Evaluation of personnel selection criteria with the analytic hierarchy process: An application in the apparel industry

Employees are an important factor in businesses climbing the ladder of success, ensuring sustainability, growth, efficiency, globalization, in other words, in almost every success.The personnel selection process includes evaluating the candidates who apply for the vacant position, determining the compatibility of the candidates' criteria with the organization, and selecting the most suitable personnel. If the recruited personnel do not have the necessary qualifications, this means that very difficult processes begin for both the businesses and the employee himself. In this case, the employee who does not meet the required criteria may cause loss of money, time and productivity to the organization, and may also face some negative situations such as incompatibility, poor performance, fatigue and stress. During the personnel selection process, multiple criteria that are thought to be effective in determining the most suitable candidate for the job should be taken into consideration. In our study, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods, was used. AHP allows comparing many criteria simultaneously and enables the weights of the criteria to be determined. With these aspects, AHP enables businesses to make choices by considering multiple criteria and thus achieve effective results. The criteria discussed within the scope of the study regarding the selection of sales personnel in the clothing industry were determined as a result of manager and expert opinions and literature research. According to the results of the study, "Personality characteristics" and "vocational requirement" are important main criteria; The sub-criteria of "Having experience in the retail industry or wanting to make a career in this field", "Being able to understand customer needs accurately and quickly", "Being customer-oriented" and Being able to comply with flexible working hours" were also determined as important sub-criteria.