Selection

There is an important connection between selection and strategic planning. However, unfortunately, most organizations fail to see the interaction.

Most often, organizations try to fit a warm body into a vacant position without knowing if the fit’s a good one or not. Many times it’s not a good one; this comes at the expense of lost productivity, money, time, and other resources. Further, many organizations will write job descriptions without knowing the purpose of the job, why it’s needed, or what skills and attributes the job needs for optimal execution and performance - again, leading to wasted resources.

Before a company begins the selection process, it must perform strategic planning. But before strategic planning takes place, one must ask if the organization is ready for that process. Strategic planning involves change. Rarely does corporate America like change. Several good instruments are available in to make this determination. However, here are some sample questions to help uncover vital information:

1. What is the culture of the organization?
2. What is the leadership mindset in terms of planning?
3. What are the skills and knowledge of the leadership?
4. Do vendors and customers play key roles in strategic initiatives?
5. Do new ideas receive quick decisions?
6. Is the organization flexible or rigid?
7. Is there internal frustration?

Once the strategic plan is in place, then the organization can determine what jobs are required to reach the goals of the strategic plan. Job analysis is the next step. The job analysis tells us what knowledge, skills, and attributes the job requires for optimal performance. Writing the job description is the next task. Now the selection process can begin, resulting in a better match for the job, which will help fulfill organizational goals.

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