Applicant reactions to personnel selection procedures: Internet based selection, cross-country differences and promotional procedures

Abstract

As we live in the information age, technological revolution changes many selection practices toward using more innovative Internet-based selection procedures (IBSPs). Most organizations nowadays are using IBSPs, with online applications, online tests, and online interviews being among the most widely practiced in many Western countries, as well as some non-Western countries. The implementation and adoption of IBSPs have moved at a faster pace compared to empirical research, creating a science–practice gap in our understanding of applicant reactions to these new IBSPs. With globalization comes also the need to understand applicant reactions to IBSPs across many countries and cultures. In addition, it is important to consider applicant reactions from the perspective of internal applicants. To date, relatively limited research has assessed (1) external applicant reactions to new IBSPs, (2) whether privacy and fairness perceptions regarding IBSPs differ across countries, and (3) internal applicant reactions in promotion contexts. Thus, this thesis extends current applicant reactions theory and research in three important areas by conducting and reporting three studies. Study 1 examined and compared the determinants and outcomes of applicant reactions to IBSPs across three increasingly popular methods - online applications, online tests, and online interviews, providing new theoretical and empirical insight. Data were collected from 506 job applicants from within the UK. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that procedural justice across the three IBSPs was influenced negatively by privacy concerns and positively by internet knowledge. Furthermore, procedural justice across the three IBSPs contributed positively to applicant reactions of organizational trust and attractiveness, person-organization (P-O) fit, and negatively to reactions of litigation intentions. Additional analyses were conducted to compare applicant reactions across the three IBSPs. The results introduced a new cluster of applicant reactions to IBSPs, suggesting that overall IBSPs are favorably evaluated by applicants. Study 2 examined cross-country differences in applicant privacy attitudes and fairness reactions toward IBSPs, using data collected from job applicants from two culturally and contextually different countries: Saudi Arabia (N= 328) and the UK (N= 283). The purpose of this study was to zoom into some of the findings of the first study by examining them more closely and by comparing them with another sample of applicants from Saudi Arabia. The findings demonstrated that both Saudi and UK applicants rated process favorability and procedural justice dimensions of IBSPs favorably, with few differences between their privacy and fairness perceptions, providing more support toward the view of reaction generalizability among job applicants. Overall, this study provides further development toward a more universal and generalizable perspective in understanding applicants’ privacy and fairness reactions in the new context of IBSPs. Study 3 examined internal applicants’ justice perceptions in a promotion context and their effects on soft and hard organizational outcomes over time. This study took a longitudinal approach to applicant reactions research across three points of time: Time 1, before the promotion; Time 2, after receiving the promotional decisions; and Time 3, one year later. Data were collected from internal applicants seeking promotion (N= 253 cross the three points of time). The findings showed that procedural justice can predict soft organizational outcomes (i.e., P-O fit, organizational trust, and attractiveness), and hard organizational outcomes (i.e., leader-member exchange, job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover intentions) both in the short and long run, and that justice perceptions and reactions differ between accepted and rejected applicants over time. In the general discussion of these findings, six themes were identified as main contributions to applicant reactions literature including the direction for future research, followed by the practical implications.