This document discusses the use of personality testing in hiring and presents both sides of the debate. It begins by explaining why employers use personality tests, such as to accelerate hiring and reduce costs associated with bad hires. However, it also outlines concerns with personality testing, such as potential discrimination, privacy issues, and questions around the validity and reliability of such tests. The document concludes by suggesting alternative hiring tools that take a more holistic approach by combining various assessments rather than relying solely on personality tests.
Attraction, recruitment and selection. How can we take unconscious bias out o...Binna Kandola
Gaining access to an organisation can be a challenge to visible minorities. That’s why, whether it be facilitating access to influential networks, curbing discrimination in the shortlisting process or improving interview practice, we must ensure recruitment and selection processes are fair. Learn more about how you can make this happen.
In today’s job market, “Likeonomics” explains the new affinity economy where the most likeable people, ideas and organizations are the ones we believe in, buy from, and get inspired by. The “Likeability Factor” is a subtle but important factor candidates must embrace in order to advance to the next round in the hiring process. This approach holds true for job seekers, career changers, and targeting new clients.
Strong social interaction skills—along with solid expertise and a list of accomplishments—can go far to minimize these barriers to a job offer. This paper demonstrates how to package core competencies and functional expertise that can be articulated with a high Likeability Factor. Getting hired is always about which candidate best responds to the needs of the hiring manager, and not necessarily about the most qualified person.
Attraction, recruitment and selection. How can we take unconscious bias out o...Binna Kandola
Gaining access to an organisation can be a challenge to visible minorities. That’s why, whether it be facilitating access to influential networks, curbing discrimination in the shortlisting process or improving interview practice, we must ensure recruitment and selection processes are fair. Learn more about how you can make this happen.
In today’s job market, “Likeonomics” explains the new affinity economy where the most likeable people, ideas and organizations are the ones we believe in, buy from, and get inspired by. The “Likeability Factor” is a subtle but important factor candidates must embrace in order to advance to the next round in the hiring process. This approach holds true for job seekers, career changers, and targeting new clients.
Strong social interaction skills—along with solid expertise and a list of accomplishments—can go far to minimize these barriers to a job offer. This paper demonstrates how to package core competencies and functional expertise that can be articulated with a high Likeability Factor. Getting hired is always about which candidate best responds to the needs of the hiring manager, and not necessarily about the most qualified person.
Job Analysis, Definition of Job Analysis, Types of information for Job Analysis, Steps in Job Analysis, Guidelines for Job Analysis, Methods for collecting Information
Job Analysis, Definition of Job Analysis, Types of information for Job Analysis, Steps in Job Analysis, Guidelines for Job Analysis, Methods for collecting Information
In any business, performance is key. In performance, organization is key to growth. In the past five years,
the business world has seen the birth of the Exponential Organization (ExO). An ExO is able to eliminate
the incremental, linear way traditional companies get bigger. It leverages assets like community, big data,
algorithms, and new technology into achieving performance benchmarks ten times better than its peers.
This new breed of company has revolutionised how an organisation can accelerate its growth by using
technology.
After researching this phenomenon and the future of organisations, the authors documented ten characteristics of ExOs. In their book, Exponential Organizations, they offer guidance to startups and multinationals alike on how any company can streamline its performance and grow to the next level. This pivotal work was chosen by Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, to be one of Bloomberg’s Best Books of 2015.
It was also selected as Frost & Sullivan͛s 2014 Growth, Innovation, and Leadership Book of the Year. According to Ray Kurzwell, Director of Engineering at Google, the book is required reading for anyone interested in ways exponential technologies are reinventing best practice in business.
Działalność i zróżnicowanie Euroregionów na terenie Polski [The Activity and ...Małgorzata Sikora-Gaca
The idea of the Euro-regions in Europe appeared together with the development of the integration trend among the European states. In time, the economic benefits resulting from such cooperation were recognized, and an interaction was established as a bridge uniting the continent not only in terms of social issues, but also of economic or cultural bases. Euro-regions have not only become a specific form of the EU's regional policy, but they are also primarily an expression of the active operations of the cross-border structures functioning in the integrated Europe. Thus, the new Member States are required to carry out and implement the idea of the functioning of Euroregions in the Community.
