2003 Selection in Europe

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2003, 12 (3), 257287
Selection in Europe: Context, developments and research agenda

Robert A. Roe
Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands
Peter T. van den Berg

Tilburg University, The Netherlands
The aim of this article is to give a contextual description of personnel selection in Europe, and to highlight some typical features and recent trends in practice and research. We begin with describing the socio-economic environment in which European personnel selection is embedded. Next, we take a closer look at the institutional settings in which personnel selection takes place and its underlying principles. Consequently we review and discuss recent empirical evidence on selection practices and methods, and interpret observed characteristics in terms of contextual dierences. Looking at recent changes in the European organizational environment, we note that selection practices exhibit a certain degree of conservatism, and that selection research and theory are slow in addressing new issues. The lack of responsiveness to the changing context is attributed to a continued adherence to the right man in the right place paradigm. As an alternative paradigm we propose the theatre model of selection, which seems more suitable to tune personnel selection to current contextual demands. Finally, we present a view of the future agenda for European selection research.
Psychological publications on personnel selection often characterize selection as deciding which employees to hire on the basis of predicted job performance (e.g., Campbell & Knapp, 2001; Cascio, 1998; Guion, 1965; Thorndike, 1949). The view of selection embodied by these publications revolves around the use of such methods as tests, interviews, and assessment centres as predictive tools, the use of statistical prediction techniques, and the application of utility models for decision making, and has therefore been labelled as psychometric paradigm (McCourt, 1999). It has been observed that actual selection practices show substantial variation within and between countries and deviate quite substantially from this psychometric paradigm.
Correspondence should be addressed to R.A. Roe, Department of Organization & Strategy, Faculty of Economics & Business Administration, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Email: r.roe@os.unimaas.nl
# 2003 Psychology Press Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/pp/1359432X.html
DOI: 10.1080/13594320344000129
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ROE AND VAN DEN BERG
The way in which selection is carried out seems to depend on a variety of factors, ranging from job content, type of industry, and labour market conditions, to legislation, labour relations, the involvement of professions, and cultural patterns. Looking at these contextual factors helps to identify and understand various patterns of selection as observed in dierent countries. In this article we will give a contextual description of personnel selection in Europe with the aim of grasping some of the commonalities and variations of selection in this continent, and pointing out some of the dierences with selection in North America. Also we will look into developments in selection practice, as well as in selection theory and research, and evaluate their t with contextual changes. After discussing the classical paradigm of the right man in the right place and the need for a new paradigm, we will give some suggestions for the future agenda of European selection research and development.
THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND

In the past, Europe has often been characterized as a continent of diversity and conict (e.g., De Wol, Shimmin, & DeMontmollin, 1981). Although cultural and language dierences continue to exist, it is currently more appropriate to point at the growing convergence between European countries, than at the distinctions and dissimilarities. The ongoing process of European integration is enhancing the economic, political, and social interdependencies between these countriesespecially within the European Union, and may eventually result in an amalgamated pattern of culture shared by a majority of people in the European territory. For our purpose, i.e., giving an account of the context that helps to identify and understand European personnel selection, it is important to look for points of convergence in the socio-economic background, and to acknowledge the changes that Europe has witnessed, especially during the last few decades. In our description of the context of European selection we will address the following topics: converging labour relations, the development of new forms of organization and management, and demographic trends. We will also discuss the position of selection within European human resources management (HRM).
Converging labour relations patterns

Historically, there have been substantial dierences in labour relations between the various parts of Europe. An often-made distinction (Slomp, 1990) is that between the so-called British model, the German or NorthEuropean model, and the French or South-European model. These models dier in the roles assigned to employers, labour unions, and governments,
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and in the ways in which these roles are institutionalized. An important dierence relates to the preference for resolving disputes by either consultation or confrontation. For instance, the British pattern is characterized by an emphasis on consultation between unions and employers at the rm level (the shop-steward), whereas the German system puts emphasis on union employer consultation at the sector level (collective agreements). The French system meanwhile focuses on negotiation between unions and government at the central level, and allows for a high degree of confrontation. In spite of these dierences a certain level of consultation on labour issues exists between three parties (i.e., unions, employers, government) at three levels (i.e., the company, the sector, and the total economy). In comparison to labour unions in North America, European unions have a rather strong position, and labour problems are preferably solved by consultation. The dierences between countries seemed to wane with the development of the European Union. The new member states of Central and Eastern Europe, which had dierent, Soviet-based labour relations, seem to be moving towards the German model. The labour relations system is relevant for our discussion of HRM and personnel selection, because, as we will see, the general policy issues of hiring and ring, as well as of remuneration and promotion, are dealt with in a consultative framework in which unions and governments, and sometimes even political entities, have a say. Personnel policy is certainly not only a matter of the employers discretion.
Economic development and integration

The impressive development of the European economy of the last decades has been inuenced by a number of trends. One of the trends is globalization: the development of world markets for products and services, as well as for capital and information. The European economy has experienced a large increase in international trade and competition. A strong impetus has come from the common market policy of the European Union, and the opening up of the markets in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Meanwhile there have been substantial changes in the structure of the economy, in particular the expansion of sectors such as services and information and communication technology. For a long time the economic developments were not accompanied by a substantial growth of overall employment. Unlike the United States, Europe has witnessed a relatively high level of unemployment, due to high labour productivity in combination with high wages and social benets. For instance, during the 1990s the unemployment rate for the European OECD countries amounted to 9 11%, whereas it was only 4 6% for the United States (OECD, 2001). As a consequence of high unemployment and high benet schemes, labour
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mobility remained relatively low. However, there are country dierences, with, e.g., lower unemployment gures in The Netherlands (3% by 2000) and higher ones in Spain (14% by 2000). After the economic upsurge of the late 1990s, which created labour shortages in certain sectors and regions, unemployment has risen again. All this has an inuence on HRM activities, since the structure of the economy and supply demand ratios on the labour market determine the need for various HRM activities. In view of the low mobility and the high unemployment, much weight tends to be given to justiable hiring and career decisions.
Changing organizational forms

