Testing and Selecting Employees

PART TWO STAFFING THE ORGANIZATION

C H A P T E R T F o u r

Testing and Selecting Employees 4

Lecture Outline

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Strategic Overview The Basics of Testing and Selecting

EmployeesWhy Careful Selection Is ImportantReliabilityValidityHow to Validate a Test- Validity GeneralizationEthical and Legal Questions in Testing- Utility Analysis

Using Tests at WorkTypes of Tests Used at Work- Cognitive Abilities- Motor and Physical Abilities- Measuring Personalities- Interest Inventories- Achievement Tests- Computerized Testing- Web-Based TestingWork Samples and Simulations

Interviewing Prospective EmployeesTypes of Selection InterviewsHow Useful Are Interviews?How to Avoid Common Interviewing MistakesGuidelines for Conducting an Interview

Using Other Selection TechniquesBackground Investigations and Reference

ChecksHonesty Testing – Polygraph TestsHonesty TestsGraphologyPhysical ExaminationsDrug ScreeningProblemsRealistic Job PreviewsTapping Friends and AcquaintancesComplying with the Immigration LawMaking the Selection Decision

In Brief: This chapter gives an overview of the selection process, testing concepts, types of tests, and selection techniques. It also addresses legal and ethical questions surrounding the area of testing and selection.

Interesting Issues: Reference checking is part of the care an employer must take to ensure that the potential employee will not pose a threat to current employees or customers. Employers who fail to exercise “due diligence” in checking a job candidate’s background may find themselves legally liable if the candidate is hired and subsequently uses the job to commit a crime. Liability may even extend to offenses that occur outside of work time. Unfortunately, for the hiring company, companies that previously employed the job candidate almost always have policies that severely limit the types of answers they will provide, due to potential litigation. The limitations are generally verification of name, dates of employment and job titles held.

ANNOTATED OUTLINE

I. The Basics of Testing and Selecting Employees

A. Why Careful Selection Is Important

Selecting the right employees is important for four main reasons: (1) proper selection can improve employee and organizational

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performance; (2) your own performance depends partly on you’re the performance of your subordinates; (3) it can help reduce dysfunctional behaviors at work; and 4) it is costly to recruit and hire.

B. Reliability — refers to the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with identical or equivalent tests.

C. Validity — refers to evidence that performance on a test is a valid predictor of subsequent performance on the job. It answers the question, Does this test measure what it was intended to measure?

Criterion Validity shows that scores on the test (predictors) are related to job performance.

Content Validity shows that the test contains a fair sample of the tasks and skills actually needed for the job in question.

Teaching Tip: The difference between reliability and validity is sometimes difficult for students to understand. Explain that if 100 accident-prone, careless applicants took the same test and scored well on it, the test would be reliable because the results are consistent. However, if the purpose of the test was to identify safety-conscious applicants, it would not be valid as a test because it does not predict good safety performance on the job, the very thing it was intended to measure.

D. How to Validate a Test

Step 1: Analyze the job and write job descriptions and job specifications.

Step 2: Choose the tests that measure the attributes (predictors) important for job success.

Step 3: Administer the test selected to old or new employees for concurrent and predictive validation.

Step 4: Relate test scores and criteria through a correlation analysis, which shows the degree of statistical relationship between (1) scores on the test and (2) job performance.

Step 5: Cross-validate and revalidate by performing Steps 3 and 4 again on a new sample of employees.

E. Validity generalization refers to the degree to which a test shown to be valid in one situation can legitimately be considered to be valid in another. This is important in that it is not cost-effective for employers to conduct validity studies.


F. Bias refers to a test which shows differences in the scores of test-takers based solely on group membership (e.g., males supposedly receiving higher scores than females in verbal reasoning).

G. Ethical and Legal Questions in Testing — With respect to testing, the law boils down to two things: 1) you must be able to prove that your tests are related to success or failure on the job, and 2) you must prove that your tests don’t unfairly discriminate against either minority or nominority groups.

