1. Standards for Decision Making
Chapter 3
Psychology Applied to Work®
Standards for Decision Making

2. Learning Objectives
Understand the distinction between conceptual and actual criteria.
Understand the meaning of criterion deficiency, relevance, and contamination.
Explain the purpose of work analysis and the various methods of conducting one.
Explain the nine major criteria of job performance examined by I/O psychologists.
Understand the concept of dynamic criteria.
Psychology Applied to Work®

3. Criteria Evaluative standards
Criterion issues have major significance in I/O psychology
Disagreements and discrepancies occur in:
Choices over the proper criteria to use
Disagreements about their definition
Psychology Applied to Work®

4. Conceptual vs. Actual Criteria
Conceptual Criterion (theoretical)
Actual Criteria (empirical measures)
Psychology Applied to Work®

5. Criterion Deficiency, Relevance, & Contamination
Degree to which actual criteria fails to overlap conceptual criteria
Can reduce but not eliminate
Criterion Relevance
Degree to which actual criteria and conceptual criteria coincide
Psychology Applied to Work®

6. Criterion Deficiency, Relevance, & Contamination (cont’d)
Criterion Contamination
Unrelated to the conceptual criteria – two parts:
Bias – extent actual criteria consistently measures something else
Error – extent to which actual criteria is related to nothing at all
Both distort the conceptual criterion
Can be controlled statistically to some degree
Psychology Applied to Work®

7. Criterion Deficiency, Relevance, & Contamination (cont’d)
Psychology Applied to Work®

8. Work Analysis
Procedure is to identify criteria in job performance by documenting:
Work content
Work attributes
Work context
Psychology Applied to Work®

9. Work Analysis
Psychology Applied to Work®

10. Sources of Work Information
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Job incumbent
Job supervisor
(Trained) Work Analyst
All provide descriptive data
Psychology Applied to Work®

11. Work Analytic Procedures
Task-Oriented Procedures
Examines work activities
Discrete units of work (what is accomplished)
Incumbents then rate tasks on various dimensions (e.g., frequency, importance)
Classic example is Functional Job Analysis (FJA)
Rates work on three dimensions: Things, Data, and People
Often used in federal government
Psychology Applied to Work®

12. Work Analytic Procedures (cont’d)
Worker-Oriented Procedures
Examines human attributes
K –knowledge – types of information needed
S – skills – proficiencies need that can be practiced
A – abilities – relatively enduring innate proficiencies
O – other – personality or capacities
Linkage Analysis unites task-oriented and worker-oriented information
Psychology Applied to Work®

13. Procedures for Collecting Information
Interview (of SMEs)
Can magnify the importance of their tasks
Direct observation (of employees)
Identifies adverse conditions; but not why behaviors occur
Questionnaires/inventories (commercially available)
Psychology Applied to Work®

14. Taxonomic Information (examples)
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
Compares job to an existing data base of jobs
Examines relationships among a set of jobs
Fleishmann’s method
Describes job in terms of tasks performed together with ability needed to perform them
Classifies jobs based on requisite human abilities
O*NET (U.S. Department of Labor)
based on thousands of jobs
series of instruments to assess skills and interests
labor market information
multiple levels of analysis and applications
Psychology Applied to Work®

15. Managerial Work Analysis
Managerial work is less directly observable
Two instruments to analyze these jobs
Professional and Managerial Position Questionnaire
Personality-Related Position Requirements Form
Psychology Applied to Work®

16. Uses of Work Analytic Information
Offers rationale for personnel selection tests
Organizes positions into job families to help determine compensation levels
Provides information as to content of training needed
Provides basis for content of performance appraisal
Can be used in vocational counseling – career selection (O*NET)
Can help with ADA criteria for reasonable accommodation
Psychology Applied to Work®

17. Evaluating Work Analytic Information
Some findings:
No one method the best
Knowledgeable raters make a big difference in rating accuracy
Task-oriented methods have less error than worker-oriented (tasks are more discrete and observable)
All methods involve subjective judgments
Psychology Applied to Work®

18. Competency Modeling Core competency is a critically important KSAO
Model is array of competencies the organization desires
Does NOT consider the work performed
Meant to cover the entire range of employees in an organization
Are abstract and don’t differentiate jobs like KSAOs
Tries to link employee’s personal qualities to company mission (fit)
Has little precision/rigor but has populist appeal
Psychology Applied to Work®

19. Job Performance Criteria
Production
Sales
Tenure or Turnover
Absenteeism
Accidents
Theft
Counterproductive Work Behavior
Emotional Labor
Adaptive and Citizenship Behavior
Psychology Applied to Work®

20. Dynamic Performance Criteria
Employees have different learning curves
This is a critical issue when trying to predict (short/long term) success
Psychology Applied to Work®