EMPLOYEE TESTING AND SELECTION Lecture 5

WHY EMPLOYEE SELECTION IS IMPORTANT

 The aim of employee selection is to achieve person-job fit
 This means matching the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other competencies (KSACs)
 A candidate might be “right” for a job, but wrong for the organization
 Person-job fit is the main consideration
 Person-organization fit is important too
Why employee selection is important?
I. employees with the right skills will perform better
II. it is costly to recruit and hire employees
III. inept hiring has legal consequences
Negligent hiring:
 Negligent hiring” is a legal doctrine that holds employers liable for unlawful acts
committed by their employees
1. Hiring workers with questionable backgrounds without proper safeguards
2. Hiring employees with criminal records, who then use access to customers’ homes to
commit crimes
THE BASICS OF TESTING AND SELECTING
EMPLOYEES
several popular selection tools are available, starting with tests
Test: a test is basically a sample of a person’s behavior
Any test or screening tool has two important characteristics, i) reliability, ii) validity
Reliability: It is a selection tool’s first requirement and refers to its consistency
A reliable test is one that yields consistent scores when a person takes two alternate
forms of the test or when he or she takes the same test on two or more different
occasions
If a person scores 90 on an intelligence test on a Monday and 130 when retested on
Tuesday, means the test is not reliable
reliability generally involves comparing two measures that assess the same thing
degree to which the two measures (say, test score one day and test score the next day) are
correlated is called reliability coefficient
 Ways to measure reliability:
i. test-retest reliability estimates: administer a test to a group one day, re-administer the
same test several days later to the same group, and then correlate the first set of scores
with the second
ii. equivalent or alternate form estimate: administer a test and then administer an equivalent
test later. For example, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
iii. internal comparison estimate: compare the test taker’s answers to certain questions on the
test with his answers to a separate set of questions on the same test aimed at measuring
the same thing
Things cause a test to be unreliable:
1. physical conditions (quiet one day, noisy the next)
2. differences in the test taker (healthy one day, sick the next day)
3. differences in test administration (courteous one day, curt the next)
4. poor sampling from the material; for example, test one focuses more on Chapters
1 and 3, while test two focuses more on Chapters 2 and 4
TEST VALIDITY
 The accuracy with which a test, interview measures what it aims to measure or fulfills
the function it was designed to fill
 It tells whether the test is measuring what it’s supposed to be measuring
 It refers to the correctness of the inferences that we can make based on the test
 Validity refers to evidence that the test is job related, means performance on the
test accurately predicts job performance
 A selection test must be valid since, without proof of validity, there is no logical or
legally permissible reason to use it to screen job applicants
 What is a test? a sample of a person’s behavior, some tests are more clearly representative
of the behavior being sampled than others. Swimming test for a lifeguard’s on-the-job
behavior,
 A psychologist asks the person to interpret the picture, and then draws conclusions about the
person’s personality and behavior. Here it is more difficult to prove that the tests are
measuring what they are said to measure
 Criterion Validity: A type of validity based on showing that scores on the test (predictors)
are related to job performance (criterion)
 It demonstrates statistically a relationship between scores on a selection procedure and job
performance of a sample of workers
 It means, demonstrating that those who do well on the test also do well on the job, and that
those who do poorly on the test do poorly on the job
 The test has validity to the extent that the people with higher test scores perform better on
the job
 In psychological measurement, a predictor is the measurement (e.g. the test score)
related to a criterion, such as performance on the job. The term criterion validity
reflects that terminology
 Content Validity: is a demonstration that the content of a selection procedure is
representative of important aspects of performance on the job
 The test constitutes a fair sample of the job’s content
 The basic procedure here is to identify job tasks that are critical to performance,
and then randomly select a sample of those tasks to test
Construct Validity: means demonstrating that (1) a selection procedure measures a
construct (an abstract idea such as morale or honesty), (2) that the construct is
important for successful job performance
 At best, invalid tests are a waste of time; at worst, they are discriminatory
 In any case, tests rarely predict performance with 100% accuracy. Therefore, don’t
make tests your only selection tool; also use other tools like interviews and
background checks
EVIDENCE-BASED HR: HOW TO VALIDATE A TEST
 Employers often opt to demonstrate evidence of a test’s validity using criterion
validity
 For a selection test to be useful, need evidence that scores on the test relate in a
predictable way to performance on the job
 Thus, other things being equal, students who score high on the graduate admissions
tests also do better in graduate school or applicants who score high on mechanical
comprehension tests perform better as engineers
 So validate the test before using it by ensuring that scores on the test are a good
predictor of some criterion like job performance—thus demonstrating the test’s
criterion validity
 The validation process consists of five steps:
STEP 1: ANALYZE THE JOB
 Analyze the job and write job descriptions and job specifications
 Specify the human traits and skills required for job performance
 For example, must an applicant be verbal, a good talker?
