1. Selection and Placement
Chapter 6
Selection and Placement
Chapter 6 provides ways to minimize errors in employee selection and placement, and in doing so improve the organization's competitive position. The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize you with ways to minimize errors in employee selection and placement and, in doing so, improve your company’s competitive position. The chapter first focuses on five standards that should be met by any selection method. The chapter then evaluates several common selection methods according to those standards.
Placement  assignment
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Learning Objectives
LO 6-1 Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel selection methods, including reliability, validity and generalizability. LO 6-2 Discuss how the particular characteristics of a job, organization or applicant affect the utility of any test. LO 6-3 Describe the government’s role in personnel selection decisions, particularly in areas of constitutional law, federal laws, executive orders and judicial precedent. LO 6-4 List common methods used in selecting human resources. LO 6-5 Describe the degree to which each of the common methods used in selecting human resources meets the demands of reliability, validity, generalizability, utility and legality.
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel selection methods, including reliability, validity and generalizability.
Discuss how the particular characteristics of a job, organization, or applicant affect the utility of any test.
Describe the government’s role in personnel selection decisions, particularly in the areas of constitutional law, federal laws, executive orders and judicial precedent.
4. List common methods used in selecting HR.
5. Describe the degree to which each of the common methods used in selecting human resources meets the demands of reliability, validity, generalizability, utility and legality.
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Introduction
Organizations must take the utmost care with how it chooses employees.
These decisions impact the organization’s competiveness, and every aspect of the job applicant’s life.
Organizations make sure the decisions they make with respect to who gets accepted or rejected for jobs promote the best interests of the company and are fair to all parties involved.
The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize you with ways to minimize errors in employee selection and placement and, in doing so, improve your company’s competitive position. The chapter first focuses on five standards that should be met by any selection method then evaluates several common selection methods according to those standards.
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4. Selection Method Standards
Reliability Validity Utility Generalizability Legality
Chapter 6 provides ways to minimize errors in employee selection and placement, and in doing so improve the organization's competitive position. Personnel selection is the process by which companies decide who will or will not be allowed into organizations. Several generic standards should be met in any selection process. We focus on five: (1) reliability, (2) validity, (3) generalizability, (4) utility, and (5) legality.
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5. Reliability
Reliability for different raters, ratees, situations, and times
Reliability is the degree to which a measure of physical or cognitive abilities or traits is free from random error.
Correlation coefficient is a measure of the degree to which two sets of numbers are related.
A perfect positive relationship equals +1.0
A perfect negative relationship equals - 1.0
Test-retest reliability is knowing how scores on the measure at one time relate to scores on the same measure at another time.
Much of the work in personnel selection involves measuring characteristics of people to determine who will be accepted for job openings.
Reliability is consistency of a performance measure; the degree to which a measure is free from random error. If a measure of some supposedly stable characteristic such as intelligence is reliable, then the score a person receives based on that measure will be consistent over time and in different contexts. We can estimate reliability in several different ways, however; and because most of these rely on computing a correlation coefficient, we will briefly describe and illustrate this statistic.
Correlation coefficient is a measure of the degree to which two sets of numbers are related. The correlation coefficient expresses the strength of the relationship in numerical form.
True Scores and the Reliability of Measurements—reliability is demonstrated by measuring height at different times. Even though height is supposedly a stable characteristic, slightly different results are generated every time height is measured.
Standards for Reliability—the more reliable the measure, the more likely decisions can be made on score differences.
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6. Validity
Validity is the extent to which a performance measure assesses all and only the relevant aspects of job performance
Criterion-related validation is a method of establishing validity of a personnel selection method by showing a substantial correlation between test scores and job-performance scores.
Predictive validation
Concurrent validation
Measuring the right things
Validity is the extent to which a performance measure assesses all the relevant –and only the relevant- aspects of job performance.
Criterion‑related validation is a method of establishing the validity of personal selection methods by showing a substantial correlation between test scores and job-performance scores. There are two types of criterion‑related validity:
Predictive validation is a criterion-related validity study that seeks to establish an empirical relationship between applicants’ test scores and their eventual performance on the job.
Concurrent validation is a criterion-related validity study in which a test is administered to all the people currently on the job and then correlating test scores with existing measures of each person’s performance.
