PSYCH180 Chapter 5 (Employee Selection, References, and Testing)

ways of predicting performance

1. references and letters of recommendation

2. applicant training and education (GPA)

3. applicant knowledge

4. applicant ability

5. applicant skill

6. prior experience

7. personality, interest, and character

8. limitations due to medical and psychological problems (drug testing/exams)

GPA

valid predictor of performance on the job, training performance, starting salary, promotions, grad school performance, high levels of adverse impact

optimal employee selection

1. valid (content and criterion)

2. reduce chance of a legal challenge (face valid)

3. cost effective

reference check

the process of confirming the accuracy of resume and job application information

reference

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

letter of recommendation

a letter expressing an opinion regarding an applicant's ability, previous performance, work habits, character, or potential for success

reasons for using references and recommendations

1. confirming resume details

2. checking for discipline problems

3. discovering new info about applicant

4. predicting future performance

5. leniency

6. knowledge of the applicant

7. reliability

8. extraneous factors

resume fraud

the intentional placement of untrue information on a resume

negligent hiring

a situation in which an employee with a prev. criminal record commits a crime as part of his/her employment, typically filed as common-law cases/torts

validity coefficient

the correlation between scores on a selection method (eg. interview, cognitive ability test) and a measure of job performance (eg., supervisor rating, absenteeism), usually only .18

corrected validity

a term usually found with meta-analysis, referring to a correlation coefficient that has been corrected for predictor and criterion reliability and for range restriction, sometimes called true validity

reasons for low validity

1. leniency

2. knowledge of the applicant

3. low reliability

4. extraneous factors

possible situations of leniency

1. positive and representative

2. positive and more favourable due to some positive, neutral, and negative

3. some positive, mostly negative

4. all negative

leniency

1. applicants choose on references -> recommendations are mostly positive

2. confidentiality concerns

3. fear of legal ramifications

conditional privilege

the right to express an opinion provided they believe what they say is true and have reasonable grounds for this belief

reference detectives

companies hired by applicants concerned that their former employer might provide negative reference, who contact the person's former employer to see what they say when they ask for a reference

negligent reference

an organization's failure to meet its legal duty to supply relevant information to a prospective employer about a former employee's potential for legal trouble

reliability

the extent to which a score from a test or from an evaluation is consistent and free from error, only .22 for references; more agreement between recommendations written by the same person for two different applicants than between two people writing recommendations for the same person

extraneous factors

method used by letter writer often more important than actual content eg. length

ethical guidelines for references

1. explicitly state referee-referent relationship

2. be honest

3. applicant should see reference before it is sent and have chance to decline to use it

job knowledge test

a test that measures the amount of job-related knowledge an applicant possesses, good predictors of training and job performance, high face validity, but usually results in adverse impact

predicting performance using applicant ability

1. cognitive

2. perceptual

3. psychomotor

4. physical

cognitive ability

abilities involving the knowledge and use of info such as math and grammar

cognitive ability tests

tests designed to measure the level of intelligence or the amount of knowledge possessed by an applicant, excellent predictors of employee performance, easy to administer, relatively inexpensive, not time consuming

benefits of cognitive ability

1. excellent predictors of work performance/high validity

2. easy to administer

3. relatively inexpensive

4. most are not time consuming

how cognitive ability predicts work performance

1. can quickly learn job-related knowledge

2. better decision making

drawbacks of cognitive ability

1. highest adverse impact

2. low face validity

3. difficult to determine what is the correct passing score

4. not well-liked by applicants

Wonderlic Personnel Test

the cognitive ability test most commonly used in industry, quick (12 min) and can be administered in group setting

Siena Reasoning Test (SRT)

large race differences in scores on traditional cognitive ability tests due to knowledge needed to understand the questions rather than actual ability to learn/process info, test predicts grades and work performance, almost eliminated racial differences

situational judgment test

applicants given series of situations, asked how they would handle each one, correlated with cognitive ability

perceptual ability

measure of facility with such processes as spatial relations and form perception

psychomotor ability

measure of facility with such processes as finger dexterity and motor coordination

physical ability tests

tests that measure an applicant's level of physical ability required for a job, 1. job simulations or 2. physical agility tests, but adverse impact against women

job simulation

applicants demonstrate job-related physical behaviours, high content validity but safety and cost concerns

basic physical abilities

1. dynamic strength

2. trunk strength

3. explosive strength

4. static strength

5. dynamic flexibility

6. extent flexibility

7. gross body equilibrium

8. gross body coordination

9. stamina

criticisms of physical ability tests

1. job relatedness (useful vs. essential)

