1. Selection
Prof Srividya Iyengar

2. Coverage Definition Why Careful Selection is important
Avoiding Negligent Hiring Claims
Process and devices
Selection Device – Strength and Weakness
Compliment with Immigration laws
Using tests at work

3. Definition
Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants in order to identify ( and hire ) those with a greater likelihood of success in a job”.
Selection is the process of gathering information about applicants for a position and then using that information to choose the most appropriate applicant.

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

5. 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.

6. Selection Process / Devices
Screening of Applications
Application Blank
Weighted Application Blank
Selection Tests
Interviews
Checking of References
Physical Examination
Approval by Appropriate Authority
Placement

7. Selection Process

8. Selection Testing What does it mean? Basic Testing Concepts
Validity Test
Types of Validity Tests
How to validate tests
Testing Program Guidelines
Test takers individual rights and test security
Legal Privacy Issues

9. What does it mean?
A test is a standardized, objective measure of a sample of behaviour. Selection tests are increasingly used by companies these days because they measure individual differences in a scientific way, leaving very little room for Individual bias

10. 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?
Suitability:
a test must fit the nature of the group on which it is applied Usefulness: exclusive reliance on any single test should be avoided
Standardization:
norms for finalizing test scores should be established Qualified people: tests demand a high level of professional skills

11. Validity Tests External validity: Internal validity:
Occurs when the causal relationship discovered can be generalized. To what extent can an effect in research, be generalized to populations, settings, treatment variables, and measurement variables?
External validity is usually split into two distinct types, population validity and ecological validity and they are both essential elements in judging the strength of an experimental design.
Internal validity:
Is a measure which ensures that a researcher’s experiment design closely follows the principle of cause and effect.
Conclusion validity
Conclusion validity occurs when you can conclude that there is a relationship of some kind between the two variables being examined

12. Discriminant / Divergent Validity
Types of Validity
Test Validity
Predictive Validity
Content Validity
Construct Validity
Criterion Validity
Face Validity
Concurrent Validity
Convergent Validity
Discriminant / Divergent Validity

13. Contd…
Test Validity: Is an indicator of how much meaning can be placed upon a set of test results
Content validity is the estimate of how much a measure represents every single element of a construct
Criterion Validity assesses whether a test reflects a certain set of abilities.
Concurrent validity measures the test against a benchmark test and high correlation indicates that the test has strong criterion validity.
Predictive validity is a measure of how well a test predicts abilities. It involves testing a group of subjects for a certain construct and then comparing them with results obtained at some point in the future.
Construct validity defines how well a test or experiment measures up to its claims
Convergent validity tests that constructs that are expected to be related are, in fact, related.
Discriminant validity tests that constructs that should have no relationship do, in fact, not have any relationship. (also referred to as divergent validity)
Face validity is a measure of how representative a research project is ‘at face value,’ and whether it appears to be a good project

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

15. 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.

16. Test Takers’ Individual Rights and Test Security
Under the American Psychological Association (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

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. Contd… Sources of Information Former Employers Current Supervisors
Written References
Social Networking Sites
Commercial Credit Rating Companies
Sources of Information

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

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Using Pre-employment Information Services1
Notice of adverse action to applicant/employee
Employer certification to reporting agency
Acquisition and Use of Background Information
Disclosure to and authorization by applicant/employee
Providing copies of reports to applicant/employee 2 3 4

24. 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.

25. 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

26. Checklist: What to Look for in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
The employer thinking of adopting an ATS should seek one that meets several minimum functionality requirements. Among other things, the ATS should be:
Easy to use.
Capable of being integrated into the company’s existing HRIS platform, so that, for instance, data on a newly hired candidate can flow seamlessly into the HRIS payroll system.
Able to capture, track, and report applicant EEO data.
Able to provide employee selection performance metrics reports, including “time to fill,” “cost to hire,” and “applicant source statistics.”
Able to facilitate scheduling and tracking of candidate interviews, communications, and completed forms, including job offers.
Able to provide automated screening and ranking of candidates based upon job skill profiles.
Able to provide an internal job posting service that supports applications from current employees and employee referral programs.
Able to cross-post jobs to commercial job boards such as
Able to integrate the ATS job board with your company’s own Web site, for instance, by linking it to your site’s “careers” section.
Able to provide for requisition creation and signoff approvals.

27. Selection Tests Intelligence test Aptitude test Personality test
Projective test
Interest test
Preference test
Achievement test
Simulation test
Assessment centre
The in basket
The leaderless group discussion
Business games
Individual presentations
Graphology test
Polygraph test
Integrity test

28. 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

29. 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)

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

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

37. Sample Test
Source: Courtesy of NYT Permissions.

38. Type of Question Applicant Might Expect on a Test of Mechanical Comprehension

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

40. Example of a Work Sampling Question

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

42. 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.