1. External Selection II CHAPTER NINE Screen graphics created by:
Jana F. Kuzmicki, PhD
Troy State University-Florida and Western Region

2. Staffing Organizations Model
Vision and Mission
Goals and Objectives
Organization Strategy
HR and Staffing Strategy
Staffing Policies and Programs
Support Activities
Core Staffing Activities
Legal compliance
Recruitment: External, internal
Planning
Selection: Measurement, external, internal
Job analysis
Employment: Decision making, final match
Staffing System and Retention Management

3. Chapter Outline Substantive Assessment Methods
Personality Tests
Ability Tests
Job Knowledge Tests
Performance Tests and Work Samples
Integrity Tests
Interest, Values, and Preference Inventories
Structured Interview
Constructing a Structured Interview
Assessment for Team and Quality Environments
Clinical Assessments
Choice of Substantive Methods
Discretionary Assessment Methods
Contingent Assessment Methods
Collection of Assessment Data
Legal Issues

4. Overview of Personality Tests
Historical role of personality tests in selection
Use of MMPI as a selection tool
Current role of personality tests in selection
Role of Big Five -- Taxonomy of personality
Used to describe behavioral, as opposed to emotional or cognitive, traits
May capture up to 75% of an individual’s personality
Big Five factors
Emotional stability
Extraversion
Openness to experience
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness

5. Measures of Personality Tests
Surveys
Personal Characteristics Inventory (PCI)
Exh. 9.1: Sample Items for PCI
NEO Personality Inventory
Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)
Projective tests
Interviews
Assessment of reliability and validity

6. Evaluation of Personality Tests: Validity of the Big Five
Conscientiousness predicts performance across all occupational groupings
Emotional stability predicts performance in most occupations, especially sales, management, and teaching
Extraversion predicts performance of salespeople
Conscientiousness and emotional stability have emerged as significant predictors of performance
Validity of conscientiousness in predicting job performance --> ŕ = .31

7. Evaluation of Personality Tests: Role of the Big Five in Selection
Conscientiousness and emotional stability predict job performance for many occupational groups
Exh. 9.2: Possible Factors Explaining Importance . . .
Except for emotional stability, the other traits do not predict job performance
Key -- Match traits, both in terms of type and level of generality, to criteria being predicted
Limitations
Applicants may distort their responses
Possibility of applicants “faking good”
Applicants’ perceptions

8. Exh. 9.2: Possible Factors Explaining Importance of Conscientiousness in Predicting Job Performance

9. Overview of Ability Tests
Definition -- Measures that assess an individual’s capacity to function in a certain way
Two types
Aptitude - Assess innate capacity to function
Achievement - Assess learned capacity to function
Between 15% and 20% of organizations use some type of ability test in selection
Four classes of ability tests
Cognitive
Psychomotor
Physical
Sensory/perceptual

10. Overview of Cognitive Ability Tests
Definition -- Assess abilities involved in thinking, including perception, memory, reasoning, verbal and mathematical abilities, and expression of ideas
Measures of specific cognitive abilities appear to reflect general intelligence, IQ or “g”
Measures of cognitive ability
Employee Aptitude Survey - Assesses 10 specific cognitive abilities
Wonderlic Personnel Test - Most widely used test of general mental ability (12-minute, 50-item test)
Exh. 9.4: Sample Cognitive Ability Test Items

11. Evaluation of Cognitive Ability Tests
“True” validity --> ŕ = .50
Summary of research findings
Among the most valid methods of selection
Appear to generalize across all organizations, all job types, and all types of applicants
Organizations using them enjoy large economic gains compared to organizations not using them
High average validities for many occupations
While validity is particularly high for jobs of medium and high complexity, validity also exists for simple jobs
Intelligent employees have greater job knowledge
General cognitive ability measures more useful than measures of specific abilities

12. Limitations of Cognitive Ability Tests
Concern over adverse impact and fairness of tests
While cognitive ability tests are equally accurate predictors of job performance for various racial and ethnic groups, blacks and Hispanics score lower on these tests than whites
Suggested approach - Use cognitive ability tests and monitor adverse impact closely
Applicants’ perceptions
Reactions to concrete vs. abstract test items

