Mgmt 383
Chapter 8
Selecting Human Resources
Spring 2009
Selection Responsibilities
• HR Staff
• Initial reception.
• Conducts screening
interview.
• Administers preemployment tests.
• Obtains reference
information.
• Refers top candidates to
upper level management.
• Conducts post-offer
physical exams.
• Evaluates the selection
process
• Operating Managers
• Submit HR requisitions.
• Participate in the selection
process (search
committees).
• Interview finalists.
• Make final selection.
• Provide follow up
information on suitability
of new hires.
Placement v. Selection
• Placement – Fitting the person to the right
job.
• Selection - The process of choosing
individuals who have the relevant
qualifications to fill jobs in the organization.
Types of “Fit”
• Person/Job Fit – matching the individual’s
KSA with the characteristics of the job.
• A staunch individualist being assigned to a SDWT is
not a good fit.
• Interpersonal abilities should the interpersonal
demands of the job.
• Person/Organization Fit – congruence
between individuals and organizational factors
(cultural compatibility)
Criterion and Predictors
• Selection Criterion - a characteristic that a
person must possess in order to do a job
successfully (reasoning ability, intelligence,
motor skills, etc.). Should be derived from job
analysis.
• Predictors – measurable indicators of the
selection criterion.
• Validity – the extent to which a predictor actually
what it is supposed to predict (usually job
performance)
• Reliability – the extent to which the predictor is
consistent in its results.
Steps in Conducting
Concurrent Validation
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Conduct job analysis.
Identify critical TDR.
Determine relevant KSAs.
Select criteria for job success (job performance).
Choose experimental predictors (employment test).
Administer predictors (employment test) to current
employees.
• Score the test
• Compare the results (Correlation between predictor
and criterion).
Predictive Validation
• The “test” is given to applicants who hired.
• At the conclusion of a period of time
(probationary period or evaluation cycle)
performance is evaluated.
• Test scores and work performance are then
correlated.
• Moderate to strong correlations would
validate the “test.”
Standards for Selection
Criteria
• Clearly identified KSA.
• Must be based on accurate job-related
predictors of future job performance.
• Validation is absolutely critical.
Selection Process
Applicant Job Interest
Pre-Employment Screening
Application Forms
Selection
Employment
Interviews
testing
Background Investigations
Conditional Offer*
Medical Exam/Drug Test
Placement
*May have additional interviews
Realistic Job Preview
• Realistic Job Preview (RJP) - Provides
the applicant with a realistic set of job
expectations.
• Some candidates may deselect themselves.
• Reduces future dissatisfaction.
Pre-Employment Screening
• Determines whether applicants have the
minimum qualifications.
• Electronic Screening – computers are used to
screen electronically submitted applications.
• Application Forms – records applicants desire for
employment, applicant profile, source for flow
analysis, basis for evaluating effectiveness of
selection process.
Applicant Forms
• Application forms serve four basic purposes:
• Provides a record of the applicant’s desire to
obtain a given position.
• Provides interviewers with a profile of the
candidate to be used during the interview.
• Becomes the basic employee record for those
candidates who are hired.
• Can provide data for research into the
effectiveness of the selection process.
Applicant Forms
• Application forms should contain disclaimers
and notices:
• Employer retains EAW rights.
• Permission to contact references.
• Notifies candidate of required drug tests, physical
exams, abilities tests, background checks, credit
checks, etc.
• Application time limits (usually applications are
goof for only 6 months).
• Consequences of falsifying information.
Applicant Forms
• Limit application information to job-related data.
• Applications an other hiring-related forms are
usually maintain on file for three years.
• EEOC discourages the following:
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Marital status
Height/weight requirements
Number and ages of children
Information about spouse
Date of HS graduation
Who to contact in an emergency
Applicant Forms
• Form I-9 (within 3 business days of hiring).*
• Verification of applicant’s identity.
• Verification of applicant’s authorization to work in U.S.
• Weighted Application Blanks (WAB) - Weights or
numeric values are assigned to responses on the
application.
*8 C.F.R. § 274a.2(b)(ii). Except as provided in paragraph (b)(1)(viii) of this section, an
employer, his or her agent, or anyone acting directly or indirectly in the interest thereof,
must within three business days of the hire:
Resumes as Applications
• Resumes:
• Not really informative.
• Can be falsified or exaggerated.
• Individuals may inadvertently provide
potentially “unlawful” information.
Applicant Flow Information
• Employer Information Report (EEO-1)
• Employers who hold federal contracts and
subcontracts.
• Employers who receive federal grant and aid
money.
• Employers in the private sector with > 100
employees.
• Used in applicant flow analysis by EEOC
and utilization analysis by OFCCP.
• Data is collected through an applicant flow
form.
Employment Testing
• For EEO purposes, the Uniform Guidelines
on Employee Selection defines as “test” as
any employment requirement.
• Weight
• Education
• Work experience
• Ability tests
• Aptitude tests
• Work sample tests
Employment Testing
• Ability Tests - assess thinking, memory
reasoning, mathematical, and verbal abilities
the applicant currently possesses (skills that
have already been learned).
• Cognitive Ability Tests (language, math and
reasoning skills).
• Physical Ability Tests (strength, endurance, etc.).
• Psychomotor Tests (dexterity).
• Work Sample Tests (actual work tasks).
• Situational Judgmental Tests.
Personality Testing
• Personality Tests
• “Big Five” Personality Traits
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Conscientiousness (Achievement oriented)*
Agreeableness (Cooperative)
Openness to Experience (Flexibility)
Extrovertism (Sociability) [useful in sales positions]
Emotional Stability
*Related to job success across most organizations
• Meyers-Briggs - identifies and describes 16 distinctive
personality types that result from the interactions among
the preferences selected on a questionnaire.
