Personnel Selection

Definition

Personnel selection is the process used for hiring individuals from the pool of job applicants having the required qualifications, knowledge, skills and competence to fill the vacant positions in the organization. The personnel selection process is the tool that management applies to differentiate between applicants who are qualified and who are unqualified by using different techniques. Selection is a negative process of employment because the applicants who qualify are only offered employment and the unqualified applicants are denied the opportunity. The aim of the selection process is to choose the most suitable candidate whose contributions will be most valuable for the organization.

Essentials for the procedure of personnel selection

The personnel selection procedure has a number of stages which help the organization in securing more information about an applicant. At every stage, some applicants are rejected because their skills and knowledge do not match with the organization’s needs. Therefore, it is very important to prepare a proper selection procedure that will suit the organization’s requirements and will help in choosing the most suitable applicant. For a successful selection procedure, the following requirements should be satisfied:

• The number of applicants should be sufficient; otherwise it will be difficult to choose the best candidate.
• There should be persons who will select the candidates and those persons should be chosen on the basis of the type of candidates to be selected.
• A proper job specification should be developed beforehand with which candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, etc can be compared.

Importance of personnel selection procedure

For any organization, success is dependent on the quality of personnel that are selected for the job. So, the selection procedure is a very significant function of an organization’s management. The significance of selection can be seen from the following factors:

1. Procuring skilled workers- personnel selection helps in hiring only the desirable candidates.

2. Reducing the cost of training – proper personnel selection reduces training cost because the qualified candidates will be good at grasping the techniques of work.

3. Personnel problems can be solved – proper personnel selection means workers will be satisfied with their work and hence personnel problems in the organization can be reduced.