The strategies adopted by European corporations have been much the same as in North America. While the strategy of vertical integration was common until the 1980s, it has given way to outsourcing and strategic partnerships in the 1990s. Also structural changes have occurred, resulting in fewer management levels, a higher number of smaller organizations, and so on. New organizational arrangements have been established, which aim at competitive advantage through stronger market orientation and greater exibility. All this has had profound impact on the employment opportunities and career prospects of employees. Large-scale downsizing forced people to look for new employment, the ongoing restructuring caused growing occupational mobility, and the pursuit of exibility led to a redenition of employment relationships. There has been a large increase in xed-term contracts, part-time work, and subcontracting in Europe (European Commission, 1999; ILO, 1996), although on the whole the average tenure has remained the same (Auer & Cazes, 2000). Not surprisingly, there are signs of changes in the nature of the psychological contract of employees vis-a`-vis their organizations (Anderson & Schalk, 1998; Herriot, Hirsch, & Reilly, 1999). The traditional psychological contract based on job security in exchange of loyalty is replaced by a contract focusing on development and opportunities (Herriot & Pinder, 1992). These changes have had a strong impact on HRM activities. Due to the importance of human factors such as competence, expertise, learning ability, and trust on the one hand, and the necessity to improve performance while reducing labour costs, HRM has gained in strategic importance. This has been stimulated by the growing popularity of the resource-based theory of the rm (Barney, 1991; Mueller, 1996; Shrivastava, Hu, & Dutton, 1994). Many European rms have engaged in eorts to reshape HRM activities on the basis of so-called competences or competencies (Boyatizs, 1982; Spencer & Spencer, 1993) and to redene employee relations around the
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notion of employability (Ellig, 1998) rather than employment. However, there is serious concern about these developments. It has been argued (e.g., Herriot, 2001; Herriot, Hirsch, & Reilly, 1999) that the changes initiated by enterprises have eroded stable employment relations and have made people reduce their organizational commitment and work involvement. While this change of concepts has not lead to new principles of selection, increased labour mobility and heightened demands on peoples competences have brought a greater emphasis on selection activities. Also selection is no longer considered to be a stand-alone activity in HRM; it has become increasingly linked to training, career development, performance evaluation, etc. At the opposite end of selection is outplacement, which has become a major activity European HRM during the last decade (Papalexandris, 1996).
Demographic trends
Among the most conspicuous changes aecting the European working population are the decline of birth rate and the gradual increase of life expectancy. Most European countries have populations with a shrinking number of young people and a growing number of old people. In Germany and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe the birth rate has fallen to a level insucient to maintain the population size (Eurostat, 2002). There is a substantial volume of immigration to Europe, which in a case like Germany osets the population decline. Major migration streams are from Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East to Western Europe. Migration within Europe is growing as well, stimulated by the European Unions common market policy that allows citizens of the European Union to settle and work anywhere in the Union. The lack of young workers and the elevated demand for exible labour has in the last decade stimulated a greater participation of women on the European labour market, especially in part-time and xed-term jobs (European Commission, 1999). The result of these tendencies is an increased diversity of the work force in terms of gender, ethnicity, age, and language. The eect is particularly visible in large multinational corporations and international administrative bodies. Heterogeneity confronts organizations with specic problems, ranging from risks of discrimination to the necessity for multicultural and multilingual management and communication. Of course, this is reected in HRM and personnel selection in particular.
European HRM
The aforementioned trendsconverging labour relations patterns, economic development and integration, changing organizational forms, and demographic changeshave an obvious inuence on European human
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resources management. In Europe this term is often used as a synonym for personnel management, since the narrower meaning assigned by American authors (e.g., Beer, Lawrence, Mills, & Walton, 1985; Fombrun, Tichy, & Devanna, 1984) has not found much application. As one would expect, HRM policies and practices dier across countries, but several common points have to be noted (Brewster, 1994; Brewster & Hegewisch, 1994; Tyson, 1993). First of all, there is much less autonomy for European rms compared to rms in the United States. Firm-level policies regarding personnel are clearly inuenced by governments and labour unions. These are typically referred to as social partners, which means that they are perceived as collaborating with employers in furthering goals that serve business and social purposes at the same time. Governments take a direct inuence by the way of legislation, e.g., on employment protection (Nickell, 1997). Unions typically have a say in issues of recruitment and selection, as well as dismissal. Second, HRM is assigned a more strategic role than in the North America, considering the representation of HRM in the board of directors, and the inputs given in the process of strategy formulation. At the same time there is an overall trend to devolvement of HRM, that is, a decentralization of HRM activities as well as a transfer from sta to the line. Key issues of European HRM resulting from the foregoing trends are: exibility, career development, employability, variable remuneration, recruitment of specic categories of employees, in particular managers and technical specialists, and equal opportunity employment for female, handicapped, older workers, and ethnic minorities. Within the portfolio of HRM activities, a place of lasting importance is assigned to recruitment and selection. There is a heavy reliance on recruitment from the educational system and on selection from internal labour markets. For example, many organizations recruit people for clerical and technical positions partly from vocational schools. Two thirds of the companies recruit less than 30% of their managers externally (Brewster, 1994, p. 67). All in all, there seems to be a balance between the internal and the external labour market, the latter being called upon for the recruitment and selection from segments of the work force that are high in demand and with limited availability from within.
THE SELECTION OF PERSONNEL

In this section we will rst briey outline the specic institutional environment in which personnel selection takes place and the main principles on which it is based. Next we will describe common practices and methods. Consecutively we will discuss some trends in research and theory.
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Stakeholders, selection principles, and roles

