personnel selection
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Personnel Selection. Selection. What is selection? Using scientific methodology to choose one alternative (job candidate) over another. Job Analysis Measurement Statistics Why is selection important? Decreases the likelihood of hiring “bad” employees - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Personnel Selection
Selection• What is selection?
– Using scientific methodology to choose one alternative (job candidate) over another.
• Job Analysis• Measurement• Statistics
• Why is selection important?– Decreases the likelihood of hiring “bad” employees– Increases the likelihood that people will be treated fairly when hiring
decisions are made• Reduces discrimination• Reduces likelihood of discrimination lawsuits
• What do I/O psychologists need to know about selection?– How to select predictors of job performance (criteria problem)– How to accurately indentify and validate predictors for specific jobs (job
analysis)• Rely on cognitive and personality variables
– How to reliably and validly measure these predictors– How to use these predictors to make selection decisions
Criteria
• Criteria - standards used to judge the quality of (discriminate among) alternatives.
• For I/O psychologists, this means judging the quality of employees, programs, and units in the organization.
ActualCriterion
ConceptualCriterion
Criterion relevance
Abstract concept or idea
Measures that act as “proxies”
Criterion contamination
Criterion deficiency
Illegal Criteria
• Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits using selection practices that have an unequal impact on members of a different:– Race– Color– Sex– Religion– National Origin
Types of Illegal Discrimination• Disparate Treatment (Opportunities)
– Discrimination decisions based on one of five prohibited categories
• Disparate Impact (Outcomes)– Illegal discrimination is any practice (without a business justification) that
has unequal consequences for members of protected groups.
• Roger Parloff, Fortune senior editor:– Though disparate treatment and disparate impact cases are both aimed
at eradicating the same thing, there is potential tension between them.• The goal of disparate treatment cases is to guarantee every worker equal
opportunity, but not equal outcomes. • The focus of disparate impact cases is on equal outcomes.
– If one pursues equal outcomes too single-mindedly, one can compromise the principle of equal opportunity by inducing the use of quotas.
Determining Disparate Impact
• The 4/5ths Rule– Disparate impact occurs if the selection ratio
for any minority group is less than 4/5ths of the selection ratio of the majority group
100 male applicants
20 males selected
50 female applicants
20/100 = .20
.20 * 4/5ths(.80) = .16
At least 16% of people from minority group should be selected using a given procedure.
50 * .16 = 8
At least 8 females should be selected
Summary
• Criteria– Reliable and valid predictors of job performance.– All criteria suffer from:
• Deficiency• Contamination
– Criteria typically classified as:• Objective• Subjective
– These labels can be misleading
– There are several illegal criteria– There are two types of illegal discrimination
• Disparate treatment• Disparate impact
Choosing Predictors of Job Performance
• When selecting new employees, I/O psychologists use criteria that will identify effective on-the-job performance
• Performance is a function of the following:– Knowledge– Skills– Abilities– Motivation– Situational Constraints
Performance = (KSA)*Motivation – Situational Constraints
Job Analysis
• Describes:– the tasks that are performed
• type of work• tools used• working conditions
– human qualities (KSAOs or competencies) needed to perform the work
• Tells us what tasks people do and the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to accomplish those tasks.
Types of Job Analysis
• Job-Oriented– Job components (for a carpenter)
• Duty: construct houses• Task: build kitchen cabinets• Activity: assemble cabinets• Element: drill holes
• Person-Oriented– KSAO’s (for a carpenter)
• Knowledge: Have information to do a task• Skill: Practiced act or behavior.• Ability: Stable capacity to do task.• Other personal characteristics: personality, interests, etc.
Examples Of KSAOs For Different Occupations Job Knowledge
Skill Ability Other Personal
Characteristics
Lawyer Constitutional rights
Writing clearly Communica-tion
Willingness to work long hours
Nurse Surgical procedures
Drawing blood Remain calm in a crisis
Lack of squeamishness in the sight of blood
Plumber Pipe design Soldering joints
Hand-eye coordination
Willingness to get dirty
PoliceOfficer
Knowledge oflegal arrestprocedures
Writing clearly Vigilence Willingness to risk personal safety
Data Collection Approaches
• Questionnaire– diaries
• Interview– critical incidents
• Observation• Analyst does work
Who do you collect data from?
