traditional human resource management, before recruitment and selection, the human
resource manager would do the following:
- Clarify the position to be filled through job analysis that, in principle, depends on
data from human resource plans, policies and strategies. However, since a
significant number of organisations do not have robust updated plans policies and
strategies, the exercise tends to be less effective. - Review job description and specification. Job description tells us what the jobholder
will be expected to do or achieve. However, it does not give more information on
what attributes should be possessed by the candidate in order to perform at a
superior level. Job specifications focus on qualifications and experiences that cannot
predict future performance, which is essentially determined by the possession of
specific talents and competencies. - Identify sources of recruitment. Since sources of recruitment are usually colleges,
labour market and from within the organisation, it is difficult to know the best
sources to target if the competencies required for a particular job are not clear. - Attract applicants through internal and external advertisement. Competencies for
superior performance are usually rare and difficult to attract and retain. If
competencies are well established and known, managers will have a better strategy
for attracting the best candidates. - Use selection techniques that identify the candidates with qualities that match most
with job description and specification. Since job descriptions and specifications
cannot predict performance, even the best selection techniques for that purpose
cannot be reliable. Some selection techniques are best suited for the exploration and
identification of particular talents and competencies, which cannot be found with
generalised tools. For example, a combination of attributes such as communication,
leadership skills, risk taking and drive for achievement can best be explored by the
use of assessment centres rather than interviews or written tests.
According to Kumar (2006), contrary to the limitations of the traditional approach, com-
petency based recruitment and selection has the following advantages:
- Competency based recruitment and selection helps to attract candidates who have
characteristics that are difficult to acquire through solely training and development.
Brans & Hondegem (2005) have found that while under traditional recruitment and
selection educational knowledge and titles were considered very useful, the same are
of little value in predicting best performers. - Job applicants are able to outline, explain and demonstrate their qualifications and
experiences in terms of competencies. - Competency approach provides line and staff management with opportunities to
jointly plan for the future development of talents and competencies.
Experiences of how effective or not the competency framework is, varies the world
over. For example, in Malaysian public service, recruitment starts with the identification
of competencies required by a specific job or job categories followed by the develop-
ment of competence based selection techniques which cover the application form, ad-
vertisement, behavioural interview, tests, simulations and assessment centres (Azmi
2010).