 These requirements become the predictors, the human traits and skills you believe predict
success on the job
 For an assembler’s job, predictors might include manual dexterity and patience
 In this first step, also define “success on the job,” since it’s the success for which you want
predictors
 The standards of success are criteria, production related criteria (quantity, quality, and so on),
personnel data (absenteeism, length of service, and so on), or worker performance (reported
by supervisors)
STEP 2: CHOOSE THE TESTS
 Once the predictors are decided (such as manual dexterity) the next step is to decide how to test
for them
 Employers usually base this choice on experience, previous research, and “best guesses”
 They usually don’t start with just one test. Instead, they choose several tests and combine them into
a test battery
 The test battery aims to measure an array of possible predictors, such as aggressiveness,
extroversion, and numerical ability
 What tests are available and where do you get them?
Ideally, use a professional, such as an industrial psychologist
 However, many firms publish tests. Some tests are available to virtually any purchaser, others only
to qualified buyers (such as with degrees in psychology). Wonderlic, Inc., publishes a well-known
intellectual capacity test and other tests, including aptitude test batteries and interest inventories
 Several Web sites that provide information about tests or testing programs
STEP 3: ADMINISTER THE TEST
 One option is to administer the tests to employees currently on the job. You then
compare their test scores with their current performance; this is concurrent (at the
same time) validation. Its advantage is that data on performance are readily
available. The disadvantage is that current employees may not be representative of
new applicants
 Predictive validation: is the second and more dependable way to validate a test.
Here you administer the test to applicants before you hire them, then hire these
applicants using only existing selection techniques, not the results of the new tests
 After they’ve been on the job for some time, measure their performance and
compare it to their earlier test scores. You can then determine whether you could have
used their performance on the new test to predict their subsequent job performance
STEP 4: RELATE YOUR TEST SCORES AND CRITERIA
 Ascertain if there is a significant relationship between test scores (the predictor) and
performance (the criterion)
 Correlation analysis is a method used to determine the statistical relationship
between (1) scores on the test and (2) job performance
 If there is a correlation between test and job performance, one can develop an
expectancy chart
 Expectancy chart: A graph showing the relationship between test scores and job
performance for a group of people
STEP 5: CROSS-VALIDATE AND REVALIDATE
 Before using the test, check it by “cross-validating” or by again performing steps 3
and 4 on a new sample of employees
 At a minimum, revalidate the test periodically
 Some tests (such as the 16PF® Personality Profile) are professionally scored and
interpreted. Thus Wonderlic, Inc., lets an employer administer the 16PF. The employer
then faxes (or scans) the answer sheet to Wonderlic, which scores the candidate’s
profile and send back the interpretive report
TYPES OF TESTS
 Tests can be classified according to whether they measure cognitive (mental) abilities, motor
and physical abilities, personality and interests, or achievement
Tests of Cognitive Abilities:
 Cognitive tests include tests of general reasoning ability (intelligence) and tests of specific
mental abilities like memory and inductive reasoning
Intelligence Tests: Intelligence (IQ) tests are tests of general intellectual abilities. They
measure not a single trait but rather a range of abilities, including memory, vocabulary, verbal
fluency, and numerical ability
 An adult’s IQ score is a “derived” scored; it reflects the extent to which the person is above or
below the “average” adult’s intelligence score
Intelligence is often measured with individually administered tests like the Stanford-Binet Test
or the Wechsler Test
 Specific Cognitive Abilities: There are also measures of specific mental abilities,
such as deductive reasoning, verbal comprehension, memory, and numerical ability
 Psychologists often call such tests aptitude tests, since they purport to measure
aptitude for the job in question
 Consider the Test of Mechanical Comprehension، applicants’ understanding of basic
mechanical principles
 This may reflect a person’s aptitude for jobs—like that of machinist or engineer—
that require mechanical comprehension
Tests of Motor and Physical Abilities: You might also want to measure motor
abilities, such as finger dexterity, manual dexterity, and (if hiring pilots) reaction time.