As noted above, personnel selection in Europe is not just a matter of employers looking for personnel and candidates looking for a job. Although the situation varies with labour relations across countries, a number of stakeholders are typically involved, i.e., employers, labour unions, political parties, governments, legal bodies, and professional organizations (LevyLeboyer, 1994). Within the institutional frameworks that exist in the dierent countries each of these stakeholder groups exerts some inuence on the recruitment and selection process. Several European countries have legislation on recruitment and selection. For instance, in Belgium and The Netherlands private employment oces must have a permit in order to mediate between employers and candidates. Laws on the equal treatment of workers prohibit discriminatory practices all across Europe. Moreover, it is not unusual to nd rules on selection and related activities in collective labour agreements, in guidelines of tripartite bodies, and in ethical codes of professional organizations, such as associations of psychologists, and HRM professionals. Several examples of the European tendency towards regulation are given by Levy-Leboyer (1994). Although much of this stakeholder inuence is directed at the central or sectoral level, there are cases of rm-level involvement as well. For instance, works councils may inuence selection practices through their right of approval of the rms social policy, and labour unions may directly be involved in disputes over hiring. In some countries, e.g., Spain, it is accepted practice that unions are involved in setting hiring standards and even in taking selection decisions, in order to protect the interests of their members. Stakeholder interests nd expression in certain principles, which provide direction and legitimacy to selection practices in Europe. On the basis of the literature, we distinguish six dierent principles, all of which seem to aect European employee selection to some degree (cf. Jansen, 1979; LevyLeboyer, 1994; Roe, 1983). These principles may apply to selection in North America or other parts of the world as well. Their relative emphasis and the way they are balanced in the interaction between stakeholders is likely to vary across cultures, however. As will be indicated below, some principles can be linked to cultural characteristics sensu Hofstede (2001). 1. Meritocracy. The principle that one should take the best candidate for a job and give the best job to the most qualied person is perhaps a universal one. It is at least commonly endorsed in individualistic cultures and considered to be a keystone of rationality in modern personnel management. This principle nds its expression in the psychometric paradigm (McCourt, 1999) that is visible in the use of tests, and of prediction and decision models.
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2. Risk avoidance. This principle sees the purpose of selection in preventing the appointment of people who might constitute a risk for the organization, either because they are psychologically or physically unt for the job, or are not qualied enough to meet the standards of the job in the long term. This principle might have universal signicance as well, although one would expect it to receive more emphasis in cultures with greater uncertainty avoidance. 3. Employment and career opportunity. According to this principle, jobs are the main vehicle by which people nd employment and shape their careers. Therefore, selection should contribute to a fair allocation of employment and career opportunities among various applicants. This type of distributive justice is likely to favour certain categories of applicants, either on an individual or a collective basis. As such it can be seen as the counterpole of the meritocratic principle. An expression of this principle is positive discrimination, i.e., selection of more applicants from disadvantaged groups than would be selected on the basis of predicted performance. Considering the importance assigned to minority hiring in the United States, this principle is clearly not exclusively European. 4. Fair chance. This principle, reecting procedural justice, implies that selection procedures should be free of bias and discrimination. All candidates must be treated equally, whatever the criteria for selection are (Jansen, 1979). In Europe, fair chance is to be understood as the opposite of nepotism based on, e.g., class, political, or national distinctions, which have played a signicant role in history. When political or national elements have to play a role in selection, the principle implies that opposing interests are well balanced. Illustrative are the recruitment and selection procedures of the European Union, which are completely based on written applications and comparative exams, and the lottery scheme used for selecting students in Dutch higher education. 5. Two-sidedness. This principle denes selection as a matter of two parties, i.e., the employer and the candidate, both of whom have legitimate interests and rights (De Wol, 1993; Schuler, Farr, & Smith, 1993a). It conceives of selection as a democratic process that must enable both parties to pursue their interests and exercise their rights. This principle is likely to get greater emphasis in cultures with small power distance. It implies a great deal of openness, room for negotiating, an opportunity to complain, and procedures to settle disputes and to correct wrong decisions (Roe, 1983). In Europe, much of this is accounted for in self-imposed regulations and professional codes, as well as in voluntary agreements between employers and unions at the rm level.
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6. Involvement. This principle highlights the interests of stakeholders other than the employer and the candidate. The idea that parties aected by appointments have a say in the selection process is widely accepted in Europe. For example, one may nd future colleagues and subordinates, or employees from adjacent departments as members of selection committees. Other stakeholders, such as unions or even political parties, are often given a chance to codetermine the candidates prole and assist in assessment and/or decision making. In the appointment of functionaries for public oces there may be an input from the political arena. Selection for toplevel managerial positions typically involves members of supervisory boards, the chairman of the works council, and the like. Involvement may be higher in collectivist cultures, where other stakeholders can have legitimate interests in the selection process. The emphasis laid on these six principles does not only vary between Europe and other countries, but also within Europe. Which principles are dominant seems to depend on many factors, including the power position of stakeholders within the respective institutional contexts, labour market conditions, dierences between economic sectors, and so on. In some cases there is a heavy reliance on meritocracy, whereas in others the emphasis is on giving candidates equal chances, or reaching agreement between multiple stakeholders. Of course, these principles will not always be followed to the full. There is room for a fair degree of opportunism in organizations, with managers pursuing individual goals, e.g., protecting or enhancing their power position, rather than serving organizational goals; for instance, the best applicant may not be selected because he or she is a threat for the decision maker. Yet, generally speaking, at least some attention is given to each of the aforementioned principles. It seems that, on the whole, European selection can be characterized by a clear interest in the role of the candidate, a great importance assigned to social acceptability of selection decisions, and limited reliance on the meritocratic principle (Herriot, 1989c; Schuler et al., 1993a; Shimmin, 1989). As for the roles played by dierent parties, it should be noted that the execution of personnel selection activities is traditionally a task for the hiring organization. Recruitment and selection are typically carried out by personnel departments, line managers, and selection committees, involving various stakeholders. However, the strategy of reduction to the core has led to a substantial outsourcing of HRM activities, including recruitment and selection. Nowadays specialized external agencies play a dominant role on the European scene, while the role of internal experts has greatly diminished (cf. Altink, Roe, & Greuter, 1991). Selection committees are a common feature in European selection. They allow for the application of the principles of involvement and to some degree fair chance.
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Selection practices and methods

