In personnel selection, people are not manufactured: they are made. Our task is to understand both needs and possibilities, to guide the client on the best possible way to solve their order.
The shared design of the PROFILE, which many times must be preceded by the shared design of the POSITION, is the beginning of an arduous task in which the desired must be combined with the possible. Selecting personnel is an artisanal task where we assist others in the delicate task of knowing with whom they will share their working hours and, ultimately, build the social edifice of the company.
The contribution of the psychologist to the task of personnel selection consists of broadening the vision about the resources that people can contribute in the performance of a specific function and in a specific context.
APPROACH TO THE PERSONNEL SELECTION PROCESS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A PSYCHOLOGIST. THE TASK AND ITS CONTEXT
The task of personnel selection implies having knowledge about two fields: about the organization or company, and about the social context of which it is part, in order to satisfy the first according to the existing possibilities in the second. From there, the psychologist will perform a diagnostic and prognostic reading of possible candidates, considering their current and potential aspects.
The recruiter must have knowledge and skills in two basic areas: contextual and specific.
Contextual knowledge has to do with knowledge about the business system (organizational culture) and about the social system (labor market, sources of call). Contextual skill is made up of interactional skills.
The specific knowledge focuses on abilities and knowledge to perceive and understand human behavior in their interests, capacities and abilities. Includes technical resources to interpret business needs and identify 'position' characteristics.
THE ROLE OF THE PSYCHOLOGIST IN THE SELECTION PROCESS. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROFESSIONAL ROLE
From the psychosocial point of view, the role is an extension of itself, which operates as a bridge between the person and the social environment. It is the link between individual and society, and therefore it is an operational tool to link one with the other.
The role scheme represents the repertoire of roles of an individual. At the base of the role we find a CORE OF THE I, unique and exclusive to each individual, it has a personal stamp, and it is the way it expresses itself in its different roles. Every role operates in a complementary link: for example, if the role is to be a clinical psychologist, there is a complementary role that is that of the patient.
Every role begins as an incipient role, where the person has been informed about the role but has not yet fully developed it. For example, the role of student on the first day of class. As it develops its role, the self expands and becomes increasingly incorporated into social interaction. When a person can think, feel and act in the face of the demands of their role, even in a situation of danger, they have achieved a good level of professional maturity.
The role scheme serves as a theoretical frame of reference to be able to read and understand human behavior in work situations, and in professional development situations. The roles do not depend only on the self but on the context: the role is built working with one's own expectations and those of others, combining both. It is important then to think about the joint construction of the bond and the expectations as a basis for defining homework objectives. For example, in the role of recruiter, he has to reinforce his link with the company.
The professional role is developed in three main stages: first, a project is defined about what one wants to do, second, a role is selected based on that project, and third, it is developed, moving from an incipient role to a specific role and developed.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF PEOPLE WITH THEIR TASK. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
From labor psychology, we define TASK as those actions carried out in order to obtain certain results based on agreed procedures, using knowledge, skills and a personal contribution, subject to certain contractual agreements in relation to variables such as time, space, and payment or retribution. If there is no pay, there is no work.
This concept evolved over time. At the beginning of the 20th century, in industrial society the task was central, and it was understood as an action or procedure required to obtain a result. At that time the important thing was to produce.
The industrial form of production had already begun to be questioned since the beginning of the 19th century, when concern about the social consequences of industrialization arose. The taylorist current of the twentieth century imposes the idea of a man machine, but later, the May Human Relations current revalues the human and interactional factor of work.
In the mid-twentieth century, a great concern for the instrument, the tool and technology in general was observed, while in the years from 1970 to 1990 the accent shifted again, but this time towards the environment, trying to understand the work from the systemic: as part of an active and convulsed social system, companies acknowledge receipt of changes in the environment and the rules of the game, which must also be reflected in our task as selectors. In recent times, in the age of knowledge and information, the accent is on human abilities, such is the evolution of the relationships between the individual and the task.
The study of the task problem requires an interdisciplinary contribution, and the key issue to be investigated today is still which people to choose, with whom to work, and the evaluation techniques used for such selection.
THE JOB ROLE AND THE PROFILE
The JOB is the place assigned to fulfill a task or function. This position is made up of five essential elements:
- Problems to be solved: points to the level of complexity of the task to be carried out, for which certain capacities, knowledge and skills are required Tasks to be carried out: routines and skills necessary to solve problems in a practical and simple way Role to be covered: set of social, institutional and personal expectations corresponding to the exercise of the function. It implies the psychosocial location of the worker Position within the formal structure: location within the organization chart of the company (manager, boss, employee, etc.) Cultural characteristics of the organization: type of company, its beliefs, values, degrees of freedom, etc.
