Differences between internal and external selection decisions

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1. Clarify how internal selection decisions differ from external selection decisions. What are the differences among peer ratings, peer nominations, and peer rankings? Should they be used? And how this can be used in an organization.

Organizations are significantly influenced by internal/external selection decisions for the reason that it gives management the option to promote individuals from within the organization or to search for new employees outside the realm of the organizational culture. "For the employer, relying on internal sources offers several advantages. First, it generates applicants who are well known to the organization" (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2003, p.43), second, potential applicants have a general idea of the job itself and what the requirements entail. In essence applicants will more than likely have realistic expectations about the job; thirdly filling the position will be a seamless transition that will ultimately eliminate searching for candidates outside the organization. For the most part it would be cost effective to promote from within as opposed to training new staff members to learn various elements of the job. A current staff member is already knowledgeable of job functions and may not require additional training unless there are new systems being implemented. Most organizations are at a competitive advantage when they utilize current staff members. Nevertheless drawing from external sources also has positive advantages in which management will discover talented candidates with fresh insight and a keen sense of innovation that generates a fresh perspective in terms of ensuring the highest level of competitiveness. "An organization that uses only internal recruitment can wind up with a workforce whose members all think alike and therefore may be poorly suited to innovation" (Noe et al, 2003).

- Peer reviews are a method that employers use to obtain feedback from employees concerning another employee. Employees may offer honest feedback considering that they interact daily with the employee under review. They will be able to determine if the employee does not meet the minimum requirements of employment. For example, when working in teams there are members of the team who are diligent and take the initiative to perform various tasks without being asked or made to do what's necessary. On the other hand there are team members who neglect their duties and do the exact opposite of an exceptional employee or team member. If this is the case the distribution of work may be uneven in which everyone else will have do more work as a result of one team member doing significantly less work. A peer review would express their discontent of the individual performing less than the minimum requirements. Peer reviews are also used as a method for resolving conflict (Noe et al, 2003).

- Peer Nominations are used as a method to acknowledge a coworkers hard work and dedication to the organization. An employee can nominate someone he/she feels is entitled to some form of recognition. This method will ensure that an employee would have a fair chance for an award or promotion. This would prevent management from basing their decisions on nepotism or favoring one particular employee frequently over others.

- Peer ranking is a method that allows peers to rate employees according to their job performance or their interaction with other employees. To ...