Australian Management Selection Practices: Closing the Gap between Research Findings and Practice

Three arguments were made for expecting changes in selection practice over the past decade: 1) time necessary to transfer research findings into practice, 2) evidence that HRM has become more strategic, and 3) the increased professionalism of the HRM community. In contrast to earlier findings, there was strong support for the use of structured interviewing. Interviews were most commonly undertaken by HR and line staff. Typically applicants underwent more than one interview and at each, were interviewed by two to three interviewers. Cognitive tests were more frequently used than personality assessments. There was some support for personality assessments based on the Five Factor Model but there was similar support for measures without published psychometric properties. In general, the government sector made greater use of structured interviewing, conducted a single interview with two to three interviewers present and made use of better quality assessment tools compared to other sectors. Recommendations are made for future studies.