Transcript Human Resource Management 12e

6
Employee Testing
and Selection
Chapter 6-1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain what is meant by reliability and validity.
2. Explain how you would go about validating a test.
3. Cite and illustrate our testing guidelines.
4. Give examples of some of the ethical and legal
considerations in testing.
5. List eight tests you could use for employee selection
and how you would use them.
6. Give two examples of work sample/simulation tests.
7. Give examples of some of the ethical and legal
considerations in testing.
6–2
Why Careful Selection is Important
The Importance of Selecting
the Right Employees
Organizational
performance
Costs of recruiting
and hiring
Legal obligations
and liability
6–3
Basic Testing Concepts
• Reliability
 Describes the consistency of scores obtained by the same
person when retested with the identical or alternate forms of the
same test.
 Are test results stable over time?
• Validity
 Indicates whether a test is measuring what it is supposed to be
measuring.
 Does the test actually measure what it is intended to measure?
6–4
FIGURE 6–1
A Slide from the Rorschach Test
6–5
Types of Validity
Test
Validity
Criterion
Validity
Content
Validity
Construct
Validity
6–6
Types of Validity
Criterion Validity shows that scores on the test
(predictors) are related to job performance.
Demonstrating criterion validity means
demonstrating:
• Who do well on the test also do well on the job
• Who do poorly on the test do poorly on the job
6–7
Types of Validity
Content Validity shows that the test contains a fair
sample of the tasks and skills actually needed for the
job in question.
Employers demonstrate the content validity of a test
by showing that the test constitutes a fair sample of the
content of the job.
The basic procedure here is to identify job tasks that
are critical to performance, and then randomly select a
sample of those tasks to be tested.
6–8
Types of Validity
ConstructValidity:
Constructs represent an underlying human trait or
characteristic such as honesty.
Construct validity demonstrates that a selection
procedure measures a construct and that the construct
is important for successful job performance.
6–9
Evidence-Based HR: How to Validate a Test
Steps in Test Validation
1
Analyze the Job: predictors and criteria
2
Choose the Tests: test battery or single test
3
4
5
Administer the Test: concurrent or predictive
validation
Relate Your Test Scores and Criteria: scores
versus actual performance
Cross-Validate and Revalidate: repeat Steps
3 and 4 with a different sample
6–10
FIGURE 6–3
Expectancy Chart
Note: This expectancy chart shows the
relation between scores made on the
Minnesota Paper Form Board and rated
success of junior draftspersons.
Example: Those who score between 37
and 44 have a 55% chance of being
rated above average and those scoring
between 57 and 64 have a 97% chance.
6–11
Evidence-Based HR:
Test Validation Issues
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Who scores the test?
Bias
Utility analysis
Validity generalization
Chapter 6-12
Evidence-Based HR:
Test Validation Other Issues
• Individual rights and test security
• Privacy issues
• Using tests at work
• Computerized and online testing
Chapter 6-13
Types of Tests
• Cognitive abilities
o Intelligence tests
o Specific cognitive abilities
• Motor & physical abilities
• Measuring personality
• Interest inventories
• Achievement tests
Chapter 6-14
Types of Tests
• Tests of Cognitive Abilities
Cognitive tests include tests of general reasoning ability
(intelligence) and tests of specific mental abilities like
memory and inductive reasoning.
• Intelligence (IQ) Tests are tests of general
intellectual abilities ranging from memory, vocabulary,
and verbal fluency to numerical ability.
• Specific Cognitive Abilities (aptitude) include
inductive and deductive reasoning, verbal
comprehension, memory, and numerical ability.
Psychologists often call such tests aptitude tests, since
they purport to measure aptitude for the job in question.
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FIGURE 6–5
Type of Question Applicant Might Expect
on a Test of Mechanical Comprehension
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Types of Tests
• Tests of Motor and Physical Abilities:
Employers may use various tests to measure such
motor abilities as finger dexterity, manual dexterity, and
reaction time.
They may also want to measure such physical abilities
as static strength (such as lifting weights), dynamic
strength (like pull-ups), body coordination (as in jumping
rope), and stamina.
Lifeguards, for example, must show they can swim a
course before they’re hired.
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FIGURE 6–6
Sample Personality Test Items
Source: Elaine Pulakos, Selection Assessment
Methods, SHRM Foundation, 2005, p. 9.
Reprinted by
permission of Society
for Human Resource
Management via Copyright
Clearance Center.
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The “Big Five”
Extraversion
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Emotional stability/
Neuroticism
Openness to
experience
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The “Big Five”
Neuroticism represents a tendency to exhibit poor
emotional adjustment and experience negative effects,
such as anxiety, insecurity, and hostility.
Extraversion represents a tendency to be sociable,
assertive, and to experience positive effects, such as
energy and zeal.
Openness to experience is the disposition to be
imaginative, nonconforming, unconventional, and
autonomous.
Agreeableness is the tendency to be trusting, compliant,
and gentle.
Conscientiousness is comprised of two related facets:
achievement and dependability.
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Interest Inventories
Interest Inventories compare one’s interests with those of
people in various occupations.
