IO Psych Chapter 6 (Lecture)

What are two of the most important functions of any organization?

The two most important functions of any organization are:

• Employee recruitment (attracting applicants)

• Selection (deciding which applicants to hire)

What are the 4 steps involved in acquiring new employees?

The four steps involved in acquiring new employees are:

1. Planning the need for new employees

2. Getting appropriate people to apply for positions (recruitment)

3. Deciding who to hire (selection)

4. Getting the selected people to take the jobs)

What do organizations need to do to attract qualified applicants who have the needed KSAOs to apply for the position?

Organizations need to market the organization to make it attractive to the applicants

• Providing suffient information that makes the requirements clear

• Highlights the positive aspects of the organization (pay and benefits)

• Highlights the position (personal development opportunities and high promotion potential)

What are the five steps of employee recuitment?

The five steps are:

1. Job seeker is searching and employer is recruiting

2. Awareness of opening

3. Apply

4. Selection

5. Hire

What is the purpose of employee selection?

The purpose of employee selection is to hire people who are likely to be successful on the job

What are the two important elements in employee selection?

The two important elements in employee selection are:

• The criterion: definition of good employee performance

• Predictor: Anything assessed that relates to the criterion

Validation Study

Research study that attempts to show that the predictor relates to the criterion

• Both the criterion and predictor are quantified using a statistical test

• If the two variables are significantly related statistically, the predictor is valid in terms of the criterion

What is the process of conducting a good validation study?

To conduct a good validation study:

1. Analyze the job and job requirements using job analysis

2. Results of the job analysis can be used to develop criteria for the job and pick predictors

3. Data= collected to verify that the predictors are valid

4. Predictors will be part of the organization’s employee selection system

What are the steps in conducting a validation study?

The steps in a validation study are to:

1. Conduct a job analysis

2. Specify job performance criteria

3. Choose predictors

4. Validate the predictors (on a sample of employees)

5. Cross validate (results must be replicated on a second sample to verify the results)

Concurrent Validation Study

A validation study in which predictor scores and criterion scores are collected from current employees at approximately the same time to determine whether a selection test is related to job performance.

Example of a Concurrent Validation Study

It has the:

Current employees: Take a new hiring assessment (giving the predictor scores)

Collect existing performance evaluations (Criterion scores)

Correlate the two sets of scores (to look at the validity of the test as a predictor for the criterion)

Predictive Validity Study

A validation study in which job applicants are assessed on a predictor before hiring, and their job performance (criterion) is measured after they have worked for a period of time to determine whether the predictor predicts future performance

• Hire applicants who are both high and low on the predictor

Are the predictive design and concurrent design both effective in validating predictors?

The predictive design and concureent design are more equally effective in validating predictors

• Valdiity coefficents are the same, so a concurrent study can be used which is quicker than a predictive study

What is the final step in a a validation study?

The final step in a validation study is to cross validate or replicate the results of one sample with those of another sample

• Ensures that there is a correlation between the criterion and the predictor and it’s not due to statistical error

• Ex. Testing whether a hiring test that predicts job performance in one sample also predicts job performance in a different sample

Validity Generalization

The extent to which the validity of a selection test for predicting job performance can be generalized across different jobs, organizations, or settings

• Validity of selection devices are generalizable from job to job or organization to organization

• Jobs and tests in question need to be comparable

What are the two popular uses of predictor information?

The two popular uses of predictor information are:

• Hurdles

• Regression equation

Once a predictor has been shown to be valid for predicting a criterion (e.g., job performance), an organization decides how to use that predictor to select employees.

• With either approach, multiple predictors can be used in combination. A prediction is better with several predictors, because multiple KSAOs are needed for job success

Multiple Hurdle Approach

A selection method in which applicants must meet a minimum passing score on each predictor to advance to the next stage, with applicants who fail any hurdle eliminated. Hurdles are often ordered from least to most expensive to make the selection process more efficient and cost-effective.

• Key idea: Pass every hurdle to get hired; failing one eliminates you.

Regression Approach

A selection method that combines scores from one or more predictors in a mathematical equation to estimate an applicant’s future job performance (criterion).

• Applicants with the highest predicted performance are generally selected.

Example: A company combines applicants’ college GPAs and communication test scores to predict their monthly sales.

With a single- predictor variable how is a linear regression equation calculated from a sample of data?

The linear regression equation is computed with data on both the criterion and the predictor, so you can compar how well the predicted criterion scores match the real criterion scores

• Form of a linear regression equation is: y= mx +b

• x= the predictor, m = the slope, and b is the intercept

• Predicted value for the criterion is computed by replacing x with the values of the predictor

Multiple correlation

The correlation between a criterion and two or more predictors

• Shows how well the predictors explain the outcome

• Ex. Predict sales from both the exercise score and the college GPA

What is an implication of using the regression approach?

An implication of the regression approach is that a low score on one predictor can be compensated for by a high score on another predictor

• Multiple- hurdle approach avoids this problem because an applicant has to reach the passing score for each predictor

What are the strategies involved in convincing an applicant to accept a job?

