1. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage
Chapter 6
Selection and Placement
Chapter 6, Selection and Placement, focuses on ways to minimize errors in employee selection and placement to improve a company’s competitive position, on five standards that should be met by any selection method. It then evaluates several common selection methods according to those standards.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Learning Objectives
Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel selection methods, including reliability, validity and generalizability.
Discuss how the particular characteristics of a job, organization, or applicant affect the utility of any test.
Describe the government’s role in personnel selection decisions, particularly in the areas of constitutional law, federal laws, executive orders and judicial precedent.
List the common methods used in selecting human resources.
Describe the degree to which each of the common methods used in selecting human resources meets the demands of reliability, validity, generalizability, utility and legality.
Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel selection methods, including reliability, validity and generalizability.
Discuss how the particular characteristics of a job, organization, or applicant affect the utility of any test.
Describe the government’s role in personnel selection decisions, particularly in the areas of constitutional law, federal laws, executive orders and judicial precedent.
List the common methods used in selecting human resources.
Describe the degree to which each of the common methods used in selecting human resources meets the demands of reliability, validity, generalizability, utility and legality.
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3. Selection Method Standards for Evaluation Purposes
Reliability
Validity
Generalizability
Utility
Legality
Chapter 6will familiarize you with ways to minimize errors in employee selection and placement, and doing so improve the organization's competitive position.Personnel selection is the process by which companies decide who will or will not be allowed into organizations. Several generic standards should be met in any selection process. We focus on five: (1) reliability, (2) validity, (3) generalizability, (4) utility,
and (5) legality.
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4. Reliability
Reliability is the degree to which a measure of physical or cognitive abilities, or traits, is free from random error.
The correlation coefficient is a measure of the degree to which two sets of numbers are related.
A perfect positive relationship equals +1.0
A perfect negative relationship equals - 1.0
Test-retest reliability- knowing how scores on the measure at one time relate to scores on the same measure at another time.
Reliability is the degree to which a measure is free from random error. If a measure of some supposedly stable characteristic such as intelligence is reliable, then the score a person
receives based on that measure will be consistent over time and in different contexts.
The correlation coefficient is a measure of the degree to which two sets of numbers are related. The correlation coefficient expresses the strength of the relationship in numerical form.
True Scores and the Reliability of Measurements—The concept of reliability is demonstrated by measuring height at different times. Even though height is supposedly a stable characteristic, slightly different results are generated every time height is measured.
Standards for Reliability—Clearly, the more reliable the measure, the more likely decisions can be made on score differences
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5. Validity
Validity is the extent to which a performance measure assesses all the relevant—and only the relevant—aspects of job performance.
Criterion-related validation is a method of establishing the validity of a personnel selection method by showing a substantial correlation between test scores and job-performance scores. The types include:
Predictive validation
Concurrent validation
Validity is the extent to which a performance measure assesses all the relevant –and only the relevant- aspects of job performance. Criterion‑related validation is a method of establishing the validity of a personal selection method by showing a substantial correlation between test scores and job-performance scores. There are two types of criterion‑related validity: Predictive validation is a criterion-related validity study that seeks to establish an empirical relationship between applicants’ test scores and their eventual performance on the job. And, Concurrent validation is a criterion-related validity study in which a test is administered to all the people currently in a job.
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6. Criterion-Related Validity
Predictive
Concurrent
Measure
Performance
Of Those Hired
Test
Existing
Employees
Measure
their
Performance
Test
Applicants
Predictive validation is superior to concurrent validation for three reasons a) job applicants are typically motivated to perform well on the tests than are current employees, b) current employees have learned many things on the job that applicants have not yet learned, c) current employees tend to be homogeneous.
TIME
TIME
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7. Content Validation
Content validation is a test-validation strategy performed by demonstrating that the items, questions, or problems posed by a test are a representative sample of the kinds of situations or problems that occur on the job.
Best for small samples
Achieved primarily through expert judgment
Content validation is a test-validation strategy performed by demonstrating that the items, questions, or problems posed by a test are a representative sample of the kinds of situations or problems that occur on the job. A test that is content valid exposes the job applicant to situations that are likely to occur on the job, and then tests whether the applicant currently has sufficient knowledge, skill, or ability to handle
such situations.
There are two limitations to content validation a) the person who is hired must have the knowledge, skills, or abilities at the time he or she is hired and b) subjective judgment plays such a large role in content validation.
