of the position applied for, so performance appraisal is used as predictors when the job analysis indicates a close relationship between the current job and the position applied for. The performance appraisal will be used to measure the candidates' knowledge of power station maintenance, operations, safety standards and statutory regulations.

Promotability Ratings

Promotability Ratings is an assessment which involves determining the applicants' potential for a higher-level job. Promotability ratings are made at the same time that performance appraisals are conducted. Once the requirements of promotability are discussed with the employees, this will encourage them to improve on areas of weakness and to also develop new skills which will aid in the promotion to higher levels in the organization. In turn, the development of new skills in employees increases the internal recruitment pool for promotions. However; caution must be exercised in using promotability ratings. When employees receive separate evaluations for purposes of performance appraisal, promotability, and pay, they will receive mixed messages that may be difficult for them to interpret.

There will be cases where employees will be praised for excellent performance on the job but when it comes on to promotions they are not rated as being promotable. This will discourage employees because they know within themselves that they perform well on the job so they will be wondering why they were not promoted. This is why care should be taken to show employees the relevant judgments' that are being made in each assessment so they can initiate the process of improving or trying to master the skills required for promotion.

This will be a good method to use at JPS when promoting employees to higher positions in the organization because this will encourage them to improve on their major weaknesses and to also develop skills which will aid in their development and also aid in them getting promoted for a higher position. What will aid in the development of new skills by the employees is when they participate in job rotation as this will better help them in having the knowledge of the different skills needed in the various departments of the organization. Managers conducting the promotions should bear in mind that they should inform the unsuccessful employees on why they were not selected so that they can improve on those areas for the next promotion.

Interview Simulation

The final method is an interview simulation which is one that simulates the oral communication required on the job, and is sometimes used in an assessment center. It is also used as a predictor separate from the assessment center. There are three forms of interview simulations which include; role-play which is defined by Dessler, 2005 as a training technique in which trainees act out parts in a realistic management situation. In role-play, job candidates are placed in a simulated situation where he or she must interact with the boss, a subordinate or a customer. In other words, the interviewer will be playing one role while the candidate will be playing the role of the person in the position applied for. This will be a good interview method at JPS, because when the managers are interviewing the candidates for the Operations Management position, this method can be used to find out the knowledge that he or she has about the said position.

Another form of interview simulations is a fact-finding interview, where the job candidate is presented with a case or problem with incomplete information. It is then the candidates' duty to solicit from the interviewer or a resource person the additional facts needed to resolve the case. The candidate will be evaluated according to the data he or she has gathered to confirm or disconfirm the case. This would be good to perform at JPS as it will help the candidate applying for the position of Operations management to be able to handle any problems on site that may occur in which he or she would need fact about what took place not only from other people in the organization but also the employees that work on site.

The final form of interview simulation is oral presentations where in many jobs, presentations need to be made to customers, clients, or even boards of directors. This approach is useful to see how an executive would present his or her proposed strategic plan to a board of directors. This would be useful in JPS because as Operations Management an oral presentation is required to inform the boards of directors on the operations of power plant. Interview simulations allow for a systematic assessment of each candidate so that the organization will know if this person has the right credentials to fit the job. To be effective, these interviews need to be structured and evaluated according to observable behaviors identified in the job analysis as necessary for successful performance.

Discretionary Method for JPS Discretionary methods are used to narrow down the list of finalist to those who will receive job offers. Sometimes all finalists will receive job offers, but there are times when they are not enough position to be filled based on the demand of the finalists who expected to receive job offer. At JPS whenever they are job openings available they usually have a large amount of applicants relative to those who actually receive the job, therefore HR department at JPS should consider the discretionary method as a form internal recruitment. The discretionary methods differ from external selection in two primary ways and as such the HR department at JPS should consider the discretionary method when deciding job offers.

Of the two distinguish features of discretionary method as oppose to external selection, the HR department need to have a database on the finalists who were not successful in being selected for the job offer and in event that a similar job opening should occur in the future, chances are the previous candidate or finalist whose information is available in the HR database are most likely to receive the job offer over an first time finalist who is equally qualified.

The second feature of discretionary method is that multiple assessors are generally used with internal selection; therefore other managers who are knowledgeable about the candidate's profile can actually evaluate the current position and the candidate profile and make recommendations to the HR manager. This tend to reduce the level of bias or preference if exist in HR department as relates to the selection process.