Since the 1980s there have been several studies on the way in which selection is carried out in Europe. Among them are studies by Altink, Greuter, and Roe (1990), Altink, Roe, Greuter, and Candel (1992), Clark (1993), Dany and Torchy (1994), Greuter and Roe (1982), Mabey (1989), Prieto, Blasco, and Quintanilla (1991), Robertson and Makin (1986), Ryan, McFarland, Baron, and Page (1999), Schuler, Frier, and Kaumann (1991, 1993b), Shackleton and Newell (1991), Smith (1991), and Smith and Abrahamsen (1992). In this section we will present some typical ndings that help to get a clear picture of selection practices in Europe. As was mentioned before, selection is often carried out in ways that deviate considerably from the prescriptions of the psychometric paradigm. It has been found that the most preferred selection methods are low in predictive validity, and that predictive data are combined judgementally rather than mechanically (Schuler et al., 1993b; Smith & Abrahamsen, 1992). The study by Smith and Abrahamsen noticed a nonsignicant negative correlation of .25 between the use and validity of selection methods. It has also been noted that validity and utility studies are only seldom carried out (De Witte, Van Laere, & Vervaeke, 1994; De Wol, 1993). There are several ways to explain this discrepancy. One explanation is that selection is often based on other principles than the meritocratic principle mentioned above. More weight might, for example, be given to the principles of fair chance, two-sidedness, and involvement. Another explanation is that currently available selection tools do not match the requirements of their users regarding, e.g., utility or costs, which makes them opt for less adequate tools (such as unstructured interviews, unvalidated assessment exercises) and improvisation. In this view there much is to be gained by the proper design of integral selection procedures (Roe, 1989, 1998). Table 1 presents gures about the use of selection methods in a number of European countries, adapted from a study by Dany and Torchy (1994). This study was carried out in a sample of over 15,000 organizations from 12 European countries, each of which had at least 200 employees. Personnel managers were asked to indicate which methods were regularly used in their organization. The number of responding organizations in each country is listed in Table 1. In Table 1 the countries have been arranged according to geographical proximity, which corresponds to cultural similarity as well (e.g., Usunier, 1993). It appears from the table that across all European countries the interview panel, the application form, and references are the most commonly used methods. It should be noted that the rst two of these methods are not necessarily utilized as sources of predictive information.
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Their function is primarily communicative, that is, they serve to exchange information between the candidate and the employer. The strength of the interview is its capacity for exible and ne-tuned two-way communication. It is also suitable for negotiation between the employer and the candidate, which is highly desirable from the two-party perspective on selection. Biodata, psychometric testing, and aptitude tests form a second category of selection methods that are used much less frequently. Earlier research in The Netherlands has shown that the application of these methods depends on the type of jobs involved (Greuter & Roe, 1980, 1982). A third category is made up of assessment centres, group selection methods, graphology, and other methods. It appears that on average these methods are used infrequently. The table reveals some noteworthy dierences in selection practices between dierent parts of Europe. Generally speaking, there is greater similarity between countries that are geographically, and culturally, closer to each other. Thus, in the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, and Denmark) selection is characterized by a greater reliance on references and biodata, less on psychometric and aptitude testing, and less on the assessment centre and group selection methods. This may be interpreted in terms of a lesser emphasis on the meritocratic principle in these countries. In The Netherlands, UK, and Ireland, forming a Western-European group, more use is made of the application form, as well as tests and assessment centres, but regarding the other methods there are clear dierences. The UK and Ireland rely heavily on references but not on biodata. Germany is similar to these countries, but stands out by a much lower use of tests. Assessment centres are more popular in The Netherlands and the UK. Note that assessment centres are known as fair instruments and allow a high degree of involvement of several parties. In the Southern European countries, i.e., Spain, and Portugal, many organizations use psychometric testing, and the use of references is much less than in most other countries. This may reect greater sensitivity to fairness, perhaps in response to political inuences over selection in former decades. It should be noted that Spain has taken a very modern and western approach to assessment issues after the breakdown of the Franco-regime in the early 1970s. Three countries, i.e., Finland, France, and Turkey, seem to follow their own pattern. Finland deviates from the other Nordic countries by a greater use of the interview panel, tests, and the assessment centre, and lesser use of references and biodata. France and Turkey match the overall European pattern but with some unique exceptions. France is high in the use of graphology, which is remarkable in view of the lack of validity of this technique. Turkey makes more use of group selection methods, which makes it more similar to the other Southern European countries. The
TABLE 1 Use of recruitment methods in 12 European countries based on Dany and Torchy (1994)
Recruitment method (% use) Application form Interview panel References Biodata Aptitude test Psychometric testing Assessment centre Group selection methods Graphology Other Number of organizations Finland 82 99 63 48 42 74 16 8 2 2 651 Sweden 69 96 69 14 24 5 3 0 5 322 Norway 59 78 92 56 19 11 5 1 0 5 280 Denmark 48 99 79 92 17 38 4 8 2 2 330 West Germany 96 86 66 20 8 6 13 4 8 3 884 Netherlands 94 69 47 20 53 31 27 2 2 6 128 UK 97 71 92 8 45 46 18 13 1 4 1243 Ireland 91 87 91 7 41 28 7 8 1 6 140 France 95 92 73 26 28 22 9 10 57 3 651 Portugal 83 97 55 62 17 58 2 18 2 0 93 Spain 87 85 54 12 72 60 18 22 8 4 260 Turkey 95 64 69 39 33 8 4 23 0 6 123 EU 85 83 73 38 32 34 11 10 7 4 5105
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Selection practice One-on-one interviews Group/panel interviews Educational qualications Application form Employer references Life history questionnaire Cognitive ability test Personality questionnaire Simulation exercise Graphology Medical screen Peers as interviewers (%) Number of test types Number of organizations
TABLE 2 Selection practices in 11 European countries and the United States based on Ryan et al. (1999)
Sweden 4.84 2.82 4.30 1.19 4.49 1.59 2.86 3.68 1.72 1.27 3.26 26.4 5.23 91 Germany Netherlands 4.65 1.88 4.47 3.65 2.03 2.77 1.90 1.70 1.70 1.00 4.45 8.6 3.40 35 3.78 4.30 4.68 3.55 2.72 1.53 3.76 3.29 2.82 1.24 4.18 54.5 5.34 66 UK 3.88 3.82 4.32 4.26 4.37 1.23 3.08 3.46 2.52 1.10 3.91 25.5 4.74 108 Ireland 3.34 4.00 4.42 3.46 4.53 1.18 2.79 3.17 1.44 1.00 4.31 16.3 3.31 49 Belgium 4.70 2.75 3.19 3.94 2.64 1.52 3.85 3.75 2.73 1.56 3.50 29.4 5.78 68 France 4.85 2.06 4.37 4.09 3.32 1.20 2.29 3.42 1.82 3.26 1.76 28.6 3.50 35 Portugal 4.77 3.29 4.91 3.40 3.14 2.29 3.27 3.00 2.57 1.00 4.14 9.7 6.77 31 Spain 4.70 2.45 2.43 3.22 2.43 1.68 3.75 4.43 2.15 1.75 3.54 8.3 6.40 24 Italy 4.93 1.50 4.08 4.19 2.69 1.92 1.33 1.86 1.57 1.00 2.33 3.4 3.00 29 Greece 4.92 2.71 4.32 2.92 2.30 3.87 2.54 3.14 1.85 1.21 2.36 7.4 4.28 27 EU 4.49 2.87 4.14 3.44 3.15 1.89 2.86 3.17 2.08 1.40 3.43 19.83 4.70 563 US 4.78 3.27 4.47 4.12 4.02 1.21 2.09 1.62 1.82 1.09 2.26 55.8 3.75 52
Response categories ranged from 1 (never) to 5 (almost always or always), except for peers as interviewers and number of tests.
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greater cultural collectivism in these countries (Hofstede, 2001) may explain the greater use of these methods. Ryan et al. (1999) held a survey on selection practices among 959 organizations in 20 countries. Nearly all these organizations had over 1000 employees. Participants were asked to indicate how often several practices were followed. Table 2 presents some data of 11 European countries involved and, for comparison, the United States. The results deviate somewhat from those presented in Table 1. This may be due to the fact that larger organizations were sampled than in the rst study, dierent countries were involved, and dierent methods were used (i.e., regular use vs. frequency of use). Overall, one-to-one interviews are most frequently used, followed by educational qualications, the application form, employer references, and group interviews. From the list of psychological tests and questionnaires, personality questionnaires are most popular, followed by cognitive tests, and simulation exercises. Less popular are life history questionnaires and graphology. The overall similarity seems to be higher in this study, but regional dierences can still be observed. Again, The Netherlands, UK, and Ireland resemble each other much in the use of selection methods. But there is considerable similarity with Germany, Belgium, France, and Sweden as well. As in the previous study Germany distinguishes itself by the lower use of tests and biodata, while France relies more on graphology. In this study there are four Southern European countries, i.e., Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. The main dierence between them is in the use of tests and biodata, which is higher in the rst two countries. The fact that medical examinations play an important role in most European countries should be understood from the policy of social protection. Typically, social security systems protect employees from income loss and dismissal in case of illness. Since the employer runs the risk of hiring someone who in case of illness cannot be replaced, and is accountable for part of the benets the employee is entitled to, he or she has a strong interest in preventing the hiring of illness-prone individuals. Thus, the medical examination ts well into the principle of risk avoidance. This is especially true in The Netherlands where, until recently, the employers were responsible for compensating sick employees for up to 1 year (Wiersma & Van den Berg, 1999). In this country, this situation has recently changed as the medical examination has been abolished in order to protect illness-prone applicants against discrimination for most jobs, which accords with the principle of employment and career opportunities. In an older study by Smith and Abrahamsen (1992), it was found that selection procedures comprised on average 4.3 dierent methods or techniques. This corresponds with the ndings by Greuter and Roe (1980) in an extensive study on selection in The Netherlands. They noted an average of 3.2 to 5.0 methods, depending on the job level. In this study, the
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most commonly used methods appeared to be the most valid ones. The crucial role of the type of job for the methods of selection was shown in great more detail in this study as well (also Greuter & Roe, 1982). Altogether, it has become clear that there are considerable similarities in how European rms recruit and select personnel, and that the dierences are limited to the emphasis placed on particular types of methods. Prevailing techniques are the individual and panel interview, CV, application form, references, and the medical examination. It also appears that organizations tend to use a wide range of methods and that psychological testing, although receiving a dierent emphasis across Europe, plays an important role. Also, it seems that selection reects a variety of underlying principles, the combination of which matches the particular cultural environment. Table 2 reveals some interesting dierences between selection in Europe and the US. The methods that are most used in Europe, one-to-one interviews, group/panel interviews, educational qualications, application forms, and employer references, appear to be most popular in the US as well, and they are used on an even greater scale. In contrast, cognitive ability tests, personality tests, and simulation exercises are used more often in Europe. Since these methods t within the meritocracy principle, the data suggest that personnel selection in the US is also aected by other principles. Another dierence pertains to the medical examination, which seems to be used much more often in Europe. An additional nding from the study by Ryan et al. (1999) concerns the use of peers as interviewers. In the US and The Netherlands, more than 50% of the organizations use peers as interviewers, which is in line with the involvement principle. In Southern Europe and in Germany, only a small percentage of the organizations use peers as interviewers. This can be explained from the nding of Ryan et al. (1999) that the use of peers as interviewers is negatively related to power distance and uncertainty avoidance, as dened by Hofstede (1991), r = .38, p 5 .001, and r = .39, p 5 .001, respectively. Since these two indexes are positively related to the number of test types used, r = .34, p 5 .001, and r = .23, p 5 .001, respectively, cultural dierences can also explain why some European countries use more test types in personnel selection than the US.
Developments in selection methods

