1. Employee Testing and Selection

2. After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain what is meant by reliability and validity.
Explain how you would go about validating a test.
Cite and illustrate our testing guidelines.
Give examples of some of the ethical and legal considerations in testing.
List eight tests you could use for employee selection, and how you would use them.
Explain the key points to remember in conducting background investigations.

3. Why Careful Selection is Important
Organizational Performance
Legal Obligations and Liability
The Importance of Selecting the Right Employees
Costs of Recruiting and Hiring

4. Avoiding Negligent Hiring Claims
Carefully scrutinize information on employment applications.
Get written authorization for reference checks, and check references.
Save all records and information about the applicant.
Reject applicants for false statements or conviction records for offenses related to the job.
Balance the applicant’s privacy rights with others’ “need to know.”
Take immediate disciplinary action if problems arise.

5. Basic Testing Concepts
Reliability
Consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with identical or equivalent tests.
Are test results stable over time?
Validity
Indicates whether a test is measuring what it is supposed to be measuring.
Does the test actually measure what it is intended to measure?

6. FIGURE 6–1 Sample Picture Card from Thematic Apperception Test
Source: Reprinted by permission of the publishers from Henry A. Murray, THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST, Plate 12F, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1943.

7. Types of Validity Test Validity Criterion Validity Content Validity
Face Validity

8. Steps in Test Validation
How to Validate a Test
Steps in Test Validation 1 2
Analyze the Job: predictors and criteria 3
Choose the Tests: test battery or single test 4
Administer the Tests: concurrent or predictive validation 5
Relate Your Test Scores and Criteria: scores versus actual performance
Cross-Validate and Revalidate: repeat Steps 3 and 4 with a different sample

9. www.ets.org/testcoll Provides information on over 20,000 tests.
FIGURE 6–2 Examples of Web Sites Offering Information on Tests or Testing Programs
Provides general information and sources for all types of employment tests.
Provides technical information on all types of employment and nonemployment tests.
Provides information on over 20,000 tests.
Information from Kaplan test preparation on how various admissions tests work.
One of many firms offering employment tests.

10. FIGURE 6–3 Expectancy Chart
Note: This expectancy chart shows the relation between scores made on the Minnesota Paper Form Board and rated success of junior draftspersons.
Example: Those who score between 37 and 44 have a 55% chance of being rated above average and those scoring between 57 and 64 have a 97% chance.

11. TABLE 6–1 Testing Program Guidelines
Use tests as supplements.
Validate the tests.
Monitor your testing/selection program.
Keep accurate records.
Use a certified psychologist.
Manage test conditions.
Revalidate periodically.

12. Test Takers’ Individual Rights and Test Security
Under the APA’s standard for educational and psychological tests, test takers have the right:
To privacy and information.
To the confidentiality of test results.
To informed consent regarding use of these results.
To expect that only people qualified to interpret the scores will have access to them.
To expect the test is fair to all.

13. Legal Privacy Issues Defamation Avoiding Employee Defamation Suits
Libeling or slandering of employees or former employees by an employer.
Avoiding Employee Defamation Suits
Train supervisors regarding the importance of employee confidentiality.
Adopt a “need to know” policy.
Disclose procedures impacting confidentially of information to employees.

14. FIGURE 6–4 Sample Test Source: Courtesy of NYT Permissions.

15. Using Tests at Work Major Types of Tests Why Use Testing?
Basic skills tests
Job skills tests
Psychological tests
Why Use Testing?
Increased work demands = more testing
Screen out bad or dishonest employees
Reduce turnover by personality profiling

16. Computerized and Online Testing
Online tests
Telephone prescreening
Offline computer tests
Virtual “inbox” tests
Online problem-solving tests
Types of Tests
Specialized work sample tests
Numerical ability tests
Reading comprehension tests
Clerical comparing and checking tests

17. Types of Tests What Tests Measure Cognitive (Mental) Abilities
Achievement
Motor and Physical Abilities
Personality and Interests
What Tests Measure

18. FIGURE 6–5 Type of Question Applicant Might Expect on a Test of Mechanical Comprehension

19. FIGURE 6–6 Sample Personality Test Items
Source: Elaine Pulakos, Selection Assessment Methods, SHRM Foundation, 2005, p. 9.
Reprinted by
permission of Society
for Human Resource
Management via Copyright
Clearance Center.

20. Emotional Stability/ Neuroticism Openness to Experience
The “Big Five”
Extraversion
Emotional Stability/ Neuroticism
Agreeableness
Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness

21. FIGURE 6–7 Example of a Work Sampling Question

22. Work Samples and Simulations
Miniature Job Training and Evaluation
Management Assessment Centers
Video-Based Situational Testing
Measuring Work Performance Directly

23. TABLE 6–2 Evaluation of Assessment Methods on Four Key Criteria
Validity
Adverse Impact
Costs (Develop/ Administer)
Applicant Reactions
Cognitive ability tests
High
High (against minorities)
Low/low
Somewhat favorable
Job knowledge test
More favorable
Personality tests
Low to moderate
Low
Less favorable
Biographical data inventories
Moderate
Low to high for different types
High/low
Integrity tests
Moderate to high
Structured interviews
High/high
Physical fitness tests
High (against females and older workers)
Situational judgment tests
Moderate (against minorities)
Work samples
Assessment centers
Low to moderate, depending on exercise
Physical ability tests
Note: There was limited research evidence available on applicant reactions to situational judgment tests and physical ability tests. However, because these tests tend to appear very relevant to the job, it is likely that applicant reactions to them would be favorable.
Source: Elaine Pulakos, Selection Assessment Methods, SHRM Foundation, 2005, p. 17. Reprinted by permission of Society for Human Resource Management via Copyright Clearance Center.

