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18 views

Summary IO work design

Uploaded by

isay.hortinela
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Selection and Placement Study Material

Learning Objectives
1. LO 6-1: Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel selection methods, including
reliability, validity, and generalizability.
2. LO 6-2: Discuss how particular characteristics of a job, organization, or applicant affect
the utility of any test.
3. LO 6-3: Describe the government’s role in personnel selection decisions, particularly in
the areas of constitutional law, federal laws, executive orders, and judicial precedent.
4. LO 6-4: List the common methods used in selecting human resources.
5. LO 6-5: Explore the degree to which common selection methods meet standards of
reliability, validity, generalizability, utility, and legality.

Introduction to Employee Selection


Selecting employees is a critical process for organizations, requiring them to make informed
decisions that not only impact the overall competitiveness of the company but also significantly
influence the lives of job applicants. The selection process should balance promoting the best
interests of the organization while ensuring fairness for all candidates involved.

Standards for Selection Methods


Reliability
• Reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement and the extent to which a measure
is free from random error. It can be assessed through various means such as:• Test-retest
reliability, which involves administering the same test at two different points in time and
assessing the correlation between the scores.• The correlation coefficient indicates the
degree of relationship between two sets of scores, with +1.0 denoting a perfect positive
correlation and -1.0 indicating a perfect negative correlation.
• The required level of reliability can vary depending on the stakes of the decision being
made about the individuals being evaluated.

Validity
• Validity assesses how well a measure correlates to job performance. It can be established
through:• Criterion-related validity, displaying a substantial correlation between test scores
and job performance.• Predictive validity, where the test predicts future job performance
based on past test scores.• Concurrent validity, determined when test results are compared
with current job performance metrics.
• Content validation ensures that the items on a test are representative of the actual tasks
performed on the job, often through simulations or role-playing exercises.

Generalizability
• Generalizability refers to how well the validity of a selection method transfers across
different contexts. For instance, if a test is validated for one job category, its applicability
to others must be examined, maintaining similar correlation levels.

Utility
• Utility represents the extent to which the information gathered from selection methods
enhances the effectiveness of the selection process. It is influenced by:• Reliability, validity,
and generalizability.• An understanding that job performance may follow a power law
distribution, implying that a small number of employees will exhibit significantly higher
performance levels.

Legality
• All selection methods must adhere to existing laws, with key legislation including:•
Civil Rights Act of 1991: prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, religion, etc.,
and requires neutral selection methods.• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967:
protects individuals aged 40 and older and prohibits mandatory retirement.• Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990: mandates reasonable accommodations for individuals with
disabilities, provided it does not impose undue hardship on the organization.

Types of Selection Methods


Interviews
• Structured interviews ensure reliability and standardization, focusing on specific skills and
behaviors.
• Situational interviews pose hypothetical scenarios to gauge applicant responses to job-re-
lated challenges, which can be future-oriented or experience-based.

References, Application Blanks, and Background Checks


• Reference checks often have a weak correlation with job success due to potential biases.
• Background checks offer low-cost insights into an applicant's history, emphasizing the
importance of accurate information.

Physical Ability Tests


• Evaluate key physical attributes such as muscular tension, endurance, and flexibility,
relevant in roles where physical capabilities are crucial.

Cognitive Ability Tests


• Assess various intellectual abilities, including verbal and quantitative reasoning. However,
there are concerns regarding adverse impacts on minority groups, leading some organiza-
tions to consider race norming or banding strategies to mitigate biases.

Personality Inventories
• Commonly derived from the Big Five personality traits (extroversion, adjustment, agree-
ableness, conscientiousness, and openness), these assessments can inform candidates'
fit for the organization.
• Validation is often higher when the assessments are informed by external observations
rather than self-assessments, as individuals may lack objectivity regarding their personali-
ties.

Work Samples
• These are task-specific assessments simulating job tasks, with lower generalizability due
to their nature. They are generally high in validity for particular jobs due to their hands-on
approach.

Honesty Tests and Drug Tests


• Honesty tests assess the likelihood of employee theft or misconduct based on psycho-
logical traits.
• Drug testing practices vary, especially in light of changing laws regarding substances
like marijuana, with certain roles, classified as “safety sensitive,” requiring stringent testing
protocols.

This comprehensive overview of selection and placement methodologies illustrates the fun-
damental principles and legislation affecting personnel decisions, equipping students with a
foundational understanding of employee selection processes.

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