Exploring employee selection procedures in South African organisations

Abstract

Orientation: Using appropriate selection procedures assists organisations in acquiring applicants with the right competencies, a positive attitude and alignment with organisational values, providing a competitive advantage in the market.

Research purpose: The study aims to investigate the selection procedures used by South African organisations, including interviews, psychological assessments, reference checks, physical checks, and employment offers.

Motivation for the study: The literature review revealed that there is limited research on employee selection practices in the South African context across various industries and organisations.

Research approach/design and method: This qualitative study included a sample of 60 participants, and interpretivism was the paradigm the study followed. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ATLAS.ti.

Main findings: The study revealed that the most commonly used selection procedures included online competency-based interviews, psychometric assessments and reference checks.

Practical/managerial implications: Not having an objective and well-trained selection panel may be detrimental to the fairness of the employee selection process. Managers should have different and innovative employee selection procedures to appoint employees with the appropriate competencies at the right time. Human resource practitioners need to act as change agents to promote the adoption of technology and innovation in their selection practices.

Contribution/value-add: This study was conducted acrosss various organisations and proposes a new selection process that human resource management practitioners can use to select the right candidate. A seven-step selection framework is presented.