Methods of Collecting Data in HRM

The process of personnel selection includes examination of personal and professional qualities of a prospective employee in order to determine his/her abilities to correspond to the requirements of one or another position. As a rule, personnel selection is a long and costly procedure, that’s why in many organizations it is performed in several stages. The first stage usually involves collecting different data about the candidates for the opening. There are some popular methods, which help to gather such information for further analysis.

The first group of the methods includes collecting information about candidate’s personal qualities and experience. Overwhelming majority of organizations asks the candidates to submit their CVs, to fill special forms or application blanks, which can provide the employers with all necessary biographical information about potential employees. Besides, one of the most effective and popular methods to examine personal qualities, appearance and responses of a candidate on different situations, is interview. This method is very flexible and informative. But, at the same time, it is usually hard to avoid subjectivity when using this technique.

The second group of these methods includes different tests, which are mostly directed on examination of professional qualities of candidates. Personality test is a method, which allows to measure personal qualities of a candidate in relation to the requirements of the workplace.  A number of aptitude and cognitive abilities tests give opportunity to measure mental abilities and intellectual level of the applicants. Such tests as physical abilities test and work sample tests help to discover physical readiness of a candidate to perform one or another job.

Effectiveness of the above mentioned methods depends, first of all, on the specificity of the job, as well as on mission of the organization. If the job is connected with physical activity, like a worker or a loader, then physical ability or work sample tests can be effective. If an employer is primarily interested in personal qualities of a candidate, such methods as interview or personality test can give the best results. Besides, it is always necessary to keep in mind that the information collected with the help of the tests or interviews can be subjective to some extent, because it is hard to avoid subjectivity in any evaluation, made by a human being.

Bibliography:

Personnel Selection: Overview. (2001). HR-Guide. Human Resourse Guide on Internet. Retrieved November 12, 2006, from the World Wide Web: <http://www.hr-guide.com/data/G300.htm>.