The strategies involved in convincing an applicant to accept a job are:

• Ensuring the recruitment process is a positive one and for the prospective employee to feel like they have been treated fairly

• Salary and compensation offers should be comparable to those of other organizations for similar jobs in the same area

• Ex. Cafeteria benenfits program, where employees are allowed to choose their benefits from a long list of possibilities

• Behavior of recruiters is important, have to be personable and honest

Realistic Job Preview

A hiring tool that gives job candidates accurate information about the job and the organization

• Provides an accurate view of both the favorable and unfavorable aspects of a job

• RJP is associated with increase in perceptions of the organization’s honesty and the propertion of applicants who accepted offers

Utility Analysis

The value of a selection procedure

• Quantitative cost-benefit techniques used to evaluate the practical value, financial return, and real-world usefulness of psychological tests, assessment tools, selection procedures, or training programs

What are the three factors that determine the extent to which scientific selection will result in hiring better-performance employees?

The three factors that determine the extent to which scientific selection will result in hiring better-performing employees is:

• Baserate

• Selection Ratio

• Validity

Baserate

The percentage of applicants who would be successful on the job if all of them were hired

• Used to evaluate the effectiveness and utility of a valid selection device

What is the baserate value of maximum utility?

A baserate of 50% results in maximum utility, since the test has the greatest opportunity to distinguish between successful and unsuccessful applicants when the base rate is in the middle.

Imagine 100 job applicants:

• Base rate = 10%: Only 10 would succeed without a test. Most applicants would fail anyway.

• Base rate = 50%: 50 would succeed and 50 would fail. The test has the potential to identify which applicants are more likely to succeed.

• Base rate = 90%: 90 would succeed without a test, so hiring without testing would already produce good results.

At a 50% base rate, there is the greatest balance between potential successes and failures, which can create the greatest opportunity for a selection test to improve hiring decisions.

Selection Ratio

The proportion of job applicants that an organization must hire

• Number of positions to fill/ the number of applicants

Why do low selection ratios produce the greatest utility?

Lower selection ratios produce the greatest utility and value of the selection procedure, since it allows an organization to be more selective

• Organizations have fewer positions to fill relative to the number of applicants, so you can be more selective and choose the best candidates, valid selection test = more useful

Cutoff Score

The score with a multiple hurdle approach that is chosen to determine who is eligible to be hired and who is not

True Positives

Applicants who would be hired if the predictor is used and who would be successful on the job

False Positives

Applicants who would be hired if the predictor is used and who would be unsuccessful on the job

True Negatives

Applicants who would not be hired if the predictor is used and who would not be successful on the job

False Negatives

Applicants who would not be hired if the predictor was used and would be successful on the job

Why might a predictor not necessarily be the best choice for an organization, even though it might result in the hiring of better employees?

A predictor might result in the hiring of better employees, but not be the best choice for an organization because the costs of using the predictor might exceed the benefits

• Ex. Can be inexpensive to replace an unsuccessful employee

• Jobs that result in a significant investment in individual employees have more reason to use expensive selection devices

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1964 do?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate against minorities and other groups in employment and other areas of life in US society

Protected classes

Certain groups of people who have been historically discriminated against are the target of protection under the law

• Includes African Americans, Native Americans, and women

Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures

Guidelines that are adopted as acceptable legal practices for all organizations

• Define several important concepts for selection and provide a procedure by which organizations can conduct legal selection

• Outline the proper way to develop a valid employee selection system

Adverse Impact

Workplace selection practice thatunintentionallyharms or disproportionately excludes a protected group of people

• Looks at the selection ratios of the protected class and the comparsion group

• Occurs when the 4/5ths rule is violated and the selection ratio for the protected class is less than 80% of the comparsion group

Example of the 4/5th’s Rule for Adverse Impact

Consider a job where:

• 60 percent of men are hired and 50 percent of women are hired

• 4/5ths of 60 percent of men is 48% and 50% of women are hired, thus no adverse impact, since the 50% is above the 48% threshold

However if:

• 60 percent of men were hired and 25 percent of women were hired

• 25 percent is not above the 48 percent threshold, so there is adverse impact

Is adverse impact a threshold for possible discrimination in selection?

Adverse impact is a threshold for possible discrimination in selection

• If a selection device results in adverse impact, need to decide its legality

• To be legal, selection procedures have to be job relevant

• Adverse impact is legal if the selection procedure is proven to be job-related and consistent with a business necessity

What does an organization have to do if its selection practices produce adverse impact?

If selection practices produces adverse impact, an organization has to defend itself from legal challenges

• Use of selection practices with adverse impact can be justified if a job analysis shows that KSAOs are necessary and tests are valid

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life (1990)

• Concepts of essential functions and reasonable accomodation came from this act

Essential functions

KSAOs that are an important part of the job

• It’s illegal to deny a job to a person with a disability based on a KSAO that relates to only nonessential functions

Reasonable Accomodation

Any change, adjustment, or modification that allows a qualified person with a disability to perform essential duties

• An organization must make allowances thar are feasible to enable a person with a disability to perform the job

Affirmative Action

A variety of practices that organizations use to increase that number of protected class members in targeted jobs

• Purpose is to address the lingering effects of past discrimination in hirting by allowing certain groups to catch up in jobs that were at one time unavaliable to them

• Does not require the hiring of anyone without the necessary KSAOs

Summary: What is the four step procedure for acquiring people with the necessary attributes or KSAOs to do the job?

The four step procedure for acquiring people with the necessary KSAOs for the job are:

1. Planning the need for new employees

2. Getting appropriate people to apply for positions (recruitment)

3. Deciding who to hire (selection)

4. Getting the selected people to take the jobs

What does an organization need to base selection decisions on?

An organization needs to base selection decisions on job- relevant factors