 Thus, the Crawford Small Parts Dexterity Test measures the speed and accuracy of
simple judgment as well as the speed of finger, hand, and arm movements.
 Other tests include the Stromberg Dexterity Test and the Purdue Peg Board.
 Tests of physical abilities may also be required. These include static strength (such as
lifting weights), dynamic strength (pull-ups), body coordination (jumping rope), and
stamina.44 Applicants for the U.S. Marines must pass its Initial Strength Test (2 pull
ups, 35 sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run)
Measuring Personality and Interests A person’s cognitive and physical abilities
alone seldom explain his or her job performance.
 As one consultant put it, most people are hired based on qualifications, but are fired
because of attitude, motivation, and temperament.
 Personality tests measure basic aspects of an applicant’s personality, such as
introversion, stability, and motivation.
 Industrial psychologists often focus on the “big five” personality dimensions:
extraversion, emotional stability/neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and
openness to experience
Neuroticism represents a tendency to exhibit poor emotional adjustment and
experience negative effects, such as anxiety, insecurity, and hostility.
 Extraversion represents a tendency to be sociable, assertive, active, and to
experience positive effects, such as energy and zeal.
 Openness to experience is the disposition to be imaginative, nonconforming,
unconventional, and autonomous.
 Agreeableness is the tendency to be trusting, compliant, caring, and gentle.
 Conscientiousness is comprised of two related facets: achievement and
dependability
Some personality tests are projective. The psychologist presents an ambiguous
stimulus (like an inkblot or clouded picture) and the person reacts. The person
supposedly projects into the ambiguous picture his or her attitudes, such as insecurity.
Other projective techniques include Make a Picture Story (MAPS) and the Forer
Structured Sentence Completion Test
Other personality tests are self-reported: applicants fill them out، available online,
the Myers-Briggs test provides a personality type classification useful for decisions
such as career selection and planning
Personality test results do often correlate with job performance.
 For example “in personality research, conscientiousness has been the most consistent
and universal predictor of job performance.
 In another study, neuroticism was negatively related to motivation.
 Extroversion correlates with success in sales and management jobs.
 The responsibility, socialization, and self-control scales of the California
Psychological Inventory predicted dysfunctional job behaviors among law
enforcement officers.
 Emotional stability, extroversion, and agreeableness predicted whether expatriates
would leave their overseas assignments early
 There are four caveats.
 First, projective personality tests are particularly hard to interpret. An expert must analyze
the test taker’s interpretations and infer from them his or her personality
 Second, personality tests can trigger legal challenges. For example, one court held that the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a medical test (because it can screen out
applicants with psychological impairments), and so might violate the ADA
 Third, a panel of distinguished industrial psychologists said using self-report personality tests
in selection “should be reconsidered (due to low validity). Other experts call such concerns
“unfounded.”
 Fourth, people can and will fake responses to personality and integrity tests.
 The bottom line: make sure the personality tests you use predict performance for the jobs you
are testing for
Interest inventory:
 A personal development and selection device that compares the person’s current
interests with those of others now in various occupations so as to determine the
preferred occupation for the individual
 The assumption is that someone will do better in occupations in which he or she is
interested
Achievement Tests:
 Achievement tests measure what someone has learned
 Most of the tests in school are achievement tests
 They measure “job knowledge” in areas like economics, marketing, or human
resources etc
 Achievement tests are also popular at work. Like, the Purdue Test for Machinists and
Machine Operators tests the job knowledge of experienced machinists with questions
like “What is meant by ‘tolerance’”?
 Some achievement tests measure the applicant’s abilities; a swimming test
IMPROVING PERFORMANCE THROUGH HRIS:
COMPUTERIZATION AND ONLINE TESTING
 Computerized or online testing is increasingly replacing paper/pencil tests. For
example, Timken Company uses online assessment of math skills for hourly position
applicants
 Many employers have applicants take short Web-based tests before reviewing their
résumés and holding interviews. This leaves a smaller pool to undergo the more
personal/costly testing and interviewing.
