Selecting Employees

1. Selecting Employees Chapter 7

2. Learning Objectives Outline the steps in the selection process. Describe aptitude, psychomotor, job knowledge, proficiency, interest, and personality tests. Explain a polygraph test. Describe structured and unstructured interviews. Define validity.

3. Learning Objectives (cont.) Explain predictive validity. Explain concurrent validity. Describe content validity. Discuss construct validity. Define reliability. Define adverse (or disparate) impact

4. Selecting Employees • Selection • The process of choosing from among available applicants the individuals who are most likely to successfully perform a job

5. The Selection Process Factors affecting nature of organization’s selection process: Organization’s size Types of jobs to be filled Number of people to be hired External pressures from EEOC or union

6. Steps in the Selection Process Figure 7.1

7. Employment Application Form First step in most selection procedures Provides basic employment information for use in later steps of selection process Can be used to screen out unqualified applicants

8. EEOC Requirements Questions that should be eliminated from pre-employment inquiries include • Race, color, national origin, and religion • Arrest and conviction records • Credit rating

9. Processing • Weighted application forms • Application forms that assign different weights or values to different questions.

10. Accuracy of Information • Information can be verified through reference checking • Employers may require the applicant to sign a validity statement • Employers view falsification of an application form as a serious offense that, if detected, normally leads to discharge

11. Applicant Flow Record • Applicant flow record • A form completed voluntarily by a job applicant and used by an employer to obtain information that could be used to illegally discriminate.

12. Preliminary Interview • Preliminary interview • used to determine whether the applicant’s skills, abilities, and job preferences match any of the available jobs in the organization, • to explain to the applicant the available jobs and their requirements, • to answer any questions the applicant has about the available jobs or the employer.

13. Formal Testing • Aptitude tests • Means of measuring a person’s capacity or latent ability to learn and perform a job.

14. Aptitude Tests

15. Aptitude Tests • Verbal ability • Measure person’s ability to use words in thinking, planning, and communicating • Numerical ability • Measure ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide • Perceptual speed • Measure ability to recognize similarities and differences

16. Aptitude Tests (cont.) • Spatial ability • Measure ability to visualize objects in space and determine their relationships • Reasoning ability • Measure ability to analyze oral or written facts and make correct judgments concerning them on the basis of logical implications

17. Psychomotor Tests • Psychomotor tests • Tests that measure a person’s strength, dexterity, and coordination • Finger dexterity, manual dexterity, wrist-finger speed, speed of arm movement

18. Job Knowledge and Proficiency Tests • Job knowledge tests • Tests used to measure the job-related knowledge of an applicant. • Proficiency tests • Tests used to measure how well a job applicant can do a sample of the work to be performed in the job.

19. Interest Tests • Interest tests • Tests designed to determine how a person’s interests compare with the interests of successful people in a specific job.

20. Personality Tests • Personality tests • Tests that attempt to measure personality traits • Rorschach inkblot test, Thematic Apperception Test • have limited application in selection decisions

21. Polygraph Tests • Polygraph • Device that records physical changes in a person’s body as he or she answers questions • also known as a lie detector

22. Polygraph Tests • The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988: • Prohibits employers from conducting polygraph examinations on all job applicants and most employees • Prevents use of voice stress analyzers and similar devices that attempt to measure honesty • Does not prohibit paper-and-pencil tests and chemical testing, such as for drugs or AIDS

23. Polygraph Tests Major exemptions to the law are as follows: • All local, state, and federal employees are exempt from coverage, although state laws may be passed to restrict the use of polygraphs • Industries with national defense or security contracts are permitted to use polygraphs • Businesses with nuclear power–related contracts may use polygraphs • Businesses and consultants with access to highly classified information may use polygraphs

24. Polygraph Tests Private businesses are also allowed to use polygraphs under certain conditions: When hiring private security personnel When hiring persons with access to drugs During investigations of economic injury or loss by employer

25. Graphology • Graphology (handwriting analysis) • Use of a trained analyst to examine a person’s handwriting to assess the person’s personality, emotional problems, and honesty.

