7 elements of non-verbal communication in personnel selection

There is a lot of talk about the elements of non-verbal communication, Is it true that there are body language manuals that tell us the equivalence between a gesture or a posture and its meaning?

Not at all. Non-verbal communication is much more complex than that and there is no such thing as a «gestures-English» dictionary.

In this article we will look at the most important elements of non-verbal communication and their application during the personnel selection phase of a company.

Elements of non-verbal communication

First of all, let's look at what 7 elements we are going to discuss and what each of them includes:

1. Microexpressions and facial expressions. As the name suggests, they refer to the expressions that are drawn on the face.
2. Gestures. All those gestures that are made momentarily with the body: arms, hands, legs....
3. Posture. It involves a more enduring position than gestures and involves the body in a general way.
4. Paralanguage. The volume of the voice, the tone, the timbre, the pauses... Everything that accompanies the language and modulates it is paralanguage.
5. Proximity. Proxemics is the discipline that studies how distance between people affects non-verbal communication.
6. Accessories. Clothes, hairstyle, make-up, watches... these are all accessories that can tell us a lot about a person.
7. Haptics. Or, in other words, the discipline that studies the implications of contact with other people.

Let us now look at each of these elements of non-verbal communication in more detail.

Microexpressions and facial expressions

At this point we are talking about two different terms. The main difference between microexpressions and facial expressions is the following:

1. The facial microexpressions are very subtle movements and contractions of the muscles of the face that last only a few thousandths of a second. They are unfalsifiable.
2. The facial expressions are voluntary and therefore last as long as the person who draws them wants them to last. They can be forged.

For example, if a person feels surprise, their upper eyelids and eyebrows will rise and their pupils will dilate, always in a very subtle way. It is an evolutionary reaction that translates into a microexpression. The problem is that, because of its short duration and subtlety, this is very difficult to detect with the naked eye. If we wanted to detect the real emotional reactions of a candidate we would need to film their faces in HD and perform a frame-by-frame analysis.

Gestures

There are different types of gestures. The most important ones are:

1. Illustrative gestures. They accompany verbal language. For example, if a person says that something is very big, they will expand their arms as they say it.
2. Manipulative gestures. They do not accompany verbal language. An example: a person who scratches the back of their neck while telling us how big something is. However, this does not necessarily imply that they are lying to us, as is often believed.

In personnel selection processes we will look at the following:

1. If the candidate uses mostly illustrative gestures, it usually means that he/she is comfortable and sincere.
2. If the candidate uses mostly manipulative gestures, it usually means that he or she is uncomfortable and perhaps lying to us.

Posture

Posture is another element of non-verbal communication that can give us information about the candidate.

Generally, the standard posture in a job interview is sitting. About it:

• A person who keeps the open legs is generally comfortable. It is possible that, in this position, we find ourselves faced with a leader.
• A person who cross your legs You don't have to be uncomfortable, you may simply be more comfortable in that position.
• If the shoulders are not relaxed, it will be a sign of emotional tension that we should relax.

Paralanguage

When the candidate speaks, we must pay attention to the elements of paralanguage:

• The voice volume high usually reflects a person's confidence in their own words or in themselves, as well as the truthfulness of their words.
• If a person lowers his voice volume at a particular point in time when he speaks, he may be lying to us. We should probe further into what he has said.
• The breaks and the silences can also communicate. If we want a person to give us more details about what they have just said, we nod our heads in silence.

Proximity

In proxemics, there are different distances depending on the number of centimetres between one interlocutor and the other:

1. Intimate distance: 15-45 centimetres.
2. Personal distance: 46-120 centimetres.
3. Social distance: 120-360 centimetres.
4. Public distance: more than 360 centimetres.

In any recruitment process we must make sure that we are keeping the social distance, which is the most appropriate distance in these cases. If we reduce it, the candidate is likely to feel uncomfortable. If we increase it, communication will become more difficult.

Accessories

The accessories a person wears to a job interview can tell us a lot about him or her:

• The clothing The suit, jacket, shirt or dress he wears will show how seriously he takes the interview, as the social convention is to wear a suit, blazer, shirt or formal dress to such events.
• Accessories such as watches, rings, necklaces, etc. may reflect additional care in their image.
• A piercing or a tattoo may reveal certain emotional issues.

Haptics

Finally, you should know that the human contact has almost magical effects on relationships between people.

Experiments have shown that waiters who subtly touch their customers receive more tips, or that lecturers who touch their listeners' shoulders in a handshake get better marks.

As long as the contact is subtle and natural, its effects will always be beneficial.

Now that you know these elements of non-verbal communication, it is time to apply them in your company's recruitment process.