1. Individual Rights of Test Takers and Test Security — Test takers have certain rights to privacy and information under the American Psychological Association’s (APA) standard for educational and psychological tests.

2. Using Tests as Supplements — Tests should be used as a supplement tool in selection. As tests are not infallible, other techniques should be used in conjunction with them, such as interviews and background checks.

H. Utility Analysis demonstrates the degree to which use of a selection measure improves the quality of individuals selected over what would have happened if the measure had not been used.

II. Using Tests at Work

A. Types of Tests Used at Work — Various types of tests are widely used by employers today, including those for basic skills, job skills, and psychological measurement.

1. Tests of Cognitive Abilities — Cognitive tests include tests of general reasoning ability (intelligence) and tests of specific mental abilities like memory and inductive reasoning.

Intelligence tests are tests of general intellectual abilities, ranging from memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency to numerical ability.

Specific cognitive abilities (Aptitude) include inductive and deductive reasoning, verbal comprehension, memory, and numerical ability.

2. Tests of Motor and Physical Abilities — Employers may use various tests to measure such motor abilities as finger dexterity, manual dexterity, and reaction time. They may also want to


measure such physical abilities as static strength, dynamic strength, body coordination, and stamina.

3. Measuring Personality — Personality tests can be used to assess personal characteristics such as attitude, motivation, and temperament. Tests measure basic aspects of an applicant’s personality, such as introversion, stability, and motivation. Many of these tests are projective, meaning that the person taking the test must interpret or react to an ambiguous stimulus such as an inkblot or clouded picture. (See Figure 4.1).


4. Personality Test Effectiveness

Industrial psychologists emphasize five personality dimensions as they apply to personnel testing: extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.

5. Interest Inventories — compare one’s interests with those of people in various occupations.

6. Achievement Tests — measure what a person has learned.

7. Computerized Testing — is increasingly replacing pencil-and-paper and manual tests.

8. Web-Based Testing — Studies suggest that proctored Web-based and paper-and-pencil tests of applicants produce similar results, for instance on personaltiy and judgement tests.

B. Work Samples and Simulations

1. Work Sampling — The work sampling technique tries to predict job performance by requiring job candidates to perform one or more actual samples of the job’s task. It is harder to fake answers because the process samples the actual job.

2. Management Assessment Centers — provide simulations in which candidates perform realistic management tasks, under the observation of experts who appraise each candidate’s potential. Simulated exercises include in-basket, leaderless group discussion, management games, individual presentations, objective tests, and interviews.

3. Situational Judgment Tests — These tests are designed to assess an applicant’s judgment regarding a situation encountered in the workplace.

4. Strategy and HR — Google is used as an example of a company that uses employee testing in their selection process.

III. Interviewing Prospective Employees

A. Types of Selection Interviews

1. Structure — structured or directed interview. Most interviews vary by the degree to which the interview has been structured or


standardized. Acceptable answers to questions may be predetermined and rated according to appropriateness of content.

2. Type of Questions — Interviews can be classified according to the nature or content of their questions, such as situational interviews, job-related interviews, behavioral interviews, and stress interviews. Puzzle questions are also popular today, and are used to see how candidates think under pressure.


3. How Administered

i. One-on-one where two people meet alone and one interviews the other by seeking oral responses to oral inquiries.

ii. Sequential interviews occur when several interviewers question the candidate in a sequence before a selection is made.

iii. Panel interviews occur when a group (panel) interviews several candidates simultaneously.

4. Video or phone interviews are often conducted entirely by phone or videoconferencing, saving time and travel costs. Phone can also be more accurate as it is able to eliminate bias of appearances.

5. Computerized interviews assess responses to computer-based oral, visual or written questions/situations.

B. How Useful Are Interviews? — Studies confirm that the validity of interviews is greater than previously thought. Structured interviews are more valid than unstructured interviews for predicting job performance. Some traits, however, cannot be accurately assessed in an interview.

C. How to Avoid Common Interviewing Mistakes

1. Snap Judgments — One of the most consistent findings is that interviewers tend to jump to conclusions about candidates during the first few minutes (perhaps seconds) of the interview.