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7. Concurrent Validation
Measure all current job incumbents on attribute
Measure all current job incumbents’ performance
Finally, obtain correlation between these two sets of numbers
Figure 6.3 a graphic depiction of concurrent validation
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8. Predictive Validation
Measure all job applicants on attribute
Hire some applicants and reject others
Wait for some period of time
Measure all newly hired job incumbents’ performance
Finally, obtain correlation between these two sets of numbers
Figure 6.3 a graphic depiction of predictive validation
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Content Validation
Content validation is a test-validation strategy performed by demonstrating that the items, questions, or problems posed by a test are a representative sample of the kinds of situations or problems that occur on the job.
Best for small samples
Achieved primarily through expert judgment
Content validation is a test-validation strategy performed by demonstrating that the items, questions, or problems posed by a test are a representative sample of the kinds of situations or problems that occur on the job. A test that is content valid exposes the job applicant to situations that are likely to occur on the job, and then tests whether the applicant currently has sufficient knowledge, skill, or ability to handle such situations.
There are two limitations to content validation: (a) the person who is hired must have the knowledge, skills, or abilities at the time he or she is hired and (b) subjective judgment plays such a large role in content validation.
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Generalizability
Generalizability is the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts.
Different situations
Different samples of people
Different time periods
Generalizability is the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts. Validity generalization stands as an alternative for validating selection methods for companies that cannot employ criterion-related or content validation.
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Utility
Utility is the degree to which information provided by selection methods enhances the effectiveness of selecting personnel.
Utility is impacted by:
Reliability
Validity
Generalizability
Utility is the degree to which the information provided by selection methods enhances the effectiveness of selecting personnel in organizations. Utility is impacted by reliability, validity, and generalizability. Other factors will influence utility even when the latter is constant. For example, the selection ratio, which is the percentage of people tested versus the total number of applicants, will impact utility as well as the number of people selected, rate of employee turnover, and level of performance among those who leave.
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Legality
All selection methods should adhere to existing laws and legal precedents.
Three laws form the basis for a majority of suits filed by job applicants:
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1991
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991
Legality—All selection methods must conform to existing laws and legal precedents. Three primary federal laws form the basis for a majority of the suits filed by job applicants. First, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and national origin with respect to hiring as well as compensation and working conditions. Second, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 if any neutral-appearing practice happens to have adverse impact on those over 40, the burden of proof shifts to the employer, who must show business necessity to avoid a guilty. Third, ADA of 1991 protects individuals with physical and mental disabilities (or with a history of the same), and requires that employers make “reasonable accommodation” to disabled individuals whose handicaps may prevent them from performing essential functions of the job as currently designed. “Reasonable accommodation” could include restructuring jobs, modifying work schedules, making facilities accessible, providing readers, or modifying equipment.
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Avoiding Litigation
Predictors of whether a firm becomes truly diverse and avoids litigation include:
There is a specific person whose sole job is to monitor hiring statistics
This person has the power to change hiring practices
This person is held strictly accountable in their own performance appraisal for achieving quantifiable results
The best predictors of whether a firm becomes truly diverse and avoids litigation is whether (a) there is a specific person (e.g., a diversity compliance officer) whose sole job is to monitor hiring statistics, (b) this person has the power to change hiring practices, and (c) this person is held strictly accountable in their own performance appraisal for achieving quantifiable results.
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Civil Rights Act of 1991
Protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion and national origin.
Differs from the 1964 act in three areas:
Establishes employers' explicit obligation to establish neutral-appearing selection method.
Allows a jury to decide punitive damages.
Explicitly prohibits granting preferential treatment to minority groups.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991, an extension of the Civil Rights Act 1964, protects individuals from discrimination with respect to hiring as well as compensation and working conditions. The 1991 act differs from the 1964 act in three areas:
It establishes employers' explicit obligation to establish neutral-appearing selection method.
It allows a jury to decide punitive damages.
It explicitly prohibits the granting of preferential treatment to minority groups. Most litigation is based on gender and race.
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15. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Outlaws “mandatory retirement programs”
Covers over age 40 individuals
No protection for younger workers
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 covers over age 40 individuals.
No protection for younger workers.
Outlaws almost all “mandatory retirement” programs.(company policies that dictate that everyone who reaches a set age must retire).
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16. Americans with Disabilities Act
Protects individuals with physical or mental disabilities (or with a history of the same).
Reasonable accommodations are required by the organization to allow the disabled to perform essential functions of the job.
An employer need not make accommodations that cause undue hardship.
Restrictions on pre-employment inquiries.
Examples of reasonable accommodations include restructuring jobs, modifying work schedules, making facilities accessible, providing readers, or modifying equipment. An employer need not make accommodations that cause undue hardship such as undue cost or danger to the safety of other employees. The ADA does not require an organization to hire someone whose disability prevents him or her from performing either critical or routine aspects of the job nor does it require accommodations that would cause “undue hardship.”
