Transcript Lecture for 09/28

Selection
MANA 3320
Dr. Jeanne Michalski
[email protected]
“Is a
Bonehead”
MISS
HIT
Inaccurate
prediction
(Person would have
succeeded on the job)
Accurate
prediction
(Person succeeds on the
job)
HIT
MISS
Accurate
prediction
(Person would not have
succeeded on the job)
Inaccurate prediction
(Person fails on the job)
Low
Job Performance
“Earns a Bonus”
High
The Goal of Selection: Maximize “Hits”
Low
High
Predicted Success
The Selection Process

Obtaining Reliable and Valid Information

Reliability


The degree to which interviews, tests, and other selection
procedures yield comparable data over time and alternative
measures.
Validity

Degree to which a test or selection procedure measures a
person’s attributes.
Reliability: Basic Concepts

Observed score = true score + error



Error is anything that impacts test scores that is
not the characteristic being measured
Reliability measures error
Lower the error the better the measure
EEOC Uniform Guidelines
Reliability – consistency of the measure
If the same person takes the test again will he/she
earn the same score?
Potential contaminations:




Test takers physical or mental state
Environmental factors
Test forms
Multiple raters
Reliability as Stability over Time
HIGH RELIABILITY
APPLICANT
Smith
Perez
Riley
Chan
TEST
SCORE
90
65
110
80
RETEST
SCORE
93
62
105
78
VERY LOW RELIABILITY
APPLICANT
Smith
Perez
Riley
Chan
TEST
SCORE
90
65
110
80
RETEST
SCORE
72
88
67
111
Reliability as Consistency
(Interrater Reliability)
HIGH RELIABILITY
APPLICANT
Smith
Perez
Riley
Chan
Rater #1
9
5
4
8
Rater #2
8
6
5
8
Rater #3
8
5
5
8
VERY LOW RELIABILITY
APPLICANT
Smith
Perez
Riley
Chan
Rater #1
9
5
4
8
Rater #2
5
9
2
4
Rater #3
6
4
7
2
Correlation

How strongly are two variables related?




Correlation coefficient (r)
Ranges from -1.00 to 1.00
Illustrated using scatter plots
Used to test consistency and accuracy of
measure
Correlation Scatterplots
Figure 5.3
Reliability vs. Validity
Approaches to Validation

Content validity

The extent to which a selection instrument, such as a
test, adequately samples the knowledge and skills
needed to perform a particular job.


Example: typing tests, driver’s license examinations, work
sample
Construct validity


The extent to which a selection tool measures a
theoretical construct or trait.
Are difficult to validate

Example: creative arts tests, honesty tests
Approaches to Validation

Criterion-related Validity

The extent to which a selection tool predicts, or
significantly correlates with, important elements of
work behavior.


A high score indicates high job performance potential; a low
score is predictive of low job performance.
Two types of Criterion-related validity


Concurrent Validity
Predictive Validity
Approaches to Validation

Concurrent Validity

The extent to which test scores (or other predictor
information) match criterion data obtained at about
the same time from current employees.


High or low test scores for employees match their respective
job performance.
Predictive Validity

The extent to which applicants’ test scores match
criterion data obtained from those applicants/
employees after they have been on the job for some
indefinite period.

A high or low test score at hiring predicts high or low job
performance at a point in time after hiring.
Reliability vs. Validity

Validity Coefficients




Reject below .11
Very useful above .21
Rarely exceed .40
Reliability Coefficients



Reject below .70
Very useful above .90
Rarely approaches 1.00
Why the difference?
Principles of Assessment


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
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

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
Don’t rely on a single method.
Use only fair and unbiased instruments.
Use only reliable instruments.
Use only valid instruments for a specific purpose.
Use only tools designed for a specific group.
Use instruments with understandable instructions.
Ensure test administration staff are properly trained.
Ensure test conditions are suitable for all test takers.
Provide reasonable accommodation.
Maintain confidentiality of results.
Ensure proper interpretation of results.
Steps in the Selection Process



Initial screening of application or resume
Employment testing, if applicable
Interview (may include multiple visits for
interviews)



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
HR
Supervisor/Team
Others
Contingent Offer
Background/Reference Checks
Medical/Drug screen
Application Forms
Only ask info related to job KSA’s



Link to job performance
Use thorough job analysis and validation techniques
Consider potential adverse impact
Careful collecting personal characteristics


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Race, National Origin, Gender, Age etc.
Law assumes all questions are used in hiring
More is not necessarily better
Different applications for different jobs
Instructions and Disclaimers
Improve validity through weighted applications (WAB’s)
Online Applications

An Internet-based automated posting,
application, and tracking process helps firms to
more quickly fill positions by:


Attracting a broader and more diverse applicant pool
Collecting and mining resumes with keyword searches
to identify qualified candidates

Conducting screening tests online

Reducing recruiting costs significantly
Resumes

Applicant controls the information



Jobs and education should be verified


Many examples of fraud or omission
Up to 50% contain some inaccuracy
One question honesty test
Requirements for education and experiences
should be job-related.
Biodata Inventories


Generally reliable and valid
Series of questions on a wide variety of subjects



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Background (e.g. hobbies, jobs, and education)
Situational questions
Personality and Values
Compared to a profile generated from successful
employees or database for occupations.
Examples of Biographical Questions

How many jobs have you held in the last five years?