Działania społeczności międzynarodowej na rzecz likwidacji zjawiska terroryzm...Małgorzata Sikora-Gaca
T. Najda, M. Sikora-Gaca, Działania społeczności międzynarodowej na rzecz likwidacji zjawiska terroryzmu w XX i XXI wieku. Wybrane aspekty działalności ONZ i Unii Europejskiej w zakresie bezpieczeństwa, „Studia Gdańskie. Wizje i rzeczywistość” 2014, t. 10, s. 164-178. The main purpose of this article is to determine the causes and scale of the phenomenon of terrorism in the 20th and the 21st century and the action of the international community to eliminate this phenomenon. The first part contains theoretical issues of terrorism. The history of the terrorism phenomenon will be presented, based on a thorough research of the literature. The second part describes several terrorist groups in the world. Al-Qaeda have been listed as examples of the most prevalent, but also the most dangerous groups of this type. The fragment contains the description of the internal structure, strategic objectives and major attacks of each terrorist group as a direct result of their activities. The final part of the thesis deals with the action taken by the international community against terrorism. The European Union and UNO have been taken into consideration as the most active organiza-tions when it comes to terrorism.
Actividad para la asignatura INTRODUCCIÓN A LAS RELACIONES Y ASUNTOS PUBLICOS, perteneciente al PENSUM de estudio de comunicación social de la Univrsidad Fermín Toro Venezuela.
Strayer University - OnlineHRM-510 Business Employment Law .docxdarwinming1
Strayer University - Online
HRM-510: Business Employment Law
August 12, 2018
The Hiring Process and Managing a Diverse Workforce
As the HR Director of my association, I must utilize an assortment of business laws to build arrangements and techniques that help the advancement of a decent variety in the work environment. My present association is looking for an Executive Administrative Assistant who will work intimately with an answer to the Chief Legal Officer. My organization obviously, empowers everybody who is keen on the situation to apply as we are at last looking to enlist the best individual for the position. As the HR Director, I have seen a few episodes that finished with legitimate activity because specific business laws were not utilized while making the association’s enrollment strategies and application process. I must guarantee that I shield the association from lawful repercussions, as well as devise compelling strategies and plans that secure potential and existing representatives. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans Disabilities Acts are just a couple of the fundamental laws that add to the work laws that are expected of bosses to use amid all phases of the enlisting procedure.
Enrollment or Employment Methods
Conveying the accessibility of business chances to work searchers is the initial phase in the enrollment procedure. It is critical that business laws are remembered when creating enrollment techniques for an association. As the HR Director, I have chosen that the best and best enrollment strategies for my association are 1) Social Media 2) Job Advertisements and 3) Employment/Recruitment Agencies.
Online networking has assumed control over this age and is associating individuals in more routes than one. Numerous associations are bouncing on the online networking fleeting trend and have begun their own Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. More professionally, there are internet-based life organizing locales particularly for job seekers like
LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, among others. These can be utilized as incredible selecting apparatuses because they are not that costly, and they can achieve an awesome measure of individuals in a short measure of time. Notwithstanding publicizing work openings, web-based life gives the association another approach to check data given by the candidate. Being dynamic via web-based networking media administrations like Twitter enables you to 'meet' potential competitors from multiple points of view: through shared associations, through shared talk subjects, and because it's simple for work searchers to get in touch with you. A fourth of UK organizations are enlisting using expert systems administration locales like LinkedIn.
Your internet-based life movement likewise extends your boss image, indicating hopefuls what your authoritative culture resembles. That is incredible for drawing in top ability, accepting your way of life is great. It works the other much as ...
Chapter 6Selection, Placement, and Job Fit Learni.docxjoyjonna282
Chapter 6
Selection, Placement,
and Job Fit
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
• Identify a wide range of criteria that employers use to select the right employees.
• Recognize the benefits and risks associated with effective or ineffective employee
selection.
• List, describe, and assess commonly used employee selection tools.
• Apply the concepts of validity and reliability to various selection methods.
• Identify approaches to increasing the validity and reliability of the selection process.
• Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges in selection.
6
Gary Waters/Ikon Images/Getty Images
Pre-Test Chapter 6
Pre-Test
1. refer(s) to a wide range of personal traits that tend to be stable across
situations and over time.
a) Attitudes
b) Human capital
c) Social capital
d) Individual differences
2. A computer programmer who enjoyed working alone on autonomous projects has been
promoted to a managerial position and finds that she is not as happy being responsible
for a team. Her new position is an example of poor:
a) person-job fit.
b) psychological contract.
c) person-organization fit.
d) selection criteria.
