Transcript Foundations of Organizational Behavior

Selection
Why Use Selection Tests?
Choosing Selection Methods
Multiple factors need to be considered:
– Specificity of skills required
– Size of the risk of a bad hire
– Applicant reactions
– Cost
– Administration time
– Reliability and Validity of the Test
Reliability
• Consistency of the measure
If the same person takes the test again will he/she earn
the same score?
• Factors that influence test results
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Test takers physical or mental state
Environmental factors
Test forms
Multiple raters
Reliability of Measures
Visual acuity
Hearing
Dexterity
Mathematical ability
Verbal ability
Intelligence
Clerical skills
Mechanical aptitudes
Sociability
Cooperativeness
Tolerance
Emotional stability
High
Low
Validity
• Accuracy of the measure
Are you measuring what you intend to measure?
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Does the test measure a characteristic related to job
performance?
• Methods to test validity
– Criterion – test predicts job performance
– Content – test representative of the job
Most Common Selection Methods
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Application
Reference checks
Structured interview
Education level
Training and experience
Resumes
Skills testing
Personality tests
Simulations
Biodata
Assessment centers
Methods and Applicant Flow
Applicants
Candidates
Offers
Hires
Initial
Substantive
Contingent
Initial Selection
• Resumes
• Application Forms
• Reference Checks
Resumes and Applications
• Resumes: Applicant controls the information
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Many examples of fraud or omission
Up to 50% contain some inaccuracy
Jobs and education should be verified
One question honesty test
• Applications: Only ask info related to job KSA’s
– Should be job specific
– Instructions and Disclaimers
– Validity can be improved through “Weighted Applications”
• Make sure requirements for education and experience
are job-related.
Substantive Methods
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Biodata
Ability Tests
Proficiency Tests
Personality Tests
Integrity Tests
Biodata Inventories
• Reliable – Valid
• Series of questions on a wide variety of subjects
– Background (e.g. hobbies, jobs, and education)
– Situational questions
– Personality and Values
• Compare to a profile generated from successful employees or
database for occupations.
D2 = Σ (P(ideal) – P(applicant)2
• Develop a set of target or “ideal” scores by sampling high performers.
• Smaller D scores more closely resemble the “ideal” candidate.
Examples of Biographical Questions
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How many jobs have you held in the last five years?
Were you ever class president?
Have you ever repaired a broken computer so that it later worked?
While growing up, did you collect coins?
When you were a teenager, how often did your father help you with
schoolwork?
• About how many fiction books have you read in the past year?
• How many hours a week do you spend studying?
• By the time you were 18 had you traveled at least 500 miles from
home by yourself?
• Why use Biodata?
• Why not use Biodata?
Ability and Proficiency Tests
• The most valid and reliable means of selection.
• Ability Tests
– Cognitive
• Verbal, mathematical, and reason skills
• Valid predictors but inferior to work sample tests
– Physical
• Reaction time, mechanical ability
• May need to be changed for gender
• Proficiency Tests
– Knowledge Tests
– Work Sample Tests
• Assembly-line simulations
• Assessment Centers / In-boxes/ Role plays
• Can be expensive to develop
Personality Inventories
• Personality is a set of very specific measurable traits
– NOT – how well you get along with someone
– NOT – an “outgoing” or interesting person
• Never use a personality test as the sole criteria
• Use only validated instruments and trained testers
– Choose a vendor and instrument carefully (1000’s available)
– Better for comparing applicants than assessing a single candidate
• Generally reliable
• Validity depends on test and use
Personality Inventories
• The “Big 5”:
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Emotional stability
Extraversion
Openness to experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness best predictor for most jobs
Emotional stability predicts for managers.
Extraversion predicts for sales.
Person x Situation Interaction
– Strong vs. Weak situations
– Call center vs. field sales
Integrity / Honesty Tests
• Reliability and Validity depends on test
• Can predict bad behavior
• Subject to manipulation
• In-direct testing
– Personality-based tests
• Overt testing
– Questions on ethical situations or attitudes towards
theft / unlawful activities.
