Employee Testing and selection /Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management
Fifteenth Edition
Chapter 6
Employee Testing
and Selection
Copyright © 2017, 2015, 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
6-1. Answer the question: Why is it important to
test and select employees?
6-2. Explain what is meant by reliability and
validity.

6-3. List and briefly describe the basic categories of
selection tests, with examples.
6-4. Explain how to use two work simulations for
selection.
6-5. Describe four ways to improve an employer’s
background checking process.
Learning Objectives (2 of 2)

I.
Answer the question: Why is it
important to test and select
employees?

Why Employee Selection Is Important
Organizational
performance
Costs of recruiting
and hiring
The Importance of Selecting
the Right Employees
Legal obligations
and liability
Nothing is more important than hiring the right
employees. It is important for three main reasons:
1.organizational performance, 2. costs of recruiting
and hiring, 3. and legal obligations and liability.
The time to screen out undesirables is before they are in the
door, not after

Negligent hiring:
hiring workers with
questionable
backgrounds
without proper
safeguards

Person and job/organization fit
The main aim of employee
selection is to achieve person-job
fit.
person-job fit: refers to matching (1) the
knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and
competencies that are central to
performing the job ( as determined by job
analysis) With (2) the prospective
employee’s knowledge, skills, abilities ,
and competencies

person-job fit
the knowledge,
skills, abilities
(KSAs), and
competencies
that are central
to performing
the job ( as
determined by
job analysis)
the
prospective
employee’s
knowledge,
skills, abilities
, and
competencies

person- organization fit
A candidate might be “ right” for
a job, but wrong for the
organization. Employers should
care about person-organization
fit as well

II.
Explain what is meant by
reliability and validity.

Basic Testing Concepts
• Reliability
–Describes the consistency of
scores obtained by the same
person when retested with the
identical or alternate forms of the
same test.
–Are test results stable over
time?

Test Validity
Indicates whether a test is measuring
what it is supposed to be measuring.
Does the test actually measure what
it’s supposed to measure?

Utility Analysis
Answering the question “ does it pay to use the
test?” requires utility analysis.
The information required for utility analysis
generally includes:
1. The validity of the selection measure.
2. A measure of job performance in dollars.
3. Applicant’s average test scores.
4. Cost of testing applicant.
5. The number of applicants tested and selected.

Example: HR as a profit center
Reducing turnover at KeyBank
Financial services firm KeyBank knew it needed
to screen and select tellers and call-center
employees. It calculated its cost about $10,000 to
select and train an employee, but it was losing
13% of new tellers and call-center employees in
the first 90 days. That turnover number dropped
to 4% after KeyBank simpleminded a virtual job
tryout candidate assessment screening job tool.
$1.7 million cost saving in teller turnover in one
year, simply by better hiring decisions, reducing
training costs and increasing quality of hires “
said the firm’s HR director”

Validity Generalization
Conducting validity studies for the selection tools
for cost-effective by finding tests and other
screening tools that have been shown to be valid
in other companies to be used .
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.

III.
List and briefly describe the
basic categories of selection
tests, with examples.

Types of Tests
We can classify tests according to whether they
measure:
1. Cognitive (mental) abilities.
2. Motor and physical abilities.
3. Personality and interests
4. Achievement.

1. Cognitive tests include :
( A) intelligence tests (IQ):
general reasoning ability. Tests for general
intellectual abilities. They measure not a single
trait but rather a range of abilities, including
(B) specific mental abilities ( specific
cognitive abilities): like inductive and
deductive reasoning, verbal comprehension, and
numerical ability memory and inductive &
deductive reasoning.
memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, and numerical ability

‫مختلف‬ ‫تصنيف‬
‫للذكاء‬ ‫العام‬ ‫الحد‬ ‫من‬ ‫اقل‬ ‫ذكاء‬ ‫درجة‬:58-68
‫األولى‬ ‫حدوده‬ ‫في‬ ‫للذكاء‬ ‫العام‬ ‫الحد‬:68-80
‫العام‬ ‫الحد‬ ،‫جيدة‬ ‫ذكاء‬ ‫درجة‬:80-115
‫جدا‬ ‫جيدة‬ ‫ذكاء‬ ‫درجة‬,‫العام‬ ‫الحد‬ ‫من‬ ‫أعلى‬:115-122
‫العبقرية‬ ‫حدود‬ ‫من‬ ‫ويقترب‬ ‫جدا‬ ‫ممتازة‬ ‫ذكاء‬ ‫درجة‬:122-135
‫عبقريا‬ ‫يكون‬ ‫يكاد‬ ‫وموهوب‬ ‫جدا‬ ‫ممتازة‬ ‫ذكاء‬ ‫درجة‬:135-145
‫العبقرية‬ ‫درجة‬ ‫في‬ ‫ذكاء‬:145-165
‫كبير‬ ‫بشكل‬ ‫ذكاء‬:165-185
‫جدا‬ ‫ونادرة‬ ‫شديد‬ ‫ذكاء‬:185-200
‫موجودة‬ ‫تكون‬ ‫تكاد‬ ‫ال‬ ‫العبقرية‬ ‫من‬ ‫مذهلة‬ ‫درجة‬:200-***