3. refers to problem-solving ability and the capacity for abstract reasoning;
refers to the ability to apply past learning to new situations.
a) Fluid intelligence; crystallized intelligence
b) Crystallized intelligence; fluid intelligence
c) Ability; aptitude
d) Aptitude; ability
4. Concurrent validity of a selection tool is established through assessing potential employ-
ees using the tool in question and then correlating their scores to their subsequent per-
formance after they are hired.
a) True
b) False
5. Linking planning, work design, and employee compensation with selection and the entire
staffing process ensures that all processes have a unified goal and mesh effectively.
a) True
b) False
6. Losing competitive advantage and equalizing unique talent are two outcomes for organi-
zations that promote workforce diversity.
a) True
b) False
Answers
1. d) Individual differences. The correct answer can be found in Section 6.1.
2. a) person-job fit. The correct answer can be found in Section 6.2.
3. a) Fluid intelligence; crystallized intelligence. The correct answer can be found in
Section 6.3.
Introduction Chapter 6
4. b) False. The correct answer can be found in Section 6.4.
5. a) True. The correct answer can be found in Section 6.5.
6. b) False. The correct answer can be found in Section 6.6.
Introduction
Outside of hiring for positions within its own function, the HRM function seldom makes
any other hiring decisions within an organization. That is, the final decision regarding whom
to hire is made by a manager (or, in some cases, representatives of a work team) who has
obtained the necessary hiring requisition that initiates the recruitment process discussed in
Chapter 5 and leads to the selection pr ...
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN 1
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PLAN 6
Recruitment and Retention Plan
MBA 533
January 25, 2015
Recruitment and Retention Plan
Given the increase in product demand, I would need to hire a number of employees in different functional areas. Since the emphasis of Motors and More is on innovation, growth and product development, the areas that will require a huge number of new employees include marketing and sales, manufacturing, operations, customer relations and HR. In order to meet the 96% output requirement, there will be need for hiring an additional five employees in the manufacturing and operations departments. Because of high automation in the company, this number of employees will be enough in streamlining operations. The employees in the manufacturing and operations departments will be responsible for new product developments and making modifications to guarantee production efficiencies (Arthur, 2004).
There will also be the need for increasing the sales and marketing personnel by 25%, which will involve hiring an additional 6 employees to cater for the needs of the expanding market. Employees in all the departments will come from different demographic backgrounds. Motors and More will also hire two additional customer service representatives. The primary function of these representatives will be responding to and resolving customer queries. Lastly, the HR department will require four additional employees responsible for formulating policies and procedures, conducting employee appraisals and formulating training programs.
The turnover rate at Motors and More has currently been higher than normal. This might be due to a variety of reasons. First, the high turnover rate might stem for unfair promotion practices in the company. Even though approximately 48% of Motors and More employees are minorities, the senior and supervisory positions are primarily held by Caucasian men. This lack of inclusivity might be demoralizing some employees and make them feel detached from the company. According to Truss, Mankin, & Kelliher (2012) lack of inclusivity can lead to high turnover rates. Furthermore, the company might not have proper reward structures for compensating the employees. Failure to provide necessary incentives can reduce job satisfaction and increase the turnover rates.
Lack of flexible working arrangements is another factor that might be contributing to increased turnover in Motors and More. Employees might feel overburdened due to the high expectations to meet consumer demands, a factor that might decrease their commitment at work (Arthur, 2004). The absence of a functional HR Department also implies that the company has deficient training programs. This can also increase turnover rates. It is worth noting that turnover can have negative costs and implications for the org ...
Job Simulation- Whitepaper from Hiring Simulation AssessmentsHire Results
How often is your hiring team being fooled by candidates who were great in the interview but can’t execute on the job? Job Simulation can help you avoid costly hiring mistakes and ensure your employees are the best suited for their role.
In-Tray Exercise, Job Simulation & sales assessments are all terms companies are using to talk about the same goal... hiring better employees, especially in sales.
This whitepaper was written by a PhD author and available on HiringSimulation.com
Best recruitment companies in India use automation to the best possible extent to reduce errors and come up with results in no time! This takes inspiration from volume hiring practices that vary widely from regular recruitment.
