Recruitment and Selection process

Recruitment and Selection process

Asking the Same Questions

The recruitment and selection process at Farringtons School involves the HR department preparing job description, finding the right candidates, managing the application process, selection of the candidates, and induction. The recruitment process at the Schools is ideal and attracts a relatively larger number of qualified applicants who survive the screening process and accept positions with the organization when offered. While performing this process, the Schools must observe specific regulations and legislation related to asking the candidates similar questions. Farringtons School observes this regulatory framework by ensuring that they use similar questions to compare the candidates’ experience and qualifications (Farringtons Schools, n.d). This ensures fairness in the recruitment process in accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act.

Similarly, the legislation requires that each candidate is given the same opportunity to impress the interviewer by asking every candidate the same question. For instance, when the Farringtons Schools wants to recruit new teachers in the Physical Exercise (PE) department, it is necessary for the HR to ask the candidates similar questions based on the job description, the expected responsibility the teacher will exercise, experiences, qualities, and skills required for the position (Farringtons Schools, n.d). Alongside eliminating ethical dilemmas and issues in the recruitment process, asking candidates the same questions allows the schools to ensure that the interviewer is not under pressure to recall the required questions, thus removing the risk of forgetting important questions (Fletcher, 2012). Furthermore, asking the candidates similar questions has helped Farringtons’ interview panel to avoid discriminatory questions.

Considerably, asking the candidates similar questions has helped the HR team assess the value of every interview question prior to the recruitment and selection process. For instance, the structure and value of these questions are based on evaluating the likelihood of the questions to elicit information that would subsequently give a fair assessment of the candidate’s ability to execute the job tasks in correspondence to the job description.

Interviewer Must Not Be Related to the Candidate.

Another ethical issue arising at Farringtons’ recruitment process is the idea that the interviewer must not be related to the candidate. The recruitment and selection guidance policy at Farrington School stipulates that the interviewer must not be related to the candidate (Farringtons Schools, n.d). This ensures that the recruitment and selection process follows best practices towards eliminating ethical issues. The policy requires the interviewers to adopt a Guaranteed Interview Policy Framework to ensure impartiality during the interview process. Moreover, At Farrington, the HR department conducts assessments before the interview process that focuses on establishing the relationships between the candidates and the interviewers (Farringtons Schools, n.d). Similarly, the policy at the school requires interviewers to be cautious of biased assessments.

Unconscious bias involves an interviewer mistreating specific individuals or groups, based on their relationship with the candidate. While selecting the candidates, the interviewers’ decisions are likely to be influenced by unconscious bias, despite the interviewers being progressive (Fletcher, 2012). For instance, while recruiting its staff, the HR department conducts criteria that ensure fairness throughout the recruitment process involving the ability of the candidate to perform roles described in the job description (Fletcher, 2012) excellently. Moreover, the Guaranteed Interview Policy ensures that the interviewer identifies the best candidates for the job position that will result in equality and inclusion in the school’s recruitment process. Consequently, this has enabled Farrington School to recruit potential employees without bias based on the relationship the candidate has with the interviewer. Hence the organization has enhanced its employer brand.

Gender and Ethnic Balance on the Panels

Gender and ethnic balance on interview panels have recently attracted attention at Farrington School, especially when the candidates for a position are of the same gender or ethnicity. The recent case at the school saw six female candidates applying for the opposition of a PE teacher (Farringtons Schools, n.d). Ethical concerns arose on whether the six should be interviewed by three female interviewers only or the need for a man to be included in the interview panel. The Equality Act also protects workers from discriminatory action or harassment from co-workers from color, sex, gender, or age by ensuring that employers implement policies and programs that ensure inclusion of all genders both on the interview board as well as among the candidates (Powney et al., 2013).

The recruitment and selection panel at Farrington School fosters a representative panel that is more diverse about ethnicity and gender. The organization’s HR department recognizes that gender and ethnic balance panel will contribute to better decisions and better confrontation of unconscious bias during the process of selection (Farringtons Schools, n.d). Best ethical practices in the recruitment and selection process require employers to ensure the existence of an ethnic and gender balance interview board, irrespective of the notion that the candidates might be of one specific ethnicity or gender. Powney et al. (2013) state that gender and ethnically balanced interview panel ensures that the board employs appropriate measures to assist applicants from minority groups, including candidates with protected characteristics who are either underrepresented or disadvantaged in some aspects of life, such as employment.

References

Farringtons Schools (n.d). Candidates Information Pack. March 2020.

Fletcher, C. (2012). Ethical issues in the selection interview. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5-6), 361-367.

Powney, J., Wilson, V., Hall, S., Davidson, J., Kirk, S., Edward, S., & Mirza, H. S. (2013). Teachers’ careers: the impact of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. London: Department for Education and Skills.