Business Essays – Decision Making Recruitment

prevent employees from taking clients to competitors. Similarly, Draper v Mears Ltd demonstrates the consequences of not following proper dismissal procedures after firing an employee for serious misconduct. Therefore, it is essential not to underestimate the decision-making process when hiring due to its time-consuming nature, associated expenses, stress levels involved, and potential legal consequences if errors occur. With recent expansions in discrimination laws in the UK, careful consideration during recruitment has become even more vital.Our company has implemented a comprehensive recruitment policy that includes all protected groups outlined by religious beliefs, individuals undergoing gender reassignment processes, and those covered by age and disability discrimination laws. The recruitment process itself is extensive and complex. The timeline for when CVs leave HR and when the department sends a decision back to HR may vary depending on the section and director involved. However, it typically consists of several key stages: CV filtering, CV reappraisal, pre-interview assessment, interview stage, post-interview evaluation, and final decision making.

During the initial CV filtering stage, HR sends all received CVs to the lead interviewer who is usually also the director responsible for that specific section. The lead interviewer reviews these CVs alongside a job description provided by HR and selects which ones they wish to proceed with or consider further. While this selection process follows our company's hiring policy, there are no written guidelines for it.

Directors make their final decisions about candidates based on feedback received from various CV assessments conducted by HR. This feedback takes into account factors such as salary expectations (taking budget constraints into consideration) and discrepancies between a candidate's recent job experience and the position they are applying for.

It's worth

noting that some candidates may not have a strong start during their campaign and may require more time for preparation and guidance.When considering the candidate for a specific stage of the project, it is important to take into account any exaggerations or unexplained gaps in their CV. The level of experience that the candidate possesses should also be considered, whether it is too limited or too broad, and whether they are overqualified or underqualified. Additionally, concerns about how well the candidate will fit in due to language or cultural barriers should be taken into consideration. If there are instances where "we did" is used instead of "I did" in their CV, this may raise doubts. Typically, directors receive approximately 20 CVs per job opening and need to narrow down their choices to just a few candidates. Therefore, it can be assumed that most directors follow an administrative model when making selections. However, relying solely on this classical model would be misleading due to varying quality of information provided in CVs. A more realistic approach would recognize the influence of bounded rationality in decision-making processes here. It is likely that directors prioritize candidates who have had similar experiences as themselves as campaigners.During the initial stage of the selection process, directors often use different heuristics to make decisions (Vecchio, 2006:187). These heuristics can include rejecting candidates who have been unemployed for more than six months or requiring them to have knowledge of a specific programming language. The purpose of this stage is to select CVs for further consideration and provide feedback to HR. It is important for HR to receive feedback for every CV, even if candidates

do not request it, as part of internal quality control. To assist with this process, the director often involves trusted team members who provide informal feedback. These sessions typically take place after 5pm or on Saturdays and are followed by a casual gathering at the saloon where the director rewards participants with a free unit of ammunition. Whether conducted in a meeting room or via email, this informal session takes approximately an hour to complete. Some may question whether three or four minutes per CV is sufficient, but the director values the importance of making an initial impression. This phenomenon may be influenced by groupthink as defined by Janis (1972). During the CV review phase, promising resumes from the previous stage are forwarded by the director to two or four other team members (Kahneman and Tversky, 1980 cited by Vecchio, 2006:188).Based on company policy, a majority vote requires an odd number of referees, with a minimum of three. Trusted team members are ideally excluded from this process, although there are no explicit rules against their participation. Reviewers individually assess each CV using an HR template that includes sections for factors such as technical ability and educational background. Points are assigned to each factor and totaled. In the event of a tie, members vote to break it. The rankings of the CVs are determined by the totals and outcome of the vote. These activities can be conducted in various ways: in person, through conference call, email, or video conference. This structured approach is similar to NGT and Delphi techniques and helps mitigate challenges related to group interaction. It should be noted that this approach differs from