M3 AssignmentModule 3 AssignmentDuring the past two years the fol.docxinfantsuk
M3 AssignmentModule 3 Assignment:During the past two years the following selected transactions occurred for Bass Boats Inc.:Year 15-JanPurchased equipment for $100,000, signing a 9 month, 6% note Payable.26-JanRecorded the week's sales of $75,000, 70% on account and 30% cash. All sales are subject to a 6 1/2% sales tax.7-FebRemitted last week's sales tax to the appropriate government agency.1-MayBorrowed $150,000 on a 6 year, 8% note payable calling for annual interest payments beginning next May 1. 5-OctPaid off the January 5 note payable.30-NovPurchased inventory at a cost of $7,200, signing a 3-month, 8% note payable for that amount.31-DecAccrued warranty expense is estimated at 3% of total sales of $1,000,000.31-DecRecord accrued interest on all outstanding notes payable (make a separate journal entry for each). Year 228-FebPaid off the 8% inventory note plus interest at maturity1-MayPaid the interest for one year on the long-term note payable.Requirements:1Record the transactions in the journal. Omit explanations.JournalDateAccountsPost. RefDebitCredit
Chapter 6
Selection, Placement,
and Job Fit
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
• Identify a wide range of criteria that employers use to select the right employees.
• Recognize the benefits and risks associated with effective or ineffective employee
selection.
• List, describe, and assess commonly used employee selection tools.
• Apply the concepts of validity and reliability to various selection methods.
• Identify approaches to increasing the validity and reliability of the selection process.
• Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and challenges in selection.
6
Gary Waters/Ikon Images/Getty Images
Pre-Test Chapter 6
Pre-Test
1. refer(s) to a wide range of personal traits that tend to be stable across
situations and over time.
a) Attitudes
b) Human capital
c) Social capital
d) Individual differences
2. A computer programmer who enjoyed working alone on autonomous projects has been
promoted to a managerial position and finds that she is not as happy being responsible
for a team. Her new position is an example of poor:
a) person-job fit.
b) psychological contract.
c) person-organization fit.
d) selection criteria.
3. refers to problem-solving ability and the capacity for abstract reasoning;
refers to the ability to apply past learning to new situations.
a) Fluid intelligence; crystallized intelligence
b) Crystallized intelligence; fluid intelligence
c) Ability; aptitude
d) Aptitude; ability
4. Concurrent validity of a selection tool is established through assessing potential employ-
ees using the tool in question and then correlating their scores to their subsequent per-
formance after they are hired.
a) True
b) False
5. Linking planning, work design, and employee compensation with selection and the entire
staffing process ensures that all processes have a unified goal and mes ...
Human Resources and Personnel In the 1970s and 1980s, loya.docxadampcarr67227
Human Resources and Personnel
In the 1970s and 1980s, loyalty to the company was an important aspect in careers.
Sometimes referred to as the “psychological contract,” it meant “if I do my job the
company will take care of me.” After the downsizings of the early 1990s, loyalty to
companies disappeared. Now companies are beginning to understand the importance of
loyalty. In The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, & Lasting
Value by Reichheld and Teal, published by the Harvard Business School in 2001,
Reichheld contends that employees who understand their contribution and value to the
whole of the organization's processes are far happier and more productive than the
disenfranchised employee. The role of human resources managers in recruiting,
screening, interviewing, hiring and retaining employees is a critical success factor
today. The cost of hiring and training can easily be in excess of $25,000 per person, an
expense that impacts bottom-line profits. Creative approaches to finding, selecting, and
keeping the right employees are part of being a successful human resources manager.
Personnel recruiting has changed dramatically within the last 10 years. Today, the
Internet plays a much larger role in finding qualified applicants. The Internet speeds
the process, provides more detailed job descriptions and requirements, and interfaces
with databases easily. Personnel agencies who once only provided clerical support,
now offer doctors, lawyers, and CEOs on an interim basis. Some companies have
decided on the strategy of only hiring nonprofessional staff on a temporary basis. This
gives the company 6 months of experience with a potential employee before needing to
decide whether to offer them a position as an employee. This has two advantages: it is
quicker and less expensive.
The much publicized “downsizing” of the 1980s and early 1990s has obscured the fact
that the challenge facing American companies in the late 1990s and beyond will be to
cope with an increasingly short supply of skilled workers. Successful companies have
embraced valuing diversity, and recruit accordingly. The term diversity includes race,
gender, culture, age, religion, education, physical condition, sexual orientation, and
other distinguishing characteristics. Changes in the United States workforce are largest
in the age and race of workers. Workers are working longer hours, and that will
continue as social security has begun raising the benefit qualification age. The white,
non-Hispanic, segment of the population has been declining, and by 2020 will
comprise only 64% of the total United States population (Shaping Texas, 1995).
