UK recruiters have no faith in selection methods - but use them anyway!

UK recruiters use a wide range of methods when selecting successful job applicants, but only a handful of them actually believe they are a useful way of predicting a person’s likely success in the job.

The latest findings from the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), produced by Cranfield School of Management, reveal that a massive 86% of HR Managers who take up written references do not find them useful predictors, whilst 78% of those that use panel interviews in recruitment and 67% that use CVs do not find them indicators of future success.

More advanced selection techniques, traditionally thought to have more validity, don’t fair much better with a high proportion of respondents having similar negative views on competency-based interviews, assessment centres and psychometric tests.

Despite all these methods being perceived as having little predictive value, organisations continue to use them as the main way to identify suitable managerial, professional and technical employees. Of more than 800 HR managers surveyed:

- 96% use written references to some extent
- 89% use panel interviews
- 88% use CVs
- 85% use competency-based interviews
- 60% use psychometric tests
- and 51% use assessment centres.

Dr Emma Parry, Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management, said:

- These results suggest that organisations are not really taking care over the choice and validation of the selection methods they use. They are not choosing selection methods based on how well they will actually predict future on-the job-performance.

Instead, organisations may be using particular methods because they have used them in the past or because their competitors use them. This is particularly surprising as some of these methods involve a great deal of time and expense.

The research also shows that many organisations do not verify the information that is given to them by applicants during the recruitment process. Only 59% of organisations check qualifications from a source other than the applicant, while 78% check experience.

More striking perhaps is the fact that only 48% of those organisations surveyed check for a criminal record.

Commenting on the findings, Shaun Tyson, Professor of Human Resource Management at Cranfield School of Management, said:

Given the problems of relying on one method, it is likely that employers will use a combination of selection methods to improve their selection decisions, especially for the more senior roles. We are all aware of the disastrous consequences of inadequate background checks so I find it very surprising that so many employers are prepared to recruit people without carrying out the most basic verification of facts, he said.

The latest RCI findings also show that:

- Few organisations use online selection tools with just 36% accepting online submission of CVs, 28% using online application forms, 14% responding to applicants automatically and 10% using online tests.

- 84% of organisations provide training for interviewers or assessors; 70% use structured rating formats and 57% use detailed competency frameworks for selection.

- Most respondents see relevant job experience as the most important factor when assessing an applicant’s suitability for a job, with 70% rating this as very important.