DRILL 1: EMPLOYEE SELECTION: REFERENCES AND TESTING

REFERENCE CHECK

is the process of confirming  the accuracy of information provided by an  applicant

REFERENCE

the expression of an opinion, either  orally or through a written checklist, regarding  an applicant’s ability, previous performance,  work habits, character, or potential for future  success

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

letter expressing  an opinion regarding applicant’s ability, previous  performance, work habits, character, or  potential future success

NEGLIGENT HIRING

if an  organization hires an applicant without  checking his references and background  and he later commits a crime while in the  employ of an organization, the organization  may be found liable for negligent hiring if the  employee has a criminal background that  would have been detected has a background  check been conducted.

LENIENCY

applicants choose references  that would help them in application by  showing only positive sides

KNOWLEDGE OF THE APPLICANT

the person  writing the letter often does not know the  applicant well

RELIABILITY

the lack of agreement between two people who provide references for the same person

EXTRANEOUS FACTORS

method used by the letter writer is often more important than the actual content

JOB KNOWLEDGE TEST

designed to measure how much a person knows about a job

ABILITY TESTS

tap the extent to which an  applicant can learn or perform a job

COGNITIVE ABILITY

dimensions such as oral and  written comprehension, oral and written  expression, numerical facility, originality,  memorization, reasoning, and general learning

WONDERLIC PERSONNEL TEST

widely used  cognitive ability test in the industry

PERCEPTUAL ABILITY

consists of vision, color  discrimination, depth perception, glare  sensitivity, speech, and hearing

PSYCHOMOTOR ABILITY

finger dexterity, manual  dexterity, control precision, multilimbed  coordination, response control, reaction time,  arm

PHYSICAL ABILITY

used for jobs that requires  physical strengths and stamina

WORK SAMPLES

– the applicant performs actual job related tasks. Directly related to job tasks, they have excellent content validity

ASSESSMENT CENTERS

selection techniques  characterized by the use of multiple  assessment methods that allow multiple  assessors to actually observe applicants  perform simulated job tasks

IN BASKET TECHNIQUE

to evaluate a candidate's decision-making, problem-solving, and organizational skills

SIMULATIONS

include diverse activities as  role plays and work samples, place an  applicant in a situation that is similar as  possible to one that will be encountered on  the job

WORK SAMPLE

if simulation does not  involve situational exercise

LEADERLESS GROUP DISCUSSIONS

applicants  meet in small groups with no leader and are given a job related problem to solve or a job. see who has a leadership potential

BUSINESS GAMES

exercises that allow the  applicant to demonstrate such attributes as  creativity, decision making, and ability to  work with others

EXPERIENCE RATINGS

past experience will  predict future experience

BIODATA

selection method that considers an  applicant’s life, school, military, community, and  work experience. include empirically validated items that have been shown to predict future behavior or performance.

PERSONALITY INVENTORIES

they predict  performance better than once thought

TESTS OF NORMAL PERSONALITY

measures the  traits exhibited by normal individuals in  everyday life; Can be based on a theory (MBTI), statistically  based (16PF), or empirically based (MMPI) ▪ Big Five or Five Factor Model. Openness to experience

TEST OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

determines whether  individuals have serious psychological  problems

PROJECTIVE TESTS

provide the respondent with unstructured tasks such as describing  ink blots and drawing pictures

OBJECTIVE TESTS

structured so that the  respondent is limited to a few answers that  will be scored by standardized keys

INTEREST INVENTORIES

tap vocational interest; Strong Interest Inventory

INTEGRITY TEST

honesty tests; tell an employer  the probability that an applicant would steal  money or merchandise

PERSONALITY BASED INTEGRITY TEST

are more  general in that they tap a variety of  personality traits thought to be related to a  wide range of counterproductive behavior

CONDITIONAL REASONING TEST

to reduce the inaccurate response and get a more accurate  picture of a person’s tendency to engage in  aggressive or counterproductive behavior

GRAPHOLOGY

handwriting analysis