Subject Matter Experts-incumbent-supervisor-co-worker
Hiring the Best
• Job: Firefighter• What are the major duties of a college
professor?• What tasks are performed to complete each
duty• Develop a set of KSAO’s necessary for these
tasks. – should be useable for recruiting and evaluating
• Challenges?• What other information would you want? How
would you get it?
Selection• Predictors
– Any variable used to forecast a criterion– Issues
• Quality (Reliability & Validity)• Types
– Psychological Tests & Inventories– Interviews– Assessment Centers– Work Samples & Situational Exercises– Biodata– Peer Assessment– Letters of Recommendation
Biographical Data
• Good questions are about events that are: – historical– external– discrete– controllable (by the individual)– verifiable– equal access– job relevant– non-invasive(Mael, 1991)
• Rationale vs. empirical method
Biographical Data
• Strong criterion validity– drug use, criminal history predicts dysfunctional police
behavior (Sarchione et al., 1998)– not redundant with personality (McManus & Kelly,
1999)• Measurement issues
– Generalizability– Faking– Fairness– Privacy concerns
Interviews
• Structured vs. Unstructured• Info. gathering vs. interpersonal behavior sample• Situational interview
– “How would you handle a circumstance in which you needed the help of a person you did not like?”
• Measurement issues– structured has more criterion related validity– value of unstructured?– Illusion of validity
• Guidelines for structured interviews– interviewer should know about job– interviewer should NOT have prior info about interviewee– individual ratings of dimensions AFTER the interview is over
Work Samples
• perform a task under standardized conditions• historically were for blue collar jobs
– e.g. use of tools, demonstrate driving skills
• white collar examples– speech interview for foreign worker, test of basic
chemistry knowledge,
• Measurement issues– high criterion validity if skills are similar to job– costly to administer– work best with mechanical, rather than people-oriented
tasks
Assessment Centers
• Realistic tasks done in groups• Assessed by multiple of raters rating multiple domains• Multiple methods
– in basket group exercise– leaderless group exercise
• Strong criterion validity (e.g., teachers, police)– overall scores predict job performance
• Measurement issues– costly to administer– different ratings on a task too highly correlated– dimension ratings not correlated strongly across tasks– fix? focus on behavior checklists and rater training
Drug Testing
• opinion?• People are more accepting of it if job involves
risks to others (Paronto, et al., 2002)• Measurement issues
– reliability is very high, but not perfect– Validity?
• Normands, Salyards, & Mahoney (1990)– over 5000 postal service applicants– those who tested positive had 59% higher absenteeism, 47%
more likely to be fired– no differences in injury or accidents
Letters of Recommendation
• ever written a letter of recommendation for someone?
• worst criterion validity of all commonly used assessment tools– some use for screening extremely bad candidates
• Measurement issues– restriction of range– writer bias/investment
Psychological Test Characteristics
• Group vs. individual• Objective vs. open-ended• Paper & pencil vs. performance• Power vs. speed
Psychological Test Types
• Ability Tests– Cognitive ability– Psychomotor ability
• Knowledge and skill or achievement• Integrity• Personality• Emotional Intelligence• Vocational interest
Integrity Tests
• Designed to predict whether employee will engage in counterproductive work behavior (CWB)– overt vs. personality (covert)
• Better at predicting general CWB and performance than theft (r = .30 -.40)
• Measurement issues– difficult to measure criteria!– proprietary issues (have to pay for them)– legal and privacy issues– faking
Personality Tests
• measures predispositions toward particular feelings and behaviors
• not all tests are based on past research• many have shown incremental validity
– e.g., predict when controlling for IQ
• Measurement issues– job relevance– not easily/often faked or a problem if faked
(e.g., job faking too)
The Big Five Inventory
• Openness – Highs: imaginative, creative, and to seek out cultural and educational
experiences. – Lows: more down-to-earth, less interest in art & more practical.