• Fakeability of personality tests reduces their
validity.
Personality Testing
• Garry Kranz (January 8, 2008). Academics: Psych Tests are
Poor Indicators for Hiring. Workforce Management.
• Industrial psychologists say the tests remain an incomplete
means of finding top candidates.
• Companies may want to rethink their use of personality
assessments when recruiting and hiring, according to a group of
five industrial psychologists. The five academics, whose
conclusions were published recently in the journal Personnel
Psychology, say psychological tests often show very little
correlation to a person’s actual job performance.
• The tests themselves remain plagued by several limitations, most
notably that there are no reliable means of ferreting out “faked”
answers or other exaggerations by job applicants. One suggested
improvement: permitting applicants to expand on their answers
by providing clarifying details, as opposed to the one-word
multiple-choice answers typically offered.
Honesty/Integrity Testing
• Polygraph Tests – most employers are prohibited
the use of polygraph testing under Employee
Polygraph Protection Act of 1988.
• State & federal governments are exempted.
• Security, banks, & pharmaceutical companies are
exempted.
• Honesty/Integrity Tests - low validity and may
cause disparate impact.
• Easily faked.
The Validity of Specific Categories
of Employment Tests
Method
Correlation Coefficient
Ability Tests
Skill Tests
Reference Checks
Class Rank/GPA
Experience
Interviews
Education*
*Includes HS/GED requirements.
.53
.44
.26
.21
.18
.14
.10
Selection Interviews
• Structured Interviews - set of
“structured questions given to all
applicants.
• Unstructured Interviews - nondirective
questions are given.
Selection Interviews
• Biographical Interview – candidate
describes, in chronological sequence, his or
her past experiences.
• Behavioral Description Interviews –
candidate explains how he or she reacted to,
or solved, a particular problem (actual) in the
past.
• How have handled under performing employees?
• How have you dealt with FMLA abuses?
Selection Interviews
• Competency Interviews – a variant of
behavioral interviews in which questions are
design to develop a profile based upon a list
of competencies for a particular job (abilities
to work in ambiguous job settings, e.g.).
• Situational Interview - how would you react
in the following situation (hypothetical)?
• Suppose an employee entered the workplace with
a gun. What would you do?
Less Structured Selection
Interviews
• Nondirective Interviews - begins as an
unstructured question from which more
specific one are developed.
• “What was something you really enjoyed
about your last job?
• The response will lead to a more directive
question, followed by another.
• Stress Interviews - the RJ story.
Selection Interviews
• Panel Team Interviews - several interviewers
question the applicant simultaneously.
• Team Interviews – individual is interviewed
by members of the team to which he or she will
be assigned and with whom he/she will work.
• Video Interviews – video conferencing.
Questions to Avoid
• Yes/no responses.
• Leading questions. "What do you think about employee
empowerment? Many people are opposed to it, by the way."
• Questions that rarely produce true answers. Do you value
diversity? (Who is going to say they don’t)
• Obvious questions. Are interest in working for XYZ?
• Questions that are not job-related. Are you for Obama?
What do you think about Hillary Clinton?
• Questions that are potentially discriminatory. How old are
your kids? Is your wife Hispanic?
• My personal favorite: What college did you graduate from?
(Shows that they haven’t looked at your resume)
Shortcomings of Interviews
• Prone to snap judgements
• Halo effect.
• Negative comments/characteristics are
weighted more heavy than positive ones.
• Personal biases and stereotyping.
(Graduates of State Kollage at Stark Vegas,
e.g.)
• Cultural noise - trying to please the
interview rather than expressing your true
feelings.
Background Investigations
• Typical information verified:
• Academic references
• Prior work experience
• Financial references
• Law enforcement records
• Personal references (among the weakest in
terms of validity)
• Between 30 percent to 50 percent of job
applicants either lie or exaggerate on
applications.
Background Investigations
• Potential Legal Problems:
• Unfavorable recommendations may result in
defamation suits (The truth is proof against
defamation).
• References of a positive nature for an unfit
former employee may result in negligence suits.
• Negligent hiring suits can occur if you fail to
check references.
• Negligent retention occurs when you continue
to employ an unfit person who may pose a
threat to the safety of others.
Medical Examinations
• You may NOT ask an applicant about
current or past medical history until after a
conditional job offer has been made.
• The ADA has essentially made preemployment medical examinations
unlawful.
Prohibited Medical Questions
• Sample of medical questions that the
EEOC says you cannot ask:
• Do you have any physical limitations?
• Do you have any disabilities?
• Have you ever filed for or collected worker’s
compensation?
• Have you ever been treated for the following
medical conditions?
Prohibited Medical Questions
• Sample of medical questions that the
EEOC says you cannot ask:
• How many times have you been absent from
work due to illness during the previous two
years?
• Why are you using crutches? Did you have an
accident?
• Have you ever consulted a psychologist or
psychiatrist?
Permitted Medical Questions
• Sample of medical questions that the EEOC
says you can ask:
• Can you perform the essential functions of the job
with or without accommodation? Describe the
accommodations you may require.
• Describe your attendance at your last job
• What were your past duties? Which were most
challenging?
Other Employment “Tests”
• Drug Testing
• May be required under the Drug-Free Workplace
Act.
• Should be job-related.
• Employees who receive substance abuse
rehabilitation are covered under the ADA.
• Genetic Testing
• Is likely to violate the ADA.
Legal Concerns
• Disparate Impact (Usually
determined by Applicant Flow
Analysis)
• Testers
• Affect on image and corporate
legitimacy