2. Negative Emphasis — Interviewers tend to have a consistent negative bias and are generally more influenced by unfavorable than favorable information about the candidate.

3. Not Knowing the Job — Interviewers who don’t know precisely what the job entails and what sort of candidate is best suited for it usually make their decisions based on incorrect or incomplete stereotypes of what a good applicant is.

4. Pressure to Hire — Pressure to hire can undermine an interview’s usefulness.


5. Candidate-Order (Contrast) Error — means that the order in which you see applicants affects how you rate them. Psychologists refer to this as the effects of “primacy” or “recency”.

6. Influence of Nonverbal Behavior — Non-verbal behaviors can have a surprisingly large impact on an applicant’s rating. Inexperienced interviewers may try to infer the interviewee’s personality from vocal and visual cues, such as energy level, voice modulation, and level of extraversion.

7. Attractiveness — Interviewers have to guard against letting an applicant’s attractiveness and gender play a role in their rating.

8. Effect of Personal Characteristics: Attractiveness, Gender, Race

Attractiveness, gender, disability, or race may distort assessments. For example, people who are considered to be more attractive are assigned more favorable traits and even successful life outcomes.

9. Race — In a study examining racial differences the authors found, in the primarily white and balanced panels, white interviewers rate the white candidate higher, and black interviewers rated black candidates higher.

10. Ingratiation — Agreeing with the interviewer’s opinions and self-promotion to create an impression of competence are techniques used by clever interviewees in order to manage the impression they present.

11. Nonverbal Implications — Interviewers should endeavor to look beyond behavior to who the person is and what they are saying, as candidates are trained to “act right.”

11. Applicant Disability and the Employment Interview — Research findings suggest that interviewers tend to avoid addressing the disability, and therefore make their decisions without all the facts.

D. Guidelines for Conducting an Interview

1. Plan the Interview by thoroughly reviewing the candidate’s application and resume, noting discrepancies, vagueness, and any strengths and weaknesses. The interview should take place


in a private room where interruptions can be minimized. The interviewer should be familiar with the job description and duties, required skills, and traits.

2. Structure the Interview — Step 1: Study the job description. Step 2: Use job knowledge, background, and situational or behavior questions for sizing up the candidate. Step 3: Train interviewers. Step 4: Use the same questions with all candidates. Step 5: Use rating scales to rate answers. Step 6: Use multiple interviewers. Step 7: Use a structured interview form. Step 8: Take brief notes during the interview.

3. Establish Rapport — The interviewer should put the interviewee at ease so he/she can find out the necessary information about the interviewee. Studies show that people who feel more self-confident about their interviewing skills perform better in interviews. Establish an appropriate timeframe for the interview and mention it at the beginning of the process. Note that the candidate will have a specific amount of time at the end to address his or her questions.

4. Ask Questions — The interviewer should follow the pre-prepared interview guide.

5. What Not to Ask — The interviewer should make sure he or she steers clear of any of questions about age, gender, national origin, handicap, or other prohibited or illegal criteria.

6. Close the Interview — Leave time to answer any questions the candidate may have. in addition, if appropriate, promote the positive aspects of your firm to the candidate. End the interview on a positive note.

7. Review the Interview — Once the candidate leaves, and while the interview is fresh on the interviewer’s mind, he/she should review his/her notes and fill in the structured interview guide.

Talent Management: Profiles and Employee Interviews are important to ensure consistency in using the same sets of competencies, traits, knowledge, and experience for recruiting, training, appraising, and compensating employees.


IV. Using Other Selection Techniques

A. Background Investigations and Reference Checks — Most employers check and verify an applicant’s background information and references, including driving record, a check for criminal charges or convictions, and a credit check.

1. What to Verify — The main reasons for conducting investigations into an applicant’s background are to verify factual information and to uncover damaging information in order to help prevent losses.

2. Checking Social Networking Sites — Employers often check social networking site postings online, such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

3. Using Preemployment Information Services — Various federal and state laws govern how employers acquire and use applicants’ and employees’ background information. Compliance involves three steps: 1) Applicant-signed release authorizing the background check; 2) complies with relevant laws; and 3) uses only legal data services.