13. Other Types of Ability Tests
Psychomotor ability tests
Measure correlation of thought with bodily movement
Physical abilities tests
Measure muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, and movement quality
Validity --> ŕ = .39 to ŕ = .87
Sensory/perceptual abilities tests
Assess ability to detect and recognize environmental stimuli
Use of computer testing for abilities

14. Job Knowledge Tests
Definition -- Directly assess an applicant’s comprehension of job requirements
Two types
Assess knowledge of duties involved in a particular job
Focus on level of experience with, and knowledge about, critical job tasks and tools necessary to perform a job
Exh. 9.8: Example of an Objective Inventory Questionnaire
Evaluation
“True” validity --> ŕ = .45
Higher validities for complex jobs
Job knowledge measures add little to prediction of job performance beyond that provided by cognitive ability tests

15. Performance Tests and Work Samples
Definition -- Assess actual performance rather than underlying capacity or disposition
Exh Examples of Performance Tests and Work Samples
Types of tests
Performance test vs. work sample
Motor vs verbal work samples
High- vs. low-fidelity tests
Computer interaction performance tests vs. paper-and-pencil tests
Situational judgment tests

16. Evaluation of Performance Tests and Work Samples
Research results
Average validity --> ŕ = .54
Possess high degree of content validity
Perhaps most valid method for many types of jobs
Widely accepted by applicants
Possess low degrees of adverse impact
Limitations
Cost of realism embedded in work samples is high
Tied to specific jobs leading to a lack of generalizability
Safety issues
Assume applicants already possess necessary KSAOs

17. Overview of Integrity Tests
Definition -- Attempt to assess an applicant’s honesty and moral character
Two types
Clear purpose / overt
General purpose / veiled purpose
Exh. 9.10: Sample Integrity Test Questions
Use of integrity tests in selection has grown dramatically during past decade
Construct of integrity not well understood

18. Measuring Employee Integrity
Types of measures
Most common method is paper-and-pencil measures
Polygraph (lie detector) tests
Detect dishonesty in interview process
Paper-and-pencil measures are most feasible for assessing integrity for selection decision

19. Integrity Tests: Research Results
Valid predictors of counterproductive behaviors; validity for clear purpose (ŕ = .55) higher than for general purpose (ŕ = .32)
Both clear and general purpose tests are valid predictors of job performance --> ŕ = .33 and ŕ = .35
Estimates using a predictive validation design and actual detection of theft lowers validity to ŕ = .13
Integrity test scores are related to several Big Five measures
Have no adverse impact against women or minorities and are relatively uncorrelated with intelligence

20. Issues Related to Integrity Tests
Concerns related to use
Applicants might fake responses
Research results related to faking
Objections to integrity tests and applicant reactions
Most fundamental concern is misclassification of truly honest applicants as being dishonest
Exh. 9.11: Integrity Test Results and Theft Detections
Applicants view integrity tests less favorably than most selection practices and more invasive

21. Interest, Values, and Preference Inventories
Definition -- Involves assessing activities individuals prefer to do both on and off the job
Not often used in selection
Types of tests
Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB)
Exh. 9.12: Sample Items from Interest Inventory
Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)
Evaluation
Average validity --> ŕ = .10
Role of interest inventories in selection limited
Role in assessing person-organization fit

22. Overview of Structured Interview
Characteristics of unstructured interview
Relatively unplanned and “quick and dirty”
Questions based on interviewer “hunches” or “pet questions” to psychologically diagnose applicant
Consists of casual, open-ended, or subjective questions
Contains obtuse questions
Contains highly speculative questions
Interviewer often unprepared
Sources of error in unstructured interview

23. Characteristics of Structured Interview
Questions based on job analysis
Same questions asked of each candidate
Response to each question numerically evaluated
Detailed anchored rating scales used to score each response
Detailed notes taken, focusing on interviewees’ behaviors

24. Characteristics of Structured Interview (continued)
Two types
Situational - Assess applicant’s ability to project his / her behaviors in future situations
Experience-based - Assess past behaviors that are linked to prospective job
Patterned Behavior Description Interview
Similarities between situational and experienced-based interviews
Differences between situational and experienced-based interviews

