Cutting edge recruitment best practices : a REA study

Abstract

From a structural functionalistic perspective, this dissertation sought to understand how best to align the processes of formal education, and the processes of recruitment, such that both develop in syntony, rather than in disharmony. Two knowledge synthesis tools were employed. In the first part (Chapters 1 and 2 specifically, together with their related appendices), a traditional literature review was undertaken, for the purpose of understanding how modern economies are trending to begin with, and thus extrapolate the likely economic scenarios of the future. The evidence relied upon in this review consisted of expert opinion, and up-to-date statistical information. In the second part (Chapters 3 and 4 specifically, together with their related appendices), a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of influential academic literature was undertaken. The REA specifically analysed thirty-one sources, specifically consisting of sixteen meta-analyses, two systematic reviews, four cross-sectional studies, and nine traditional literature reviews, that spanned almost half a century of research, from 1973 to 2022 (please note Appendix 2 specifically). The systematic manner (please note Chapter 3) by which these thirty-one sources were identified and selected, was novel, and the results appear to have been promising and fruitful. Additionally, apart from the systematic overview of the said academic literature, this REA made an original discovery concerning the criteria of job performance, with the systematically collected evidence clearly suggesting that there is a hierarchical order to these criteria, meaning that some of these criteria consistently yield higher validities than others, irrespective of the type of predictor or occupational category (please note RQ3’s Executive Summary). The key factual findings of this dissertation have been listed in Appendices 32 and 33, for the reader’s convenience.