the "strict" Delphi technique where decision makers never physically meet. Instances where the "strict" Delphi technique was actually followed or reported incidents involving it are not remembered. Completed CV review forms provide feedback for HR at this stage.The same team responsible for reviewing the CVs also serves as the tentative interview team.The pre-interview stage involves gathering and deciding how interviews will be conducted by assigning roles, determining duration, and selecting a lead interviewerThis stage, typically lasting around 15 to 20 minutes, allows team members to excuse themselves from the interviewing team if necessary. The absence of employees during proposed dates, whether due to vacation, business travel, or disagreement from being in the minority during a vote, can pose challenges in reaching a compromise and raise concerns. Other employees often lack the skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm needed to ask meaningful questions during interviews and primarily assist with numerical aspects. In one instance, a new employee who had only been on the job for two weeks was asked to participate in an interview without much understanding of the company's values or the significance of the process; nevertheless, she eagerly agreed even though she didn't know where the coffee machine was located. At this stage, HR receives feedback including proposed dates and names of interviewers. While there is generally an agreed-upon format for interviews at this stage, there may be instances where some members forget necessary materials. Throughout the process, the lead interviewer acts as a moderator.Afterward, a quick check is conducted within approximately five minutes to ensure certain situations did not occur. The text discusses various situations that can occur during the recruitment process, such as a

candidate not meeting expectations or having discrepancies in their CV, administrative errors, confusion leading to the wrong candidate showing up, or a candidate expressing disinterest during the interview. If it is decided not to proceed further, feedback is given by the lead interviewer to HR and the process is halted.

The decision stage follows a similar structure as the CV review stage but involves each interviewer completing an interview form. The recruitment process itself has a well-established structure in place to address personality issues that can affect group decision-making. However, there is a risk of groupthink when relying too heavily on trusted team members. Furthermore, this process can be time-consuming and some individuals may not take it seriously if they view it as separate from their regular job responsibilities. Personally, I have participated in weekend CV reappraisals multiple times to meet HR's Monday deadline.

The company policy mandates at least three interviewers for different positions. There are concerns about the quality and questioning skills of positions that follow this policy. The skill sets required for an interviewer are not clearly outlined in the company policy, which can lead to discrimination during job interviews.
Inquiries about personal details can be seen as discriminatory, even if they are well-intentioned. It is important to note that in the past 10 years, there has only been one incident of a new hire leaving during probation and no lawsuits. However, it should be mentioned that this particular individual faced other challenges such as fitting in and lacking information. Despite company policy against discussing work in public places, informal memos are exchanged at a bar on Fridays. Unfortunately, someone who did not frequent the

bar was left out of this important information loop due to personal reasons.

Preparing for an interview requires sufficient time and understanding of the job description. It is important to seek clarification on any unclear demands or aspects of the role. Making well-informed decisions within time constraints can be difficult. Effective decision makers approach decisions with an open mind and avoid biases such as the aura effect, sunk-cost trap, recentness error, and similarity error.

The similarity error occurs when decision makers favor candidates with similar career paths. The recency error happens when decision makers focus solely on recent issues without considering all relevant factors that could impact the current situation. Good decision makers do not succumb to pressure and rush their decisions (Perlow et al., 2002:931, as cited by Laureate Online Education, 2008:8).According to Staw and Ross (1980, cited by Vecchio, 2006:190), this characteristic can also present challenges. Additionally, adopting a Kantian steadfast view can pose a challenge as well. However, good decision makers actively seek advice and willingly take responsibility for outcomes while acknowledging past failures. They prioritize and promote employees who exhibit a socialized need for power rather than personalized power. In conclusion, good decision makers possess numerous qualities of effective leaders such as having a clear vision and sense of mission or purpose (Laureate Online Education , 2008:8).Reflecting on my analysis of the recruitment process, I feel somewhat embarrassed. Despite reviewing and approving the process before signing off on it under the belief that it was fair and honest, you may be wondering about my future actions. The references include Janis, I. L.'s "Victims of Groupthink" (1972), Vecchio, R.P.'s "Organizational Behavior: Core Concepts" (2006),

Water For Fish's website (n.d.), Descartes' "Principles of Philosophy" (1644), Hobbes' "Leviathan" (1651), Hume's "A Treatise on Human Nature" (1748) available online, Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1690), Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" available online, and Nagel, T.'s "What is it like to be a chiropteran?" available online.Furthermore, the website "http://www.abelard.org/turpap/turpap.htm#index" offers valuable insights on decision making, while the Wikipedia page "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_making" provides relevant information. Additionally, the philosopher Wittgenstein's Tractatus is also applicable to this topic.