Comparing with European studies carried out in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., Altink et al., 1990, 1992; Greuter & Roe, 1980), one may get the impression that there has been limited advance in the development of novel selection devices. Many of the methods used are the same as before, or are modications of older methods (see also Robertson & Smith, 1989, p. 90).
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Major changes have been the increasing use of assessment centres and work samples, and the greater use of structured interview methods. Even though assessment methods have remained the same in principle, it should be noted that new tests have been introduced and older instruments have been improved. Many new tests have appeared on the market, sometimes in multiple languages, which makes them most suited for use in the multilingual European environment. Among the newer tools are also instruments for job analysis (e.g., the Work Proling System, WPS). Another change in selection methods has been brought by new technologies. In recent years several multimedia tests have been introduced, based on using CD or DVD technology. An example is the development of the videotest (Wiersma & Van den Berg, 1999) in which a series of dicult situations are presented to which the individual has to react immediately, as the picture freezes. For a discussion of the validity of these tests see Salgado and Lado (2000). Since the 1990s many tests have been computerized and the use of paper-and-pencil tests has slowly decreased (e.g., Bartram, 1993; Jansen, 1994; Jones, Brasher, & Hu, 2002; Schoonman, 1989). Computerized decision support tools have been launched as well (e.g., Koh, 1994). Among the most recent developments is the use of web-enabled recruitment and testing presented via the Internet or companys intranets (Bartram, 2001). The more advanced computer applications not only oer test administration, but also incorporate evaluation, decision making, and reporting. When looking at trends in the development and adoption of selection methods one should realize that practice is always lagging behind in putting new technology to use, and that it takes a decade or longer for newly developed methods to be applied on a signicant scale. Since the 1980s there has been a growing development eort in biodata instruments (Schuler & Stehle, 1990), interview techniques (Herriot, 1989d; Schuler & Funcke, 1989; Van Dam, 2002; see also Salgado, 1999), learnability tests (Robertson & Downs, 1989a, 1989b; Robertson & Kandola, 1992), assessment centres (Bonaiuto, Pierro, Bonaiuto, & Chinotti, 1997; Jones, Herriot, Long, & Drakeley, 1991; Robertson, Gratton, & Sharpley, 1987), job sample tests (Ridderbos, 1993; Shotland, Alliger, & Sales, 1998), and personality tests (Goeters, Timmermann, & Maschke, 1993; Kanning & Holling, 2001; Robertson, 1994; Salgado, 1997; Tsaousis & Nikolaou, 2001; Van den Berg & Feij, 1993). Another recent innovation is the use of rating scales for the measurement of all kinds of competences and competencies (Sparrow, 1994; Sparrow & Bognanno, 1993; Van den Berg, Breijer, Op de Coul, Riegen, & Selles, 2001), mainly in connection with assessment centres and 360-degree assessments. This innovation is related to the emergence of competence management (Athey & Orth, 1999; Roe, 2002; Spencer & Spencer, 1993) to be discussed below.
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DEVELOPMENTS IN THEORY AND RESEARCH