PROFILE.- For the elaboration of a profile we need two types of information: that of the selector and that of the applicant. A first task in developing a profile is to determine what task the candidate should do. It is what is called the requirements, and that for example are those that appear in the notices requesting personnel with such or which functions. Then, the candidate is studied to see if she can fulfill that task. When a candidate is presented who responds to the agreed profile, the task is to continue working on something already started with the candidate.
The aspects that are required to know for the best performance of the selection task are the characteristics, conditions, knowledge and skills required, and they constitute the skeleton of the position to be filled.
Jaques distinguishes seven levels of complexity in the demands of a position, which correspond to the levels of development of human capacity. These are seven different levels of COMPLEXITY OF A TASK:
Level 1: Direct or sensory-motor judgment: of positions that require working with materials or people, such as cadet, receptionist, operator, doorman, etc.
Level 2: Diagnostic or imaginative-symbolic accumulation: includes tasks that require the handling of concepts and words, such as an evaluator, a laboratory analyst, etc. The selector will investigate here intellectual functions of analysis and synthesis. The task must be imagined (it cannot be 'seen' as in level 1).
Level 3: Alternative paths: when the task requires facing problems of a certain complexity for which there may be alternative paths. Ex: a negotiator.
Level 4: Parallel processing: Tasks where several things have to be attended simultaneously. For example, a zone manager who must attend several branches of a Bank.
Level 5: Total unified systems: These are highly complex tasks, made up of unified wholes (marketing, production, administration) that must be approached as a whole. For example, the task of a general manager.
Level 6: Global diagnostic accumulation: highly complex and abstract tasks, where business units are analyzed in the international context, which implies an analysis of the world in relation to variables and taking into account the configuration of each country.
Level 7: Requires working with parallel alternatives and choosing the most appropriate for each situation, which implies the capacity for analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization, anticipation and decision. It is the highest level of complexity and corresponds to executives of a large corporation, multinational or transnational.
The profile is built by reviewing the task, determining the level of complexity required according to its characteristics, and the expectations of the company regarding the position and the hierarchical structure in which they should be included.
To evaluate a person at level I, one day to three months is enough, while to evaluate a performance at the last levels, sometimes even 5 years are required.
Potential evaluation.- It is one that can allow exploring the future possibilities of an applicant. A potential evaluation takes into account aspects considered in a psychological evaluation and a performance evaluation, and projects them into the future. It is not about evaluating people, but their conditions.
In summary: one of the tools available to the personnel selector is the psychological evaluation. For this evaluation to be effective, we need to have a profile that allows us to confront the data with a referential framework (the profile itself). This profile is prepared with the person requesting the evaluation. The psychological evaluation is the final screen in a quality control process.
THE PROFILE, ESSENTIAL TOOL TO DISCRIMINATE RELEVANT INFORMATION
The task of the selector consists of elaborating a profile from the data provided by the context, clarifying the position based on the responsibilities it faces and the problems it must solve; If you also know the market, you have more elements to define a possible profile. The three basic sources of information to develop a profile are, then:
Position + Company + Market = Profile
As can be seen, one must also know the company, since for example incorporating people with very rigid characteristics into a very strict organization would accentuate features that would not favor the development of both parties. However, the onboard person must have quite a few things in common with the company.
In short, for the elaboration of the profile, the information base is in the characteristics of the task to be carried out and the context (company) where it will be carried out.
STAGES OF THE SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process can be carried out by a selector or a team of professionals. The total personnel selection process includes the following stages: analysis of the need, definition of the profile, pre-selection, interview, psychological evaluation, preparation of the ranking, and the final presentation of the most suitable candidates. The two initial stages are exploratory: characteristics of tasks, interests, and personal affinities are explored.
Pre-selection: of all the resumes received, those that are most relevant are selected based on the knowledge and experience of the candidates. This pre-selection can be made by the company or the selector based on the criteria that the company provided.
Interview and psychological evaluation: The interview can include a pre-interview or preliminary interview, brief exchange to check information about the curriculum. Also a technical interview, where knowledge, skills and abilities for the required position are examined, and an in-depth interview, two-person situation focused on the knowledge of the candidate, her history, personal characteristics, bonding style, interests, cultural traits.
Elaboration of the ranking: After the psychological evaluation, a thorough examination of each candidate is carried out to present the finalists, after comparative weighting of the sample. It is desirable to present two or three finalists.