25. Evaluation of Structured Interview
Average validity of interviews --> ŕ = .26
Structured interviews are more valid (ŕ = .31) than unstructured interviews (ŕ = .23)
Situational interviews are more valid (ŕ = .35) than experience-based interviews (ŕ = .28)
Panel interviews were less valid (ŕ = .22) than individual interviews (ŕ = .31)

26. Future Uses of Structured Interview
Issue of employee value
While performance is the central aspect of employee value, it is not the only criterion
Other relevant criteria -- Applicant reactions, employee attendance / retention, “citizenship” behaviors, and fit
Valuable in predicting “nonperformance” aspects of applicants
Interviews predict subjective performance better than objective measures of productivity
Key question - Structure interview around what?
Serves other goals besides identifying best candidate for job
Exh. 9.13: An Alternative Model of the Use of the Interview in Selection Decisions

27. Exh. 9.13: An Alternative Model of the Use of the Interview in Selection Decisions

28. Constructing a Structured Interview
Consult job requirements matrix
Develop the selection plan
Exh. 9.14: Partial Selection Plan for Job of Retail Store Sales Associate
Develop structured interview plan
Exh. 9.15: Structured Interview Questions, Benchmark Responses, Rating Scale, and Question Weights
Select and train interviewers
Evaluate effectiveness

29. Assessment for Quality Environments
Companies with TQM missions often seem to ignore selection systems
Issues to be addressed in selection process
Types of skills may differ
Specificity of skills may differ
Process of making selection decisions may differ
Lack of research on staffing in quality environments
Validation of selection process is important

30. Assessment for Team Environments
Establish steps for selection in team-based environments
Determine necessary KSAOs for teamwork
Exh. 9.17: Knowledge, Skill, and Ability (KSA) Requirements for Teamwork
Interpersonal KSAs
Self-management KSAs
Example
Exh. 9.18: Example Items Assessing Teamwork KSAs
Who should make the hiring decision?
Critical to ensure proper context is in place

31. Clinical Assessments Definition
Method where a psychologist makes a judgment about suitability of a candidate for a job
Typically used for selecting people for middle- and upper-level management positions
Judgments based on
Interview
Personal history form
Ability test
Personality test
Feedback to company -- Narrative description of candidate, with or without a recommendation

32. Choice of Substantive Assessment Methods
Exh. 9.19: Evaluation of Substantive Assessment Methods
Criteria
Use
Cost
Reliability
Validity
Utility
Applicant reactions
Adverse impact

33. Discretionary Assessment Methods
Used to separate people who receive job offers from list of finalists
Often very subjective, relying heavily on intuition of decision maker
Factors other than KSAOs are evaluated
Assess person/organization match
Assess people on relevant organizational citizenship behaviors
Should involve organization’s staffing philosophy regarding EEO/AA commitments

34. Contingent Assessment Methods
Contingent methods not always used
Depends on nature of job and legal mandates
Examples
Valid license
Security clearance check
Drug tests
Medical exams

35. Drug Testing Characteristics and effectiveness Types of tests
Administration
Exh. 9.20: Example of an Organizational Drug Testing Program
Smoking
Evaluation
Recommendations: Effective drug testing program

36. Exh. 9.20: Example of an Organizational Drug Testing Program

37. Medical Exams Identifies potential health risks in job candidates
Important to ensure medical exams are required only when a compelling reason exists
Ensures people with disabilities unrelated to job performance are not screened out
Use is strictly regulated by ADA
Lack validity as procedures vary by doctor
Not always job related
Often emphasizes short- rather than long-term health
New approach -- Job-related medical standards

38. Legal Issues
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP)
Selection under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Drug testing

39. Legal Issues: Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP)
General principles
Technical standards
Documentation of impact and validity evidence
Definitions
Makes substantial demands of a staffing system
Ensures awareness of possibility of adverse impact in employment decisions
If adverse impact is found, mechanisms provided to cope with it

40. Legal Issues: ADA and Drug Testing
Selection under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
General principles
Access to job application process
Reasonable accommodation to testing
Medical examinations
Drug testing
UGESP