Perhaps the most signicant development in selection theory has been the advance of the notion of competence. Whereas selection theory, which its technological orientation, has traditionally focused on human qualities such as knowledge, skills, and abilities, also referred to as KSAs (e.g., Landy, 1993), its focus has shifted towards competences and competencies. This change has been promoted by the emergence of the resource-based view of the rm, referred to earlier, which attributes organizational eectiveness to critical qualitiesi.e., competencesof the organization and its employees. Although there has been some conceptual confusion, the term competence has often been used for an individuals capacity to adequately perform a certain role task, role or job, whereas competency has become a generic concept used to refer to a wide array of individual characteristics, such as knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities, personality traits, values, interests, and biographical characteristics (e.g., Roe, 2002). Thus, competences correspond to what used to be called criteria, whereas competencies are synonym for predictors. While the notion of competence had certain roots in Europe (Frei, Duell, & Baitsch, 1984; Leplat, 1991), it only became popular in Europe after publications in the United States (in particular, Boyatzis, 1982; Spencer & Spencer, 1993). The quick acceptance of competences across Europe in recent years may be due to the fact that competence management involves various parties in the organization, which seems to t well to the principle of involvement. Personnel selection has remained in an important research area in European W&O psychology as is shown by a steady stream of publications on this topic (Herriot, 1989a; Lievens, Van Dam, & Anderson, 2002; Robertson & Smith, 2001; Roe & Greuter, 1991; Salgado, 1999; Schuler et al., 1993a; Smith & George, 1992; Smith & Robertson, 1989). A great deal of this research has addressed the same type of topics as are on the agenda of North-American researchers, such as criterion development, test development, predictive validity, validity generalization, and utility assessment (Algera, Jansen, Roe, & Vijn, 1984; Algera & Greuter, 1989; Hesketh & Robertson, 1993; Holling, 1998; Jansen, Roe, Vijn, & Algera, 1986; Salgado, 1998; Smith, 1994; Van der Flier, Jansen, & Zaal, 1990). Relevant contributions have been made concerning the construct validity of assessment centres (Hoeft & Schuler, 2001; Jansen, 1991; Lievens & Van Keer, 2001; Robertson, 1989), situational factors in prediction (Greuter, 1988), and basic methodological and theoretical issues (Salgado, 1999; Schuler, 1991). Some attention has been devoted to psychometric studies of discrimination (Aramburu Zabala Higuera, 2001; Pearn, 1993) as well, albeit on a much smaller scale than in the United States.
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However, there have also been studies addressing a range of other topics with a more European avour, such as the applicant perspective and twosided approaches to selection. Some authors have elaborated ideas about applicants rights and ethical guidelines for selection experts (e.g., Jansen, 1979). Other remarkable lines of European research concern the study of selection as a social process (Derous & De Witte, 2001; Herriot, 1989b, 1989c, 2002; see also Levy-Leboyer, 1994, p. 187), the denition and assessment of social validity of the selection methods (cf. acceptability, Kersting, 1998; Schuler, 1993), the impacts of selection on applicants (Anderson, Born, & Cunningham-Snell, 2001; Herriot, 1989b; Iles & Robertson, 1989, 1997; Schuler & Fruhner, 1993; Stinglhamber, Vandenberghe, & Brancart, 1999), and the design of selection procedures in a way that accounts for nonpsychometric requirements (Ridderbos, 1993; Roe, 1989, 1998). Remarkably enough, selection researchers in Europe and the US have been slow in responding to the changes in the socio-economic and business environment that were mentioned above (also Dachler, 1989; Herriot & Anderson, 1997; Roe, 1996). Their focus on selection has remained almost unaected and they have largely ignored the new problems met in practice (see Lievens et al., 2002). Some of the problems observed in Europe, but perhaps not unique to this continent, are: (1) the diculty of recruiting suitable candidates for specic critical job categories, such as information technology and top management, that is, to nd candidates willing to submit themselves to personnel selection; (2) the necessity to shift the focus from entry selection with scarce information about large numbers of candidates to internal selection with abundant information about few candidates (with the potential harmful impacts of false negatives); (3) the diculty of predicting future performance in situations characterized by frequent changes in jobs and organizational structures; (4) the diculty of fair appraisal and selection in an increasingly heterogeneous workforce; and (5) the complexity of recruiting and selecting people for international assignments. A more general problem that has remained unaddressed concerns the place of selection amidst other HRM activities within the changing world of work, and the necessity to broaden the scope of selection as to deal with all kinds of nonpsychometric factors that are relevant for business and labour. We will come back to these issues when discussing the research agenda for the future.
A SHIFT OF PARADIGM
Looking at the literature on personnel selection one gets the impression that most authors have continued to subscribe to the classical paradigm of the
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right man in the right place1, which is based on the assumption of a universe of stable people and stable jobs, and the idea that selection is basically a matter of matching individuals and jobs. Whereas the paradigm has fullled an important social function a century ago, legitimizing the need for a large scale conversion of the European work force from agriculture to industrial production, promising a best place for every single worker, and has also served as a conceptual base for the development of selection and placement tools, its limitations have become increasingly obvious. The paradigm has lost much of its usefulness since the very assumption of stability in jobs and people is clearly no longer valid, and hence the idea of matching jobs and people for the benets of the economy and the individual is no longer applicable. At present people are rather conceived as exible, that is as being able to change and to learn, and jobs are considered as inherently dynamic because rms are in a process of recurring rearrangement. Therefore, the selection objective and other tasks within the HRM eld must be cast in other terms (Herriot, 1995). Following a contextual approach, Roe (1996) has proposed an alternative paradigm, labelled theatre model, which uses the theatre as a metaphor of the modern work organization. Although of European origin, this metaphor seems to apply to modern organizations in the US and other countries as well. The metaphor depicts the organization as a theatrical company that is preparing for the performance of a new play. The company takes on a complex task, or mission, which has to be performed a limited number of times, perhaps only once. For each stage play a cast is formed, selected from all available actors, which will have to full the play. Which actors to select will depend on the roles to full and the demands implied, but also on the abilities and physical characteristics of each actor. Of course, one has also to consider to what degree each actor will be available, since actors may be involved in other productions at the same time. Selection typically takes place just before the start of the work on the basis of performance on similar tasks, and it is obvious that selection alone does not suce to produce the required performance. The knowledge, skills, and performance of all actors, and of the team as a whole, must be developed in a common learning process (the rehearsals). In the metaphor, the phase of selection is directly linked to the learning phase, since only those who will be able to learn to perform their role well will be chosen to take part. What happens during the rehearsals is only partly prescribed by the script of the play. Through the interaction within the team and the coaching by the director, a joint learning process (organizational learning) is brought about, which makes the group move
1
The original expression refers to man but, of course, the paradigm applies to both male and female workers.
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towards a unique performance. After the show is presented one or more times, the team is dissolved. Next, a new play is selected and the cycle repeats itself, assuming that the company is successful and survives. The contrast between the two paradigms is obvious. Whereas the right man in the right place paradigm aims at creating conditions for good performance by lling places with qualied people, the theatre-model aims at developing competences and shaping performance, emphasizing the relationship between selection, learning in practice, and direction. Instead of stability of people and jobs, the assumption here is the changeability of people and tasks within an organizational framework that is essentially dynamic and depends on delivered performance for its existence. The view of selection is therefore dierent as well (Roe, 1996): Within the right man in the right place paradigm selection is: (1) a one-shot aair with a preventive purpose, that is, selection precedes a longer period of employment; (2) the person is evaluated against the job as a whole, and in terms of categories such as suitable or unsuitable; and (3) there is a strict separation between selection and other means for person job adjustment, i.e., training and job design, which presuppose malleability of the person and the job. In terms of the underlying principles the focus is on meritocracy and risk avoidance. In the theatre model, in contrast, there is: (1) a recurrent series of selections, carried out shortly before new organizational arrangements become operational; (2) selection based on facets that are critical for the roles to be performed and the ability to acquire them by collective learning, but not for the actors job as a whole; and (3) a close connection between selection, training, and coaching during the work process. Here the emphasis is on the principle of employment and career opportunity. The alternative model seems to make sense to many modern organizations. Even though it may not be applicable to all jobs and all organizations, it oers the possibility to frame selection in a way that accommodates the notion of competence development and articulates a number of key issues. Some of the potential implications for research will be included in the research agenda.
RESEARCH AGENDA
When looking at it from a European perspective we see a number of issues that would require attention of selection researchers. Some of them will have special relevance for the European context, but most of them may pertain to the situation in North America as well. Some issues relate to technical aspects of measurement, prediction, and decision making; others need a broader focus showing the links with other HRM activities in an internationalizing context as well as the t of selection in its cultural context.
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Examination of cultural factors in selection

