HR Intervention:

This HR intervention report will consist of the main steps to develop a selection interview. The selection interview is the second step in the selection process, which is a two way communication process between and interviewee and interviewer/interviewers. The outline for this HR Intervention report is based on the job of a dental assistant. This report relies on a Functional Job Analysis (FJA) report that was previously conducted as the guideline for determining the suitable testing method for the applicants.

Purpose of HR Intervention:

The purpose of this HR Intervention is to determine whether a candidate has the right skills, attitude and motivation to fill a vacant position, and perhaps more importantly, if that person will be a good fit within the culture of the organization. The selection interview is “a procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of applicant’s oral responses to oral inquiries” (Dessler et al. 149). A well-designed selection interview is necessary to select the most qualified candidates in order for them to proceed to the next step in the selection process. There are various structures, types of questions and types of interviews that can be utilized.

Information included from the Functional Job Analysis
The selection interview will require information from the Functional Job Analysis that was conducted for the dental assistant job. This report will focus on two primary skills from the FJA, which are adaptive skills and functional skills. Adaptive skills enable to adjust one’s behavior to different situations in order to accomplish a common task and increase work place motivation. Functional skills are also important to increase productivity and performance because they allow individuals to analyze people, data and things. In the selection interview, the interviewer should ensure that questions are directed towards the adaptive and functional skills of the candidate. The questions should rely on the skills and abilities and tasks of the FJA. The skills from the FJA that the questions should aim to assess are:
• Be able to relate to a wide range of people of all backgrounds, while gaining their confidence in you
• Must be able to work well as a team, as well as individually when necessary
• Strategic thinking skills (must be able to know what the dentist needs or wants at all times) Using the FJA to develop a selection interview will ensure that the candidate who proceeds to the next step in the selection process fits well into the organization.

Essentials of the intervention

The selection interview techniques that will be outlined in this report consist of the structure used, types of questions to be asked and the type of interview. The structure can be thought of as the level of formalization or how planned out the interview is in advance. The structure of the selection interview should be semi-structured so that the interview follows a format that combines the structured and unstructured techniques. The interview will consist of “structured questions based on the job description and specification and a series of preset, candidate-specific, job-related questions based on the information provided on the application form” (Dessler et al. 150). The interview for a dental assistant should be a situational interview due to the fact that employers of a dental assistant need to be reassured that the potential employee will react in an appropriate manner in certain situations. Below are some examples of questions that could be asked using a situational interview:
- If a pediatric patient came into the office and was resisting treatment and causing a scene, how would you deal with this patient?

- If a patient comes into the office and is very nervous and unsure about their appointment, what steps could you take to make them feel more comfortable?

The candidate will be given an opportunity to answer and will be rated accordingly. The rating scale that could be used to evaluate candidate’s responses is the 5-point rating scale, which could be set up as follows:
5 – Outstanding
4 – Good
3 – Acceptable
2 – Fair
1 – Very Poor
The dentist will evaluate the candidates and the minimum acceptable level is 3 since it is essential to the job that the candidates are able to work in teams and possess strategic thinking skills.

Next, we need to consider whether a one-on-one interview or a panel interview should be applied. In most selection interviews for dental assistants, one-on-one interviews are most commonly used with the dentist as the interviewer. This allows the dentist to be able to determine whether or not he/she would be able to work with the potential employee since the dental assistant and the dentist work together closely to accomplish a common task.

It is important for the interviewer to avoid common mistakes that could be made during the interview phase. Being aware of these errors could avoid the undermining or underestimation of a candidate and their potential in the company. Some of these errors include poor planning of the interview, snap judgments, poor knowledge of the job, pressure to hire and telegraphing (Dessler et al. 152). The costs of hiring the wrong employee can far exceed the costs of designing an effective interview, so it is beneficial to spend the time and money to find a method that can identify genuinely desirable candidates. In order to design an effective interview, the following 5 steps should be followed:
1) Deciding who will be involved in the selection process and developing selection criteria. It is important to ensure that the interviewer (dentist) is selected as soon as the job opening is identified.

2) Specifying must-haves and wants. This is a mix of technical and performance skills that are necessary to perform the job up to company standards. An example of a must-have could be manual dexterity.

3) Determining assessment strategies and developing an evaluation form. Using this form, every candidate can be evaluated based on the musts and wants that were determined in step 2.

4) Developing interview questions to be asked of all candidates. Questions should be prepared to specifically target the competencies identified in step 2 and should be consistent with the job description.

5) Developing candidate specific questions. These questions should be open-ended, job-related questions that are candidate specific based on their application.

Recommendations
In order to ensure that the selection interview is effective and constructive, the interviewer should always consider some guidelines. These guidelines consist of legal considerations, company’s policies and their objectives and costs. Firms should ensure that the selection interview is free of both intentional and systematic discrimination. Moreover, all organizations should comply with the human right legislation and the legal rights of people. In addition, the strategic plan of a firm places major affects the selection process. Not all candidates with the knowledge, skills and abilities have those corresponding to the firm’s requirements. In order to avoid wasting organizational resources, management should always plan the whole selection process based on the particular position requirements in order to ensure efficiency and productivity. Cost is a significant factor in the selection process. All firms can conduct interviews however; it is quite expensive and difficult to thoroughly examine candidates. A realistic budget for the whole selection process should be established in order to determine the specific steps that candidates need to complete. To make better use of an organization’s selection interview budget, expenses must be cost-effective. In addition, much emphasis has been placed on effective training and development as a means of ensuring that common interview mistakes are avoided. In conclusion, with better training and effective strategic selection interviews, firms can avoid the risk of proceeding with candidates that do not meet the job description criteria. This will ensure efficiency, accuracy, and valid results.