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8. Generalizability
Generalizability is the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts.
3 Contexts include:
different situations (jobs or organizations)
different samples of people
different time periods
Generalizability is the degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts.
It was once believed that validity coefficients were situationally specific—that is, the level of correlation between test and performance would vary as one went from one organization to another.
It was also believed that tests showed differential subgroup validity, which meant that the validity coefficients for any test-job performance pair was different for people of different races or genders.
Validity generalization stands as an alternative for validating selection methods for companies that cannot employ criterion-related or content validation.
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9. Utility
Utility is the degree to which information provided by selection methods enhances the effectiveness of selecting personnel.
-Utility is impacted by reliability, validity and generalizability.
Utility is the degree to which the information provided by selection methods enhances the effectiveness of selecting personnel in organizations.
Utility is impacted by reliability, validity, and generalizability. Other factors will influence utility even when the latter is constant. For example, the selection ratio, which is the percentage of people tested versus the total number of applicants, will impact utility as well as the number of people selected, race of employee turnover, and level of perfor­mance among chose who leave.
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10. Legality
All selection methods must conform to existing laws and legal precedents.
Three acts have formed the basis for a majority of the suits filed by job applicants:
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1991
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991
Legality—All selection methods must conform to existing laws and legal precedents.
Three primary federal laws form the basis for a majority of the suits filed by job applicants.
First, the Civil Rights Act of, an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color,
sex, religion, and national origin with respect to hiring as well as compensation and working conditions.
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11. Civil Rights Act of 1991
Protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion and national origin.
Differs from the 1964 act in three areas:
Establishes employers' explicit obligation
to establish neutral-appearing selection method.
Allows a jury to decide punitive damages.
Explicitly prohibits the granting preferential treatment to minority groups.
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 protects individuals from discrimination with respect to hiring as well as compensation and working conditions. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is an extension of the Civil Rights Act 1964.
The 1991 act differs from the 1964 act in three different areas:
It establishes employers' explicit obligation to establish neutral-appearing selection method.
Allows a jury to decide punitive damages.
It explicitly prohibits the granting of preferential treatment to minority groups.
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12. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Covers over age 40 individuals.
No protection for younger workers.
Outlaws almost all “mandatory retirement” programs.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967Covers over age 40individuals.
No protection for younger workers.
Outlaws almost all “mandatory retirement” programs.(company policies that dictate that everyone who reaches a set age must retire).
Litigation brought forward under this act surged in recent years. Two trends have combined to generate this increase: the general aging of the workforce and recent
attempts by organizations to downsize. Together these trends have displaced many older workers, who have brought age discrimination suits against their former employers.
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13. Americans with Disabilities Act
Protects individuals with physical or mental disabilities (or with a history of the same).
Reasonable accommodations are required by the organization to allow the disabled to perform essential functions of the job.
An employer need not make accommodations that cause undue hardship.
Restrictions on pre-employment inquiries.
Examples of reasonable accommodations include restructuring jobs, modifying work schedules, making facilities accessible, providing readers, or modifying equipment. An employer need not make accommodations that cause undue hardship such as undue cost or danger to the safety of other employees.The ADA does not require an organization to hire someone whose disability prevents him or her from performing either critical or routine aspects of the job nor does it require accommodations that would cause “undue hardship.”
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14. Executive Orders
Executive Order parallels the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and goes beyond by:
requiring affirmative action to hire qualified
protected group applicants and
allowing the government to suspend all business
with a contractor during an investigation.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance and Procedures (OFCCP) issues guidelines and helps companies comply.
Executive Order parallels the Civil Rights Act of 1964 but goes beyond it by:
requiring affirmative action to hire qualified protected group applicants, andallowing the government to suspend all business with a contractor while an investigation is going on.
Not only do the executive orders prohibit discrimination, they actually mandate that employers take affirmative action to hire qualified minority
Applicants.The executive branch of the government also regulates hiring decisions through the use of executive orders.
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15. Types of Selection Methods
Interviews
Honesty Tests
and Drug Tests
References and
Biographical Data
Work Samples HR
JOBS
Physical Ability
Tests
Types of selection methods used to assess a person for employment include interviews, honesty tests and drug tests, work samples, personality inventories, cognitive ability tests, physical ability tests, and references and biographical data.