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Executive Orders
Executive Order parallels the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and goes beyond by:
requiring affirmative action to hire qualified
protected group applicants, and
allowing the government to suspend all business
with a contractor during an investigation.
Office of Federal Contract Compliance and Procedures (OFCCP) issues guidelines and helps companies comply.
Executive Order parallels the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but goes beyond it by: requiring affirmative action to hire qualified protected group applicants, and allowing the government to suspend all business with a contractor while an investigation is going on. Not only do the executive orders prohibit discrimination, they actually mandate that employers take affirmative action to hire qualified minority applicants. The executive branch of the government also regulates hiring decisions through the use of executive orders.
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18. Types of Selection Methods
Interviews
References, Application Blanks, Background Checks
Physical Ability Tests
Cognitive Ability Tests
Personality Inventories
Work Samples
Honest Tests and Drug Tests
Types of selection methods used to assess a person for employment include interviews, honesty tests and drug tests, work samples, personality inventories, cognitive ability tests, physical ability tests, and references and biographical data.
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Interviews
Selection Interviews
dialogue initiated by one or more persons to gather information and evaluate the applicant’s qualifications for employment
Interviews should be structured, standardized, and focused on goals oriented to skills and observable behaviors.
Interviewers should be able to quantitatively rate each interview.
Interviewers should have a structured note-taking system that will aid recall to satisfying ratings.
Interviews are the most widely used selection method, although research suggests they can be unreliable, low in validity, and biased against a number of groups. Selection interviews are defined as a dialogue initiated by one or more persons to gather information and evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for employment. The utility of an interview can be increased by the following suggestions:
Interviews should be structured, standardized, and focused on goals oriented to skills and observable behaviors.
Interviewers should plan to come out of each interview with a quantitative rating on a small number of dimensions that are observable (like interpersonal style or ability to express oneself) and avoid ratings of abilities that may be better measured by tests (like intelligence).
Interviewers should also have a structured note-taking system that will aid recall when it comes to satisfying the ratings.
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20. Situational Interview
Confronts applicants on specific issues, questions, or problems likely to arise on the job.
Interview consists of:
Experience-based questions
Future-oriented questions
A situational interview is an interview procedure where applicants are confronted with specific issues, questions, or problems that are likely to arise on the job. They consist of experience-based questions and future-oriented questions . Some items are “experience-based” and require the applicant to reveal an actual experience he or she had in the past when confronting the situation. Other items are “future-oriented” and ask what the person is likely to do when confronting a certain hypothetical situation in the future.
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21. Characteristics of Other Selection Methods
Individuals should manage their digital identity the same way they manage their resume
Many U.S. employers search social networking sites
References and applications are weak predictors of job success
Criterion-related validities for physical ability tests can have an adverse impact
Individuals should manage their digital identity the same way they manage their résumé. Other selection methods such as references, biographical data, and applications that gather background information on candidate are, at best, weak predictors of future job success. Typically, references are very positive since only those who the applicants know will give them a good reference are asked to do so. Many suits have been filed against past employers’ revealing too much information beyond job title and years of service. The biggest concern with the use of biographical data is that applicants who supply the information may be motivated to misrepresent themselves.
Criterion‑related validities tend to be quite strong, although adverse impact on the disabled and women is highly possible. For example, roughly two-thirds of all males score higher than the highest-scoring female on muscular tension tests.
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22. Physical Ability Tests
Is physical ability essential to perform the job?
Is it mentioned prominently in the job description?
Physical tests measure:
Muscular tension, power, endurance
Flexibility
Balance
Cardiovascular endurance
Coordination
Physical ability tests- tests of physical abilities may be relevant not only to predicting performance but to predicting occupational injuries and disabilities as well for many jobs that require physical or psychomotor abilities.
Two Questions to Ask:
Is physical ability essential to perform the job?
Is it mentioned prominently enough in the job description?
Tests measure:
muscular power and endurance
cardiovascular endurance
flexibility
balance
coordination.
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23. Cognitive Ability Tests
Verbal Comprehension Quantitative Ability Reasoning Ability
Cognitive ability has many different facets, although we will focus only on three dominant ones:
Verbal comprehension refers to a person’s capacity to understand and use written and spoken language.
Quantitative ability concerns the speed and accuracy at which one can solve arithmetic problems.