THE INTERVIEW
The interview is a two-person situation between selector and applicant with the intention of establishing a relationship, limited in time and space, through which each one can obtain their purpose: that of the selector is to know the candidate and detect characteristics appropriate to the profile sought, and for the applicant, an opportunity to deploy their personal resources, meet the expectations of the evaluator and get the job.
Types of interview: The interview can be structured (it is based on a previously established agenda or questionnaire on certain topics), semi-structured (it offers greater degrees of freedom from triggers. Areas to explore are considered: work, family, ties, etc.), and free or unstructured (where the trigger can be a very general slogan such as 'tell me about yourself', etc).
The interview consists of three stages: pre-interview (for example, by phone), interview itself, and post-interview (reflection on what was seen in the interview, preparation of a report). The interview itself encompasses three moments: warm-up, development, and closing and comments.
Warm-up: It consists of preparing the right climate so that the interview can develop adequately: lower anxieties, tune in with the candidate, level obstacles, define rules of the game, create a relaxed atmosphere. The interviewer has a leading role here.
Development: Significant influx of information by the applicant, who here then plays an active and leading role. The interviewer goes to the background, but intervenes with clarifying questions, etc. The interviewer must, on the one hand, put himself in the place of the other, and secondly, he must configure and organize the data he receives.
Conclusion and closure: The interviewer resumes his active role and provides information satisfying the applicant's curiosity within the agreed reserve limits. It is a stage of synthesis and return.
THE PROCESS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION. DATA UNDERSTANDING AND INTEGRATION
The psychological evaluation implies the administration of a battery of tests, which include objective or psychometric techniques, and other less structured techniques, projective tests, such as the Rorschach. Each test gives us different information, and that information must be compared with the profile.
It is advisable that every battery contains at least two components: 1) a level or performance test that reproduces the work situation. You must perform an assigned task. 2) Projective techniques: such as the construction of stories from spots or poorly structured sheets.
THE REPORT
When the psychological evaluation process has finished, the evaluator has enough information to process two different types of communication:
- The written report: to the company or applicant. The verbal return: to the applicant.
The report is the result of the preparation of the material obtained and expresses the supposed knowledge that the evaluator has achieved about the candidate. It must facilitate the reading and understanding of the person who will read it, that is, the applicant.
It should include an initial presentation with the relevant data and information. Then, the evaluator's arguments are presented to relate the characteristics of the applicant with the required profile. Reasons why the candidate is suitable for the position should be included, as well as the reasons that may be an obstacle to the position. Then you must include a synthesis in the conclusions.
The reports are confidential and should only be read by the final decision maker. It is advisable to have a report template that favors presentation and makes it easier to read.
The data that a report must include are: 1) the intellectual aspects of the candidate, 2) the manifest behavior that arises from the interviews and the psychological evaluation, 3) The personality dynamics, based on a diagnostic opinion based on technical resources (battery of tests), 4) Conclusion: includes a synthesis with the aspects that are considered relevant to characterize the applicant based on the profile sought.
A report should contribute to generating alternatives for thinking about a candidate, in relation to the institutional circumstances in which they are offered to participate.
RETURN
The return is the information that the evaluator provides to the candidate, regardless of the decision that the company makes in relation to their application.
The return occurs at the closing stage of the candidate's evaluation process, and takes place at the end of the psychological interview. What is returned is the information collected and elaborated by the evaluator, and it focuses on mutual expectations, the respective roles (of evaluator and candidate), the characteristics of the message (understandable by the candidate, without technical terms), and fears. and modes of interaction.
The return is oral, it is made in a work session and it has a variable duration, depending on the link that has been generated and the mutual interest. It legitimizes the role of the evaluator by allowing her to carry out an orientation task, beyond the diagnosis. It offers the evaluated a way of seeing, thinking, feeling, offering an opportunity to relate to some aspect of their own that is not recognized or idealized.
The evaluator allows him to make a synthesis, where he can confront his hypotheses about the candidate, thus avoiding falling into a fanciful construction.
MONITORING. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER?
When the worker has been accepted by the company, a period of cultural adjustment begins: two worlds of experiences come into contact (the one brought by the worker, and the world of the company), they need to be recognized and begin to amalgamate. Almost always the new member has a highly valued image of the organization, that is, they have positive expectations.
The new member begins to explore the organization and its guidelines, and the company must provide the elements so that the idea that is formed is true and functional. It will internalize you about your general projects, your position in the market, who your peers are and who your competitors are, the management of time and space, etc.
The selector prepares the finalist candidate by making him aware of the organization, and at the same time prepares the client (manager, etc.) by informing him of the characteristics of the new member.