Were you ever class president?

While growing up, did you collect coins?

About how many fiction books have you read in the past year?

How many hours a week do you spend studying?

At what age did you leave home?

How large was the town/city in which you lived as a child?

Did you ever build a model airplane that flew?

Were sports a big part of your childhood?

Do you play any musical instruments?
Employment Tests

Employment Test


An objective and standardized measure of a sample
of behavior that is used to gauge a person’s
knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics
(KSAOs) in relation to other individuals.
Pre-employment testing has
the potential for lawsuits.
Classification of Employment
Tests

Cognitive Ability Tests

Aptitude tests

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Achievement tests

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Measures of a person’s capacity to learn or acquire skills.
Measures of what a person knows or can do right now.
Personality and Interest Inventories

“Big Five” personality factors:

Extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism,
openness to experience.
Classification of Employment
Tests (cont’d)

Physical Ability Tests

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Job Knowledge Tests


Must be related to the essential functions of job.
An achievement test that measures a person’s level of
understanding about a particular job.
Work Sample Tests

Require the applicant to perform tasks that are
actually a part of the work required on the job.
Effectiveness of Selection Methods
A survey of 201 HR executives rated selection methods on the
effectiveness producing the best employees.
Work samples
Structured interviews
Assessment centers
Specific aptitude tests
Personality tests
General cognitive ability tests
Biographical information blanks
Unstructured interview
3.68
3.42
3.42
3.08
2.93
2.89
2.84
< 1.00
Common Background Checks
Common Background Checks
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Education
Employment
References
Criminal History
Credit Check
Drug Screen
Medical Screen
“Screening-out” Devices

Drug testing
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Urinalysis vs. RIAH (Hair testing)
ADA prohibits pre-employment screening for alcohol
Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988
Credit checks

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Depends on the job – e.g. cash handling, children.
Signed consent to background or credit checks.
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Fair Credit Reporting Act
Family Educational Rights Privacy Act
Privacy Act of 1974
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (1988)
Background Checks

Negligent hiring


The failure of an organization to discover, via due
diligence, that an employee it hired had the
propensity to do harm to others
Sources of Information

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Social Security verification
Past employment
Educational verification
Criminal records
Motor vehicle records
Credit check
Military records
Negligent Hiring

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The person causing harm was an employee.
The person was incompetent (rather than a competent
employee acting negligently).
Employer knew or should have known about the
incompetence.
Injury or harm was a foreseeable consequence of hiring
the incompetent employee.
Hiring of the unfit employee was proximate cause of the
injury or harm.
Reference Checks

Telephone, mail, and e-mail checks

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Specific job-related information
Letters of reference
Online computerized databases
Privacy Act of 1974


Requires signed requests for reference letters and signed
consent to background checks.
Applies to both educational and private employers.
Employee Polygraph Protection
Act (1988)

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Use of “lie detectors”
is largely prohibited.
Act requires qualified
examiners.
Act requires disclosure
of information where
used.
Encouraged
employers’ use of
paper and pencil
integrity and honesty
tests.
Background Investigations

Organizations using credit reports must:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Check state laws to see if credit reports can legally be
used.
Advise and receive written consent from applicants if
a report will be requested.
Provide a written certification to the consumer
reporting agency as to the purpose of the report.
Provide applicants a copy of the consumer report as
well as a summary of their rights under the CCRRA.
Must provide an adverse-action notice a person if that
person is not hired and contact information related to
the reporting agency.
Criminal Background Checks

Employers can obtain criminal background information by:
(1) Asking applicants for certain information during the interview process
or on a job application
(2) Obtaining criminal record information from a state agency (with the
consent of the applicants)
(3) by hiring an investigator or security firm

Before the information is gathered, employers should have specific
guidelines for how they will use the information.
Decision Criteria
The hiring official will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the
individual is qualified based on factors such as:

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Specific duties of the position;
Number of offenses;
Nature of each offense;
Length of time intervening between the offense and the employment
decision;
Employment history;
Efforts at rehabilitation; and
Accuracy of the information that the individual provided on the
employment application
Background Investigations
(cont.)

Medical Examinations


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
Given last as they can be costly.
Ensure that the health of an applicant is adequate to
meet the job requirements.
Provides a baseline for subsequent examinations
ADA requires all exams be job-related and conducted
after an employment offer is made.
Testing for illegal drugs is allowed.
Drug Testing

Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988


Testing for illegal drugs is required of applicants and
employees of federal contractors.
Questions about the efficacy of testing

Why spend large sums on testing when…


testing for drugs doesn’t appear to make the workplace safer
or improve employee performance?
few applicants actually test positive and alcohol abuse
creates more problems in the workplace?
Most Common Types of Background Checks
Use of Pre-Employment Background Screening by Fortune 1000 Companies*
*Tools that 212 security representatives at Fortune 1000 companies said their companies use consistently.
Source: Top Security Threats and Management Issues Facing Corporate America, Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, Inc.
Principles of Assessment











Don’t rely on a single method.
Use only fair and unbiased instruments.
Use only reliable instruments.
Use only valid instruments for a specific purpose.
Use only tools designed for a specific group.
Use instruments with understandable instructions.
Ensure test administration staff are properly trained.
Ensure test conditions are suitable for all test takers.
Provide reasonable accommodation.
Maintain confidentiality of results.
Ensure proper interpretation of results.