Chapter 6
Selecting Applicants
Chapter 6 Objectives
• Describe what the term validity means with regard to
employee selection and how a company can achieve
and document it
• Understand the legal constraints imposed by the EEOC
guidelines, constitutional law, and tort law that
companies face when selecting employees’
• Explain the various selection methods used by firms
Linking Selection Practices to Competitive
Advantage
• The effectiveness of a
firm’s selection
practices can impact
an organization’s
competitive advantage
in a number of ways
Improving productivity
Achieving legal
compliance
Reducing training costs
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Validity, the technical term for effectiveness,
refers to the appropriateness, meaningfulness,
and usefulness of selection inferences.
• extent to which scores on a test, interview or
other selection process correspond to actual job
performance
• The closer the actual job performances match
the expected performances, the greater the
validity of the selection process.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• To determine expected performance and validity:
– Manager must have a clear notion of the needed job
qualifications, and must use selection methods that
reliably and accurately measure these qualifications.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Determining job qualifications
– Job qualifications refer to the personal qualities an
employer seeks when filling a position.
– Some qualifications, such as technical KSAs and
nontechnical skills are job-specific; other
qualifications are universal.
– By basing qualifications on job analysis information, a
company ensures that the qualities being assessed
are important for the job.
– Job analyses are also needed for legal reasons.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Choosing selection
methods
– The choice of selection
methods should reliably and
accurately measure the
needed qualifications.
– Reliability is the degree of
self-consistency among the
scores earned by an
individual.
– Reliable evaluations are
consistent across both
people and time.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Three ways of assessing and documenting validity
Content-oriented
strategy
• Demonstrate that it followed “proper”
procedures in the development and use of its
selection devices. Degree to which the content
of the selection method (test) is representative
of the job content
Criterion-related
strategy
• Provide statistical evidence showing a
relationship between applicant selection scores
and subsequent job performance levels.
Validity
generalization
strategy
• Demonstrate that other companies have
already demonstrated the validity of the
selection instruments.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Three ways of assessing and documenting validity
• Content-oriented strategy
– Evidence would show that the selection devices
were properly designed and were accurate
measures of the needed worker requirements.
– The employer must demonstrate that:
• The selection devices were chosen on the basis of an
acceptable job analysis.
• They measured a representative sample of the KSAs
identified.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Three ways of assessing and documenting validity
• Criterion-related strategy
– Attempts to demonstrate statistically that
someone who does well on a selection
instrument is more likely to be a good job
performer than someone who does poorly.
– To gather criterion-related evidence, two
pieces of information are required : a
predictor score and a criterion score.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Three ways of assessing and documenting validity
• A criterion-related validation study may
be conducted in one of two ways:
– Predictive validation study: Information is
gathered on actual job applicants.
– Concurrent validation study:
• Information is gathered on current employees.
• More commonly used as they can be conducted
more quickly.
HRM Issues and Practices
Technical Standards for Selection Practices
• Three ways of assessing and documenting validity
• Validity generalization strategy
– Established by demonstrating that a
selection device has been consistently
found to be valid in many other similar
settings.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
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The Uniform Guidelines
National Origin Discrimination Guidelines
Sexual Harassment Guidelines
Pregnancy Discrimination Guidelines
Age Discrimination Guidelines
Religious Discrimination Guidelines
Disability Discrimination Guidelines
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
The Uniform Guidelines:
• Issued in 1978.
• Apply to nearly all organizations employing 15 or more employees.
• Designed to assist organizations in understanding the compliance
requirements imposed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, primarily
with regard to disparate impact claims.
• Outlines requirements necessary for employers to legally defend
employment decisions
• Not in and of themselves legislation or law; however, through their
reference in a number of judicial decisions, courts have used them
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
National Origin Discrimination Guidelines:
• Individuals rejected for employment have just cause
for legal redress if their rejection was based on any of
the following factors:
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Place of origin
Ancestor’s place of origin
Marriage to a person of a foreign origin
Membership in an association seeking
to promote the interests of a national
origin group
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
Sexual Harassment Guidelines: The employer is
liable for unlawful sex discrimination if:
– An employment opportunity is granted because of a
candidate’s submission to an employer’s request for
sexual favors.
– An employment opportunity is
withheld because of the candidate’s
refusal to grant such favors.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
Pregnancy Discrimination Guidelines:
• A female applicant who is temporarily unable to
perform some job function due to her pregnancyrelated condition must be treated in the same manner
as any other applicant with a temporary disability.
• The preferences of coworkers, clients, or customers
would not serve as a legitimate, nondiscriminatory
reason for rejecting such a candidate.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
• Age Discrimination Guidelines
– Prohibits disparate treatment directed towards
applicants aged 40 and above.
– If charged with age-based disparate treatment, a firm
must demonstrate that:
• The hiring decision was not based on age, but on some
“reasonable factor other than age,” such as lack of skill.
• Age is a BFOQ (bona fide occupational qualification) for the
position.
• It is a business necessity.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
Religious Discrimination Guidelines:
• Requires employers to accommodate a reasonable
request for religious accommodation, as long as the
accommodation does not pose an undue hardship on
their business operations.
• When judging a claim of undue hardship, the courts
apply a standard called the “de minimis principle.”
• The principle states that to be declared an undue
hardship, the cost of accommodation must be more
than minimal.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Guidelines on Employment Discrimination
Disability Discrimination Guidelines
• The act defines ‘‘disability’’ as a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more of an
individual’s major life activities.