The process of European integration and the tendency towards globalization makes us aware thatlike other methods of HRM (Erez & Earley, 1993)personnel selection methods are built on assumptions and values that are not universally shared. Because of the cultural dierences (Leeds, Kirkbride, & Durcan, 1994), some of the techniques and tools that were developed in the United States or United Kingdom may therefore be of limited applicability in, e.g., the Nordic or the Southern part of Europe, and vice versa. In view of empirical evidence on the practice of selection, and the deviance from the much-advertised psychometric paradigm, there is sucient reason to start research on cultural factors determining the use and usefulness of selection methods and to make some of these factors into a topic of systematic inquiry. As examples we mention the aforementioned study by Ryan et al. (1999) on cultural dierences between countries in selection practices, and a study by Steiner and Gilliland (2001) on cultural dierences in applicant reactions to selection methods. Research into matters as the involvement of stakeholders or the inuence of politics in selection for public oces might also provide valuable insights. We have the impression that in Europe there is much practical experience with these issues, which might lead to the identication of feasible models for dealing with socially complex selection problems. Here cooperation with sociologists or political scientists might be useful.
Systems approach and design methodology

An important development in the HRM eld is the growing recognition that personnel activities such as recruitment, selection, training, and career development are interdependent and should be looked at as a system. Within the systems approach to HRM there is a need for integrated design of various components. Design methodology was initially proposed as a way to broaden the scope of selection technology from merely measurement and prediction to solving problems of recruitment and hiring in an integral way (Roe, 1989, 1998). The methodology seems also suitable for building selection and recruitment systems or even wider HRM systems. The starting point of the design approach as applied to selection is the idea that selection procedures can be considered as products to be designed in a purposeful and systematic way. A key notion is the design cycle, which includes a series of iterative phases of inventing, materializing, testing, and evaluating the product (i.e., the selection procedure), which lead to its stepwise creation (Roe, 1989; Roozenburg & Eekels, 1998). The design process is guided by a set of requirements and constraints, produced by consulting future users and other stakeholders. These requirements and
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constraints are operationalized in criteria and standards, as well as in design specications, which are used in testing and evaluating. Following the design approach, the notions of reliability and validity play the role of criteria for the designer, but there are many other criteria as well, such as conformance to legal standards, the possibility to involve multiple parties in data gathering and/or decision making, the amount of time needed to apply the procedure, the level of technical expertise needed for applying the procedure, the costs, etc. A few studies have shown the feasibility of the design approach, the possibility of involving multiple stakeholders, its capacity to take political, legal, social, and other criteria into account (Ridderbos, 1993; Roe, 1989; Koh, 1994). Although this may be applicable in North America as well, wee feel that this is particularly valuable in Europe, because of the broad range of selection principles (e.g., meritocratic, risk avoidance, fair chance, involvement). The methodology allows one to build procedures that are valid, acceptable, and practical at the same time. It seems commendable to apply design methodology on a wider scale and to assess its potential and limitation for improving selection.
Developing the competence competency interface

