Selection, part 1 OS352 HRM Fisher Oct. 7, 2004

2 Agenda SAP Case Study Impact of legal environment on selection process How do strategy and culture affect selection? Basic characteristics of selection tools

3 SAP Case Study Looks at North Country Cabinet Corporation in detail Will use the same case in Marketing, Operations, and HR classes Read case study to give you context for Exercise 2 – Evaluate recruiting instruments

4 Legal Requirements Must follow requirements of Civil Rights Act, ADA, etc. Selection procedures cannot address – Race, gender, disabilities, age BFOQ exceptions Pre-employment medical tests Drug testing

5 Review: Disparate treatment vs. disparate impact What is disparate treatment? What is disparate impact? – 4/5ths rule (from EEOC guidelines) How do these concepts affect the selection process?

6 Four-fifths rule Group # Hired # of ApplicantsSelection Rate Whites Blacks Hispanics Men Women % 51.4% 44.2% 43.1% 27.8% Is there evidence of adverse impact? Against which group(s)? Data source: Nkomo, S., Fottler, M., & AcAfee, R.B. (2000) Applications in Human Resource Management.

7 Griggs v. Duke Power (1971 U.S. Supreme Court) Duke Power required a high school diploma and passing score on two general aptitude tests Black applicants were disproportionately excluded Duke Power was unable to demonstrate the these requirements were job related and consistent with business necessity – Not necessary to perform most jobs in the plant Covered by Civil Rights Act, 1964

8 Selection criteria We want to select people who will succeed – Performance – Turnover – Potential How do we determine the “ right ” criteria? What should we be measuring? – Use the job analysis information to determine critical KSAOs – Knowledge/skills that are easy to learn should generally not be used as selection criteria

9 Consequences of Selection Decisions Which is worse – false positive or false negative? If false positive is worse, selection criteria should be more stringent On-the-job Performance Selection Decision True Positive False Negative False Positive True Negative

10 Strategy and selection Borders vs. Barnes and Noble – Borders: widest assortment of titles, diversity of thought, salespeople who are excited about the books – Barnes & Noble: efficient customer service, low prices, salespeople who are experienced in selling How would the selection criteria differ at these stores? Source: Gale, S.F. (2003). The Bookstore Battle. Retrieved on August 29, 2003 from

11 What is a selection test? Any device used to determine an applicant ’ s appropriateness for the job – Written tests (ability, personality, knowledge) – Interviews – Application blanks – Assessment centers All selection tests are subject to Uniform Guidelines

12 Reliability Error in a measure – Test retest (time) – Parallel forms (items) – Coefficient alpha (items) – easiest to assess – Inter-rater (raters) Reliability coefficients range from 0-1 – Acceptable is.7 or higher

13 Validity Are we measuring the right thing? – Not a characteristic of a test, but how the test is used Content validity – Based on results of thorough job analysis – Relies on judgment Criterion-related validity – Demonstrate that the test predicts performance – Uses statistical techniques Face validity – test taker perceptions of relevance

14 For next class Topic: More on selection – Benefits and drawbacks of different selection tools – Writing interview questions – Current issues in selection Will also start preparing for Interviewing Workshop on Oct. 14