1. Dr. Jeanne Michalski michalski@uta.edu
Selection MANA 3320
Dr. Jeanne Michalski

2. The Goal of Selection: Maximize “Hits”
MISS
Inaccurate prediction (Person would have succeeded on the job)
HIT
Accurate prediction (Person succeeds on the job)
Accurate prediction (Person would not have succeeded on the job)
Inaccurate prediction (Person fails on the job)
Predicted Success
Job Performance
Low
High
“Earns a Bonus”
“Is a Bonehead”

3. The Selection Process Obtaining Reliable and Valid Information
Reliability
The degree to which interviews, tests, and other selection procedures yield comparable data over time and alternative measures.
Validity
Degree to which a test or selection procedure measures a person’s attributes.

4. Reliability: Basic Concepts
Observed score = true score + error
Error is anything that impacts test scores that is not the characteristic being measured
Reliability measures error
Lower the error the better the measure

5. EEOC Uniform Guidelines
Reliability – consistency of the measure
If the same person takes the test again will he/she earn the same score?
Potential contaminations:
Test takers physical or mental state
Environmental factors
Test forms
Multiple raters

6. Reliability as Stability over Time
HIGH RELIABILITY TEST RETEST
APPLICANT SCORE SCORE
Smith 90 93
Perez 65 62
Riley
Chan 80 78
VERY LOW RELIABILITY TEST RETEST
APPLICANT SCORE SCORE
Smith 90 72
Perez 65 88
Riley
Chan

7. Reliability as Consistency (Interrater Reliability)
HIGH RELIABILITY
APPLICANT Rater #1 Rater #2 Rater #3
Smith 9 8 8
Perez 5 6 5
Riley 4 5 5
Chan 8 8 8
VERY LOW RELIABILITY
Smith 9 5 6
Perez 5 9 4
Riley 4 2 7
Chan 8 4 2

8. Correlation How strongly are two variables related?
Correlation coefficient (r)
Ranges from to 1.00
Illustrated using scatter plots
Used to test consistency and accuracy of measure

9. Correlation Scatterplots
Figure 5.3

10. Reliability vs. Validity

11. Approaches to Validation
Content validity
The extent to which a selection instrument, such as a test, adequately samples the knowledge and skills needed to perform a particular job.
Example: typing tests, driver’s license examinations, work sample
Construct validity
The extent to which a selection tool measures a theoretical construct or trait.
Are difficult to validate
Example: creative arts tests, honesty tests

12. Approaches to Validation
Criterion-related Validity
The extent to which a selection tool predicts, or significantly correlates with, important elements of work behavior.
A high score indicates high job performance potential; a low score is predictive of low job performance.
Two types of Criterion-related validity
Concurrent Validity
Predictive Validity

13. Approaches to Validation
Concurrent Validity
The extent to which test scores (or other predictor information) match criterion data obtained at about the same time from current employees.
High or low test scores for employees match their respective job performance.
Predictive Validity
The extent to which applicants’ test scores match criterion data obtained from those applicants/ employees after they have been on the job for some indefinite period.
A high or low test score at hiring predicts high or low job performance at a point in time after hiring.

14. Reliability vs. Validity
Validity Coefficients
Reject below .11
Very useful above .21
Rarely exceed .40
Reliability Coefficients
Reject below .70
Very useful above .90
Rarely approaches 1.00
Why the difference?

15. Principles of Assessment
Don’t rely on a single method.
Use only fair and unbiased instruments.
Use only reliable instruments.
Use only valid instruments for a specific purpose.
Use only tools designed for a specific group.
Use instruments with understandable instructions.
Ensure test administration staff are properly trained.
Ensure test conditions are suitable for all test takers.
Provide reasonable accommodation.
Maintain confidentiality of results.
Ensure proper interpretation of results.

16. Steps in the Selection Process
Initial screening of application or resume
Employment testing, if applicable
Interview (may include multiple visits for interviews) HR
Supervisor/Team
Others
Contingent Offer
Background/Reference Checks
Medical/Drug screen

17. Application Forms Only ask info related to job KSA’s
Link to job performance
Use thorough job analysis and validation techniques
Consider potential adverse impact
Careful collecting personal characteristics
Race, National Origin, Gender, Age etc.
Law assumes all questions are used in hiring
More is not necessarily better
Different applications for different jobs
Instructions and Disclaimers
Improve validity through weighted applications (WAB’s)

18. Online Applications
An Internet-based automated posting, application, and tracking process helps firms to more quickly fill positions by:
Attracting a broader and more diverse applicant pool
Collecting and mining resumes with keyword searches to identify qualified candidates
Conducting screening tests online
Reducing recruiting costs significantly

19. Resumes Applicant controls the information
Many examples of fraud or omission
Up to 50% contain some inaccuracy
Jobs and education should be verified
One question honesty test
Requirements for education and experiences should be job-related.

20. Biodata Inventories Generally reliable and valid
Series of questions on a wide variety of subjects
Background (e.g. hobbies, jobs, and education)
Situational questions
Personality and Values
Compared to a profile generated from successful employees or database for occupations.