This first stage of the life of the member in the company is called INDUCTION PERIOD, which implies knowing the culture of the company and establishing links with it. In this period, both, employee and company, are discovering their aspects reciprocally.
The essential aspect of this initial period points to the reciprocal recognition of the parties from a sociocultural perspective, a condition for the bond to be established and the reciprocal expectations can find an opportunity for satisfaction. Therefore, the selector, who will guide the new member, must have a good understanding of the business culture.
The monitoring is carried out in two ways: a) the monitoring carried out by the same organization internally through its human resources department, and b) the monitoring done by the selector who conducted the search. In the latter case, the selector must, first, monitor the cultural decoding that the new member is making, and second, take cognizance of the observations and opinions of his immediate superiors.
Therefore, the follow-up task must be carried out at three levels: in relation to the hired person, in relation to their immediate boss, and in relation to the Human Resources department, if it is an external selector (that is, a company selection of personnel hired by the company).
The follow-up stage must contribute elements to the selection process itself, in a feedback process without which the selection would be incomplete and would run the risk of repeating mistakes with new applicants.
APPENDIX: GROUP EVALUATION TECHNIQUES
Definition and characterization
The purpose of group assessment techniques is to obtain information on the personal characteristics, abilities and aptitudes that people can bring into play in situations of interaction with others, as well as the responses that they generate or stimulate in others.
The evaluation is done through an 'as if', that is, obstacles and problems are presented for the participant to solve by himself and in relation to others.
There are different group evaluation techniques, but they all have in common: working with a group of people summoned for the evaluation, predetermined place and time, proposed task, coordinator, observer (optional), theoretical framework, parameters from which to consider the phenomena, and agreement on what criteria evaluators will use to make judgments.
The stages are three:
- Preparation (warming up) Realization (dramatization) Closing (comment) with conclusions and feedback The context of the experience
The context of the experience is none other than the COMPANY itself, conceived as an interdisciplinary field where actions are taken and resources are used to obtain advantageous results. The company is the context in which the different group evaluation techniques can be applied.
It is a place of interdiscipline in that it works in an even, symmetrical situation, with interlocutors who handle different concepts, terminologies and categories of analysis. Since the company is a place of interdiscipline, the possibility of doing field work is more evident, something that cannot be done in an office or laboratory job. The company investigates and at the same time operates to obtain benefits.
We define organization as a set of people, with different assignments of responsibilities and tasks, generally based on a hierarchical model, and hired to solve problems. For special problems, an external consultant, specialized in her field, can be hired.
When the company grows more, it ceases to have direct control over the personnel, and needs to incorporate a personnel department to manage it. A specialist in Human Resources advises this department. Among these specialists are lawyers, for the legal risks involved in personnel management, and sometimes personnel engineers are also hired, who tend to see man as a working machine and analyze how he can perform more. The last professionals to join are psychologists, who are not very knowledgeable about a field of work but are knowledgeable about the behavior and motivations of the staff.
In short, Human Resources within the organization with the area that deals with attending and managing what happens with people, and whose main task is to bring people from outside to replace those who left or were promoted. It includes tasks of selection, training and development of people.
It is in this area of Human Resources where group evaluations are carried out, which always begins with the definition of a profile and then with the application of the evaluation technique.
WHY AND WHAT IS IT EVALUATED FOR?
It is evaluated with three basic purposes: to select, relocate or develop personnel.
Selection.- Process by which a person joins a company. It involves choosing who or who are the candidates with the greatest chances of entering. Generally, there are more candidates than positions.
Relocation.- It is carried out when you want to take advantage of existing resources for a new project, rescuing the history and experience of existing personnel (the accent is on the past). Thus, it has fewer degrees of freedom than in the case of selection, since it must be chosen among those that are.
Development.- When people are chosen to build tomorrow near (promotion) or far away (careers, replacement cadres). These are choices about the future. Generally looking for a seedbed of young professionals who are capable people, with a good academic level, curiosity, flexibility, etc. to be able to cover higher liability positions in the future.
In selection, the accent is on the present, on relocation in the past, and on development, in the future.
The profile is the first thing to be drawn, as it allows the chosen characteristics to be evaluated and duly appreciated.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK CHOSEN
The theoretical framework that we use must be permanently enriched with regular practice, and can be a synthesis made by ourselves of various theories. In this book we use as a frame of reference the psychodramatic approach of Jaime Rojas Bermúdez, which allows us to work with group situations.
Psychodramatic theory implies the possibility of playing various roles in a group. And roles are defined from relationships or ties with others. People learn and exercise roles from childhood onwards.
