RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 540.
E Definitions
D Expanding vocabulary
1. The article focuses on the subject of engineering. There are many different branches of engineering. Two are mentioned in the article - mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. What other branches of engineering can you think of?
2. The article mentions that there is a “steady decline” in the numbers of engineering students, leading to a “shortage” of potential recruits.
a. Think of at least two other words similar in meaning to “decline”.
b. Think of at least three words with the opposite meaning.
c. Think of at least one word equivalent in meaning to “shortage”.
d. Think of at least one word with the opposite meaning.
Match these terms with their definitions.
| 1. mainstay (line 5) 2. global reach (line 8) 3. set to soar (line 10) 4. impetus (line 21) 5. broadened the spectrum of job opportunities (line 22) 6. blanket invitation (line 23) 7. a novel campaign (line 28) 8. would-be trainees (line 30) | a. an influence that makes something happen b. people who want to enter a training programme c. a new and imaginative way to recruit d. having a presence all over the world e. an offer open to everyone f. about to increase a lot g. increased the range of possible jobs h. most important part of something |
| Unit 12. Selecting international managers |
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Approaches to selection vary significantly across cultures. There are differences not only in the priorities that are given to technical or interpersonal capabilities, but also in the ways that candidates are tested and interviewed for the desired qualities.
In Anglo-Saxon cultures, what is generally tested is how much the individual can contribute to the tasks of the organisation. In these cultures, assessment centres, intelligence tests and measurements of competencies are the norm. In Germanic cultures, the emphasis is more on the quality of education in a specialist function. The recruitment process in Latin and Far Eastern cultures is very often characterised by ascertaining how well that person “fits in'” with the larger group. This is determined in part by the elitism of higher educational institutions, such as the “grandes ecoles” in France or the University of Tokyo in Japan, and in part by their interpersonal style and ability to network internally. If there are tests in Latin cultures, they will tend to be more about personality, communication and social skills than about the Anglo-Saxon notion of “intelligence”.
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Hewitt Associates, a US compensation and benefits consulting firm based in the Mid West, has had difficulties extending its key selection criteria outside the USA. It is known for selecting “SWANs”: people who are Smart, Willing, Able and Nice. These concepts, all perfectly understandable to other Americans, can have very different meanings in other cultures. For example, being able may mean being highly connected with colas leagues, being sociable or being able to command respect from a hierarchy of subordinates, whereas the intended meaning is more about being technically competent, polite and relatively formal. Similarly, what is nice in one culture may be considered naive or immature in another. It all depends on the cultural context.
Some international companies, like Shell, Toyota, and L'Oreal, have identified very specific qualities that they consider strategically important and that support their business requirements. For example, the criteria that Shell has identified as most important in supporting its strategy include mobility and language capability. These are more easily understood across cultures because people are either willing to relocate or not. There is less room for cultural misunderstandings with such qualities.
From Managing Cultural Differences, Economist Intelligence Unit
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