1. Lecture 5 Recruitment and Selection
Introduction to
Public Personnel Administration
Spring 2014

2. Today’s Learning Objectives
Issues in recruitment in public organizations
- Ineffective recruitment
- Complex rules and processes in public employment
Issues in selection
- Test validity
- “Rule of three” and positive recruitment
- Equality vs. Efficiency in selection process

3. Recruitment in Government
The merit principle
- Selecting qualified individuals solely based on their ability to do jobs through fair and open competition
Criticism on traditional recruitment
- Closed system (Korean government): lack of ability to recruit the best candidates through open competition
- Slow and complicated hiring processes (US government): reduced candidate pools for government
Increased interest in responding to managerial needs of government for better performance

4. Recruitment in Government
Recruiting women and social minorities (positive recruitment)
- Integrating all segments of society into the main stream
- Family-friendly policies and programs (e.g., flexible work schedules, leave policies, and child care or elderly care policies) for women who have family responsibilities
Training existing workforces
- In order to save time and efforts to recruit and hire a new employee
- In order to provide the existing staff with opportunities for career development

5. Recruitment in Government
Internship programs as a channel that connects potential candidates to government
- ex. Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP), Student Career Experience Program (SCEP), and Presidential Management Fellowship (for graduate students)
Improving the image of public jobs

6. The Federal Recruitment One-Stop Initiative
Recruitment One-Stop by OPM (“USAJobs”)
- An electronic infrastructure of recruiting candidates for government
- Benefit: streamlined application and examination processes and cost-effective
- Limitation: lack of integration with the new system by OPM
The roles of OPM: providing professional recommendations for agencies and administering written tests for federal agencies

7. Selection in Government
Selection in the merit system
- Open tests or examinations are conducted on the purpose of eliminating political patronage in the selection process and measuring a candidate’s ability to accomplish a job.

8. Staffing the Civil Service
In the hiring process, applicants who meet minimum qualification requirements for white-collar positions take one of these exams:
Open competitive exams for rank 5, 7, 9 (공개경쟁채용 or assembled): written test used mostly for entry ranks or positions
Special appointment exams (특별채용 or unassembled): candidates who have special skills, expertise, and experiences (open position employment for top managerial positions or senior civil service)

9. Test Validity—US government case
Tests validity
- Examinations should be able to measure a candidate’s knowledge, skill, and ability that are required for satisfactory job performance.
Griggs and Duke Power Company (1971)
- The court ruled that “if a selection test had an adverse or disparate impact with regard to race, religion, or national origin and its validity had not been established, its use constituted unlawful discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
- How does this decision relate to the merit system?

10. Test Validity—Korean government case
Questionable validity of the exams in Korean government
- Open exams in Korean government focus on testing the general knowledge and appropriateness to public service of candidates
- Limited to test expertise of candidates required in specific functions of government

11. Equity vs. Efficiency in Selection
- Ensuring equal treatment of all applicants and prevent possible political abuses
- Result: Lengthy delays and inability to hire competent applicants
Efficiency
- Decentralized recruitment and selection processes as a response to executive leadership and political pressure that focus on governmental accountability for results
- Result: Lack of proper oversight and centralized control.
Electronic recruitment and examination as the best alternative??