4. Reference Check Effectiveness — Reference letters are not viewed as very useful. Fewer than half of HR managers state that they were able to obtain adequate information about candidates.

5. Making Reference Checks More Productive — Employers should: include on their application forms a statement for applicants to sign, explicitly authorizing a background check; rely more on telephone references than written ones; ask open-ended questions; use each reference as a source for another; and watch for “red flags.” An example of a reference checking form is illustrated in Figure 4.7. More employers are using the computer to have references complete a tailored questionnaire about the job candidate.

B. Honesty Testing

1. Polygraph Tests — A “lie detector” is a device that measures physiological changes, like increased prespiration, while being questioned. Current law prevents most employers engaged in interstate commerce from using these tests for pre-employment


screening or during the course of employment. Local, state, and federal government employers can continue to use the tests.

HR in Practice: How to Detect Dishonesty

Employers can: ask blunt questions; listen, rather than talk; ask for a credit check; check all references; consider paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests as a part of their honesty-screening program; test for drugs; establish a search-and-seizure policy; and conduct searches.

2. Paper-and-Pencil or computerized honesty tests — Such honesty tests are psychological tests designed to predict job applicants’ proneness to dishonesty and other forms of counter-productive behavior. Most measure attitudes about tolerance of others who steal or admission of theft-related activities.

C. Graphology — The use of graphology (handwriting analysis) assumes that handwriting reflects basic personality tests.

D. Human lie detectors

These are individuals trained to watch for and evaluate such things as micro-expressions and other non-verbal behaviors to assess deceptiveness and other non-productive behaviors in potential employees.

E. Physical Exams

Once an offer is made and the person is hired, a medical exam is usually the next step in the selection process.

F. Drug Screening

Because drug abuse is a serious problem for employers, it is common practice for most employers to conduct drug screening just before employees are formally hired. Such tests include urine testing, breath alcohol tests, and hair analysis, among others.

1. Problems — Drug testing does not always correlate closely with actual impairment levels.

2. Legal Issues — Former drug users may be protected under ADA. Privacy rights are also often cited.


G. Realistic Job Previews — Being explicit about work schedules, preferences, and other job standards at the point of interview can help reduce turnover later.

H. Tapping Friends and Acquaintances — “…the best possible interview is minuscule in value compared to somebody who’s got even a couple months of work experience with [the candidate].”

I. Complying with Immigration Law — Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, employees hired in the United States have to prove they are eligible to work in the United States. Immigrants face increasing difficulty in entering the United States so documents are required to prove eligibility to work in the U.S.

J. Making the Selection Decision — There are three basic approaches to making a selection decision: 1) a clinical approach (intuitive), 2) a statistical approach, and 3) a hybrid approach.

Key Terms

Person-job fit Means matching (1) the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and competencies that are needed for performing the job (as determined by job analysis) with (2) the prospective employee’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies

Reliability The characteristic that refers to the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with identical or equivalent tests.

Test validity The accuracy with which a test, interview, and so on, measures what it purports to measure or fulfills the function it was designed to fill.

Criterion validity A type of validity based on showing that scores on the test (predictors) are related to job performance.

Content validity A test that is content-valid is one in which the test contains a fair sample of the tasks and skills actually needed for the job in question.

Validity generalization Refers to the degree to which evidence of a measure’s validity obtained in one situation can be generalized to another situation without further study.

Utility analysis Using dollar and cents terms, [utility analysis] shows the


degree to which use of a selection measure improves the quality of individuals selected over what would have happened if the measure had not been used.

Work sampling technique Tries to predict job performance by requiring job candidates to perform one or more actual samples of the job’s tasks.

Management assessment A situation in which management candidates are asked to center make decisions in hypothetical situations and are scored on

their performance. It usually also involves testing and the use of management games.