Personality
Inventories
Cognitive Ability Tests
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16. Interviews
Selection interviews-a dialogue initiated by one or more persons to gather information and evaluate the an applicant’s qualifications for employment.
To increase an interview’s utility:
Interviews should be structured, standardized, and focused on goals oriented to skills and observable behaviors.
Interviewers should be able to quantitatively rate each interview.
Interviewers should have a structured note-taking system that will aid recall to satisfying ratings.
Interviews are the most widely used selection method, although research suggests it can be unreliable, low in validity, and biased against a number of groups.
Selection interviews are defined as a dialogue initiated by one or more persons to gather information and evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for employment.
The utility of an interview can be increased by the following suggestions:
Interviews should be structured, standardized, and focused on goals oriented to skills and observable behaviors.
Interviewers should plan to come out of each interview with a quantitative ratingon a small number of dimensions that are observable
(like interpersonal style or ability to express oneself) and avoid ratings of abilities that may be better measured by tests (like intelligence).
Interviewers should also have a structured note-taking system that will aid recall when it comes to satisfying the ratings.
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17. Situational Interview
A situational interview confronts applicants on specific issues, questions
or problems likely to arise on the job.
Situational interviews consist of:
experience-based questions
future-oriented questions.
A situational interviewis an interview procedure where applicants are confronted with specific issues, questions, or problems that are likely to arise on the job.
They consist of: Experience-based questions and future-oriented questions. Some items are “experience-based” and require the applicant to reveal an actual experience he or she had in the past when confronting the situation. Other items are s“future-oriented” and ask what the person is likely to do when confronting a certain hypothetical situation in the future. Research
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18. Other Selection Methods
An individual should manage their digital identity the same way they manage their résumé.
References, biographical data, and applications gather background information on candidates.
Physical ability tests are relevant for predicting job performance, occupational injuries and disabilities.
Physical ability tests include:
muscular tension, power, and endurance
cardiovascular endurance
flexibility
balance
coordination
An individual should manage their digital identity the same way they manage their résumé.
Other selection methods such as references, biographical data, and applications that gather background information on candidatesare, at best, weak predictors of future job success.
Typically, references are very positive since only those who the applicants know will give a good reference are asked to do so. Many suits have been filed against past employers’ revealing too much information beyond job title and years of service. The biggest concern with the use of biographical data is that applicants who supply the information may be motivated to misrepresent themselves.
Physical ability tests are relevant for predicting job performance, occupational injuries and disabilities (if the physical ability is essential to performing the job and if it is
mentioned prominently enough in the job description.)
Criterion‑related validities tend to be quite strong, although adverse impact on the disabled and women is highly possible.For example, roughly two-thirds of all males score higher than the highest-scoring
female on muscular tension tests.
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19. Other Selection Methods
A cognitive ability test differentiates individuals based on their mental rather than physical capacities.
Commonly assessed abilities:
verbal comprehension
quantitative ability
reasoning ability
Personality inventories categorize individuals
by their personality characteristics.
Work samples simulate a job in miniaturized form.
One of the major drawbacks to these tests is that they typically have adverse impacts on some minority groups. Indeed, the size of the differences is so large that some have advocated abandoning these types of tests for making decisions regarding who will be accepted for certain schools or jobs.
Verbal comprehension refers to a person’s capacity to understand and use written and spoken language.
Quantitative ability concerns the speed and accuracy at which one can solve arithmetic problems.
Reasoning ability refers to a person’s capacity to invent solutions to many diverse problems.
Common dimensions assessed in a personality inventory are extroversion, adjustment, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and inquisitiveness.
Work samples are job‑specific and tend to be high in criterion‑related and content validity and low in adverse impact.
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20. Cognitive Ability Tests
3 Dimensions Cognitive Ability Tests:
Verbal Comprehension
Quantitative Ability
Reasoning Ability
Verbal Comprehension -a person’s capacity to understand and use written and spoken language.
Quantitative Ability - the speed and accuracy with which one can solve arithmetic problems.
Reasoning Ability - a person’s capacity to invent solutions to diverse problems.
3 Dimensions Cognitive Ability Tests:
Verbal Comprehension
Quantitative Ability
Reasoning Ability
Verbal Comprehension -a person’s capacity to understand and use written and spoken language.
Quantitative Ability - the speed and accuracy with which one can solve arithmetic problems.