21. Examples of Biographical Questions
How many jobs have you held in the last five years?
Were you ever class president?
While growing up, did you collect coins?
About how many fiction books have you read in the past year?
How many hours a week do you spend studying?
At what age did you leave home?
How large was the town/city in which you lived as a child?
Did you ever build a model airplane that flew?
Were sports a big part of your childhood?
Do you play any musical instruments?

22. Employment Tests Employment Test
An objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior that is used to gauge a person’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) in relation to other individuals.
Pre-employment testing has the potential for lawsuits.

23. Classification of Employment Tests
Cognitive Ability Tests
Aptitude tests
Measures of a person’s capacity to learn or acquire skills.
Achievement tests
Measures of what a person knows or can do right now.
Personality and Interest Inventories
“Big Five” personality factors:
Extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience.

24. Classification of Employment Tests (cont’d)
Physical Ability Tests
Must be related to the essential functions of job.
Job Knowledge Tests
An achievement test that measures a person’s level of understanding about a particular job.
Work Sample Tests
Require the applicant to perform tasks that are actually a part of the work required on the job.

25. Effectiveness of Selection Methods
A survey of 201 HR executives rated selection methods on the effectiveness producing the best employees.
Work samples 3.68
Structured interviews 3.42
Assessment centers 3.42
Specific aptitude tests 3.08
Personality tests 2.93
General cognitive ability tests 2.89
Biographical information blanks 2.84
Unstructured interview < 1.00

26. Common Background Checks

27. Common Background Checks
Education
Employment
References
Criminal History
Credit Check
Drug Screen
Medical Screen

28. “Screening-out” Devices
Drug testing
Urinalysis vs. RIAH (Hair testing)
ADA prohibits pre-employment screening for alcohol
Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988
Credit checks
Depends on the job – e.g. cash handling, children.
Signed consent to background or credit checks.
Fair Credit Reporting Act
Family Educational Rights Privacy Act
Privacy Act of 1974
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988)

29. Background Checks Negligent hiring Sources of Information
The failure of an organization to discover, via due diligence, that an employee it hired had the propensity to do harm to others
Sources of Information
Social Security verification
Past employment
Educational verification
Criminal records
Motor vehicle records
Credit check
Military records

30. Negligent Hiring The person causing harm was an employee.
The person was incompetent (rather than a competent employee acting negligently).
Employer knew or should have known about the incompetence.
Injury or harm was a foreseeable consequence of hiring the incompetent employee.
Hiring of the unfit employee was proximate cause of the injury or harm.

31. Reference Checks Telephone, mail, and e-mail checks
Specific job-related information
Letters of reference
Online computerized databases
Privacy Act of 1974
Requires signed requests for reference letters and signed consent to background checks.
Applies to both educational and private employers.

32. Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988)
Use of “lie detectors” is largely prohibited.
Act requires qualified examiners.
Act requires disclosure of information where used.
Encouraged employers’ use of paper and pencil integrity and honesty tests.

33. Background Investigations
Organizations using credit reports must:
Check state laws to see if credit reports can legally be used.
Advise and receive written consent from applicants if a report will be requested.
Provide a written certification to the consumer reporting agency as to the purpose of the report.
Provide applicants a copy of the consumer report as well as a summary of their rights under the CCRRA.
Must provide an adverse-action notice a person if that person is not hired and contact information related to the reporting agency.

34. Criminal Background Checks
Employers can obtain criminal background information by:
(1) Asking applicants for certain information during the interview process or on a job application
(2) Obtaining criminal record information from a state agency (with the consent of the applicants)
(3) by hiring an investigator or security firm
Before the information is gathered, employers should have specific guidelines for how they will use the information.

35. Decision Criteria
The hiring official will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the individual is qualified based on factors such as:
Specific duties of the position;
Number of offenses;
Nature of each offense;
Length of time intervening between the offense and the employment decision;
Employment history;
Efforts at rehabilitation; and
Accuracy of the information that the individual provided on the employment application

36. Background Investigations (cont.)
Medical Examinations
Given last as they can be costly.
Ensure that the health of an applicant is adequate to meet the job requirements.
Provides a baseline for subsequent examinations
ADA requires all exams be job-related and conducted after an employment offer is made.
Testing for illegal drugs is allowed.

37. Drug Testing Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988
Testing for illegal drugs is required of applicants and employees of federal contractors.
Questions about the efficacy of testing
Why spend large sums on testing when…
testing for drugs doesn’t appear to make the workplace safer or improve employee performance?
few applicants actually test positive and alcohol abuse creates more problems in the workplace?

38. Use of Pre-Employment Background Screening by Fortune 1000 Companies*
Most Common Types of Background Checks
Use of Pre-Employment Background Screening by Fortune 1000 Companies*
*Tools that 212 security representatives at Fortune 1000 companies said their companies use consistently.
Source: Top Security Threats and Management Issues Facing Corporate America, Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, Inc.

39. Principles of Assessment
Don’t rely on a single method.
Use only fair and unbiased instruments.
Use only reliable instruments.
Use only valid instruments for a specific purpose.
Use only tools designed for a specific group.
Use instruments with understandable instructions.
Ensure test administration staff are properly trained.
Ensure test conditions are suitable for all test takers.
Provide reasonable accommodation.
Maintain confidentiality of results.
Ensure proper interpretation of results.