Interview A procedure designed to solicit information from a person’s oral responses to oral inquiries. A selection interview is a selection procedure designed to predict future job performance based on applicants’ oral responses to oral inquiries.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Explain what is meant by reliability and validity. What is the difference between them? In what respects are they similar? Reliability is the consistency of scores obtained by the same persons when retested with identical tests or with an equivalent form of a test. It is a measure of internal consistency of the instrument. Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it is purported to measure. It is a measure of external consistency. They are similar in that both are concerned with aspects of consistency of the instrument and that reliability is a necessary condition for validity.

2. Write a short essay discussing some of the ethical and legal considerations in testing. State and federal laws, EEOC guidelines, and court decisions require that you be able to prove that your tests are related to success or failure on the job and that they are not having an adverse impact on members of a protected group. Test takers also have certain basic rights to privacy and information. The test taker also has the right to expect that the test is equally fair to all test takers.

3. Give some examples of how interest inventories could be used to improve employee selection. In doing so, suggest several examples of occupational interests that you believe might predict success in various occupations, including college professor, accountant, and computer programmer. Interest inventories can improve employee selection by identifying individuals with similar interests to those reported by a substantial percentage of successful incumbents in an occupation. This should clearly increase the likelihood that the applicants will be successful in their new jobs. Interests that one might expect: accountant: math, reading, music; college


professor: public speaking, teaching, counseling; computer programmer: math, music, computers. Remind students that however logical the application of an interest inventory may be to an occupation, establishing the validity of the inventory is required before it can be used legally.

4. Why is it important to conduct pre-employment background investigations? How would you go about doing so? Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. It is important to gain as much information as possible about past behavior to understand what kinds of behavior one can expect in the future. Knowledge about attendance problems, insubordination issues, theft, or other behavioral problems can certainly help one avoid hiring someone who is likely to repeat those behaviors.

5. For what sorts of jobs do you think computerized interviews are most appropriate? Why? The computerized interview can be used as a screening device for virtually any type of position that may generate a large number of applicants. It is less likely to be used for managerial positions. However, if there are large numbers of applicants, it could certainly be just as useful there as in skilled, professional, and unskilled positions.

6. Give a short presentation entitled, How to Be Effective as an Interviewer. First, it is important to choose carefully the type of interview to conduct. It is best to choose the type based on evidence of its effectiveness and accuracy in selection, rather than your comfort level with that type. Then, practice and seek training until you are comfortable and effective with that type of interview. Take steps to avoid the common interviewing mistakes, such as snap judgments, negative emphasis, not knowing the job, pressure to hire, candidate order error, and influence of nonverbal behavior. Plan your interview carefully, establish rapport, ask only appropriate questions, end the interview on a positive note, and take time to review the interview.

7. Briefly discuss and give examples of at least five common interviewing mistakes. What recommendations would you give for avoiding these interviewing mistakes?Snap Judgments: This is where the interviewer jumps to a conclusion about the candidate during the first few minutes of the interview. Using a structured interview is one way to help avoid this, as well as properly training the interviewers.Negative Emphasis: When an interviewer has received negative information about the candidate, through references or other sources, he or she will usually view the candidate negatively. The best way to avoid this is to keep references or other information from the interviewer. If possible, have different people do the reference checks and the interviews and not share the information until afterward.Poor Knowledge of Job: When interviewers do not have a good understanding of the job requirements, they do not make good selections of candidates. All interviewers should clearly understand the jobs and know what is needed for success in those jobs.Pressure to Hire: Anytime an interviewer is told that he or she must hire a certain number of people within a short time frame, poor selection decisions may be made. This type of pressure should be avoided whenever possible.


Candidate Order (Contrast) Error: When an adequate candidate is preceded by either an outstanding, or a poor candidate, by contrast he or she looks either less satisfactory or much better. This can be countered through interviewer training, allowing time between interviews, and structured interviews with structured rating forms.Influence of Nonverbal Behavior: Candidates who exhibit stronger nonverbal behavior, such as eye contact and energy level, are perceived as stronger by the interviewers. This can be minimized through interviewer training and structured interviews.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Working individually or in groups, develop a list of specific selection techniques that you would suggest your dean use to hire the next HR professor at your school. Explain why you chose each selection technique. Student answers will vary, however their answer should include some of the concepts introduced in the chapter. Their response may include background checks, realistic job previews, and interviews. They may also address the issue of personality testing, along with reliability and validity.

