Employee Selection Process

It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job, the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover, organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save time and money. Proper screening of candidates takes place during selection procedure. All the potential candidates who apply for the given job are tested.

But selection must be differentiated from recruitment, though these are two phases of employment process. Recruitment is considered to be a positive process as it motivates more of candidates to apply for the job. It creates a pool of applicants. It is just sourcing of data. While selection is a negative process as the inappropriate candidates are rejected here. Recruitment precedes selection in staffing process. Selection involves choosing the best candidate with best abilities, skills and knowledge for the required job. The Employee selection Process takes place in following order) Preliminary Interviews- It is used to eliminate those candidates who do not meet
the minimum eligibility criteria laid down by the organization.

The skills, academic and family background, competencies and interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview. Preliminary interviews are less formalized and planned than the final interviews. The candidates are given a brief up about the company and the job profile; and it is also examined how much the candidate knows about the company. Preliminary interviews are also called screening interviews.

Application blanks- The candidates who clear the preliminary interview are required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates such as details about age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job, experience, etc.
Written Tests– Various written tests conducted during selection procedure are aptitude test, intelligence test, reasoning test, personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively assess the potential candidate. They should not be biased.
Employment Interviews– It is a one to one interaction between the interviewer and the potential candidate. It is used to find whether the candidate is best suited for the required job or not. But such interviews consume time and money both. Moreover the competencies of the candidate cannot be judged. Such interviews may be biased at times. Such interviews should be conducted properly. No distractions should be there in room. There should be an honest communication between candidate and interviewer.
Medical examination– Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism.
Appointment Letter– A reference check is made about the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal appointment letter.

 

Orientation and Placement
Once the candidates are selected for the required job, they have to be fitted as per the qualifications. Placement is said to be the process of fitting the selected person at the right job or place i.e. fitting square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes.
Once he is fitted into the job, he is given the activities he has to perform and also told about his duties. The freshly appointed candidates are then given orientation in order to familiarize and introduce the company to him. Generally the information given during the orientation programme includes

1. Employee’s layout
2. Type of organizational structure
3. Departmental goals
4. Organizational layout
5. General rules and regulations
6. Standing Orders
7. Grievance system or procedure

During Orientation employees are made aware about the mission and vision of the organization, the nature of operation of the organization, policies and programmes of the organization. The main aim of conducting Orientation is to build up confidence, morale and trust of the employee in the new organization, so that he becomes a productive and an efficient employee of the organization and contributes to the organizational success.

The nature of Orientation program varies with the organizational size, i.e., smaller the organization the more informal is the Orientation and larger the organization more formalized is the Orientation programme. Proper Placement of employees will lower the chances of employee’s absenteeism. The employees will be more satisfied and contended with their work.

Training of Employees
Training of employees takes place after orientation takes place. Training is the process of enhancing the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees for doing a particular job. Training process moulds the thinking of employees and leads to quality performance of employees. It is continuous and never ending in nature.

Importance of Training
Training is crucial for organizational development and success. It is fruitful to both employers and employees of an organization. An employee will become more efficient and productive if he is trained well. Training is given on four basic grounds:

1. New candidates who join an organization are given training. This training familiarizes them with the organizational mission, vision, rules and regulations and the working conditions.
2. The existing employees are trained to refresh and enhance their knowledge.
3. If any updating and amendments take place in technology, training is given to cope up with those changes. For instance, purchasing new equipment, changes in
4. When promotion and career growth becomes important. Training is given so that employees are prepared to share the responsibilities of the higher level job.

The benefits of training can be summed up as:

1. Improves morale of employees- Training helps the employee to get job security and job satisfaction. The more satisfied the employee is and the greater is his morale, the more he will contribute to organizational success and the lesser will be employee absenteeism and turnover.
2. Less supervision- A well trained employee will be well acquainted with the job and will need less of supervision. Thus, there will be less wastage of time and efforts.
3. Fewer accidents- Errors are likely to occur if the employees lack knowledge and skills required for doing a particular job. The more trained an employee is, the less are the chances of committing accidents in job and the more proficient the employee becomes.
4. Chances of promotion- Employees acquire skills and efficiency during training. They become more eligible for promotion. They become an asset for the organization.
5. Increased productivity- Training improves efficiency and productivity of employees. Well trained employees show both quantity and quality performance. There is less wastage of time, money and resources if employees are properly trained.