26. Drug and AIDS Testing • Most common practice is to test current employees when their job performance suggests substance abuse and all new potential employees • Most companies will not hire a potential employee who tests positive for drug abuse • HIV testing is much more common among healthcare firms

27. Genetic Testing • Sophisticated medical tests use gene coding to identify individuals with gene structures that may make them susceptible to illness • There are concerns about legitimate uses of genetic information and what happens to any information obtained through genetic testing exist

28. Second or Follow-Up Interview • Follow-up interview • Purpose is to supplement information obtained in other steps in selection process to determine the suitability of an applicant for a specific opening

29. Types of Interviews • Structured interview • An interview conducted according to a predetermined outline • provides the same type of information on all interviewees • allows systematic coverage of all questions deemed necessary by the organization

30. Types of Interviews • Unstructured interview • An interview conducted without a predetermined checklist of questions • lack of systematic coverage of information • susceptible to the personal biases of the interviewer

31. Types of Interviews • Stress interview • Interview method that puts the applicant under pressure to determine whether he or she is highly emotional. • Board or panel interviews • Interview method in which two or more people conduct an interview with one applicant.

32. Types of Interviews • Group interview • Interview method in which several applicants are questioned together

33. Problems in Conducting Interviews • Initial impressions • Interviewer draws conclusions about a job applicant within the first 10 minutes of the interview. • Halo effect • Occurs when managers allow a single prominent characteristic of the employee to influence their judgment on several items of a performance appraisal.

34. Problems in Conducting Interviews • Overgeneralizing • interviewee may not behave exactly the same way on the job as during the interview • interviewer must remember that the interviewee is under pressure during the interview and that some people just naturally become very nervous during an interview.

35. Other Problems in Conducting Interviews

36. Conducting Effective Interviews • Careful attention must be given to selecting and training interviewers • Plan for interview should include an outline specifying information to be obtained and questions to be asked • Interviewer should attempt to put applicant at ease

37. Conducting Effective Interviews (cont.) • Facts obtained in interview should be recorded immediately • Effectiveness of interviewing process should be evaluated

38. Reference Checking

39. Reference Checking • Verification of information on application form is the least to be verified • Most employers are hesitant to answer questions about previous employees because of the threat of defamation lawsuits

40. Reference Checking • Fair Credit and Reporting Act of 1971 • Requires private organizations to give job applicants access to information obtained from a reporting service • Mandatory that applicant be made aware that a check is being made • Most employment application forms now contain statements which must be signed by applicant, authorizing the employer to check references and conduct investigations

41. Physical Examination • Job offer is often contingent on individual passing physical examination • Exam is given to determine • Whether applicant is physically capable of performing the job • His or her eligibility for group life, health, and disability insurance

42. Making the Final Selection Decision • Value judgment based on the information gathered in previous steps must be made to select most qualified individual • Chances of making a successful judgment improve if previous steps have been performed efficiently • Many organizations leave the final choice to the manager with the job opening

43. Validation of Selection Procedures • Criteria of job success • Ways of specifying how successful performance of the job is to be measured • Production data • Criterion predictors • Factors such as education, previous work experience, and scores on tests that are used to predict successful performance of a job

44. Validation of Selection Procedures • Validity • Refers to how accurately a predictor actually predicts the criteria of job success • Reliability • Refers to the extent to which a criterion predictor produces consistent results if repeated measurements are made.

45. Relationship between Job Analysis and Validity Figure 7.2

46. Criterion-Related Validity • Criterion-related validity • established by collecting data and using correlation analysis (a statistical method used to measure the relationship between two sets of data) to determine the relationship between a predictor and the criteria of job success • Predictive, concurrent

47. Predictive Validity • Predictive validity • Validity established by identifying a predictor, administering it to applicants, hiring without regard to scores, and later correlating scores with job performance.

48. Predictive Validation Process Figure 7.3

49. Concurrent Validity • Concurrent validity • Validity established by identifying a predictor, administering it to current employees, and correlating the test data with the current employee’s job performance

50. Concurrent Validation Process Figure 7.4