Job‐matching and employee diversity: an exploratory study

Purpose – The investigation reported here aims to: adapt existing recruitment theory to add to tools available to small business recruiters for job matching; provide job‐specific scoring methods to help employers in recruitment processes; and enhance the consideration of reasonable adjustment issues in the possible employment of disabled individuals. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 32 interviews were conducted on‐site with managers to devise and test templates combining person specifications with job characteristics, based on managers' judgements of what is important. The methods devised and used are an original adaptation of repertory grid principles. Where there were disabled employees, indications of the employees' success and difficulty were elicited. Findings – A simplified derivative of repertory grid method to give a combined abilities/tasks matrix was found usable and clarifying by respondents. Research limitations/implications – The investigation was confined to hotel and leisure small to medium‐sized enterprises in Sussex, UK. As they stand, the methods could be used in business sectors beyond the sector to which the research reported in this paper has been confined, but further work is needed on resource consequences, and on the implications for state benefits and related support in the case of disabled applicants. Originality/value – Results of the analysis could be used almost immediately by a company: for future applicants, the company could make direct use of the completed matrix by scoring the applicant on the matrix variables, superimposing the applicant matrix on the requirements matrix, and calculating the percentage of desirable scores met.