Helen Strong

MSc English Language Teaching Management

Human Resources Management

The question

"A cynic might observe that industry's preference for selection methods is in inverse proportion to their accuracy." (Smith et al., 1989). Using an establishment you are familiar with as an illustration, enumerate and discuss what selection methods are appropriate for selecting teachers for a language school.

The extract

A British Council manager commented in a recently published article (Brown, 2003) on a phenomenon affecting the recruitment and selection of teachers in language schools, namely the reversal of roles of the interviewer and applicant, with the applicant doing the 'selecting' as to whether this was the type of organisation she wanted to work for. If this is in fact the trend, then the role of Human Resources Management looks set to enter a new phase in its handling of employees, including which selection methods will become more (or less) appropriate.

This paper is concerned with the selection process, and more specifically, the methods of selection available to a language school. As opposed to recruitment, which deals with attracting potential applicants to an organisation, selection does almost the opposite, by selecting out those applicants who are not suitable by the use of selection methods and tools.

The controversial quote from Smith et al in the title implies that the selection methods used are not necessarily likely to lead to the right candidate being chosen for the job. In fact, research has shown that the most popular selection methods (interviewing and references) are not the most accurate, and that the most accurate selection method, assessment centres, is used by a relatively low proportion of organisations in the recruitment process (Beardwell and Holden, 1994). This indicates that other factors are in play when choosing which selection method(s) to use, of which costs, the level of the vacancy, and custom and practice have been suggested as some of these other influencing factors (ibid.).

Traditional attitudes to selection methods are changing as organisations evolve and the role of the worker in the organisation is seen as being more and more crucial to contribute to a competitive advantage. Recent advancements in the field of staff selection have included the development of a competency framework, where the specific competencies of the job are analysed, and applicants rated according to these factors. The competency framework will be discussed in more detail in this paper.

The paper will firstly present different selection methods that are available to a language school wishing to recruit new teachers. Secondly, a brief introduction to Audi Akademie, a language training organisation based in Ingolstadt, Germany will be given, followed by a description of the selection methods used at this establishment. The reasons why Audi Akademie chooses to use only some of the aforementioned selection methods and not others will be examined. The paper will conclude with a summary of the methods available and suggestions as to which methods are believed to be most effective for a language school.

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