Complementary relationships can be established, where both parties find satisfaction, but there are also barely complementary relationships. Roles are learned and developed in action, and as one has more experience, there is a greater range of internal alternatives to face and resolve situations.
For example, it may happen that a person must face situations for which he is not prepared, such as when he joins a company. It has a poor repertoire of alternatives, with the consequent high level of anxiety. The resource he uses is to act out more trained roles (his self is dilated) even if they are not relevant, with which the mismatch is accentuated. Psychodrama here allows you to exercise roles where you can think, feel and act simultaneously, without any of these experiences obscuring the other (for example, acting without thinking).
The group assessment situation should favor the development of natural anxieties in the face of the unknown, provide security for potential roles to emerge, and provide an opportunity to exercise those roles. The psychologist is a promoter of health conditions.
SOMETHING MORE ABOUT THE PSYCHODRAMATIC PERSPECTIVE AND THE LEVELS OF OBSERVATION
The role scheme is the instrument that allows us to investigate the interactional possibilities of a candidate. This includes current roles and potential roles, since the subject may have underdeveloped roles that increase their anxiety, which in turn influences the task to be performed. The task of the evaluator is to create the conditions of security so that the candidate can develop incipient or underdeveloped roles, thus making their potential aspects emerge.
Pseudo-roles will also be explored. These are precarious roles that can look a lot socially, as if they were well developed, but do not have the personal consistency required to exercise them. They are artificial roles. They can play as support elements if they favor learning. For example, an evaluator who protects himself behind the tests he administers as if he were an evaluative psychologist.
The roles are developed in action and from contact with the complementary role (for example evaluator with evaluated, etc). The goal of group techniques is that individuals can develop their potential roles through interaction with other members of the group. All these role concepts are taken from psychodramatic theory.
The evaluation is developed, according to the psychodramatic technique, in three moments or stages: warming up, dramatization, and closing.
The warm-up seeks to favor security conditions, in order to produce a favorable environment for the emergence of the repertoire of roles with which the members can intervene. Evaluator and participants seek to 'tune in'.
At the time of the dramatization, the task itself is performed. It is the central nucleus of the activity, which begins with the proposal referring to the activity that was chosen to fulfill.
In the third moment, the closing, attention is focused on the task carried out, and it can have different characteristics: inviting the group to share comments or feelings without specific instructions, reviewing the task carried out through a joint evaluation, making a synthesis process and return by the coordinator, etc.
What happened in the group has as a context the context of the company, and this in turn is immersed in a social context. The idea is that what is learned in the group can be transferred to the company and social life in general.
The design of a group assessment experience may have several goals: 1) Current role development and consideration of skills and interaction skills. 2) Appreciate the potential aspects, in addition to the current ones, that is, potential roles not yet developed, and 3) serve as an enriching experience for all participants, evaluated and evaluators. These three goals are also called LEVELS.
REPERTORY OF ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES
We understand by TEG (Group Evaluation Technique) any activity designed for this purpose, structured in three stages, that takes place within an established framework and that operates as a constant as well as the instructions given to the group.
The resulting responses must be dynamically understood in order to be able to categorize them within certain established parameters, which entails: a) definition of criteria for the consideration of responses, b) categorization of responses, and c) development of response rating scales.
Group Evaluation Techniques are divided into two main types:
1) Those who work on real tasks, that is, contextualized in explicit institutional space and time, known, with variables known to all. For example, a specific work situation within a company.
2) Those who work on fantastic proposals, in a fictional plane, relatively far from everyday reality, and where therefore it is necessary to define certain laws that regulate the relationships and conditions of experience. You work on a plane of unreality, of an 'as if'.
The proposals on the plane of fantasy can be of many types, of which we can mention two: the case method, and exercises of realization with materials.
The case method consists of working with real cases, which may or may not have been well solved at the time, but where the participants have ample freedom to solve them as they want (for this reason it is a fictional proposal) putting their emotional and intellectual intellectual resources into play. experiences to solve it. Cases are generally used where the typical problems of the position for which the search is carried out appear.
The method of exercises carried out with materials implies a high level of participation. The use of three-dimensional materials offers an excellent way to express and realize your ideas. For example, a group is given a set of materials (plasticine, sheets, etc.) with the instruction that they must carry out a work together. When they do the homework, we will evaluate leadership, organizational skills, teamwork skills, resource management, etc.
Group Assessment Techniques can also be classified according to the materials used: structured (houses, trees, etc.), semi-structured (lace pieces, Lego, etc.), and unstructured (plasticine, papier-mâché, etc.).
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