Comprehensive Exam Review: Staffing & Selection

Staffing

The process of recruiting, selecting, and managing employees to ensure the organization has the talent it needs to meet its goals and improve performance.

Human Capital

Refers to the skills, knowledge, experience, and abilities that employees bring to an organization, acting as a key asset to drive effectiveness and productivity.

Staffing Effectiveness

Aligning workforce skills and capabilities with organizational goals helps ensure the right people are in place to perform critical tasks, fostering innovation and growth.

Staffing Quantity

Focuses on the number of employees needed.

Staffing Quality

Focuses on the skills, experience, and expertise each employee possesses.

Quantity Considerations

Workforce size, turnover rate.

Quality Considerations

Skill level, organizational fit, and diversity.

Growth Phases

Beneficial for quantity considerations during growth or expansion phases.

Specialized Skills

Important for quality considerations in roles requiring specialized skills or innovation.

Transactional Orientation

Short-term, task-focused, contractual employment relationships.

Relational Orientation

Long-term, commitment-based, and loyalty-focused employment relationships.

Employees

Full-time, permanent workers.

Contractors

Temporary workers hired for specific tasks.

Temps

Short-term workers, typically without benefits.

Interns

Learning-focused workers, often unpaid or low-paid.

Employment-at-will

Allows either the employer or employee to terminate employment at any time, except for illegal reasons like discrimination, or if a contract specifies terms of termination.

Social Goals of Staffing

Promote diversity, provide equal opportunity, and improve organizational culture.

Flow Statistics

Tracks employee movement within the organization.

Utilization Statistics

Measures the representation of protected groups within the organization.

Concentration Statistics

Tracks the distribution of groups across job levels.

Major EEO Laws

Civil Rights Act, ADA, ADEA, etc. Protects against discrimination based on race, gender, disability, age, etc.

Disparate Treatment

Intentional discrimination against individuals based on protected characteristics.

Disparate Impact

Unintentional discrimination that disproportionately affects protected groups.

BFOQ

A Bona Fide Occupational Qualification allows certain job requirements that are essential for the role, even if they appear discriminatory.

HR Planning

Aligns the workforce with business needs, ensuring that the right talent is available to meet future demands.

HR Forecasting

Predicting internal labor needs.

External Market Forecasting

Understanding talent availability and trends outside the organization.

Job Descriptions

Responsibilities and tasks associated with a job.

Job Specifications

Qualifications and skills needed for a job.

Job Specifications

Qualifications and skills needed.

Sources of job analysis information

Employees, supervisors, job incumbents, and HR specialists, depending on the method.

Methods to gather job analysis information

Interviews, surveys, observations, and work samples.

Best legal defense form of job analysis

A structured, standardized job analysis provides a strong defense against discrimination claims.

Best practices for job analysis

Use multiple sources, document the process, and tie the analysis to job performance to ensure job-relatedness.

External recruitment

Hiring from outside, which brings in fresh perspectives but can be costlier.

Internal recruitment

Promoting from within, which can be cost-effective and promote loyalty but may limit fresh ideas.

Recruiting goals

Goals should align with the organization's staffing needs, including talent quality, diversity, and staffing levels.

Open recruitment

Attracts a broad range of candidates.

Targeted recruitment

Focuses on specific skills or experiences.

Closed recruitment

Limits applicants to certain groups.

Branded recruitment messages

Emphasizes company culture and values.

Targeted recruitment messages

Focuses on specific skill sets.

Realistic recruitment messages

Presents both the positive and challenging aspects of the job.

Recruitment messaging sources

Reach: How widely the message is distributed. Richness: Depth of information. Interactivity: Level of engagement allowed. Credibility: Trustworthiness of the source.

Applicant reactions to recruitment process

Applicants may respond based on fairness, transparency, and how well the recruitment process aligns with their expectations.

Metrics to evaluate recruitment methods

Metrics include cost-per-hire, time-to-hire, quality of hire, and retention rates.

Legal issues in recruitment

Avoid discrimination, ensure advertisements are non-discriminatory, and adhere to regulations related to privacy and background checks.

Measurement in employee selection

Measurement refers to the process of assigning numbers or labels to various aspects of job applicants or job performance. It is important to ensure that decisions are based on objective, consistent, and valid data.

Properties of measurement standardization

Consistency in measurement, allowing results to be comparable and reliable over time and across different settings.

Forms of measure validation

Content Validity, Construct Validity, and Criterion-related Validity.

Accuracy/validity vs contamination and deficiency

Accuracy/Validity: Refers to how well the measure assesses what it is intended to. Contamination: When irrelevant factors influence the measurement. Deficiency: When the measure fails to capture all relevant aspects.