 Online prescreening tests, short 2 minutes videos of the applicant etc
 Online adaptive personality tests. As a candidate answers each question, these tests
adapt the next question to the test taker’s answers to the previous question. This
improves test validity and may reduce cheating (since each candidate basically gets
a customized test)
WORK SAMPLES AND SIMULATIONS
 Work samples: Actual job tasks used in testing applicants’ performance
 Present examinees with situations representative of the job for which they’re applying, and evaluate their
responses
 Using Work Sampling for Employee Selection: The work sampling technique tries to predict job performance
by requiring job candidates to perform one or more samples of the job’s tasks. For example, work samples for
a cashier may include operating a cash register and counting money
 Advantages:
I. It measures actual job tasks, so it’s harder to fake answers
II. The work sample’s content, the actual tasks the person must perform, is not as likely to be unfair to
minorities (as might a personnel test that possibly emphasizes middle-class concepts and values)
III. Work sampling doesn’t delve into the applicant’s personality, so there’s almost no chance of applicants
viewing it as an invasion of privacy
IV. Designed properly, work samples also exhibit better validity than do other tests designed to predict
performance
SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TESTS
 Situational judgment tests are personnel tests “designed to assess an applicant’s
judgment regarding a situation encountered in the workplace
 For example: You are a sales associate at Best Buy in Miami, Florida. The store sells
electronics, including smart phones. Competition comes from other neighborhood
retailers, and from online firms. Many customers who come to your store check the
product with you, and then buy it on Amazon. As a sales associate, you are
responsible for providing exceptional customer service, demonstrating product
knowledge, and maximizing sales. You get a weekly salary, with no sales incentive.
How would you respond to this situation?
Situation: A customer comes to you with a printout for a Samsung Galaxy phone from
Amazon.com, and proceeds to ask you detailed questions about battery life, and how to work
the phone, while mentioning that “Amazon’s price is $50 less than yours.” You have been with
this customer for almost an hour, and there are other customers waiting. You would:
1. Tell the customer to go buy the phone on Amazon
2. Tell the customer to wait 20 minutes while you take care of another customer
3. Tell the customer that the local Sprint Mobility dealer has the phone for even less than
Amazon
4. Explain the advantages of similar phones you have that may better fulfill the buyer’s
requirements
5. Ask your supervisor to come over and try to sell the customer on buying the Galaxy from
you
 Management assessment center: A simulation in which management candidates are
asked to perform realistic tasks in hypothetical situations and are scored on their
performance. It usually involves testing and the use of management games
 It is a 2- to 3-day simulation in which 10 to 12 candidates perform realistic
management tasks (like making presentations) under the observation of experts who
appraise each candidate’s leadership potential
 Typical simulated tasks include:
 The in-basket: The candidate gets reports, memos, notes of incoming phone calls, e-mails, and other materials
collected in the actual or computerized in-basket of the simulated job he or she is about to start. The candidate
must take appropriate action on each item. Trained evaluators review the candidate’s efforts
 Leaderless group discussion: Trainers give a leaderless group a discussion question and tell members to
arrive at a group decision. They then evaluate each group member’s interpersonal skills, acceptance by the
group, leadership ability, and individual influence
 Management games: Participants solve realistic problems as members of simulated companies competing in a
marketplace
 Individual oral presentations: Here trainers evaluate each participant’s communication skills and
persuasiveness
 Testing: These may include tests of personality, mental ability, interests, and achievements
 The interview: Most require an interview with a trainer to assess interests, past performance, and motivation
SITUATIONAL TESTING AND VIDEO-BASED
SITUATIONAL TESTING
 Some employers use video games to determine candidates’ creativity and ability to
multitask
 The video-based simulation presents the candidate with several online or computer
video situations, each followed by one or more multiple-choice questions
 For example, the scenario might depict an employee handling a situation on the job.