Reasoning Ability - a person’s capacity to invent solutions to diverse problems.
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21. Personality Inventories
Inquisitiveness
Extroversion
Adjustment
there are five major dimensions of personality, known as “the Big
Five”: (1) extroversion, (2) adjustment, (3) agreeableness, (4) conscientiousness,
and (5) inquisitiveness. Each of these have a corresponding list of
adjectives that fit each dimension:
1. Extroversion Sociable, gregarious, assertive, talkative, expressive
2. Adjustment Emotionally stable, nondepressed, secure, content
3. Agreeableness Courteous, trusting, good-natured, tolerant, cooperative, forgiving
4. Conscientiousness Dependable, organized, persevering, thorough, achievement-oriented
5. Inquisitiveness Curious, imaginative, artistically sensitive, broad-minded, playful
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
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22. Emotional Intelligence
Self- regulation
Self- awareness
Self- motivation
Empathy
“Emotional intelligence” is also important in team contexts and has been used to describe people who are especially effective in fluid and socially intensive contexts. Emotional intelligence is traditionally conceived of having five aspects: (1) self-awareness (knowledge of one’s strengths and weaknesses, (2) self-regulation (the ability to keep disruptive emotions in check), (3) self-motivation (how to motivate oneself and persevere in the face of obstacles), (4) empathy (the ability to sense and read emotions in others), and (5) social skills (the ability to manage the emotions of other people). DanialGoleman, one of the primary proponents of this construct, noted that “in the new workplace, with its emphasis on flexibility, teams and a strong customer orientation, this crucial set of emotional competencies is becoming increasingly essential for excellence in every job in every part of the world.”
Social Skills
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23. Work Sample Tests
Work-sample tests attempt to simulate the job in a pre-hiring context to observe how the applicant performs in the simulated job.
Assessment Center- a process in which multiple raters evaluate employees’ performance on a number of exercises.
Work-sample tests attempt to simulate the job in a pre-hiring context to observe how the applicant performs in the simulated job. The degree of fidelity in work samples
can vary greatly.
Assessment Center- a process in which multiple raters evaluate employees’ performance on a number of exercises.
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24. Honesty Tests
Polygraph Act of 1988 banned the use of polygraph tests for private companies except pharmaceutical and security guard suppliers.
Paper-and-pencil honesty testing attempts to assess the likelihood that employees will steal.
Since these tests are new, there is little evidence on their effectiveness.
In 1990, the Office of Technology and Assessment released a report on the validity of paper‑and‑pencil honesty tests. The conclusion of the report was that existing research was incon­clusive to determine the effectiveness of the tests.Paper-and-pencil honesty tests come in a number of different forms. Some directly emphasize questions dealing with past theft admissions or associations with people
who stole from employers. Other items are less direct and tap more basic traits such as social conformity, conscientiousness, or emotional stability
Tests commonly gauge attitudes and perceptions about professional behavior. The tests predict the level of risk of theft for employees.
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25. Drug Tests Drug-use tests tend to be reliable and valid.
Major controversies of drug tests include:
Is it an invasion of privacy?
Is it an unreasonable search and seizure?
Is it a violation of due process?
Tests should be administered systematically
to all applicants applying for the same job.
Testing is likely to be more defensible when there are safety hazards associated with the failure to perform.
Test results should be reported to the applicant, who should have an avenue to appeal.
Drug‑use tests tend to be reliable and valid, particularly when the screening tests" are followed up with more expensive “confirmation” test.
The major controversies of drug tests includes:
Is it an invasion of privacy
Is it an unreasonable search and seizure
Is it a violation of due process
Tests should be administered systematically to all applicants applying for the same job.
Testing is likely to be more defensible when there are safety hazards associated with the failure to perform.
Test results should be reported to the applicant, who should have an avenue to appeal.
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26. Summary
Job applicants and an organization’s viability are strongly affected by decisions regarding who is accepted and rejected for positions.
There are numerous alternatives to this for making such decisions, many of which have been validated and supported by years of research.
Summary- The lives of job applicants and the viability of organizations are strongly affected by decisions regarding who is accepted and rejected for positions. These are some of the most important decisions an organization is likely to make. Thankfully, there are numerous alternatives to this for making such decisions, many of which have been validated and supported by years of research, as highlighted in this chapter.
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