Ways/Methods of Training

Training is generally imparted in two ways:

1. On the job training- On the job training methods are those which are given to the employees within the everyday working of a concern. It is a simple and cost effective training method. The proficient as well as semi- proficient employees can be well trained by using such training method.
2. Off the job training- Off the job training methods are those in which training is provided away from the actual working condition. It is generally used in case of new employees. Instances of off the job training methods are workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. Such method is costly and is effective if and only if large number of employees have to be trained within a short time period. Off the job training is also called as vestibule training i.e., the employees are trained in a separate area( may be a hall, entrance, reception area etc. known as a vestibule) where the actual working conditions are duplicated.

Employee Remuneration
Employee Remuneration refers to the reward or compensation given to the employees for their work performances. Remuneration provides basic attraction to a employee to perform job efficiently and effectively. Remuneration leads to employee motivation.
Salaries constitute an important source of income for employees and determine their standard of living. Salaries affect the employee’s productivity and work performance. Thus the amount and method of remuneration are very important for both management and employees.

There are mainly two types of Employee Remuneration

1. Time Rate Method
2. Piece Rate Method

1.Time Rate Method: Under time rate system, remuneration is directly linked with the time spent or devoted by an employee on the job. The employees are paid a fixed pre-decided amount hourly, daily, weekly or monthly irrespective of their output. It is a very simple method of remuneration. It leads to minimum wastage of resources and lesser chances of accidents. Time Rate method leads to quality output and this method is very beneficial to new employees as they can learn their work without any reduction in their salaries.

This method encourages employees’ unity as employees of a particular group/cadre get equal salaries. There are some drawbacks of Time Rate Method, such as, it leads to tight supervision, indefinite employee cost, lesser efficiency of employees as there is no distinction made between efficient and inefficient employees, and lesser morale of employees. Time rate system is more suitable where the work is non-repetitive in nature and emphasis is more on quality output rather than quantity output.

2.Piece Rate Method: It is a method of compensation in which remuneration is paid on the basis of units or pieces produced by an employee. In this system emphasis is more on quantity output rather than quality output. Under this system the determination of
employee cost per unit is not difficult because salaries differ with output. There is less supervision required under this method and hence the cost per unit of production is low. This system improves the morale of the employees as the salaries are directly related with
their work efforts. There is greater work-efficiency in this method.

There are some drawbacks of this method, such as; it is not easily computable, leads to deterioration in work quality, wastage of resources, lesser unity of employees, higher cost of production and insecurity among the employees. Piece rate system is more suitable where the nature of work is repetitive and quantity is emphasized more than quality.

DIRECTING
Directing is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, staffing have no importance if
direction function does not take place.

Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance to workers is doing work. In field of management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work effectively and efficiently. According to Human, “Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned”

Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing people towards accomplishment of organizational goals.
Direction has got following characteristics:

1. Pervasive Function – Directing is required at all levels of organization. Every manager provides guidance and inspiration to his subordinates.
2. Continuous Activity – Direction is a continuous activity as it continuous throughout the life of organization.
3. Human Factor – Directing function is related to subordinates and therefore it is related to human factor. Since human factor is complex and behaviour is unpredictable, direction function becomes important.
4. Creative Activity – Direction function helps in converting plans into performance. Without this function, people become inactive and physical resources are meaningless.
5. Executive Function – Direction function is carried out by all managers and executives at all levels throughout the working of an enterprise; a subordinate receives instructions from his superior only.
6. Delegate Function – Direction is supposed to be a function dealing with human beings. Human behaviour is unpredictable by nature and conditioning the people’s behaviour towards the goals of the enterprise is what the executive does in this function. Therefore, it is termed as having delicacy in it to tackle human behaviour.

Importance of Directing Function
Directing or Direction function is said to be the heart of management of process and therefore, is the central point around which accomplishment of goals take place. A few philosophers call Direction as “Life spark of an enterprise”. It is also called as on
actuating function of management because it is through direction that the operation of an enterprise actually starts. Being the central character of enterprise, it provides many benefits to a concern which are as follows:-

