For this unit I am going to discuss the importance of "substantive selection" from chapter 17.
The biggest part of finding new employees is making sure you find an employee that fits well with what the company is trying to accomplish, but also the company is a good fit for the potential new employee. To find this out, companys will use a wide variety of methods. The most common of them is an interview. Here the person being interviewed gets to "sell themself" to the company on why they would be a great fit. On the other hand, an interview allows the company to get a sense of the persons personality and how they present themselves in public. Having this face-to-face interview is the most common because there is no uncertainty left between the company and new employee compared to phone interviews that do not allow for nonverbal q's. Other things used by companys include written tests, which can be anything like a personality test, intergrity test and an intelligence or congitive ability test. Finally, stimulation tests allows companys to actually put the potential employee in a working atmosphere and assign them tasks to see how they perform.
I personally have had to go through several of these methods of hiring. I applied to work at Carrabba's restaurant a couple summers ago and first had to pass a personality test just to get an interview. After I was hired i went through a series of menu, spirits, and company ethics tests before I was allowed to start serving. From the time I got hired to the time I got to serve my first table, it was almost a two weeks. You tend to see this becoming more popular with corporate restaurants these days. They dont want to hire people who can't talk to people and have bad work ethics. To pass all these tests, it took a lot of time and commitment to study the menu and company policy books. People who are not willing to do that are weeded out.
The importance of substantive selection can not be underestimated. Using these methods of hiring can lead to the right people to be hired for the job. It is important to give tests like a personality test in some areas of business because people can put up a front that makes them look like the right fit when they really are not. While interviews are still very useful, it should not be the only method used to base a decision on because the tests do not lie.
Interesting blog! In my past, I've never had to take any kind of personality or training tests. I can see, though, how they could be really useful, especially for jobs like you talked about in a restaurant. That way managers and owners can know that they are putting out the most competent waiters and waitresses, and hopefully as a customer, you won't have to deal with too much of an idiot :)
ReplyDeleteFinding a new employee can be a difficult task at points. Even though people know what they are looking for there is never anyone that meets that criteria completely. With the bad economy at this time there are a whole more people applying for jobs and so with the competitive job market right now, people are working harder to get the job that they want.
ReplyDeleteI got upset a few summers ago when I applied for a job; not because they loved my resume, but because I failed the "personality test" they gave me. And no, it's not because I failed that I got upset, it's because they didn't give me the results to my test and at least explain to me why I wasn't this or too much of that! If they were going to test people they should at least have the decency to give them their results!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a personality test for a job. But it makes sense.Like you said a company especially a restaurant, needs people who are not shy and willing to talk to people. I could see how having those tests will become beneficial to companies that are involved in communications / marketing fields.
ReplyDeleteThat is so crazy that you had to take a personality test for a job. But it also makes complete sense. If a company can know what kind of personality they have coming into the workforce. I know that for all of the grad schools I am applying to that the students currently in that professors lab have some input of if I would fit in the lab. While it seems so bizarre when you hear it, it makes sense when you think about it.
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