• Conscientiousness – Highs: methodical, well organized and dutiful. – Lows: less careful, less focused & more likely to be distracted
• Extraversion– Highs: energetic and seek out the company of others. – Lows (introverts): tend to be more quiet and reserved.
• Agreeableness– Highs: tend to be trusting, friendly and cooperative. – Lows: tend to be more aggressive and less cooperative
• Neuroticism– Highs: prone to insecurity and emotional distress. – Lows: more relaxed, less emotional and less prone to distress.
Intelligence Tests
• Have greatest validity• Often very easy and inexpensive to use
– Wonderlic Personnel Test• 50 items
• 12 minute time limit
• Sample questions
• Interpreting scores?
• Scores vary as a function of race and ethnicity– Ethical issues?– Face validity?
Determining “Test” Utility
• Goal of testing is to make decisions about individuals on the basis of the amount of a given trait they possess.
• A test should give us a “true” picture of a person’s traits
• Test Score = True Score + Error
Reliability and Validity
• Reliability– Test-retest– Parallel (Alternate) forms– Internal Consistency
• Validity– Face– Content– Criterion-related– Construct-related
Predictive Validity for Overall Job Performance of General Mental Ability Scores Combined
With a Second Predictor
Selection Method Validity
GMA +
supplement
Gain in
validity
from
supplement
% increase
in validity
GMA tests .51
Work sample tests .54 .6 3 .12 24%
Integrity tests .41 .65 .14 27%
Conscientiousness tests .31 .60 .09 18%
Employment interviews (structured) .51 .63 .12 24%
Employment interviews (unstructured) .38 .55 .01 08%
Job knowledge tests .48 .58 .07 14%
Job tryout procedure .44 .58 .07 14%
Reference checks .26 .57 .06 14%
Job experience .18 .54 .03 06%
Biographical data .35 .52 .01 02%
Assessment centers .37 .53 .02 04%
Interests .10 .52 .01 02%
Graphology .02 .51 .00 00%
Predictive Validity for Overall Performance in Job Training Programs of General Mental Ability
Scores Combined With a Second Predictor
Selection Method Validity
GMA +
supplement
Gain in
validity
from
supplement
% increase
in validity
GMA tests .56
Integrity tests .38 .67 .11 20 %
Conscientiousness tests .30 .65 .09 16%
Employment interviews (structured &
unstructured) .35 .59 .03 05%
Reference checks .23 .61 .05 09%
Job experience .01 .56 .00 00%
Biographical data .30 .56 .00 00%
Interests .18 .59 .03 05%
Factors Influencing Selection Quality
• Three factors influence selection quality– Predictor validity– Selection ratio– Base rate
Selection Decisions
Reject Accept
Predictor Score
Cri
teri
on P
erfo
rman
ce SuccessfulPerformance
UnsuccessfulPerformance
r =.60
A
B
C
Dbr = .50
sr = .50
TrueNegatives False
Positives
FalseNegatives
r =1.00True
Positives
sr = .25
Effect of Selection Ratio on Predictor Utility
Reject Accept
Predictor Score
Cri
teri
on P
erfo
rman
cer =.40
Selection Cutoff Score
sr =.50 sr =.10sr =.95
Effect of Predictor Validityon Predictor Utility
Predictor Score
Cri
teri
on P
erfo
rman
cer =.40
Selection Cutoff Score
sr =.50
r =.80r =.00
Selection Strategies• 3 Basic Strategies
– Multiple Regression• Assumes relationships between predictors and
criterion are linear• Assumes having a lot of one attribute
compensates for having little of another
– Multiple Cutoff• Applicants must achieve a set, minimum score
on all predictors
– Multiple Hurdle• Applicants must achieve satisfactory scores on
a number of predictors that are administered over time.