As part of employee testing and selection, drug testing is a much larger issue than most
realize. The importance of drug testing cannot be overlooked. A recent government
report indicates that 70% of drug users hold full-time jobs (as cited in American
Psych.
summer internship report - sourcing and recruitmentSwetaSaroha
this file is all about process of sourcing and recruitment by recruitment agencies. how they select candidates from various job portals and how they screen the resumes. each detail is mentioned in this report.
Employers increasingly rely on assessments to acquire, develop and promote the best talent. With this trend has come significant confusion about how to choose assessments and how to best use them to obtain a competitive advantage. This whitepaper will help you make sense of the assessment nonsense.
My discussionList at least three jobs and research the organi.docxherthaweston
My discussion:
List at least three jobs and research the organizations' recruiting practices. The jobs could be positions you have held or of those you want to hold. In your post, address the following questions:
How were you recruited for each position (or how is the typical employee recruited)?
From the organization’s perspective, what are the pros and cons of recruiting through these methods?
Your initial post should include at least two outside sources to support your response. Respond to at least two of classmates' posts.
REPLY TO EDWARDS DISCUSSION:
In today’s fast paced digital world, a lot of jobs recruit candidates through talent networks. “The growth of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Glassdoor, Indeed, and a variety of other tools available to promote your employment brand have now evolved from a model of "candidate relationship management" to a model of “talent network” from which to recruit” (Bersin, 2013, para. 2). I applied for my current job and previous other jobs in the past through Indeed, which is a popular site to look for jobs and post them as well. I was able to create an account, upload my resume and skills as well as my cover letter and apply for jobs with the click of a button. After submitting my resume, I received an email with a direct link to the company website where I created a candidate profile.
Once I created a profile, I took an assessment about customer service skills and a typing test as well. The job was for world travel holdings, which is a travel agency and they had open recruiting. The main advantage to open recruiting is “that everyone has the opportunity to apply, it does enable generation of a diverse pool of applicants, and it is very useful in situations where large numbers of applicants must be hired” (Youssef-Morgan & Stark, 2014, p. 5.3). All you had to have was 2 years of customer service and be able to pass the simple assessment and typing test that was given. Since this was a call center job, open recruiting was a high advantage because the company had to hire a couple of hundred people to start training within a couple of weeks.
However, with this type of recruitment, everybody was put in the same tier level even if candidates had a significant amount of experience in comparison to the other applicants. This means that a new hire with 7 years of experience will get equivalent pay to an individual who has only the minimum experience required. The advantage to recruiting using a talent network is that a company can recruit applicants fast, the disadvantage is that they can get overwhelmed with too many applicants.
References
Bersin, J. (2013, Jul. 4).
The 9 hottest trends in corporate recruiting
. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2013/07/04/the-9-hottest-trends-in-corporate-recruiting/#90ab2b5492b0
Youssef-Morgan, C. M., & Stark. E. (2014).
Strategic human resource management: Concepts, controversies, and evidence-based app ...
1. Running Head: THE USE OF PERSONALITY TESTING AS A HIRING TOOL: WHY IS IT STILL A THING?
Human Capital Management
(G2)
OBHR201
The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
Prepared for: Fermin Diez
Roman Svetkin (G1617072R)
November 10, 2016
2. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
2
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................3
Reasons why employers use personality tests........................................................................3
Benefits of personality testing in the workplace....................................................................4
Possible concerns and dangers of personality testing as a hiring tool....................................5
Possible alternatives and successors of personality testing in the work environment............6
Conclusion and findings.........................................................................................................7
3. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
3
Introduction
Which kind of personality assessment does your employer use: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, IPIP-NEO Personality
Test, or Kolbe Index? In the 20th
century, the application of personality tests in the workplace was widespread and
unchallenged. It was a common practice to test workers to determine “a good fit” for a company without anyone
questioning this process (Grant, 2013). According to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
“13% of US employers utilize personality assessments; 10,000 employees, 2,500 colleges, and 200 federal agencies
use the well-known Myers-Briggs test. Companies that use these types of assessments include McKinsey &
Company, the CIA, the Department of State, and 89 of the Fortune 100companies” (Schings, 2014). However,
whether personality tests are valid and necessary in the workplace have been a topic of dispute for the most of the
last decade (Millard, 2016). Their validity, application, and use are fiercely debated and differently perceived in the
business world. Some compare its effectiveness to Zodiac signs while others swear by it and forecast the employee
performance based on a personality test result. This research paper will delve deeper into the rationale of companies
behind relying solely on personality testing as a hiring tool at first rounds of screening to eliminate unsuitable
candidates. In addition to concerns about and dangers of personality tests in the hiring process, possible hiring tools
in the workplace will be introduced as alternatives to personality testing, and these alternatives will be structured in
a way to maximize the effectiveness when it comes to recruitment and hiring.