Logic of prediction

The use of past data or assessments to predict future performance or success.

Selection plan

A structured document outlining the methods, metrics, and criteria for selecting candidates.

Selection Methods

Methods like resumes, cognitive ability tests, interviews, and personality tests.

Criteria to Evaluate Selection Methods

Reliability, validity, utility, legality, and acceptability.

Legal Issues in Initial Assessment

Adherence to anti-discrimination laws and ensuring the assessment methods are job-related.

Internal Selection

Focuses on existing employees, while external selection targets new candidates from outside the organization.

Talent Management System

A system that integrates recruitment, development, performance management, and succession planning to manage talent effectively across an organization.

Initial Assessment Methods

Methods like job applications, resumes, and cognitive ability tests.

Validity of Structured Interviews

Structured interviews tend to be more valid than unstructured ones.

Substantive Assessment Methods

Include in-depth interviews, work samples, and personality assessments.

Validity and Cost of Work Samples

Work samples are typically more valid but may be costly.

Assessment Centers

Multi-method evaluation processes used to assess candidates' competencies for specific roles.

Pros of Assessment Centers

High validity and realism.

Cons of Assessment Centers

High cost and complexity.

Common Assessment Center Exercises

In-basket exercises, group discussions, role plays, and individual tasks designed to simulate job requirements.

Making Assessment Centers Effective

Use multiple raters, ensure exercises reflect actual job tasks, and provide standardized evaluation criteria.

Contextual Issues in Internal Selection

Internal candidates have more insight into the company but may also feel entitled to promotions.

Feedback for Non-Hired Internal Candidates

Provide feedback and career development opportunities.

Systematic Approaches in Decision Making

Provide a more objective, consistent method of evaluating candidates, reducing the risk of bias and increasing the validity of decisions.

Validity Coefficient

Measures the relationship between a predictor and an outcome.

Practical vs Statistical Significance

Practical significance indicates how meaningful the effect is in real-world terms, while statistical significance refers to whether the effect is likely due to chance.

Incremental Validity

Refers to the added value of a new predictor in improving selection decisions.

Predictor Validity

Measures the effectiveness of a selection method.

Base Rate

The proportion of current employees performing at a high level.

Selection Ratio

The ratio of the number of applicants to the number of job openings.

Compensatory Model

Allows a lower score in one area to be compensated by a higher score in another.

Predictor weighting

Assigns different levels of importance to various predictors based on their relevance.

Approaches to predictor weighting

Include unit weight, rational weight, and statistical weight, differing in how weights are assigned to predictors.

Ideal approach to predictor weighting

Statistical weighting is the ideal approach.

Realistic approach to predictor weighting

Many companies use rational weighting or unit weighting based on available data.

Cut scores

Thresholds used to determine who passes or fails a selection process.

Consequences of cut scores

High cut scores may exclude many candidates, while low cut scores may allow too many unsuitable candidates.

Multiple hurdles approach

Involves using a series of selection steps, where candidates must pass each hurdle before advancing to the next stage.

Grouping/banding applicant scores

Involves categorizing candidates with similar scores into bands, acknowledging that small differences in scores may not indicate significant differences in candidate quality.

Basic elements of a job offer

Include salary, job title, benefits, job responsibilities, and working conditions.

Disclaimers and contingencies in a job offer

Common disclaimers include 'employment at will' and contingencies such as background checks or drug tests.

Employee value proposition (EVP)

The unique set of benefits an employee can expect from working with an organization, including compensation, benefits, and career development opportunities.

Incentives in a job offer

Can include signing bonuses, stock options, flexible schedules, and career advancement opportunities.

Considerations for job offer incentives

Include the organization's budget, alignment with company culture, and what competitors offer.

Common restrictions in a job offer

Can include non-compete clauses, intellectual property agreements, or required relocation.

General job offer process

Typically includes extending the offer, negotiating terms, obtaining final approval, and closing the deal.

Mechanical approach to job offers

Straightforward and standardized offer process.

Sales approach to job offers

More personalized, emphasizing the benefits of the offer and persuading the candidate to accept.

Possible job offer outcomes

Include acceptance, rejection, or negotiation of terms.

Legal considerations in job offers

Include non-discrimination laws, employment-at-will policies, and compliance with wage and hour laws.

Pros of outsourcing staffing system components

Cost savings, specialized expertise, scalability.

Cons of outsourcing staffing system components

Loss of control, potential cultural mismatch.

When outsourcing is most useful

When a company lacks expertise or resources.

When outsourcing is least useful

When a company needs tight control over staffing processes.