24. Background Investigations and Reference Checks
Investigations and Checks
Reference checks
Background employment checks
Criminal records
Driving records
Credit checks
Why?
To verify factual information provided by applicants.
To uncover damaging information.

25. FIGURE 6–8 Reference Checking Form
Source: Society for Human Resource Management, © Reproduced with permission of Society for Human Resource Management in the Format Textbook via Copyright Clearance Center.

26. Background Investigations and Reference Checks (cont’d)
Former Employers
Current Supervisors
Written References
Social Networking Sites
Commercial Credit Rating Companies
Sources of Information

27. Limitations on Background Investigations and Reference Checks
Supervisor Reluctance
Employer Guidelines
Legal Issues: Privacy
Legal Issues: Defamation

28. Making Background Checks More Useful
Include on the application form a statement for applicants to sign explicitly authorizing a background check.
Use telephone references if possible.
Be persistent in obtaining information.
Use references provided by the candidate as a source for other references.
Ask open-ended questions to elicit more information from references.

29. Using Preemployment Information Services
Acquisition and Use of Background Information 1 2
Disclosure to and authorization by applicant/employee 3
Employer certification to reporting agency 4
Providing copies of reports to applicant/employee
Notice of adverse action to applicant/employee

30. TABLE 6–3 Collecting Background Information
Suggestions for collecting background information include the following:
Check all applicable state laws.
Review the impact of federal equal employment laws.
Remember the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Do not obtain information that you’re not going to use.
Remember that using arrest information will be highly suspect.
Avoid blanket policies (such as “we hire no one with a record of workers’ compensation claims”).
Use information that is specific and job related.
Keep information confidential and up to date.
Never authorize an unreasonable investigation.
Make sure you always get at least two forms of identification from the applicant.
Always require applicants to fill out a job application.
Compare the application to the résumé (people tend to be more imaginative on their résumés than on their application forms, where they must certify the information).
Particularly for executive candidates, include background checks of such things as involvement in lawsuits, and of articles about the candidate in local or national newspapers.
Separate the tasks of (1) hiring and (2) doing the background check (a recruiter or supervisor anxious to hire someone may cut corners when investigating the candidate’s background).
Source: Adapted from Jeffrey M. Hahn, “Pre-Employment Services: Employers Beware?” Employee Relations Law Journal 17, no. 1 (Summer 1991), pp. 45–69; and Shari Caudron, “Who Are You Really Hiring?”, Workforce, 81, no. 12 (November 2002), pp. 28–32.

31. The Polygraph and Honesty Testing
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
Generally prohibits polygraph examinations by all private employers unless:
The employer has suffered an economic loss or injury.
The employee in question had access to the property.
There is a reasonable prior suspicion.
The employee is told the details of the investigation, as well as questions to be asked on the polygraph test itself.
Exceptions:
Private security employees
Employees with access to drugs
National defense and security (FBI, DOE, and DOJ)

32. Honesty Testing Programs: What Employers Can Do
Antitheft Screening Procedure:
Ask blunt questions.
Listen, rather than talk.
Do a credit check.
Check all employment and personal references.
Use paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests.
Test for drugs.
Establish a search-and-seizure policy and conduct searches.

33. FIGURE 6–9 Handwriting Exhibit Used by Graphologist
Source: Kathryn Sackhein, Handwriting Analysis and the Employee Selection Process (New York: Quorum Books, 1990), p. 45. Reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.

34. Physical Examination Reasons for preemployment medical examinations:
To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of the position.
To discover any medical limitations to be taken into account in placing the applicant.
To establish a record and baseline of the applicant’s health for future insurance or compensation claims.
To reduce absenteeism and accidents.
To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to the applicant.

35. Substance Abuse Screening
Types of Screening
Before formal hiring
After a work accident
Presence of obvious behavioral symptoms
Random or periodic basis
Transfer or promotion to new position
Types of Tests
Urinalysis
Hair follicle testing

36. Substance Abuse Screening (cont’d)
Safety: Impairment vs. Presence
Recreational Use vs. Addiction
Americans with Disabilities Act
Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988
Intrusiveness of Procedures
Accuracy of Tests
Ethical and Legal Issues

37. FIGURE 6–10 Procedure in Complying with Immigration Law
Hire only citizens and aliens lawfully authorized to work in the United States.
Advise all new job applicants of your policy.
Require all new employees to complete and sign the verification form (the “I-9 form”) designated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to certify that they are eligible for employment.
Examine documentation presented by new employees, record information about the documents on the verification form, and sign the form.
Retain the form for three years or for one year past the employment of the individual, whichever is longer.
If requested, present the form for inspection by INS or Department of Labor officers. No reporting is required.

38. Improving Productivity Through HRIS: Comprehensive Automated Applicant Tracking and Screening Systems
“Knock out” applicants who do not meet job requirements
Can match “hidden talents” of applicants to available openings
Benefits of Applicant Tracking Systems
Allow employers to extensively test and screen applicants online