Chapter 8

Selecting Effective Employees

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The process by which an organization chooses the person who best matches the selection criteria for the position Decisions must be made efficiently and within the boundaries of EEO laws

Selected applicants should have the best chance of meeting or exceeding the organizations standards of performance

8-2

8-3

Application blanks & biodata forms

Interviews

Once criteria have been decided on, a technique for assessing them must be chosen

Reference checks
Physical and medical tests

Aptitude & personality tests

Work sample tests

Regardless of the method chosen, information must be reliable & valid

8-4

Refers to how stable or repeatable a measurement is over a variety of testing conditions

Reliability is also determined by using interrater reliability

A somewhat unreliable tool can still be useful

Test-retest is a common way to assess reliability

8-5

What a test measures To be useful, measures must also be valid How well it has measured it How accurate its predictions are about the future success or failure of an applicant Content Types of validity Construct Criterion-related

8-6

In the past, hiring decisions were based on subjective likes and dislikes of the boss Selection tools were designed to aid gut reactions The selection decision is a series of steps through which applicants pass At each step, more applicants are screened out

8-7

8-8

The first step in most selection processes involves completing an application form Application blanks vary in length and sophistication Nearly all ask for enough information to determine minimal qualifications The application eliminates the need for interviewers to gather basic information Application blanks are subject to the same legal standards as any other selection method They generally limit questions that imply something about the applicants physical health
8-9

The biographical information blank (BIB):

Has more items than typical application blanks
Asks for information related to a wider array of

attitudes and experiences

BIB items based on an assumption that prior experiences are related to future behavior
Example: People who preferred English in school

will perform differently on a given job than those who preferred science or math
8-10

The weighted application blank is designed to be scored more systematically and is more like the BIB

Current high and low performers are compared on a variety of characteristics known at the time they applied for the job

Weights are then assigned to the degree of difference on each characteristic

The weights are totaled for each applicant, and the one with the highest score is the preferred choice

Applicants who are judged minimally qualified proceed to the next phase of the selection process
8-11

The interview is the selection technique most often encountered by persons applying for jobs
Structure the interview to be reliable and valid

Train managers to use good interviewing

techniques

8-12

Interviews Vary Along Two Dimensions 1. How structured it is

2. Whether it focuses on historical information or hypothetical situations

An unstructured interview has no predetermined script or protocol 1. Structured interviews are more reliable and valid than unstructured interviews 2. Standardization lowers the possibility that biases have been introduced by the interviewer

8-13

8-14

Two types of structured interviews have gained popularity

Behavioral description interview applicants relate actual incidents from their past work experience to the job for which they are applying

Situational interview seeks to identify whether an applicant possesses relevant job knowledge and motivation by asking hypothetical questions

Questions about past experience have higher validity than future-oriented hypothetical questions
8-15

8-16

Employment tests attempt to measure Manual dexterity

Aptitudes

Intelligence

Personality

It can be expensive to develop an employment test, so many employers purchase existing tests Some cost as little as $1 per applicant

The Mental Measurements Yearbook summarizes the tests and their effectiveness
8-17

Any testing device should be validated before being used to make hiring decisions
1. Validation studies are expensive; even more so if questions of discrimination arise 2. Despite the cost, tests can more than pay for themselves through increased efficiency in selection

The type of test ultimately used depends on 1. Budgetary constraints 2. The complexity and difficulty of the job 3. The size and quality of applicant populations 4. The KSAOs required by the job

8-18

Requires applicants to do a sample of the work that the job involves in a controlled situation Applicants are often asked to run the machines they would run on the job Has high validity among selection tests

Face validity is not the same as actual validity

Face validity is how good a test looks for a given situation Tests that look valid may be otherwise

8-19

The best known cognitive abilities are math and verbal

The basis of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Verbal and math abilities are also measured by tests developed specifically for HR use:
Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale Wonderlic Personnel Test California Test of Mental Maturity (adult level)

8-20

The Minnesota Paper Form Board Test (MPFB) measures spatial relations

Exhibit 8-6 Excerpt from Revised Minnesota Paper Form Board Test
8-21

Exhibit 8-6
8-22

Psychomotor ability tests are not as popular as they once were

Choice reaction time Speed of limb movement Finger dexterity

Exhibit 8-8 OConnor Finger and Tweezer Dexterity Test Equipment

8-23

A different approach utilizes projective techniques to vague stimuli Psychologists base assumptions and interpretations of personality on reactions Stimuli are purposely vague to reach unconscious aspects of the personality The most common are the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test

Exhibit 8-9

8-24

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 made it illegal for most private organizations to use the polygraph as a selection device
Polygraph use is legal during an ongoing investigation of dishonesty if employee rights are safe-guarded
Government agencies

Exemptions

Certain Dept. of Defense and Dept. of Energy contractors Private employers whose business involves security and controlled substances

8-25

Organizations searching for an alternative to the polygraph are turning to paper-and-pencil tests Overt integrity tests ask direct questions and gather a history of theft and other illegal activities Personality-based integrity tests assess a predisposition toward deviant and disruptive behavior Honesty tests have acceptable levels of validity and reliability They can also be used to predict future job performance
8-26

Fear of being sued led many managers to refuse to provide references for former employees Many organizations include statements in employee handbooks about reference checking policies Managers often give out only verifiable kinds of information, such as date of employment and job title

Organizations must also be wary of any policy suggesting that all references be neutral

They could be sued for a negligent referral

8-27

Choose among finalists for the job

Multiple-hurdle approach
Compensatory model Communicate decision to winner Put offer in writing Include salary, benefits, start date, job responsibilities Set deadline for offer acceptance
8-28

If offer is rejected Make counter-offer

If offer is accepted Notify the other job candidates that they were not chosen

or
Extend offer to the runner-up

8-29

The Americans with Disabilities Act indicates that Physical examinations can be used to screen out unqualified individuals, but only after a conditional offer of employment is made If an organization uses such examinations, everyone who is conditionally offered employment should be required to have one

8-30

Utility the degree to which using a selection system improves the quality of the individuals being selected

Statistical Utility the extent to which a selection technique allows a company to predict who will be successful
Organizational Utility a matter of costs and benefits

8-31