Interviewing
Types of Selection Interviews
• Unstructured (traditional) interviews
– Better for personality / cultural fit
• Structured interviews
– More valid and reliable
– Better for KSA’s
• Stress Interview
Proper Use of the Interview
• Use in conjunction with other methods
• Recruiting vs. selection
– Candidates remember more info when recruited
– Interviewers tend to be more positive when recruiting
• Good at measuring:
– Personal relations, conscientiousness, and job
knowledge (baseline knowledge not details)
• Bad at measuring:
– Specialized skills, and many abilities that are better
measured with a test
Structured Interviewing
• Ask all candidates the same questions.
• Use a formal rating system.
• Use situational / behavioral / job-related
questions.
• Don’t be swayed by body language, how
someone speaks or how they dress -- unless it
matters.
• Practice.
Situational Questions
• Situations determined by job incumbents or experts.
– Use Critical Incidents that have actually occurred and are
examples of particularly good or poor job performance.
• Best for KSA’s related to:
– Good citizenship / conscientiousness
– Personal relations / communication
• Include behavioral dimensions for scoring.
• Questions should not require that candidate has been in
that situation and are forward looking:
What would you do....?
Situational Questions: Sales Associate
A customer walks into the store. No other sales people are around to help
and you are busy arranging merchandise. What would you do in this
situation?
1 Low – Keep on arranging the merchandise until someone tells me differently.
3 Average – Keep working but greet the customer.
5 High – Stop working, greet the customer, and offer assistance.
A customer is shopping for the “right” shirt for her 17 year old
granddaughter. She asks you to show her shirts that would be “right”
for her. You do this, but the customer does not like any of them.
What would you do in this situation?
1 Low – Tell the customer she might have better luck elsewhere.
2 Average – Explain to her why you think your choices are good choices.
3 High – Explain your choices and suggest a gift certificate as an alternative.
Behavior / Experience-Based Questions
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Behaviors determined by job incumbents or experts.
Similar to situational, with different focus.
Should have add-on questions related to behavior
Should have prepared rating scales related to performance
• Best for KSA’s related to:
– Job specific skills and knowledge
– Team work / quality environments
• Questions require that candidate have that experience (but not
necessarily on the job) and are backward looking:
What did you do....?
Behavior / Experience-Based Questions
It is often necessary to work together as a group to
accomplish a task. Can you tell me about the most
recent experience you had working as part of a group?
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What was the task?
How many people in the group?
What difficulties arose working with the group?
What role did you play in resolving those differences?
How successful was the group in completing its task?
Job-Related Questions
• Use information from job task analysis
– Identify and rate critical job tasks
– Identify and rate critical KSA’s
– Choose selection measures appropriate for KSA’s
• Best for job-related knowledge and experience
– Don’t ask “have you done xyz.....”
– Instead ask “how would you do xyz....”
– Should be done in non-threatening way
Job-Related Questions: Maintenance Supervisor
KSA: Verbal ability to give work instructions to laborers
regarding construction and repair.
1. What instructions would you give a work crew who was about
to string a 220-volt electric cable in a building under
construction?
2. Two laborers with limited experience ask about the procedures
for repairing a brick wall. What instructions do you give them
regarding equipment and how they should operate it?
Apply a scoring format.
Conducting a Good Interview
• Be prepared.
– Look over the resume.
– Know what questions you want to ask in advance.
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Keep appropriate notes.
Remember - the interview is about recruiting.
Put the candidate at ease – establish rapport.
Ask open questions so candidates can expand on their
own capabilities.
• Use silence judiciously.
Common Interviewer Mistakes
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Talking excessively
Asking inconsistent questions
Asking questions unrelated to the job
Unable to put interviewee at ease
Overconfidence in ability to judge candidates
Stereotyping
Rating problems (range restriction)
Halo / contrast / first impression error
Similar-to-me error