6

Employee Testing
and Selection

Copyright 2013 Pearson Education

Chapter 6-1

LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain what is meant by reliability and validity..
2. Cite and illustrate our testing guidelines.
3. List eight tests you could use for employee selection
and how you would use them.
4. Give two examples of work sample/simulation tests.
5. Explain the key points to remember in conducting
background investigations.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

62

Why Careful Selection is

Important??
The Importance of
Selecting the Right
Employees
Organizational
performance

Costs of recruiting
and hiring

Legal obligations
and liability

+
Person-Job fit

63
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Basic Testing Concepts

Reliability
Describes the consistency of scores obtained by the same

person when retested with the identical or alternate forms of the

same test.
Are test results stable over time?

Validity
Indicates whether a test is measuring what it is supposed to be

measuring.
Does the test actually measure what it is intended to measure?

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

64

FIGURE 61

A Slide from the Rorschach Test (Projective test).

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

65

Types of Validity
Types of
Test Validity

Criterion validity
Do well on
test(EI)- do well
on job

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Content validity
Test involves a
fair sample of
the job content
(typing)

66

FIGURE 62

Examples of Web Sites Offering Information

on Tests or Testing Programs

www.hr-guide.com/data/G371.htm
Provides general information and sources
for all types of employment tests
http://ericae.net
Provides technical information on all types
of employment and nonemployment
tests.www.ets.org/testcoll
Provides information on over 20,000 tests
www.kaplan.com
Information from Kaplan test preparation
on how various admissions tests work
www.assessments.biz
One of many firms offering employment tests
Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

67

FIGURE 64 Sample TestPlease

listen carefully and try to answer the

following test sample (individually):

This sample test is intended to find out how prone you might be to
on-the-job accidents

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

68

Types of Tests
What Different Tests
Measure

Cognitive
abilities
General (IQ)&
specific
(memory,
numerical
ability).

Motor and
physical
abilities
e.g. Finger
dexterity&
reaction time

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Personality
and interests
e.g.
Introversion
e.g. reading

Current
achievement/
What learned,
e.g. school
tests, job
knowledge as
in HR,Mrktg

69

FIGURE 65

Type of Question Applicant Might Expect on a Test of Mechanical

Comprehension (specific cognitive abilities tests )

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

610

Personality Test: The Big Five

Extraversion

Conscientiousnes
s

Agreeableness

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Emotional
stability/
Neuroticism

Openness to
experience

611

Group Work
Look at the sheet(s) containing the
definitions for each of the big five
personality traits, and then try to figure out
which occupation(s) should be tested with
each of these trait test.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

612

Work Samples and

Simulations
Measuring Work Performance
Directly

Work samples
Basic procedure
/situational
judgment

Management
assessment
centers

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Video-based
situational
testing

613

Background Investigations and

Other Selection Methods
Investigations and Checks
Reference/employment checks
Criminal records
Driving records
Credit checks

Why?
To verify factual information provided by applicants
To uncover damaging information

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

614

Background Investigations and

Reference Checks
Former Employers

Current Supervisors

Sources of
Information

Commercial Credit
Rating Companies
(USA)
Written References
Social Networking
Sites

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

615

Limitations on Background
Investigations and Reference
Checks
Legal Issues:
Defamation
(False info)

Employer
Guidelines/polic
y

Background
Investigations and
Reference Checks

Legal Issues:
Privacy
(True but
private)

Supervisor
Reluctance

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

616

Background Investigations and

other tests

The Polygraph and Honesty Testing (lie detector)

Graphology
Physical/medical exams

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

617

FIGURE 69

Graphology : refers to the use of handwriting analysis

The Uptight Personality to determine the writers basic personality traits.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

618

Physical Examinations
Reasons for preemployment medical examinations:
To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of

the position.
To discover any medical limitations to be taken into account in

placing the applicant (e.g. disabled employees).

To establish a record and baseline of the applicants health for

future insurance or compensation claims.

To reduce absenteeism and accidents.
To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to the

applicant.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

619

Group Work
Work with your group to develop a list of specific
selection techniques/tests that you would suggest a
dean could use to appoint the next HR professor at this
academic institution. Explain the reason behind each
selected test.

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

620

Thank You

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

621