Personnel selection: 7 fundamental steps

The best thing about an organization is its people, which is why we talk about Personnel Selection. This is the one who will push any objectives defined by the organization and will be in charge of working for them. Check this post to find out how to do proper recruitment. 

What is personnel selection?

Personnel selection or recruitment consists of choosing the best talents for a vacant job position.. However, this description is quite limited if we consider all the aspects it implies.

Recruitment is a process that consists of various steps and is carried out by the People area of each organization. A good selection of personnel is essential, since the human capital of companies is the main engine to develop the strategies defined in the Organizational Development plan. If you are not yet considering one, you can read more here.

Continuing with the selection of personnel, this has different steps. For example, identifying the skills required by the positions to be sought, attracting the most qualified talents, interviewing them, and then evaluating their applications for the vacancies. However, the success of recruitment will depend on how well organized this process is. Let's review below what are the 7 steps that we recommend for this.

7 fundamental steps of the personnel selection process

To carry out a correct personnel selection process, it is important to consider 7 steps which at Ninja Excel we believe are fundamental. The development of these stages will ensure that you follow an initial strategy and therefore, achieve results that respond to it. To know them, read the following points:

Identify personnel selection needs

In this process you must study the current job in the organization. Start by analyzing who does what tasks in the company. With this you will be able to define the qualifications, skills and experiences necessary for each available position. You will also be able to identify new strategic positions that help increase productivity in the institution.

Create the job description

Once you have identified the selection needs, it is time to write the job offers. For this, It is important that you describe the tasks to be carried out in form and substance. By this we mean that you consider that in order to obtain the talent you need, you have to communicate with them in a language that they understand and that explains, as precisely as possible, the role they will play in the organization. This will bring you closer to your ideal candidate and increase your chances of making a successful hire. 

Search for talent

Publishing the description of positions you held on job portals or platforms such as LinkedIn will make your offer reach more people. This way, you will have a wider range of possible candidates to choose the most qualified. Remember that just because a position is available, it does not mean that you should hire the first applicant.

Pre-selection of personnel

Now that you have identified what talents the company needs, written the job descriptions, and published the offers, You must make a pre-selection of the candidates. The idea is that you can make a filter that helps you minimize the number of people to interview. in the next step. For this, we recommend that you review the skills that match what is indicated in the vacancy description or review the work history of each applicant. 

Interviews and skills tests

Once you have filtered the most relevant candidates for the available vacancies, it is time to carry out the interviews. This stage It is very relevant since it will be your first approach to the people who will be part of your organization in the near future.. For this, we recommend that you adapt to the candidate's current reality, that is, that you offer them the possibility of having a meeting by video call or in person. Also, it is good that you do more than one round of interviews with different skills tests, to ensure that you have checked all the necessary aspects to make a decision.

Evaluation and job offers

In this stage you must choose who will be the next member of your company. We know that it is difficult, especially if you received many candidates. A first step forward will be to select a shortlist, or 3 candidates, and then choose from a more limited group and this task will be easier. Also remember that it is important that you not only communicate this decision to the selected person, since it is important that you be transparent with those who applied and invested time in the selection process.

Introduction and onboarding of new employees

Onboarding is one of the most important aspects. This is because, in the same way as when we invite someone to our home, giving a good welcome will increase the feeling of belonging to the place, generating greater commitment to the organization. In this process The important thing is that you can answer as many questions as possible, since this will allow the new member to assume his duties with all the necessary information.. Below, we leave you brief tips for this:

• Before onboarding as such, send the new worker all bureaucratic information via email. By this we mean the paperwork: contract, security protocols, guidelines, etc.
• Divide the information into parts and communicate what is important. This process can involve the transfer of a lot of information. Don't overwhelm the new team member with data that they may acquire over time.
• Leave space for questions. It is normal to have them in the introduction processes and it will be relevant to be able to answer them at this stage.
• Introduce the new member to the rest of the team members. This will make you feel included in the group.

With these steps, you can now configure your own personnel selection process in a neat and orderly manner. However, there is still something else to know about, which are the different recruitment techniques available.

Personnel selection techniques

As we mentioned before, for this process there are different personnel selection techniques. These will be very useful for step 5 that we saw, in which you must interview and evaluate the skills of your candidates. Let's review the important ones below:

1- Traditional interview

The fundamental thing here is to get to know the candidate as much as possible in one hour. We know that this is very difficult, since it is practically impossible to fully know someone in such a limited period of time. However, there are tricks to approach this, such as asking about their work history, or tasks that have been particularly difficult or easy for them. Also ask about their hobbies or create fictitious extreme scenarios that do not necessarily have to do with work, since this will allow you to know the applicant's soft skills and also evaluate their criteria for hypothetical cases.

2- Psychometric tests

Psychometric evaluations or tests are widely used as they help determine the potential traits of a collaborator. These study aptitudes, personality types, learning and other traits that are relevant when integrating a new member into a work team. It is important that you consider that these must be applied by psychology professionals to do them correctly.

3- Skills evaluation

The skills assessment is ideal for technical jobs. The idea is to put the person in a context as similar as possible to the eventual job they will develop and see how they perform. It is important that this process be accompanied by qualified personnel who can handle the situation if there is a problem.

4- References

As is popularly said, paper goes a long way. For this reason, references are a great ally when confirming what is written in the resume. A tip for this is to select two or three contacts from the most recent jobs, since these will be able to get much closer to the candidate's current reality and will have more up-to-date information.

5- Gamification or Role Play

Gamification or role play is one of the most modern techniques for personnel selection. They consider using a pleasant and controlled environment to carry out a situation very similar to the work to be done. This method is highly recommended for positions such as Sales, in which the candidates will be put in that position and the interviewer will be a potential client. This will allow you to know how they behave and their skills for the position in action.

Now, you know how to have a good personnel selection process. And always remember: the most important thing about an organization is its people. Also check out the following TED talk that will help you become a master of recruiting: