Selecting Employees

Chapter 5
 The Basics of Testing and Selecting
Employees
Carefully testing and screening employees is
important because
It results in improved employee and
organizational performance
Your own performance always depends on
subordinates
Can reduce dysfunctional behaviors at work
Effective screening helps reduce costs in the
long run
Legal Implications and Negligent Hiring

Incompetent hiring can

result in legal
implications such as
unfairly discriminating
against a protected
group
Legal Implications and Negligent Hiring, cont.

Negligent hiring occurs when employers are

liable for employees who have criminal records
or other problems that use a customers home or
similar opportunities to commit crimes
Hiring these types of employees requires
safeguards
Reasonable action must be taken to
investigate the candidates backgrounds
 Testing for Reliability
Reliability is the consistency of scores obtained
by the same person when retested with the
identical test or an equivalent form of the test
Retest estimate compares two test scores
taken by the same individual at different times
Equivalent-form estimate compares the
original test with a different but equivalent test
taken by the same individual at a different
time
 Testing and Validity

Test validity means that the test is measuring

what it is supposed to measure
Validity often refers to evidence the test is job-
related and test performance is a valid
predictor of job performance
Two measures of validity are criterion validity
which means those who do well on the test
perform well on the job (and vice versa) and
content validity which means the test
constitutes a fair sample of the job content
 Individual Rights of Test Takers
and Test Security
Test takers have various privacy and information
rights
The American Psychological Associations
standards for educational and psychological
tests include
The right to confidentiality of results
The right to informed consent regarding use
of results
 Individual Rights of Test Takers
and Test Security, cont.
The right to expect only
qualified individuals will
have access to the
results
The right to expect the
test is secure
 Using Tests as Supplements

Do not use tests as your only selection

method - use tests to supplement other
methods like interviews and background
checks
Remember that tests are not infallible
Most tests are more predicative at identifying
candidates that will likely fail rather than
succeed
 Using Tests at Work

Employers have long used tests to predict

behavior and performance
Example: Are you prone to on-the-job
accidents?
 How Are Tests Used at Work?

Online and off-line computerized tests or

aptitude tests could be used to measure a wide
range of candidate attributes including:
Cognitive abilities
Motor and physical abilities
Personality and interests
Achievement
 Tests of Cognitive Abilities

Employers often assess a candidates cognitive

or mental abilities, for example: Is the
bookkeeping candidate good with numbers?
Intelligence or IQ tests look at general
intellectual abilities including memory,
vocabulary, verbal fluency and numeric ability
Aptitude tests measure specific mental abilities
 Tests of Motor and Physical Abilities

Motor or physical abilities might need to be

measured for specific jobs
Finger dexterity
Strength
Manual dexterity
Reaction time
Speed of finger, hand or arm movements
 Measuring Personality
Personality tests and interest inventories
measure and predict intangibles such as
attitude, motivation and temperament
A sample personality item:
It does not make sense to work hard on something if
no one will notice:
A. Definitely true D. Somewhat false
B. Somewhat true E. Definitely false
C. Neither true nor false
 Personality Test Effectiveness

Difficulties notwithstanding studies confirm that

personality tests can help companies hire more
effective workers
Measure relationships between the five
personality dimensions below with job
performance criteria:
Extroversion
Emotional stability
Personality Test Effectiveness, cont.

Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Openness to
experience
 Interest Inventories and
Achievement Tests

Interest inventories compare ones interests

with those of people in various occupations
Achievement tests basically measure what a
person has learned
 Computerized and Online Testing

Replacing
conventional paper-
and-pencil and
manual tests
Computerized tests
usually score
individuals the same
as manual tests
 Management Assessment Centers

In a Management Assessment Center

management candidates take tests and make
decisions in simulated situations while observers
score their performance
Average time at center is usually 2 or 3 days and
involves 10 to 12 candidates
Management Assessment Centers, cont.

Examples of simulated realistic exercises include:

The in-basket creates a situation where the
candidate is faced with an accumulation of
reports, memos, phone messages, letters,
etc., of the simulated job he or she is to take
over while being evaluated on what action he
or she takes for each of these materials
Management Assessment Centers, cont.
The leaderless group discussion occurs
when a leaderless group is given a discussion
question and told to arrive at a group decision
while observers evaluate leadership ability,
acceptance by group, etc.
Individual presentations used to evaluate a
participants communication skills and his or
her persuasiveness by orally presenting on an
assigned topic
 Interviewing Candidates

Interviewing is an indispensible management

tool
An Interview is a procedure designed to solicit
information from a persons oral responses to
oral inquiries
A Selection Interview is designed to predict
future job performance based on candidates
answers
 Types of Selection Interviews

Non-structured (questions are asked as you

think of them) versus structured interviews
(questions are known and the order specified in
advance)
 Types of Selection Interviews, cont.

There are different types of questions for

different types of interviews
Situational interviews ask what would the
candidates behavior be in a given situation
Behavioral interviews ask how the candidate
has reacted in a similar situation in the past
 Types of Selection Interviews, cont.

Interviews are also classified by how they are

administered
One-on-one interviews were two people meet
alone and one interviews the other
Sequential interviews occur when several
people interview the applicant in sequence
before a decision is made
Types of Selection Interviews, cont.

Panel interviews are

when the candidate is
interviewed
simultaneously by a
group
Interviews can also
occur via video or phone
 How Useful Are Interviews?

Statistical evidence regarding validity is mixed

indicating that the key to usefulness depends on
type of interview employed
When predicting job performance the
situational interview yields more accurate
results
Structured interviews, regardless of content,
are more valid for predicting job performance
One-on-one interviews tend to be more valid
than panel interviews
 Avoiding Common Interview Mistakes

Do not make snap judgments

Do not emphasize the negative
Make sure you know the job for which you are
interviewing the candidate
Do not let the pressure to change your opinions
Avoiding Common Interview Mistakes, cont.

Do not allow candidate order (contrast) error to

influence the interview
Take into consideration the influence of
nonverbal behavior and guard against bias
Remember to look beyond the candidates
physical attractiveness
 Using Other Selection Techniques

Conduct background investigations

Check social networking sites
Talk to current and previous supervisors to
discover more about persons motivation,
competence and ability to work with others
Perform credit check or use employment
screening services
Using Other Selection Techniques, cont.

Perform reference checks

Make sure the candidate has signed a release
Always get two forms of identification and
make applicants fill out job applications
Use a structured reference checking form
Use given references as a source for others
Ask the right questions and judge whether the
references answers are evasive
Using Other Selection Techniques, cont.
Ask open-ended questions and listen carefully
Make sure checking references is done by
authorized managers
Can be ineffective due to legal repercussions
or a current supervisor might give a bad
employee a
good reference
to get rid of
the employee
 Honesty Testing

The Polygraph or lie-detector is a device that

measures physiological changes such as
increased perspiration
Results are interpreted assuming that such
changes reflect emotional stress
Employee Polygraph Protection Act prohibits
most employers from conducting polygraph
exams on applicants and most employees
 Honesty Testing, cont.

Paper-and-pencil honest tests

Measure attitudes regarding tolerance of
others who steal
Acceptance of
rationalizations for
theft
Admission of theft-
related activities
 More Steps to Selecting Candidates

Graphology is also known as handwriting

analysis and has questionable validity
Physical exams can confirm the applicant
qualifies for the physical requirements of the
position or possibly detect communicable
diseases unknown to the applicant
Must comply with ADA regulations
Only permitted if such exams are standard
practice
More Steps to Selecting Candidates, cont.
Drug screening
Commonly done before candidates are
formally hired
Many firms test current employees after a
work accident or when there are obvious
behavioral symptoms
Some companies administer drug tests
randomly on a periodic basis
Some firms only administer drug tests when
transferring or promoting employees
More Steps to Selecting Candidates, cont.

Legal issues with drug screening

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act a
court might view a former drug user as a
qualified applicant with a disability
Some regulations require testing of workers
with sensitive or safety-related jobs