Such inventories have many uses. One example is career
planning, since a person will likely do better in jobs that
involve activities in which he or she is interested. They can
also be useful as selection tools.
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Achievement Tests
Achievement Tests – measure what a person has learned.
Most of tests you can take in school are in achievement
tests.
They measure your “job knowledge” in areas like
economics, marketing, or human resources. Achievement
tests are also popular at work.
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Work samples and
simulations
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Basic procedure
Situational judgment tests
Management assessment centers
Situational testing
Chapter 6-23
Work Samples and Simulations
Management Assessment Centers:
Provide simulations in which candidates perform realistic
management tasks, under the observation of experts
who appraise each candidate’s potential.
Simulated exercises include;
 in-basket
 leaderless group discussion
 management games
 individual presentations
 objective tests
 interviews
.
6–24
Work Samples and Simulations
Video-Based Situational Testing:
Situational tests require examinees to respond to
situations representative of the job.
Video-based situational testing typically presents the
candidate with several online or PC-based videos
scenarios, each followed by a multiple-choice question.
The scenario might depict an employee handling a
situation on the job.
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Work samples and
simulations
• Computerized
multimedia assessment
• Miniature job training
and evaluation
• Realistic job previews
• Testing techniques for
managers
Chapter 6-26
Work Samples and Simulations
Computerized multimedia candidate assessment tools :
Computerized multimedia candidate assessment tools are
systems specifically designed for each company to measure
any type of skill or ability.
Employers increasingly use computerized multimedia
candidate assessment tools.
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Work Samples and Simulations
The Miniature Job Training and Evaluation Approach:
The Miniature Job Training and Evaluation Approach
involves training candidates to perform a sample of job
tasks, and then evaluating the candidates’ performance
prior to hire.
The miniature job training approach tests applicants with
actual samples of the job, so it’s inherently content relevant
and valid. The big problem is the expense involved in the
individual instruction and training.
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Work Samples and Simulations
Realistic Job Previews:
Being explicit about work schedules, preferences and other
job standards at the point of interview can help reduce
turnover later.
Testing Techniques for Managers provides some tips
for managers in large companies to screen applicants on a
more formal basis.
6–29
Background Investigations
• Why perform checks?
• Effectiveness
• Legal dangers
o Defamation
o Privacy
• How to check
Chapter 6-30
Background Investigations and
Other Selection Methods
• Investigations and Checks
 Reference checks
 Background employment checks
 Criminal records
 Driving records
 Credit checks
• Why?
 To verify factual information provided by applicants
 To uncover damaging information
6–31
Background Investigations
• Why perform checks?
• Effectiveness
• Legal dangers
o Defamation
o Privacy
• How to check
Chapter 6-32
Making Background Checks More Useful
1. Include on the application form a statement for
applicants to sign explicitly authorizing a background
check.
2. Use telephone references if possible.
3. Be persistent in obtaining information.
4. Compare the submitted résumé to the application.
5. Ask open-ended questions to elicit more information
from references.
6. Use references provided by the candidate as a source
for other references.
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FIGURE 6–9
Reference
Checking
Form
Source: Society for Human Resource
Management, © 2004. Reproduced with
permission of Society for Human Resource
Management in the Format Textbook via
Copyright Clearance Center.
6–34
Background Investigations
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Applicants’ social postings
Pre-employment information services
The polygraph and honesty testing
Graphology (handwriting analysis)
Chapter 6-35
The Polygraph and Honesty Testing
A polygraph (lie detector) is a device that measures
physiological changes like increased perspiration.
Paper-and-Pencil Tests – Paper-and-pencil honesty
tests are psychological tests designed to predict job
applicants’ proneness to dishonesty and other forms of
counter-productive behavior.
6–36
Honesty Testing Programs:
What Employers Can Do
• Antitheft Screening Procedure:
 Ask blunt questions.
 Listen, rather than talk.
 Do a credit check.
 Check all employment and personal references.
 Use paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests.
 Test for drugs.
 Establish a search-and-seizure policy and conduct searches.
6–37
FIGURE 6–10 Handwriting Exhibit Used by Graphologist
Source: Kathryn Sackhein, Handwriting Analysis and the Employee
Selection Process (New York: Quorum Books, 1990), p. 45.
Reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
6–38
FIGURE 6–10 “The Uptight Personality”
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Background Investigations
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“Human lie detectors”
Physical exams
Substance abuse
Improving productivity through HRIS
Chapter 6-40
Physical Examinations
• Reasons for preemployment medical examinations:
 To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of
the position.
 To discover any medical limitations to be taken into account in
placing the applicant.
 To establish a record and baseline of the applicant’s health for
future insurance or compensation claims.
 To reduce absenteeism and accidents.
 To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to the
applicant.
6–41
Substance Abuse Screening
• Types of Screening
 Before formal hiring
 After a work accident
 Presence of obvious behavioral symptoms
 Random or periodic basis
 Transfer or promotion to new position
• Types of Tests
 Urinalysis
 Hair follicle testing
6–42
KEY TERMS
reliability
test validity
criterion validity
content validity
expectancy chart
interest inventory
work samples
work sampling technique
management assessment center
situational test
video-based simulation
miniature job training and evaluation
6–43