Example:
Type of Question Applicant Might Expect
on a Test of Mechanical Comprehension
specific mental abilities

2. Motor and
physical abilities.
Motor abilities such as:
 finger dexterity.
 manual dexterity.
 reaction time ( if you hiring pilots).
Physical abilities include
 static strength ( such as lifting weights).
 dynamic strength ( like pull-ups).
 body coordination ( as in jumping rope).
stamina

3. Measuring
personality and interests.
A person’s cognitive and
physical abilities alone seldom
explain his or her job performance. Other
factors, like motivation and interpersonal
skills, are very important.
“ most people are hired based on qualification, but
are fired for non performance” .
Nonperformance “ is usually the result of personal
characteristics, such as attitude, motivation, and
especially, temperament.

What do Personality tests measure?
basic aspects of an applicant’s personality, such as
introversion, stability, and motivation.
Some of these tests are:
1. projective: ( like an inkblot
or clouded picture and the person
reacts to it his or her attitudes). Or
Make a picture story (MAPS).
2. Self- reported: applicants fill
Them out themselves.(figure 6-7 ) page 214).
2. The “Big Five” : the big five personality dimension:
extraversion, emotional stability/ neuroticism,
agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to
experience

The “Big Five”
Extraversion
Emotional stability/
Neuroticism
Agreeableness
Openness to
experience
Conscientiousness

4. Achievement tests
measure what someone has learned.
Most of the tests you take in school
are achievement tests. They
measure your “job knowledge” in
areas like economics, marketing, or
human resources.

Types of Tests
Cognitive
abilities
Motor and
physical abilities
Personality
and interests
What Different Tests Measure
Current
achievement
intelligence tests (IQ)
B) specific mental
abilities ( specific
cognitive abilities)
1. Projective
2. Self- reported
3. The “Big Five”

Work Samples and Simulations
1. Work samples: actual job tasks used in
testing applicant’s performance
( measuring performance directly ).
•Work sampling: differ from most tests, because
they measure job performance directly ( for example for
a cashier may include operating a cash register and
counting money).
examinees are presented with situations
representative of the job for which they’re
applying, and are evaluated on their
responses.

FIGURE 6–7 Example of a Work Sampling
Question
Checks key before installing
against:
___ shaft score 3
___ pulley score 2
___ neither score 1
Note: This is one step in
installing pulleys and belts.

Situational judgment tests
Are personnel tests “ designed to
asses applicant’s judgment regarding
a situation encountered in the
workplace”.
They are effective and widely used.

3. Management assessment centers: is two
to three days simulation in which 10 to 12
candidates perform realistic tasks( like
making presentations) in hypothetical
situation and are scored on their
performance. It involves testing and the
use of management games

Situational testing and video-based
situational testing
1. Situational test: a test that requires
examinees to respond to situations
representative of the job
2. Video-based simulation: a situational
test in which examinees respond to
video simulation of realistic job
situations

6. The miniature job training and
evaluation approach: training
candidates to perform several of the
job’s tasks, and then evaluating the
candidates’ performance prior to hire.
( example: HONDA company)

Realistic job previews: applicants who
receive realistic job previews are more
likely to turn down job offers, but firms
are more likely to have lower turnover.
( example: Walmart found that many new
associates quit within the first 90 days)

Background Investigations and
Other Selection Methods
• Testing is only part of an employer’s selection
process, other tools may include:
– Background investigation and reference
checks
– Preemployment information services
– Honesty testing
– graphology
– Substance abuse screening

Why perform Background
investigation and reference
checks?
To verify factual information
provided by applicants
To uncover damaging
information such as criminal
records
To avoid hiring mistakes

Background Investigations and
Reference Checks
Former Employers
Current or former
Supervisors
Written References
Social Networking Sites
Commercial Credit
Rating Companies
Sources of
Information

Limitations on Background Investigations
and Reference Checks
Background
Investigations and
Reference Checks
Supervisor
Reluctance
Employer
Guidelines
Legal Issues:
Privacy
Legal Issues:
Defamation

Other Selection Methods
The Polygraph and Honesty
Testing
graphology
Physical exams
Substance abuse screening
Human lie detectors
Complying with immigration law
Other Selection
Methods

Physical Examinations:
• Reasons for preemployment medical examinations:
– To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of
the position.
– To discover any medical limitations to be taken into account in
placing the applicant.
– To establish health record for future insurance and
compensation claims .
– To reduce absenteeism and accidents.
– To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to the
applicant.
Graphology: using of handwriting analysis to determine
the writer’s basic personality traits

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Employee Testing and selection /Human Resource Management

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