1. It Initiates Actions – Directions is the function which is the starting point of the work performance of subordinates. It is from this function the action takes place, subordinates understand their jobs and do according to the instructions laid. Whatever are plans laid, can be implemented only once the actual work starts. It is there that direction becomes beneficial.
2. It Ingrates Efforts – Through direction, the superiors are able to guide, inspire and instruct the subordinates to work. For this, efforts of every individual towards accomplishment of goals are required. It is through direction the efforts of every department can be related and integrated with others. This can be done through persuasive leadership and effective communication. Integration of efforts bring effectiveness and stability in a concern.
3. Means of Motivation – Direction function helps in achievement of goals. A manager makes use of the element of motivation here to improve the performances of subordinates. This can be done by providing incentives or compensation, whether monetary or non – monetary, which serves as a “Morale booster” to the subordinates Motivation is also helpful for the subordinates to give
   the best of their abilities which ultimately helps in growth.
4. It Provides Stability – Stability and balance in concern becomes very important for long term sun survival in the market. This can be brought upon by the managers with the help of four tools or elements of direction function – judicious blend of persuasive leadership, effective communication, strict supervision and efficient motivation. Stability is very important since that is an index of growth of an enterprise. Therefore a manager can use of all the four traits in him so that performance standards can be maintained.
5. Coping up with the changes – It is a human behaviour that human beings show resistance to change. Adaptability with changing environment helps in sustaining planned growth and becoming a market leader. It is directing function which is of use to meet with changes in environment, both internal as external. Effective communication helps in coping up with the changes. It is the role of manager here to communicate the nature and contents of changes very clearly to the subordinates.
6. Efficient Utilization of Resources – Direction finance helps in clarifying the role of every subordinate towards his work. The resources can be utilized properly only when less of wastages, duplication of efforts, overlapping of performances, etc. don’t take place. Through direction, the role of subordinates become clear as manager makes use of his supervisory, the guidance, the instructions and motivation skill to inspire the subordinates. This helps in maximum possible utilization of resources of men, machine, materials and money which helps in reducing costs and increasing profits.

Functions of a Supervisor
Supervisor, being the manager in a direct contact with the operatives, has got multifarious function to perform. The objective behind performance of these functions is to bring stability and soundness in the organization which can be secured through increase in
profits which is an end result of higher productivity. Therefore, a supervisor should be concerned with performing the following functions –

1. Planning and Organizing – Supervisor’s basic role is to plan the daily work schedule of the workers by guiding them the nature of their work and also dividing the work amongst the workers according to their interests, aptitudes, skills and interests.
2. Provision of working conditions – A supervisor plays an important role in the physical setting of the factory and in arranging the physical resources at right place. This involves providing proper sitting place, ventilation, lighting, water facilities etc. to workers. His main responsibility is here to provide healthy and hygienic condition to the workers.
3. Leadership and Guidance – A supervisor is the leader of workers under him. He leads the workers and influences them to work their best. He also guides the workers by fixing production targets and by providing them instruction and guidelines to achieve those targets.
4. Motivation – A supervisor plays an important role by providing different incentives to workers to perform better. There are different monetary and nonmonetary incentives which can inspire the workers to work better.
5. Controlling – Controlling is an important function performed by supervisor. This will involve

• Recording the actual performance against the time schedule.
• Checking of progress of work.
• Finding out deviations if any and making solutions
• If not independently solved, reporting it to top management.
•  Linking Pin – A supervisor proves to be a linking pin between management and workers. He communicates the policies of management to workers also passes instructions to them on behalf of management. On the other hand, he has a close contact with the workers and therefore can interpret the problems, complaints, suggestions, etc to the management. In this way, he communicates workers problems and brings it to the notice of management.
• Grievance Handling – The supervisor can handle the grievances of the workers effectively for this he has to do the following things :-

1. He can be in direct touch with workers.
2.  By winning the confidence of the workers by solving their problems.
3. By taking worker problems on humanitarian grounds.
4. If he cannot tackle it independently, he can take the help and advice of management to solve it.

•  Reporting – A supervisor has got an important role to report about the cost, quality and any such output which can be responsible for increasing productivity. Factors like cost, output, performance, quality, etc can be reported continually to the
  management.
• Introducing new work methods – The supervisor here has to be conscious about the environment of market and competition present. Therefore he can innovate the techniques of production. He can shift the workers into fresh schedules whenever
  possible. He can also try this best to keep on changing and improving to the physical environment around the workers. This will result in

1. Higher productivity,
2. High Morale of Workers,
3. Satisfying working condition,
4. Improving human relations,
5. Higher Profits, and
6. High Stability

• Enforcing Discipline – A supervisor can undertake many steps to maintain discipline in the concern by regulating checks and measures, strictness in orders and instructions, keeping an account of general discipline of factory, implementing penalties and punishments for the indiscipline workers. All these above steps help in improving the overall discipline of the factory.

CONTROLLING
Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs in conformities with the plans adopted, instructions issued and principles established. Controlling ensures that there is effective and efficient utilization of organizational resources so as to achieve the planned goals. Controlling measures the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance, discovers the causes of such deviations and helps in taking corrective actions

According to Brech, “Controlling is a systematic exercise which is called as a process of checking actual performance against the standards or plans with a view to ensure adequate progress and also recording such experience as is gained as a contribution to
possible future needs.” According to Donnell, “Just as a navigator continually takes reading to ensure whether he is relative to a planned action, so should a business manager continually take reading to assure himself that his enterprise is on right course.”