Why do employers use personality tests in general?
The use of personality tests dates back to the 1980s when the use of polygraph in the workplace was delegalized by
the US government, according to Employee Polygraph Protection Act (Chin, 1989). After that, personality tests
substituted polygraphs and recruiters resorted to testing potential employees extensively. In the modern workplace,
job applicants take personality tests even before getting interviewed and having their resumes screened. Moreover,
according to The Wall Street Journal, the percentage of employers using personality testing as a pre-hire assessment
has increased from 26% to 57% (Webber, 2016). There are many reasons why personality tests are used.
Firstly, employers believe that personality tests will accelerate the selection process and filter out potential
candidates with unbecoming traits. For instance, it is good to know that a job applicant is strong-willed and
determined when hiring a security guard to work in a college. The same applies to the service sector. For the same
reason, a sales representative is the face of a company whose ability to sell and persuade reflects on a company
reputation. Considering the constantly increasing supply of labor, employers raise the hiring bar by eliminating any
possibility of a bad hire and enforcing personality tests on job applicants (Lee, 1975). Lee’s research produced in
1975 when personality testing was only gathering momentum still holds true today. Therefore, managers do their
best to predict employee inclinations by utilizing aptitude and personality testing in order to reduce undesirable
behavior in the workplace.
Secondly, the return on investment of hiring is crucial to HR managers and companies, and a bad return on a hire
results in a significantly reduced bottom line. That is why employers make sure that employees are competent
4. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
4
enough in terms of mental capacity and temperament to perform assigned duties well. Moreover, it is costly to
replace a bad hire. Many additional costs of replacing an employee such as interviewing and processing burden a
company with hefty expenses. For instance, half of medium-sized American businesses admit that a bad hire in the
last year has cost them more than $30,000 in total (Hsieh, 2014). In addition, employers are vicariously liable for
their employees meaning that big bosses do not want to incur any legal costs and repercussions or be held
responsible for employee violence, ogling, harassing, and blunders (Millard, 2016). Similarly, employers use
personality testing because of a strong disbelief in reference checks. Employers rarely reveal negative aspects of
employee tenure and are reluctant to giving an honest appraisal of an employee performance. On the contrary, they
tend to embellish their subordinates’ achievements upon employee requests (Adler, 1996). Hence, employers strive
to reduce the cost of bad decision-making when it comes to hiring.
Finally, the personality testing businesses amount to a $500 million industry that grows at an exponential 10% per
year (Smith, 2016). Personality test developers spend a considerable fraction of their expenses on marketing to reach
out to HR managers. Some companies do not operate at the highest level of operational and ethical standards (Conte,
2014). Deceptive marketing and false advertising are used to sway employers towards purchasing their personality
tests to identify crude talent at the early stages of hiring, supposedly saving tremendous amount of money (Smith,
2016). The barriers to entry and exit of the personality testing entry are negligible which makes it attractive for
unscrupulous competitors to obscure employers’ gullible minds. In 2016 alone, 400 brand-new personality tests
have been coined and released on the market (Schultz, 2016). The new tests are trendy and popular with employers
who fall for developers’ advertising and promote it by word of mouth. Ultimately, personality tests programmers
who positively portray their products on the market and vouch for their quality without substantiating it with
sufficient research lure employers into using personality tests in the workplace (Van der Zee, 2001).
Are there any benefits of personality testing in the workplace?
After discussing why employers use personality tests, let us move on to what benefits personality tests have for
businesses, employers, and employees. While there is excessive evidence against using personality testing in the
hiring process, there are some benefits to consider (Schultz, 2016).
Taken before an interview, personality test results can help an interviewer narrow down the scope of questions to
ask an interviewee and pay attention to certain aspects of their personality more than others. As shown by Conte,
some favorable personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness are purportedly linked with predicting job
performance which might increase a chance of making a right bet when it comes to promotion to a leadership
position (Conte, 2014). Explicit communication of what kind of personality employers look for in personality tests
improves company culture because people of similar level of introversion and extraversion, leadership skills, and
soft skills are hired (Trainor, 2002). Workers who have similar traits tend to stay longer which leads to lower staff
turnover (Bregman, 2015). In team-oriented companies where collective accountability is promulgated, it is easier to
form high-performing teams when employers understand the personalities of team members. Moreover, employees
5. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
5
can get a better overall picture of a company that they apply to if they know what the company culture is like, and
what kind of predispositions HR managers prefer their workers to have. In addition, employers tend to be less
prejudiced towards minorities when they have a laid-out map of their performance and personality traits (Wihler,
2016). Overall, personality testing in the hiring process benefits both employees and employers in terms of
performance prediction, company culture enhancement, and bias elimination (Conte, 2014).