2. passing scores

3. time at which they should be required (at time of hire vs. later)

4. technological alternatives

relative standards

how well an individual scores compared with others in a group, eliminates adverse impact, but a woman might be strong compared to other women, but not strong enough for a job, and relative standards based on protected classes are illegal

absolute passing scores

scores set at minimum level needed to perform a job

work sample

a method of selecting employees in which an applicant is asked to perform samples of actual job-related tasks, but expensive and can be low fidelity

benefits of work samples

1. directly related to job tasks (content validity)

2. scores tend to predict actual work performance (criterion validity)

3. job applicants can see connection between job sample and actual work (face validity), challenged less often in court

4. lower racial differences in test scores/less adverse impact

5. RJP

assessment center

a method of selecting employees in which applicants participate in several job-related activities, at least one of which must be a simulation and are rated by several trained evaluators, job-related and guarded against selection bias

assessment center reqs.

1. based on job analysis

2. participant behaviours classified into meaningful and relevant categories

3. multiple assessment techniques must be used, assessments must provide info about applicant determined as important in job analysis

4. at least one of assessment techniques must be job simulation

5. multiple trained assessors

6. behavioural observations must be documented

7. assessors must prepare report of their observations

8. overall judgment must be based on combination of information from the multiple assessors and techniques

the in-basket technique

an assessment center exercise designed to simulate the types of info that daily come across a manager's or employee's desk in order to observe the applicant's responses to such information, "in" = paperwork that must be handled, "out" = completed paperwork

simulations

an exercise designed to place an applicant in a situation that is similar to the one that will be encountered on the job ex. role-playing, work samples

leaderless group discussions

applicants discuss a job-related problem or issue to solve or discuss

business games

an exercise, usually found in assessment centers, that is designed to simulate the business and marketing activities that take place in an organization

evaluation of assessment centers

1. successful in predicting wide range of employee behaviour, but cheaper methods may be as good or better

2. adverse impact on AA and Hispanics, women have higher scores than men

experience ratings

1. amount of experience

2. level of performance demonstrated during prev. experience

3. how related the experience is to the current job

biodata

a method of selection involving application blanks that contain questions that research has shown will predict job performance, best predictor of future employee tenure

advantages of biodata

1. can predict work behaviour

2. predict varied criteria ex. supervisor ratings, absenteeism

3. higher organizational profit and growth

4. easy to use, quickly administered, inexpensive, not as subject to individual bias

weaknesses of biodata

1. low face validity

2. can invade privacy

3. items can be offensive

4. expensive

5. not always practical

development of a biodata instrument

1. obtain info about employees

file approach

the gathering of biodata from employee files rather than by questionnaire, but info may be missing or incomplete

questionnaire approach

the method of obtaining biodata from questionnaires rather than from employee files

criterion

a measure of work behaviour ex. quantity, absenteeism, or tenure, must be relevant, reliable, and fairly objective

criterion group

division of employees into groups based on high and low scores on a particular criterion

vertical percentage method

for scoring biodata in which the percentage of unsuccessful employees responding in a particular way is subtracted from the percentage of successful employees responding in the same way, used to determine which info distinguishes high and low criterion group

derivation sample

a group of employees who were used in creating the initial weights for a biodata instrument

hold-out sample

a group of employees who are not used in creating the initial weights for a biodata instrument but instead are used to double-check the accuracy of initial weights

criticisms of biodata

1. validity is unstable, may decrease with time

2. some items may not meet legal reqs. in fed. Uniform Guidelines, may result in adverse impact