At a critical moment, the scenario ends and the video asks the candidate to choose
from several courses of action
Miniature job training and evaluation: It involves training candidates to perform
several of the job’s tasks, and then evaluating their performance prior to hire. The
approach assumes that a person who demonstrates that he or she can learn and
perform the sample of tasks will be able to learn and perform the job itself
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS AND OTHER
SELECTION METHODS
Testing is only part of an employer’s selection process
 Other tools may include background investigations and reference checks, pre-employment
information services, honesty testing, and substance abuse screening
 Why Perform Background Investigations and Reference Checks? One major company was
about to announce a new CEO until they discovered he had a wife and two children in one
state as well as a wife and two children in another state
 The recruiter HireRight found that of the over 600,000 educational verifications they did in
12-month period, 32% had discrepancies
 One of the easiest ways to avoid hiring mistakes is to check the candidate’s background
thoroughly
 It is inexpensive and useful. There’s usually no reason why even supervisors in large
companies can’t check the references of someone they’re about to hire
 There are two main reasons to check backgrounds: 1) to verify the applicant’s
information (name and so forth) 2) to uncover damaging information
 Lying on one’s application isn’t unusual. A survey found that 23% of 7,000 executive
résumés contained exaggerated or false information
 Even relatively sophisticated companies fall prey to criminal employees, in part
because they haven’t conducted proper background checks
 In Chicago, a pharmaceutical firm discovered it had hired gang members in mail
delivery and computer repair. The crooks were stealing computer parts, and using the
mail department to ship them to their own nearby computer store
Know Your Employment Law : (Reference)
 Communication is defamatory if it is false and tends to harm the reputation of another by
lowering the person in the estimation of the community or by deterring other persons from
dealing with him or her
 Truth is not always a defense. In some states, employees can sue employers for disclosing to a
large number of people true but embarrassing private facts about the employee
 Most employers and managers restrict who can give references and what they can say
 As a rule, only authorized managers should provide information
 Don’t volunteer information,
Avoid vague statements,” and “Do not answer trap questions such as, ‘Would you rehire this
person?’” In practice, many firms have a policy of not providing any information about former
employees except for their dates of employment, last salary, and position titles
HOW TO CHECK A CANDIDATE’S BACKGROUND?
 Several things can be done to get better information. Most employers try to verify
an applicant’s current (or former) position and salary with his or her current (or
former) employer by phone
 Others call the applicant’s current and previous supervisors to try to discover more
about the person’s motivation, technical competence, and ability to work with others
(although, again, many employers have policies against providing such information)
 Many employers get background reports from commercial credit rating companies
for information about credit standing, indebtedness, reputation, character, and
lifestyle. (Others check social network sites)
Using Pre-employment Information Services
 Major background checking providers include Automatic Data Processing Inc., First
Advantage, HireRight, and Sterling Backcheck
 They use databases to access information about matters such as workers’
compensation, credit histories, and conviction and driving records
 The Polygraph and Honesty Testing The polygraph is a device that measures
physiological changes like increased perspiration. The assumption is that such changes
reflect changes in emotional state that accompany lying
 With a few exceptions, the law prohibits employers from conducting polygraph
examinations of all job applicants and most employees
Graphology: Graphology is the use of handwriting analysis to determine the writer’s
basic personality traits. It has some resemblance to projective personality tests. It’s
validity is highly suspected. The handwriting analyst studies an applicant’s
handwriting and signature to discover the person’s needs, desires, and psychological
makeup
 Human Lie Detectors: Some employers use experts to identify lying just by watching
candidates. One Wall Street firm uses a former FBI agent, who used to sit in
interviews and watch for signs of candidate deceptiveness like pupils changing size
(fear), irregular breathing (nervousness), crossing legs (“liars distance themselves from
an untruth”), and quick verbal responses (scripted statements)
Physical Exams
 Once the employer extends the person a job offer, a medical exam is often the next
step in selection (although it may also occur after the new employee starts work)
 There are several reasons for pre-employment medical exams: to verify that the
applicant meets the job’s physical requirements, to discover any medical limitations
you should consider in placement, and to establish a baseline for future workers’
compensation claims
 Exams can also reduce absenteeism and accidents and detect communicable
diseases
 Substance Abuse Screening: Most employers conduct drug screenings. The most
common practice is to test candidates just before they’re formally hired. Many also
test current employees when there is reason to believe they’ve been using drugs—
after a work accident, or with obvious behavioral symptoms such as chronic lateness.
Some firms routinely administer drug tests on a random or periodic basis, while others
require drug tests when they transfer or promote employees to new positions