What are possible concerns and dangers of personality testing as a hiring tool?
There are numerous issues regarding personality testing that need to be taken into consideration before applying it in
the hiring process. According to Harvard Business Review, personality tests were designed for various purposes and
hiring was not one of them; hence, its application in the workplace is dubious. For instance, widely used The Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was initially practiced in educational and psychotherapeutic settings as well as in the
private sector such as the military and the US government (Bregman, 2015). While it is not outlawed to conduct
personality testing, employees should be aware of potential discrimination against minorities, the invasion of
privacy, and low reliability and validity of personality tests.
Firstly, the use of personality testing in the hiring process gives rise to an examination of possible seeds of
discrimination against many groups of minorities. Unexpectedly, whereas the very purpose of personality tests is to
deviate from a common misconception that the world favors “white middle-class males”, many argue that
personality tests are one-sided towards them and biased against people of color (Herman, 2014). A first group put at
a disadvantage that comes to mind is the mentally ill who are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act
(“ADA”) (Stabile, 2001). Since their personalities may not be stable, people with temporary mental disabilities such
as depression or a mild case of bipolar disorder may fail a personality test while having what it takes for the job. It
leads to screening out of such employees because they bear unbecoming traits that do not align with a company
vision (Weber, 2014). Potential employees with physical disabilities may fall victim to discrimination as well
(Hoffman, 2010). For instance, such people cannot truthfully answer certain questions such as “I use every minute
of my life efficiently” because of certain impediments that prevent them from managing their time as efficiently as
healthy people do. These kinds of questions draw out impertinent mental deviations and physical disabilities of job
applicants and infringe on their privacy. Moreover, some studies suggest that frequently personality tests are
culturally biased and discriminatory against certain ethnicities and nations (Butcher, 2000). For instance, the
American Civil Liberties Union found that the creators of the notorious Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory (MMPI) – test that is widely used in the workplace – used a research sample before the test rollout that
was "composed essentially of white, rural subjects from Minnesota”, leaving out many people of other ethnicities,
religions, and ages (Herman, 2014). Ultimately, the administration of personality tests in the hiring process brings
up some controversies as regards possible discrimination based on race, religion, age, and mental and physical
abilities of job applicants.
6. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
6
Secondly, personality testing in the workplace may lead to the infringement on human privacy. Job applicants are
made to divulge their personal information that they may not want to share including such sensitive aspects as
personal views on religion, political associations, certain behavioral patterns, and psychological inclinations (Grant,
2013). Therefore, potential employee privacy is violated by definition because personal privacy is “freedom from
damaging publicity, public scrutiny, secret surveillance, or unauthorized disclosure of one's personal data or
information, as by a government, corporation, or individual” (Parker, 1973). Since psychologists have no legal
immunity like lawyers, they are under no obligation to withhold personality test results. Consequently, test results
reach the public domain. Many unsuspecting nonprofessionals who assume personality testing to be confidential and
unwarily apply for a job are unaware of the fact that their test results may become publicly available (Yamamoto,
1966).
Lastly, validity and reliability of personality test have been challenged by numerous research and studies. From a
scientific standpoint, three categories need to be taken into account to identify the practicality of personality tests’
application in the hiring process: Comprehension, validity, and reliability. As for personality tests’ comprehension, a
vast majority of widespread personality tests do not include all personality traits that employers might be interested
in. For instance, besides the fact that MBTI was not invented for hiring, it typecasts people into 16 personality
categories. They give nebulous and general personality descriptions that can be applicable to millions (Brown,
2015). Personality tests have not been proved reliable as well according to many studies. In a recent article, Roman
Krznaric states that “if you retake the test after only a five-week gap, there’s around a 50 percent chance that you
will fall into a different personality category” (Grant, 2013). Moreover, the “test-retest” indicator is staggeringly low
since more than 50% of personality test takers report different results after five weeks of test administration
(Schuerger, 2016). Out of sheer curiosity, I took MBTI seven weeks ago and then retook it one week ago, answering
all the questions candidly. It turned out that my introverted personality was gone and I transformed into an
optimistic extrovert. Along with the reliability, the validity of personality tests is brought into question as well.
