Gary Dessler Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 2e
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 5-2 Selecting Employees Chapter 5
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall When you finish studying this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Define basic testing concepts, including validity and reliability. 2. Discuss at least four basic types of personnel tests. 3. Explain the factors and problems that can undermine an interview’s usefulness, and techniques for eliminating them. 4. Explain the pros and cons of background investigations, reference checks, and pre- employment information services. 5-3
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Why Careful Selection Is Important Leads to improved employee and organizational performance. Your own performance always depends partly on the performance of your subordinates. Can help reduce dysfunctional behaviors at work. It’s costly to recruit and hire employees. 5-4
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Legal Implications and Negligent Hiring Negligent hiring ∟ Hiring workers with criminal records or other such problems without proper safeguards 5-5
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Reliability Reliability ∟ Consistency of scores obtained by the same person when the person is retested with the identical test or with an equivalent form of a test ∟ Retest estimate ∟ Equivalent-form estimate ∟ Internal comparison estimate 5-6
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Validity Test validity ∟ The accuracy with which a test, interview, etc. measures what it purports to measure or fulfills the function it was designed to fulfill 5-7
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Validity Criterion validity Scores on the test (predictors) are related to job performance (criterion). Content validity The test contains a fair sample of the tasks and skills actually needed for the job in question. 5-8
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall A Slide from the Rorschach Test: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall How to Validate a Test: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Sample Selection Test: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Using Tests at Work Outback is looking for employees who are highly social, meticulous, sympathetic, and adaptable. Outback uses a special personality assessment test as part of a three-step pre-employment interview process. The company compares the candidate’s test results to the profile for Outback Steakhouse employees. 5-12
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Tests of Cognitive Abilities Intelligence tests (IQ tests) ∟ Tests of general intellectual abilities including memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, and numeric ability
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Type of Question Applicant Might Expect on a Test of Mechanical Comprehension: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Tests of Motor and Physical Abilities Measure finger dexterity, strength, manual dexterity, and reaction time Stromberg Dexterity Test ∟ Measures the speed and accuracy of simple judgment as well as the speed of finger, hand, and arm movements 5-15
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Personality Tests Emphasize the “big five” personality dimensions as they apply to personnel testing Extroversion, Emotional stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience Most difficult tests to evaluate and use 5-16
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Personality Tests Conscientiousness shows a consistent relationship with all job performance criteria. Extroversion is a valid predictor of performance for managers and sales employees. Openness to experience and extroversion predicts training proficiency for all occupations. 5-17
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Using Tests at Work Interest inventories Compare one’s interests with those of people in various occupations Achievement tests Measure what a person has learned 5-18
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Sample Items from Wonderlic Personnel Test: Figure Ann Weaver User: Note that the answer given for question 1 is incorrect. Niiice. Ann Weaver User: Note that the answer given for question 1 is incorrect. Niiice.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Situational Judgment Tests Situational judgment tests ∟ Personnel tests that “are designed to assess an applicant’s judgment regarding a situation encountered in the workplace” 5-20
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Management Assessment Centers Management assessment center ∟ A facility in which management candidates are asked to make decisions in hypothetical situations and are scored on their performance 5-21
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Management Assessment Centers In-basket The candidate is faced with an accumulation of reports, memos, notes of incoming phone calls, letters, and other materials. Leaderless group discussion A leaderless group is given a discussion question and told to arrive at a group decision. 5-22
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Management Assessment Centers Individual presentations ∟ A participant’s communication skills and persuasiveness are evaluated by having the participant make an oral presentation on an assigned topic. 5-23
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Interviewing Candidates Selection interview ∟ Selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of applicants’ oral responses to oral inquiries 5-24
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Types of Selection Interviews Non-structured Interviewer asks questions as they come to mind. No set format to follow. Structured Questions are specified in advance and the responses may be rated for appropriateness of content. Also called directive. 5-25
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Types of Questions Situational interviews ∟ Questions focus on the candidate’s ability to project what his or her behavior would be in a given situation Behavioral interview ∟ Applicants are asked how they behaved in some situation in the past 5-26
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Behavioral Interviews When Citizens Banking Corporation in Flint, Michigan found that 31 of the 50 people in its call center quit in one year, the center’s head switched to behavioral interviews. She says this makes it much harder to fool the interviewer, and, indeed, only four people left her center in the following year. 5-27
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall How Interviews Are Administered Sequential interview ∟ Several people interview the applicant in sequence before making a hiring decision Panel interview ∟ Candidate is interviewed simultaneously by a group (or panel) of interviewers 5-28
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall How Useful Are Interviews? Situational interviews yield a higher mean validity than behavioral interviews do. Structured interviews are generally more useful for predicting job performance. One-on-one interviews tend to be more valid than panel interviews. 5-29
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Common Interviewing Mistakes Snap judgments Negative emphasis Not knowing the job Pressure to hire Candidate order (contrast) error Influence of nonverbal behavior Attractiveness Ingratiation Nonverbal implications 5-30
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Guidelines for Conducting an Interview Structure the interview Review background Establish rapport Ask questions Close the interview Review the interview 5-31
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Structure the Interview 1. Base questions on actual job duties 2. Use job knowledge, situational, or behaviorally oriented questions and objective criteria 3. Train interviewers 4. Use the same questions with all candidates 5-32
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Structure the Interview 5. Use rating scales to rate answers 6. Use multiple interviewers or panel interviews 7. Use structured interview form 5-33
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Sample Interview Questions: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Sample Interview Questions: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Sample Interview Questions: Figure
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Talent Management: Profiles and Employee Interviews 5-37
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Background Investigations and Reference Checks Most commonly verified background areas are legal eligibility for employment, dates of prior employment, military service, education, and identification. Other items should include county criminal records, motor vehicle record, credit, licensing verification, Social Security number, and reference checks. 5-38
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Collecting Background Information Most employers try to directly verify an applicant’s current position, salary, and employment dates with his or her current employer by phone. Others call the applicant’s current and previous supervisors to try to discover more about the applicant’s motivation, technical competence, and ability to work with others. 5-39
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Checking Social Networking Sites More employers are checking candidates’ social networking sites’ postings. Recruiters found that 31% of applicants had lied about their qualifications and 19% had posted information about their drinking or drug use. 5-40
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Making Reference Checks More Useful 1. Have the candidate sign a release 2. Obtain two forms of identification 3. Ensure the applicants complete the application fully 4. Use a structured reference-checking form 5. Use the references offered by the applicant as a source of other people who may know of the applicant’s performance 5-41
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Honesty Testing Polygraph tests Pencil-and-paper honesty tests Graphology Medical exams Drug screening 5-42
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Making the Selection Decision 1. Whichever approach you use, use it systematically. 2. It is very helpful to create, using the multiple regression statistical approach, a formula that relates your criterion score with scores on several weighted predictor scores. 3. A more informal approach is still usually better than nothing. 5-43
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Evaluating the Selection Process 5-44
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Complying with Immigration Law Candidate does not have to be a U.S. citizen. Employer should ask if candidate is lawfully authorized to work in the U.S. Pre-employment screening should include employment verification, criminal record checks, drug screens, and reference checks. 5-45
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Copyright All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. 5-46