• A summary of the ADA guidelines give a detailed
account of what an organization may (or must) do and
what it may not do when it considers employing a
disabled applicant.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Constitutional constraints on selection – Fourth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
• Pertains to an individual’s privacy rights.
• Is the basis for workplace-related lawsuits
dealing with the use of certain physiological
screening devices.
• Imposes constraints on the type of information
that employers may lawfully collect about an
applicant.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Constitutional constraints on selection – Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
• Provides citizens with equal protection under
the law.
• Fifth Amendment applies to federal
employees, while the Fourteenth Amendment
applies to state employees.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Tort Law Constraints on Selection
• Refers to civil laws designed to discourage individuals
from subjecting others to unreasonable risks and to
compensate those who have been injured by
unreasonably risky behavior.
• Two areas that bear the most influence on employee
selection are negligent hiring and defamation.
• Defamation
– The unprivileged publication of a false oral or written statement
that harms the reputation of another person.
– Claims often arise when giving reference information.
Legal Constraints on Employee Selection
Tort Law Constraints on Selection
Negligent hiring:
• Refers to situations in which employers hire an applicant who is
somehow unfit for the job, and because of this unfitness,
commits an act that causes harm to another.
• An individual would be considered unfit in a negligent hiring case
if he or she:
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Lacked the necessary training and experience.
Had a physical or mental infirmity.
Was frequently intoxicated.
Experienced constant forgetfulness.
Liked to engage in horseplay or was reckless or malicious.
Selection Methods
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Application blanks
Biodata inventories
Background investigations
Reference checks
Employment interviews
Employment tests
Assessment centers
Screening for dysfunctional behavior
Selection Methods
Application Blanks
Purpose:
• To determine whether candidates meet the
minimum qualifications for the job.
• Help employers judge the presence (or
absence) of certain job-related attributes.
• Used to “red flag” any potential problem areas
concerning the applicant.
Selection Methods
Examples of Potentially Unlawful Questions
Selection Methods
Biodata Inventory
• Responses are objectively evaluated.
• The two types of biodata inventories are
weighted application blanks and biographical
information blanks.
• Weighted application blank: A biodata inventory
containing the same questions as an application
blank.
• Biographical information blank: A biodata inventory
consisting of a set of questions designed to cover a
broad array of background information.
Selection Methods
Biodata Inventory
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Used as a prescreening device to predict tenure.
Excellent predictors of job success.
Few companies use this method.
Have some legal concerns that may be justified.
Selection Methods
Background Investigations
• Serve two purposes – Screen applicants for:
• Positions of trust in occupations such as law enforcement,
private security, and nuclear power.
• “Special duty of care” positions in order to satisfy requirements
imposed by negligent hiring law.
• Employers must avoid violating the legal rights of
applicants; the primary law being Fair Credit Reporting
Act.
• This law is designed to protect applicants’ rights in the event of a
background investigation conducted by an investigative agency.
Selection Methods
Reference Checks
• Involve collecting information from applicants’ previous
employers.
• Provide another potentially useful means of assessment.
• Serve two important purposes:
– Verify information provided by applicants to ensure that they
have not fabricated their qualifications or work history.
– Provide additional information about applicants, which may be
predictive of job performance.
Selection Methods
Employment Interviews
• Provide an opportunity for applicants to describe their
previous work experience, educational history, career
interests, and likes and dislikes among others.
• Four types of valuable information sought during an
interview:
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Technical knowledge
Self-evaluative information
Situational information
Behavior description information
• Raise the same legal concerns as
application blanks.
Selection Methods
Employment Tests – Mental Ability Tests
• Designed to measure intelligence or aptitude.
• Used primarily for assessing entry-level applicants for
jobs that do not require specific job-related skills.
• Determine whether applicants have the capacity to learn
job skills successfully.
• Often have a disparate impact on certain protected
groups; some employers are thus reluctant to use mental
ability tests.
Selection Methods
Employment Tests – Personality Tests
• Provide a more objective
way to gauge personality.
• The validity of a personality
test is situation specific; a
well-designed test can be a
valid predictor of job
performance for some jobs,
but not for others.
• There are few legal problem
associated with their use.
Selection Methods
The “Big Five” Personality Types
Selection Methods
Employment Tests – Work Sample Tests
• Require applicants to perform some of the actual (or
simulated) duties of the vacant position.
• Used to assess manual skills, clerical skills, and
managerial skills.
• The tests are quite valid, if properly constructed and
implemented, as they provide direct measures of job
performance.
• Are quite expensive.
• Could have possible safety problems.
Selection Methods
Assessment Centers
• A selection technique that consists of work samples and other
assessment techniques.
• Is primarily used to select managers.
• Work sample tests are often administered as part of an assessment
center.
• The most commonly used work sample tests are:
– Leaderless group discussion
– Management games
– In-basket
• Have been found to be quite valid when appropriately developed
and used.
Selection Methods
Screening for Dysfunctional Behavior
• Polygraph tests: Designed to ascertain truthfulness of
the information given by the examinee.
– The Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) of 1988 bans
most private-sector employers from using polygraph tests in the
selection of candidates.
• Paper-and-pencil honesty tests: Written tests that
employers use to estimate an applicant’s propensity to
steal from an employer.
– Paper-and-pencil honesty tests may either be overt or
personality-based measures.
Employee Selection and the Manager’s Job
• Determining needed competencies
• Assessing job candidates
• Providing input into selection
decisions
• Making job offers
Employee Selection and the Human Resource
Department
• HR professionals play
two primary roles:
– Providing technical
support.
– Helping managers
conform to legal and
technical standards
throughout the selection
process.