List of Headings (i) The effect of changing demographics on organisations (ii) Future changes in the European workforce (iii) The unstructured interview and its validity. (iv) The person-skills match approach to selection (v) The implications of a poor person-environment fit (vi) Some poor selection decisions (vii) The validity of selection procedures (viii) The person-environment fit (ix) Past and future demographic changes in Europe (x) Adequate and inadequate explanations of organisational failure Example Paragraph A Answer (x) 14. Paragraph B 15. Paragraph C 16. Paragraph D
Example Paragraph F Answer (ix) 18. Paragraph G
PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS: THE SELECTION ISSUE
A In 1991, according to the Department of Trade and Industry, a record
48,000 British companies went out of business. When businesses fail, the post-mortem analysis is traditionally undertaken by accountants and market strategists. Unarguably organisations do fail because of undercapitalisation, poor financial management, adverse market conditions etc. Yet, conversely, organisations with sound financial backing, good product ideas and market acumen often underperform and fail to meet shareholders' expectations. The complexity, degree and sustainment of organisational performance requires an explanation which goes beyond the balance sheet and the “paper conversion” of financial inputs into profit making outputs. A more complete explanation of “what went wrong” necessarily must consider the essence of what an organisation actually is
17. Paragraph E
and that one of the financial inputs, the most important and often the most expensive, is people.
B An organisation is only as good as the people it employs. Selecting the
right person for the job involves more than identifying the essential or desirable range of skills, educational and professional qualifications necessary to perform the job and then recruiting the candidate who is most likely to possess these skills or at least is perceived to have the ability and predisposition to acquire them. This is a purely person/skills match approach to selection.
C Work invariably takes place in the presence and/or under the direction of
others, in a particular organisational setting. The individual has to “fit” in with the work environment, with other employees, with the organisational climate, style of work, organisation and culture of the organisation. Different organisations have different cultures (Cartwright & Cooper, 1991;1992). Working as an engineer at British Aerospace will not necessarily be a similar experience to working in the same capacity at GEC or Plessey.
D Poor selection decisions are expensive. For example, the costs of training a
policeman are about ￡20,000 (approx. US$30,000). The costs of employing an unsuitable technician on an oil rig or in a nuclear plant could, in an emergency, result in millions of pounds of damage or loss of life. The disharmony of a poor person-environment fit (PE-fit) is likely to result in low job satisfaction, lack of organisational commitment and employee stress, which affect organizational outcomes i.e. productivity, high labour turnover and absenteeism, and individual outcomes i.e. physical, psychological and mental well-being.
E However, despite the importance of the recruitment decision and the
range of sophisticated and more objective selection techniques available, including the use of psychometric tests, assessment centres etc., many organisations are still prepared to make this decision on the basis of a single 30 to 45 minute unstructured interview. Indeed, research has demonstrated that a selection decision is often made within the first four minutes of the interview. In the remaining time, the interviewer then attends exclusively to information that reinforces the initial “accept” or “reject” decision. Research into the validity of selection methods has consistently demonstrated that the unstructured interview, where the interviewer asks any questions he or she likes, is a poor predictor of future job performance and fares little better than more controversial methods like graphology and astrology. In times of high unemployment, recruitment becomes a “buyer's market” and this was the case in Britain during the 1980s.
F The future, we are told, is likely to be different. Detailed surveys of social
and economic trends in the European Community show that Europe's population is falling and getting older. The birth rate in the Community is
now only three-quarters of the level needed to ensure replacement of the existing population. By the year 2020, it is predicted that more than one in four Europeans will be aged 60 or more and barely one in five will be under 20. In a five-year period between 1983 and 1988 the Community’s female workforce grew by almost six million. As a result, 51% of all women aged 14 to 64 are now economically active in the labour market compared with 78% of men.
G The changing demographics will not only affect selection ratios. They will
also make it increasingly important for organisations wishing to maintain their competitive edge to be more responsive and accommodating to the changing needs of their workforce if they are to retain and develop their human resources. More flexible working hours, the opportunity to work from home or job share, the provision of childcare facilities etc., will play a major role in attracting and retaining staff in the future.
★ 答案与解析 14-18
题型：找段落的小标题
14. iv
没有明显的主题句，需要通读全段。实际上，主题句是全段的最后一句： This is a purely person/skills match approach to selection. 15. viii
没有明显的主题句，需要通读全段。 16. v
段落中包含For example句型，主题句是它前面的句子(也就是全段的第一句)： Poor selection decisions are expensive. 此题，容易误选为vi，它的意思是：一些poor selection decisions。而主题句的意思是：poor selection decisions的代价是昂贵的。 17. iii
主题句为该段话的第一句：
However, despite the importance of the recruitment decision and the range of sophisticated and more objective selection techniques available, including the use of psychometric tests, assessment centres etc., many organisations are still prepared to make this decision on the basis of a single 30 to 45 minute unstructured interview.
中文译文：虽然招收新人的决定很重要而且有很多成熟的和更客观的选择技巧，很多单位仍然准备基于30到45分钟的无组织的面试来做出决定。
这句比较复杂，不好理解。应重点看主句部分many organisations are still prepared to make this decision on the basis of a single 30 to 45 minute unstructured interview。正确答案为：
（iii）The unstructured interview and its validity
18. i
该段话的前两句是not only but also句型，主题句为第二句：
They will also make it increasingly important for organisations wishing to maintain their competitive edge to be more responsive and accommodating to the changing needs of their workforce if they are to retain and develop their human resources.
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