An important subject for selection research is certainly the denition of competences and the specication of the interface between competences and competencies. As was noted before, competences can be considered as criteria for selection, whereas competencies can be equated to individual characteristics, such as knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and abilities (KSAs), which can serve as predictors. Roe (2002) has proposed an architectural model of competences in which a distinction is made between (1) organization and job specic competences, (2) generic or basic competences, (3) knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and (4) dispositions such as abilities, personality traits, interests, values, and other characteristics. Competences are supposed to be acquired by a process of on-the-job learning that provides for an integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These latter components are typically at the focus of training and education. The primary focus of personnel selection is on the dispositions necessary for people to learn knowledge, skills, and attitudes, as well as to acquire competences. Future research should help to resolve a number of issues (cf. Roe, 2002), i.e.: (1) (2) The identication of specic and generic job competences by derivation from organizations core competences. The analysis of (specic and generic) competences into knowledge, skill, and attitudes components.
278 (3)
The development of competence models, which allow the prediction of (specic and generic) competences from stable personal dispositions.
In training situations, knowledge, skill, and attitude components of competences can be treated as criteria, just like the competences. To the degree that applicants had an opportunity for learning, they can be treated as predictors as well, and included in the list of competencies. A great deal of the research conducted so far has focused on identifying generic competences and linking them directly to competencies. In the US, Spencer and Spencer (1993) have, on the basis of a large number of studies, formulated generic competences for several job types. They have proposed a methodology in which panels of managers dene core competences and socalled Behavioral Event Interviews are used to identify employee behaviours that operationally dene competencies. Next, rating scales (BARS or BOS type) are used to measure these competencies. This approach has been applied in Europe as well. Van den Berg (1998) has proposed a typology in which a distinction is made between trainable cognitive competences (cf. knowledge), trainable behavioural competences (cf. skills), stable cognitive competences (ability dispositions), and stable behavioural competences (personality dispositions). All these competencies can be measured with rating scales (see, for an application, Van den Berg et al., 2001). Of course, dispositions can also be measured with traditional intelligence and personality tests. Much research remains still to be done, in particular on the analysis of competences and the linkages between dispositions and competences. In our view, research of this type holds great promise for personnel selection in general. First, it may provide the knowledge on the missing link between performance criteria and individual predictor scores that has plagued personnel selection for so long (cf. Dunnette, 1976; Roe, 1983). But it also oers excellent opportunities for establishing the much needed connection between selection and other HRM activities.
Innovations of selection methods

The proposed shift of paradigm, from the right man in the right place towards the theatre model oers opportunities for innovations that would deserve a place on the research agenda as well. Following Roe (1996), we will mention three possibilities to resolve the kind of problems posed by selection in a very dynamic, culturally heterogeneous environment. Again, this will be relevant for Europe as well as for the US and other countries. 1. Broad person-oriented assessment. Since people increasingly have to work under changeable circumstances and to perform tasks that cannot be
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known in advance, one might return to the broad person-oriented assessment of former days. In Europe this approach (cf. Ganzheitsdiagnostik; Simoneit, 1943) was common till the rise of the psychometric model, with its focus on the prediction of a well-dened criterion, in the middle of the twentieth century. Selection can be based on a personal prole, constructed by using an encompassing assessment battery, which covers a wide range of competencies (abilities, aptitudes, character traits, temperaments, interests, etc.), from which the suitability for several types of tasks or missions can be derived. This information can then be used at the moment of organizational entry, as well as when composing teams and assigning tasks and missions. The contents of the prole, the composition of the test battery, and the method for deriving suitability judgements would be topics for research. 2. Focused competence-oriented assessment. Researchers might also direct their attention to the assessment of particular basic competences, corresponding to relatively stable work functions, such as planning, composing text, or driving vehicles. Even though jobs may change in composition and technology may inuence the precise form in which such functions are casted, the nature of the tasks and the underlying psychological processes might remain the same, and hence predictions might be derived from knowledge about stable basic competencies. Research should identify a series of basic competencies that are critical in a certain range of dynamic occupations and operationalize them in a technology independent way. The prediction technology needed here could be based on the notion of synthetic validity (Lawshe & Steinberg, 1955; Mossholder & Arvey, 1984), which stems from the classical psychometric model but could now be applied to task-related competences instead of trait-like competencies. That is, once the validities of various tests for task-related competences are known, one may derive validity estimates for competence composites corresponding with current task packages or jobs. An example of a task-oriented competency model in the eld of information technology is given by Van den Berg (1998). 3. Just-in-time selection. When job changes preclude the prediction over a longer time interval, i.e., an interval of 6 months or more, typical for personnel selection, one might try to reduce the length of the prediction interval by carrying out the assessment and making the selection decision just before assigning a new task or composing a new team. Selection could be restricted to the next mission only and hence be carried out repeatedly, just like in the theatre model. An example would be instant simulations or assessment exercises, developed in a short time and aiming at
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performances that are only needed in the short run. Research would have to develop principles for a quick analysis of tasks and a fast construction of simulation exercises and rating scales. Apart from innovations with respect to content, there is a need for innovations regarding the form of selection methods as well. This is especially appropriate in view of technological developments. The expanding coverage and use of the Internet and the spread of Web-enabled software platforms calls for further developments in E-recruiting and E-selection, and research on such novel applications.
CONCLUSIONS
In this article, we have given a brief account of personnel selection from a European perspective. We have pointed out that the way in which Europeans select people for employment and for carrying out work roles depends on the socio-economic and cultural background. Knowledge of this background is helpful in understanding the typical features of European personnel selection as contrasted to selection in North America, as well as to understand the dierences among the main European regions or countries. Important factors to take into account are the cultural background, the system of labour relations, recent economic developments, organizational restructuring, and demographic trends. Moreover, selection is seen as a matter of concern for several stakeholders other than the employer and the candidates, and a pattern of activity that it is based on a set of principles of which meritocracy is only one. Generally speaking, European methods of selection and research studies pay much attention to the role of the applicant and allow for the participation of various parties, which reects an awareness of the political nature of the workplace. There is also a great deal of interest in actual practices and the eects they have on applicants. There are signs of growing convergence in HRM practices, including selection, but there are still some regional dierences that may be explained from the system of labour relations and historical factors. Recent developments in research and theory concern the poor t between traditional selection methodology, with its assumptions of stable people and stable jobs, and the highly dynamic and complex business environment that we nd in Europe as well as in other parts of the world. It is argued that the paradigm of right man in the right place is no longer suited to serve as a base for personnel selection activities. The so-called theatre model is oered as an alternative. As for the research agenda we have suggested that research must extend beyond the further studies of the psychometric paradigm and should address cultural factors, aim at the elaboration of design methodology, develop a competence/competency system in order to improve selection
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itself and to provide an interface with other HRM elds, and seek innovations that make selection methods more suitable for use in the highly dynamic organizational environment of the twenty-rst century.
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EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2003, 12 (3), 257287

Selection in Europe: Context, developments and research agenda

Peter T. van den Berg

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

THE EUROPEAN BACKGROUND

Converging labour relations patterns

Economic development and integration

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

Changing organizational forms

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

THE SELECTION OF PERSONNEL

Stakeholders, selection principles, and roles

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

Selection practices and methods

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

Developments in selection methods

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

DEVELOPMENTS IN THEORY AND RESEARCH

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

Examination of cultural factors in selection

Systems approach and design methodology

Developing the competence competency interface

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

Innovations of selection methods

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

ROE AND VAN DEN BERG

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