2. Working individually or in groups, assess the publisher of a standardized test such as the Scholastic Assessment Test and obtain from it information regarding the test’s validity and reliability. Present a short report in class discussing what the test is supposed to measure and the degree to which you think the test does what it is supposed to do, based on the reported validity and reliability scores. Encourage students or groups to contact different sources; it may be a good idea to have a sign-up sheet so that no two students or groups are gathering information on the same instruments. Students should be able to relate clearly high validity and reliability scores to the effectiveness of the test.

Case Incident: The Tough Screener

1. What specific legal problems do you think Rosen might run into because of his firm’s screening methods? How would you suggest he eliminates these problems? There are a couple of specific problems with what Rosen is doing. First, he will need to conduct a validity study of the honesty test and make sure that it is useful and that it does what it says it does. There are three problems with the credit check: First, he needs to get the applicant’s permission for the check and allow her to see the results, if she desires. Second, he needs to demonstrate the business necessity of such a check, and third, he needs to conduct a study to assure that it is not having an adverse impact. Screening out candidates based on workers’ compensation claims is, most likely, illegal. Driving violations are also very questionable, unless he can demonstrate a business reason for it.

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APPLICATION EXERCISES

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2. Given what you know about Rosen’s business, write a two-page proposal describing an employee testing and selection program that you would recommend. Say a few words about the sorts of tests, if any, you would recommend and the application form questions you would ask, as well as other methods, including drug screening and reference checking. There are some very specific things Rosen is doing that should be kept: The strong reference checking process is very good. Any of the items from the previous question that pass the business necessity tests mentioned, or are determined to be valid and without adverse impact should be used as well. Additional information that should be gathered includes educational and any financial planning certifications. Given the nature of his business, it might be wise for Rosen to use only Certified Financial Planners. He may also want to enlist the services of a bonding company to bond his employees, as they will have access to confidential information about his clients.

Continuing Case: Honesty Testing at Carter Cleaning Company

1. What would be the advantages and disadvantages to Jennifer’s company of routinely administering honesty tests to all its employees? There are many advantages and disadvantages that students may list. Some of the items that should come up include: Disadvantages—time and effort to identify a test, time and effort to validate the test, cost of the test, and so on.Advantages—reduced theft, increased productivity, embezzling funds, and so on.

2. Specifically, what other screening techniques could the company use to screen out theft-prone and turnover-prone employees, and how exactly could these be used? They need to look at using a comprehensive package of selection techniques. They should consider structuring their interviews and do more than having a candidate perform part of the job. They may want to check references as well as using honesty tests. They also should consider creating a training program for otherwise qualified applicants. Finally, they could be helped by offering an employee bonus for individuals hired who are referred by current, reliable, honest, and productive employees.

3. How should her company terminate employees caught stealing, and what kind of procedure should be set up for handling reference calls about these employees when they go to other companies looking for jobs? A well-publicized policy should be in place when a new employee is hired. Current employees should be advised of the new policy and both current and new employees should sign a document indicating they have read and understand the policy on theft. Termination should occur immediately upon discovering the theft and employee keys, ID cards and other company property should be retrieved when they are terminated. Reference calls should be limited to certifying the name of the previous employee, their job


titles held and the length of their employment. To avoid potential legal action against the company or its owners, no further information should be provided.

Experiential Exercise: The Most Important Person You’ll Ever Hire

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice using some of the interview techniques you learned from this chapter.

Required Understanding: You should be familiar with the information presented in this chapter and the brief information concerning nannies included in the exercise.

How to set up the Exercise: Set up groups of five or six students. Two students will be the interviewees, while the other two students will serve as panel interviewers. The interviewees will develop a form for assessing the interviews, and the panel interviewers will develop a structured situational interview for a “nanny.”


Testing and Selecting Employees

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