Controlling has got two basic purposes

1. It facilitates co-ordination
2.  It helps in planning

Features of Controlling Function
Following are the characteristics of controlling function of management

1. Controlling is an end function- A function which comes once the performances are made in conformities with plans.
2. Controlling is a pervasive function- which means it is performed by managers at all levels and in all type of concerns.
3. Controlling is forward looking- because effective control is not possible without past being controlled. Controlling always look to future so that follow-up can be made whenever required.
4. Controlling is a dynamic process- since controlling requires taking review methods, changes have to be made wherever possible.
5. Controlling is related with planning- Planning and Controlling are two inseparable functions of management. Without planning, controlling is a meaningless exercise and without controlling, planning is useless. Planning presupposes controlling and controlling succeeds planning.

Process of Controlling
Controlling as a management function involves following steps:

1.Establishment of standards- Standards are the plans or the targets which have to be achieved in the course of business function. They can also be called as the criterions for judging the performance. Standards generally are classified into two

• Measurable or tangible – Those standards which can be measured and expressed are called as measurable standards. They can be in form of cost, output, expenditure, time, profit, etc.
• Non-measurable or intangible- There are standards which cannot be measured monetarily. For example- performance of a manager, deviation Controlling becomes easy through establishment of these standards because controlling is exercised on the basis of these standards.
• Measurement of performance- The second major step in controlling is to measure the performance. Finding out deviations becomes easy through measuring the actual performance. Performance levels are sometimes easy to measure and sometimes difficult. Measurement of tangible standards is easy as it can be expressed in units, cost, money terms, etc. Quantitative measurement becomes difficult when performance of manager has to be measured. Performance of a manager cannot be measured in quantities. It can be measured only by

1. Attitude of the workers,
2. Their morale to work,
3. The development in the attitudes regarding the physical environment, and
4. Their communication with the superiors.

It is also sometimes done through various reports like weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly reports.

2.Comparison of actual and standard performance- Comparison of actual performance with the planned targets is very important. Deviation can be defined as the gap between actual performance and the planned targets. The manager has to find out two things here- extent of deviation and cause of deviation. Extent of deviation means that the manager has to find out whether the deviation is positive or negative or whether the actual performance is in conformity with the planned performance. The managers have to exercise control by exception. He has to find out those deviations which are critical and important for business. Minor deviations have to be ignored. Major deviations like replacement of machinery, appointment of workers, quality of raw material, rate of profits, etc. should be looked upon consciously. Therefore it is said, “If a manager controls everything, he ends up controlling nothing.” For example, if stationery charges increase by a Once the deviation is identified, a manager has to think about various causes which have led to deviation. The causes can be

• Erroneous planning,
• Co-ordination loosens,
• Implementation of plans is defective, and
•  Supervision and communication is ineffective, etc.

3.Taking remedial actions- Once the causes and extent of deviations are known, the manager has to detect those errors and take remedial measures for it. There are two alternatives here

• Taking corrective measures for deviations which have occurred; and
• After taking the corrective measures, if the actual performance is not in conformity with plans, the manager can revise the targets. It is here the controlling process comes to an end. Follow up is an important step because it is only through taking corrective measures, a manager can exercise controlling.

Relationship between planning and controlling
Planning and controlling are two separate functions of management, yet they are closely related. The scopes of activities if both are overlapping to each other. Without the basis of planning, controlling activities becomes baseless and without controlling, planning
becomes a meaningless exercise. In absence of controlling, no purpose can be served by. Therefore, planning and controlling reinforce each other. According to Billy Goetz, “Relationship between the two can be summarized in the following points

1. Planning precedes controlling and controlling succeeds planning.
2. Planning and controlling are inseparable functions of management.
3. Activities are put on rails by planning and they are kept at right place through controlling.
4. The process of planning and controlling works on Systems Approach which is as follows :
   Planning → Results → Corrective Action
5. Planning and controlling are integral parts of an organization as both are important for smooth running of an enterprise.
6. Planning and controlling reinforce each other. Each drives the other function of management.

In the present dynamic environment which affects the organization, the strong relationship between the two is very critical and important. In the present day environment, it is quite likely that planning fails due to some unforeseen events. There controlling comes to the rescue. Once controlling is done effectively, it gives us stimulus to make better plans. Therefore, planning and controlling are inseparable functions of a business enterprise.