Employee Testing and Selection

© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook The University of West Alabamat e n t h e d i t i o nGary DesslerGary DesslerChapterChapter 6 6Part Part 2 2 Recruitment and Placement Recruitment and PlacementEmployee Testing and SelectionAfter studying this chapter, After studying this chapter, you should be able to:you should be able to:Explain what is meant by reliability and validity. Explain how you would go about validating a test. Cite and illustrate our testing guidelines. Give examples of some of the ethical and legal considerations in testing. List eight tests you could use for employee selection, and how you would use them. Explain the key points to remember in conducting background investigations.* *© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.662 2Why Careful Selection is ImportantØThe importance of selecting the right employeesOrganizational performance always depends in part on subordinates having the right skills and attributes. Recruiting and hiring employees is costly. The legal implications of incompetent hiring EEO laws and court decisions related to nondiscriminatory selection procedures The liability of negligent hiring of workers with questionable backgrounds 3© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Avoiding Negligent Hiring ClaimsØCarefully scrutinize information supplied by the applicant on his or her employment application.ØGet the applicants written authorization for reference checks, and carefully check references.ØSave all records and information you obtain about the applicant.ØReject applicants who make false statements of material facts or who have conviction records for offenses directly related and important to the job in question.ØBalance the applicants privacy rights with others “need to know,” especially when you discover damaging information.ØTake immediate disciplinary action if problems arise.4© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Basic Testing ConceptsØReliabilityThe consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with the identical or equivalent tests. Are the test results stable over time? ØTest validityThe accuracy with which a test, interview, and so on measures what it purports to measure or fulfills the function it was designed to fill. Does the test actually measure what we need for it to measure?5© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Sample Picture Card from Thematic Apperception TestFigure 61 How do you interpret this picture?Source: Harvard University Press. Used with permission.6© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Types of ValidityØCriterion validityA type of validity based on showing that scores on the test (predictors) are related to job performance (criterion). Are test scores in this class related to students knowledge of human resource management? ØContent validityA test that is content valid is one that contains a fair sample of the tasks and skills actually needed for the job in question. Do the test questions in this course relate to human resource management topics? Is taking an HR course the same as doing HR?7© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Examples of Web Sites Offering Information on Tests or Testing ProgramsØwww.hr-guide.com/data/G371.htm Provides general information and sources for all types of employment tests. Øhttp:/buros.unl.edu/buros/jsp/search.jsp Provides technical information on all types of employment and nonemployment tests. Øwww.ets.org/testcoll/index.html Provides information on over 20,000 tests. Øwww.kaplan.com/ Information from Kaplan test preparation on how various admissions tests work. Øwww.assessments.biz/default.asp?source=GW-emptest One of many firms offering employment tests.Figure 62 8© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.How to Validate a TestØStep 1: Analyze the jobPredictors: job specification (KSAOs) Criterion: quantitative and qualitative measures of job success ØStep 2: Choose the testsTest battery or single test? ØStep 3: Administer the testConcurrent validation Current employees scores with current performance Predictive validation Later-measured performance with prior scores9© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.How to Validate a Test (contd)ØStep 4: Relate Test Scores and CriteriaCorrelation analysis Actual scores on the test with actual performance ØStep 5: Cross-Validate and RevalidateRepeat Step 3 and Step 4 with a different sample of employees.10© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Expectancy ChartFigure 63 Note: This expectancy chart shows the relation between scores made on the Minnesota Paper Form Board and rated success of junior draftspersons. Example: Those who score between 37 and 44 have a 55% chance of being rated above average and those scoring between 57 and 64 have a 97% chance.11© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.Testing Prog