3. biodata can be faked, except work samples and ability tests

standards for potential biodata items

1. must deal with events under a person's control

2. must be job-related

3. must be verifiable

4. must not invade applicant's privacy

personality inventories

a psychological assessment designed to measure various aspects of an applicant's personality

types of personality inventories

1. normal personality

2. psychopathology

personality

a collection of traits that persist across time and situations and differentiate one person from another

ways personality dimensions can be measured

1. theory: 15

2. statistically based: 16

3. empirically based: determined by grouping answers given by people known to possess a certain characteristic

ways personality dimensions can be scored

1. objective

2. projective

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2)

the most widely used objective test of psychopathology, generally measures the Big Five

five-factor model/the Big Five

1. conscientiousness

2. agreeableness

3. neuroticism/emotional stability

4. openness to experience

5. extraversion

strengths of personality evaluations

1. relatively cheap

2. easy to administer

3. little adverse impact

4. predicts best when based on job analysis

weaknesses of personality evaluations

1. scale development

2. validity

3. faking

personality inventories and predicting performance

1. can predict performance at low but statistically significant levels

2. add validity to other selection methods

3. conscientiousness is best predictor of performance

4. validity of personality dimensions depends on type of job and test validation criterion

aberrant personality types

peculiarities that do not necessarily lead to a clinically impaired function, but may affect daily functioning ex. the dark triad

projective tests

a subjective test in which a subject is asked to perform relatively unstructured tasks ex. drawing picture, psychologist analyzes his/her response

Rorschach Inkblot Test

a projective personality test

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective personality test in which test-takers are shown pictures and asked to tell stories, designed to measure various need levels

objective tests

a type of personality test that is structured to limit the respondent to a few answers that will be scored by standardized keys

interest inventories

a psychological test designed to identify vocational areas in which an individual might be interested

Strong Interest Inventory (SII)

a popular interest inventory used to help people choose careers, theory is that individual with interest similar to those of people in a particular field will more likely be satisfied in that field than in a field composed of people whose interests are dissimilar

vocational counselling

the process of helping an individual choose and prepare for the most suitable career, should include interest inventory and series of ability tests

integrity test

also called an honesty test, a psychological test designed to predict an applicant's tendency to steal, predicts variety of employee behaviours, low adverse impact, are valid and reliable

advantages of integrity tests

1. good validity

2. inexpensive

3. easy to administer

5. little to no racial adverse impact

disadvantages of integrity tests

1. males have higher fail rate than females

2. younger people have higher fail rate than older people

3. failure has negative psychological impact

polygraph

an electronic test intended to determine honesty by measuring an individual's physiological changes after being asked questions, tends to be inaccurate

voice stress analyzer

an electronic test to determine honesty by measuring an individual's voice changes after being asked questions

overt integrity test

a type of honesty test that asks questions about applicants' attitudes toward theft and their prev. theft history, directly asking

personality-based integrity tests

a type of honesty test that measures personality traits thought to be related to antisocial behaviour and are detrimental to the organization

behaviours integrity tests can predict

1. drug and alcohol abuse

2. vandalism

3. sabotage

4. assault behaviours

5. insubordination

6. absenteeism

7. excessive grievances

8. bogus workers compensation claims

shrinkage

the amount of goods lost by an organization as a result of theft, breakage, or other loss

conditional reasoning test

test designed to reduce faking by asking test-takers to select the reason that best explains a statement, aggressive individuals answer differently, predicts counterproductive behaviours

beliefs of aggressive individuals

1. hostile attribution bias

2. potency bias

3. retribution bias

4. victimization bias

5. derogation of target bias

6. social discounting bias

reasons for checking credit history

1. employers believe people who owe money might be more likely to steal/accept bribes

2. employees with good credit are more responsible and conscientious and will be better employees

graphology

also called handwriting analysis, a method of measuring personality by looking at the way in which a person writes, not particularly useful due to inconsistent judgments and poor accuracy and reliability

drug testing

tests that indicate whether an applicant has recently used a drug, usually two stages, 1. sample provided by employee/applicant, 2. verified by medical review officer (MRO)

testing of already hired employees

1. all employees/randomly selected employees test at predetermined times

2. all employees/randomly selected employees tested at random times

3. employee involved in an accident or disciplinary action tested following the incident

techniques with good validity

1. cognitive ability

2. work samples

3. biodata

4. structured job interview

techniques with bad validity

1. unstructured interview

2. education

3. interest inventories

4. some personality traits

valid selection battery

1. cognitive ability test

2. work sample/integrity test/structured interview

rejection letter

a letter from an organization to an applicant informing the applicant that they will not receive a job offer

ethics of personality tests

1. violation of privacy

2. uncertain predictor of job performance

3. results of tests impacted by how test taker is feeling that day