Reasoning ability refers to a person’s capacity to invent solutions to many diverse problems.
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24. Personality Inventories: “The Big Five”
There are five dimensions of personality
Extroversion
Adjustment
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Openness to experience
There are five major dimensions of personality, known as “The Big Five” are shown here. Next we’ll look at each of these with a corresponding list of adjectives that fit each dimension.
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25. Emotional Intelligence
Describes a person who is especially effective and fluid in socially intensive contexts.
Five aspects:
Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Self-motivation
Social skills
Empathy
Also called “emotional quotient”, EQ
“Emotional intelligence” is also important in team contexts and has been used to describe people who are especially effective in fluid and socially intensive contexts. Emotional intelligence is traditionally conceived of as having five aspects:
self-awareness (knowledge of one’s strengths and weaknesses),
self-regulation (the ability to keep disruptive emotions in check),
self-motivation (how to motivate oneself and persevere in the face of obstacles),
empathy (the ability to sense and read emotions in others), and
social skills (the ability to manage the emotions of other people).
Daniel Goleman noted that “in the new workplace, with its emphasis on flexibility, teams and a strong customer orientation, this crucial set of emotional competencies is becoming increasingly essential for excellence in every job in every part of the world.”
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Work-Sample Tests
Work-sample tests attempt to simulate the job in a pre-hiring context to observe how the applicant performs.
Assessment center - is a process in which multiple raters evaluate employees’ performance on exercises.
Work-sample tests attempt to simulate the job in a pre-hiring context to observe how the applicant performs in the simulated job. The degree of fidelity in work samples can vary greatly.
Assessment center is a process in which multiple raters evaluate employees’ performance on a number of exercises.
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Honesty Tests
Polygraph Act of 1988 banned the use of polygraph tests for private companies except pharmaceutical and security guard suppliers.
Paper-and-pencil honesty testing attempts to assess the likelihood that employees will steal.
In 1990, the Office of Technology and Assessment released a report on the validity of paper‑and‑pencil honesty tests. The conclusion of the report was that existing research was inconclusive to determine the effectiveness of the tests. Paper-and-pencil honesty tests come in a number of different forms. Some directly emphasize questions dealing with past theft admissions or associations with people who stole from employers. Other items are less direct and tap more basic traits such as social conformity, conscientiousness, or emotional stability.
Tests commonly gauge attitudes and perceptions about professional behavior. The tests predict the level of risk of theft for employees.
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Drug Tests
Drug-use tests tend to be reliable and valid.
Tests should be administered systematically to all applicants applying for the same job.
Testing is likely to be more defensible with safety hazards associated with failure to perform.
Test results should be reported to applicants, who should have an avenue to appeal.
Drug‑use tests tend to be reliable and valid, particularly when the “screening tests" are followed up with more expensive “confirmation” test.
Tests should be administered systematically to all applicants applying for the same job. Testing is likely to be more defensible when there are safety hazards associated with the failure to perform. Test results should be reported to the applicant, who should have an avenue to appeal. Employers considering the use of drug tests would be well advised to make sure that their drug-testing programs conform to some general rules.
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29. Three Major Controversies about Drug Tests
Invasion of Privacy? Violation of Due Process? Unreasonable Search and Seizure?
The three major Controversies About Drug Tests are shown here:
1. Is it an invasion of privacy?
2. Is it an unreasonable search and seizure?
3. Is it a violation of due process?
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Reminding
Two-way selection process
From the employer’s aspects
Find the right persons for the job and organization
Demand-ability fit
From the applicant’s aspects
Find the right job and organization for personal need
Need-supply fit
Job-based vs. competence-based selection
Selection for the organization, not the job
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Summary
Job applicants and an organization’s viability are affected by decisions regarding who is accepted and rejected for positions
Five standards should conform: reliability, validity, generalizability, utility and legality
Managerial assessment centers use many different forms of tests to learn about candidates
Validity associated with judicious use of multiple tests is higher than for tests used in isolation
The lives of job applicants and the viability of organizations are strongly affected by decisions regarding who is accepted and rejected for positions. there is no need to use only one type of test for any one job. These are some of the most important decisions an organization is likely to make. There are numerous alternatives for making such decisions, many of which have been validated and supported by years of research, as highlighted in this chapter.
Five standards should conform: reliability, validity, generalizability, utility and legality.
Managerial assessment centers use many different forms of tests over a two or three day period to learn as much as possible about candidates for important executive positions.
Validity associated with judicious use of multiple tests is higher than for tests used in isolation.
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