According to Martin, the validity of the personality test application to predict performance reaches the maximum of
0.22 out of 1 which is akin to the validity of fortune-telling and mind-reading (Martin, 2014). Some other
researchers compare the validity of personality tests to that of horoscopes’ and palm reading’s (Grant, 2013). Here is
a case in point from a famed psychologist Donna Flagg: “I am a trained dancer. And while I could take a test and
answer all kinds of questions about how to dance, my results would not even come close to elucidating whether or
not I actually can dance” (Flagg, 2016). The validity is also doubted since personality tests are easy to fake to fit in a
company culture and purport to have desired personality traits. The most important reason that employers have for
using personality tests is the supposed ability to predict job performance. However, after examining a sample of five
hundred employees in multiple industries, Dwoskin concluded, “few consistent relationships between personality
type and managerial effectiveness have been found.” (Dwoskin, 2014).
7. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
7
What are other hiring tools and alternatives to personality tests to improve recruitment effectiveness?
According to numerous researchers and business leaders there are many ways to modify the hiring process and
improve on the personality test usage to predict performance. For instance, Rynes’s research in which 1,000
members from different HR societies were surveyed with an average of 14 years of work experience established that
HR managers tend to value personality traits more than employee skillset when it comes to hiring. For instance, 84%
said, “Companies that screen for values have better job performance than those that screen for intelligence” and 82%
said, “Conscientiousness is a better job predictor than intelligence”) (Rynes, 2002). It is evident that the hiring
process is skewed towards employee personality traits rather than their qualifications, and there is a need for more
effective hiring selection practices. Hence, I will put myself in the place of a hiring manager and devise my own
assessment strategy to screen candidates.
If I happened to be an HR manager in a multinational company with thousands of employees wherein the cost of
making a bad hiring decision is too high, I would transform the hiring process in a way that entails not just
personality tests but a large assortment of combined hiring tools that can measurably affect the impact on the
company bottom line. According to Martin’s research, the integration of all relevant aspects of both employee
personality traits and skillset leads to the highest performance predictive ability. Martin goes on to explain that the
validity and reliability of using multi-measure tests is 0.71+ compared to using personality tests alone whose
identical indicators do not exceed 0.21 (Martin, 2014). To achieve such a high validity of hiring assessments, I
would fuse cognitive ability tests (aptitude and intelligence tests to measure IQ, EQ, quantitative and qualitative
skills), integrity/honesty tests, reference checks, personality tests, and work experience into one process of candidate
screening. Since personality tests are the pivotal topic of this research paper, I would namely use The Caliper Profile
(identifies what really drives a person) or Gallup Strengths Finder (measures indicators of success in candidates)
because they exhibit strong assessable attributes as opposed to, for instance, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The quantifiable characteristics that the two aforementioned tests
have in common include but not limited to 1) lie-detecting questions that vet test-takers’ integrity and reduce the
chance of faking answers, 2) the high reliability when it comes to the test-retest indicator, and 3) “measurable stable
traits that will not tend to change once the candidate has been on the job for some length of time” (e.g. competence,
self-discipline, values, trust) (Chatterjee, 2015). Consequently, I would take a holistic approach based on an overall
picture of an applicant’s result of the aforementioned. Additionally, since only 14% of organizations monitor their
assessment strategies, I would keep track of the assessment records to gauge the success of both my hiring strategies
and the candidates’ performance (Bregman, 2015).
Conclusion and findings
This paper has made substantial suggestions on how to improve the process of personality testing in the workplace.
The interests of both employers (help them increase the chances of a successful hire) and employees (assessment
8. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
8
strategies that equally uphold their qualifications as well as their personality traits, reducing the potential for abuse
by employees) were taken into account to equitably design the assessment strategy (Stabile, 2001).
Ultimately, it is understandable why employers increasingly make hiring decisions based on personality test results
in the globally competitive workplace. However, the sole application of personality tests in the workplace in the first
rounds of CV screening is a weak indicator of employee performance and leadership skills because it inevitably
results in hiring unskilled candidates and weeding out skilled ones. Moreover, it is discriminatory against certain job
applicants and potentially threatening to the privacy of all applicants.
9. The Use of Personality Testing as a Hiring Tool: Why is it Still a Thing?
9
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