Employee Selection

1. Employee Selection The Challenges of Human Resources Management

2. Chapter ObjectivesAfter studying this chapter, you should be able to Explain the objectives of the personnel selection process. Explain what it is required for an employee selection tool to be reliable and valid. Illustrate the different approaches to conducting an employment interview.Compare the value of different types of employment tests. Describe the various decision strategies for selection. LEARNING OUTCOME 1 LEARNING OUTCOME 2 LEARNING OUTCOME 3 LEARNING OUTCOME 4 LEARNING OUTCOME 5

3. Matching People and Jobs • Selection • The process of choosing individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill existing or projected job openings. • Selection Considerations • Person-job fit: job analysis identifies required individual competencies (KSAOs) for job success. • Person-organization fit: the degree to which individuals are matched to the culture and values of the organization.

4. The Goal of Selection: Maximize “Hits”

5. Begin with a Job Analysis • Results of a Job Analysis • Job Description • A detailed list of tasks, duties, responsibilities, and authority • Job Specifications • the individual competencies employees need for success—the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other factors (KSAOs) that lead to superior performance.

6. Steps in the Selection Process

7. 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.

8. Cover Letters and Resumes Video Resumes Application Forms Online Applications Biographical Information Blanks (BIB) Background Investigations Polygraph Tests Integrity and Honesty Tests Graphology Medical Examinations Employment Tests Interviews Internet Checks and Phone Screening Initial Screening

9. Application/Resume Assessment Grid

10. Application Forms • Application date • Educational background • Experience • Arrests and criminal convictions • National origin • References • Disabilities • EEO and at-will statements

11. 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

12. Employment Interviews • Why the interview is so popular: • It is especially practical when there are only a small number of applicants. • It serves other purposes, such as public relations • Interviewers maintain great faith and confidence in their judgments.

13. Interviewing Methods • Nondirective Interview • The applicant determines the course of the discussion, while the interviewer refrains from influencing the applicant’s remarks. • Structured Interview • An interview in which a set of standardized questions having an established set of answers is used.

14. Interviewing Methods (cont.) • Situational Interview • An interview in which an applicant is given a hypothetical incident and asked how he or she would respond to it. • Behavioral Description Interview (BDI) • An interview in which an applicant is asked questions about what he or she actually did in a given situation. • Panel and Sequential Interview • An interview in which a board of interviewers questions and observes a single candidate.

15. Hiring Managers Reveal Mistakes

16. Interviewing Methods (cont.) • Phone Interview • Phone interviews can be effective and actually help expand a company’s pool of talent. • Computer Interview • Using a computer program that requires candidates to answer a series of questions tailored to the job. • Answers are compared either with an ideal profile or with profiles developed on the basis of other candidates’ responses. • Video and Digitally-Recorded Interviews • Using video conference technologies to record and evaluate job candidates’ technical abilities, energy level, appearance, and the like before incurring the costs of a face-to-face meeting.

17. Variables in the Employment Interview

18. Eleven Ground Rules for Employment Interviews • Understand the job • Establish an interview plan • Establish and maintain rapport and listen actively • Pay attention to nonverbal cues • Provide information as freely and honestly as possible • Use questions effectively • Separate facts from inferences • Recognize stereotypes and biases • Avoid the “halo error,” or judging an individual favorably or unfavorably overall on the basis of only one strong point (or weak point) on which you place high value • Control the course of the interview • Standardize the questions asked

19. How Candidates’ Physical Attributes Influence Employ

20. Diversity Management: Are Your Questions Legal? • No questions are expressly forbidden. • Questions related to race, color, age, religion, sex, or national origin can be hazardous. • Questions are acceptable if job-related, asked of everyone, and do not discriminate against a protected class (e.g., females) • Consult EEOC and FEP information when constructing guidelines for interviewers

22. Appropriate and Inappropriate InterviewQuestions (cont.)

23. Sample Reference-Checking Questions

24. Background Investigations (cont.) • 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.

25. Preemployment Tests • Preemployment 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 hasthe potential for lawsuits.

26. Types of Tests • Job Knowledge Tests • Work Sample Tests • Assessment Center Tests • Cognitive Ability Tests • Biodata Tests • Personality and Interest Inventories • Honesty and Integrity Tests • Polygraph Tests • Physical Ability Tests • Medical Examinations • Drug Tests

27. 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. • 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

28. Correlation Scatterplots

29. Approaches to Validation (cont.) • 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 • 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

30. Best Practices for employee Testing and Selection

31. Decision-Making Strategy • Selection Considerations: • Should individuals to be hired according to their highest potential or according to the needs of the organization? • At what grade or wage level to start the individual? • Should selection be for employee-job match, or should advancement potential be considered? • Should those not qualified but qualifiable be considered? • Should overqualified individuals be considered? • What effect will a decision have on meeting affirmative action plans and diversity considerations?

33. “Can-Do” and “Will-Do’ Factors

34. Clinical and Statistical Approach Clinical Approach Subjectivity Statistical Approach Objectivity Compensatory Model - Average Multiple Cutoff Model - Minimum Multiple Hurdle Model- Sequential

35. Statistical Approach • Compensatory Model • Permits a high score in one area to make up for a low score in another area. • Multiple Cutoff Model • Requires an applicant to achieve a minimum level of proficiency on all selection dimensions. • Multiple Hurdle Model • Only applicants with sufficiently high scores at each selection stage go on to subsequent stages in the selection process.

36. Test Scores Scatter plot with Hypothetical Cutoffs

37. Selection Process (cont.) • Selection Ratio • The number of applicants compared with the number of people to be hired. • Cutoff Score • The point in a distribution of scores above which a person is considered and below which a person is rejected.

38. Selection Process (cont.) • Final Decision • Selection of applicant by departmental or immediate supervisor to fill vacancy. • Notification of selection and job offer by the human resources department.

39. Key Terms achievement tests aptitude tests behavioral description interview (BDI) compensatory model concurrent validity construct validity content validity criterion-related validity cross-validation multiple cutoff model multiple hurdle model negligent hiring nondirective interview panel interview predictive validity reliability selection selection ratio situational interview structured interview validity validity generalization

40. Chapter 6 - Learning Outcomes