PEOPLE RESOURCING
Chapter Twelve
Advanced Methods of Employee
Selection
There are four advanced, specifically ‘high-validity’
methods of employee selection:
• biodata analysis
• ability tests
• personality tests
• assessment centres.
Biodata
This refers to biographical data – using detailed
information concerning an applicant’s past to make
deductions about his or her likely performance in a future
job.
It typically requires the completion of a detailed multiplechoice questionnaire. The employer then screens
applicants according to how closely their characteristics
match those of the better current employees.
It is only ever used by a minority of employers – it
remains controversial and costly to develop.
The biodata questionnaire technique is only effective if
designed separately for each job.
Opinion is divided over whether biodata questionnaires
should include ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ questions.
Hard questions are factual.
Soft questions are more directly job-related. The aim is to
allow inferences to be made.
Problems with soft questions:
• They do not allow candidates to say that they would react
differently in different circumstances.
• It is easy for applicants to select the response they think is likely to
give them the highest score
• They can be seen as an arbitrary and unfair method of selection
by rejected employees. This in turn can have an adverse
effect on the organisation’s image in the labour market.
Problems with biodata in general:
• the lack of portability between job types
• that questionnaires age rapidly, and need to be revised frequently
• that it is costly and time-consuming to produce – requiring large
numbers of employees at the developmental stage.
Biodata is best used in the following circumstances:
• where large numbers of applications are received for a job
• where there are large numbers of existing staff employed in the
same position
• where the nature of work is unlikely to change to any great degree
over time
• where job applications are screened centrally.
Ability testing
Ability testing is used in some form by 70% of larger
employers, but usually as a back-up to other selection
techniques.
Types:
• general ability (eg IQ tests)
• literacy or numeracy
• job-specific skills (eg typing, driving)
• trainability tests.
Advantages:
• higher validity
• inexpensive
• transportability between jobs.
Furnham (2005) distinguishes between questions that
measure ‘crystallised intelligence’ and those that
measure ‘fluid intelligence’.
Crystallised intelligence corresponds to specific pieces of
knowledge that are picked up over time.
Fluid intelligence is ‘the ability to perceive relationships,
deal with unfamiliar problems and gain new types of
knowledge’.
Fluid intelligence has been found to be the most accurate
predictor of success in a job.
Problems with ability tests:
• Uncertainty about whether candidates can raise their performance
with practice
• Anxiety levels, which can make strong candidates perform poorly
• Failed ‘test-taking strategies’ (trading accuracy for speed), which
can make strong candidates perform poorly
• Bias against people whose first language is not English
• They are unsuitable when all candidates for a job are likely to
share a similar level of general intelligence
• They cannot be used in isolation – success in a role involves
many factors in addition to mental ability.
Personality testing
This involves inferences about a candidate’s suitability
for a job based on his or her responses in personality
questionnaires or inventories.
There are several basic assumptions:
• that human personality is measurable/‘mappable’
• that underlying personality traits remain stable over time and
across different situations
• that individual jobs can be analysed in terms of the personality
traits that would be most suitable for the job-holder
• that a questionnaire completed in 30–60 minutes provides enough
information about an individual’s personality to be able to
make meaningful inferences.
Five basic psychological constructs or ‘traits’ form the
building-blocks of personalities:
• extroversion–introversion (enjoyment of socialising and change)
• emotional stability (anxiety levels)
• agreeableness (avoidance of conflict)
• conscientiousness (organisation)
• openness to experience (flexibility).
Another theory suggests that the most important single
trait in terms of predicting effective work performance is
self-esteem.
Personality test data may be used to make inferences
about:
• how well the individual’s personality matches that believed to be
ideal for the job
• how well the individual will fit in with the general organisational
culture
• how well the individual’s personality might complement those of
existing team members
• whether an individual, otherwise well-qualified, might be
unsuitable for a post because he or she scores too high or
low in terms of a particular personality trait.
Even if the results are not themselves crucial
determinants of the selection decision, they can flag
areas to raise and discuss at the interview stage.
Techniques:
• Asking candidates to agree or disagree with a statement, or to
use a Likert scale. This is problematic because it allows
candidates to fake their answers in an attempt to make
them appear more suitable
• Using ‘ipsative’/forced-choice questions. This is problematic
because it tends to set one psychological construct
against another
• Including a ‘lie-index’/‘social desirability index’
• Using computer programs that tailor the questions as the
candidate progresses.
Professional issues in the use of selection tests
In the absence of statutory regulation, the CIPD has
produced a code of practice on psychological testing:
• Selection decisions should not be made through psychological
tests alone.
• Individuals responsible for administering tests, evaluating tests
and/or providing feedback should have the relevant
certificate of competence from the British Psychological
Society.
• Feedback should be given to all candidates.
• Only official tests should be used.
• Test users should maintain the highest standards of
confidentiality.
• Test results should be used to make decisions only when they are
shown to have a clear potential impact on likely performance
in the job in question.
Assessment centres
Assessment centres are used for the selection of some
staff (mainly management and graduates) by almost half
of all UK organisations. The extent of their use increases
steeply with the size of the employer.
They are the ‘Rolls Royce’ of selection methods – they
have good predictive ability, can be tailored to specific
demands, and are popular with candidates.
The aim is to observe candidate behaviour in a workrelated situation. The focus is therefore on potential
rather than on past achievement.
The main disadvantage is the cost.
Common assessment centre activities:
• in-tray exercises – these require candidates to demonstrate a
number of different competencies
• group exercises
• presentations
• role-playing
• report-writing
• work trial or trainability techniques.
More than one activity may be used to measure a
candidate’s performance on each competency – to
reduce the extent to which situational factors may
influence a candidate’s abilities.
A common method used to show which exercises are
testing which competencies is the assessment centre
matrix:
Source: IDS (1995b)