Personnel Psychology:

Employee Selection

Guide for UHS 2062 students at UTM, Malaysia Prepared by : Siti Rokiah Siwok ,

srsiwok@gmail.com

Revision: Job analysis is the cornerstone of personnel selection. Unless a complete an accurate picture of a job is done, it would be difficult to select excellent employees.

During the job analysis process, in addition to identifying the important task and duties, it is crucial to identify knowledge, skills and abilities needed to perform the job.

Recruitment

Methods used to select employees must be directly tied to the results of the job analysis.

Every essential knowledge, skill and ability identified in the job analysis should be tested and every test must relate to the job analysis.

Recruitment

Recruitment is attracting the right people for a certain job.

Two types of recruitment : ◦Internal◦External

There is a need to balance between internal and external recruitment.

Recruitment

Valid : A valid selection test is based on a job analysis (content validity), predicts work behaviour (criterion validity) and measures the construct it purpots to measure (construct validity).

Cost effective : in all terms, that is to purchase or create, to administer and to score.

Effective Recruitment Methods Should be:

Get the attention of the public Screen unqualified applicants Motivate qualified people to apply Timely Reduce the chance of legal challenge

Effective Recruitment Methods Should:

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Formal or Direct◦ Media

advertisements◦ Point of purchase◦ Direct mail◦ Employment

agencies◦ College recruiters◦ Computer databases◦ Special events◦ Employee referral

programs

Informal or Indirect◦ Situation-wanted

ads◦ Direct applications◦ Employee referrals

Recruitment Methods

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Special Populations The retired The mentally or physically

challenged Ex-convicts Current convicts People on welfare assistance Employees in other organizations People in foreign countries Temporary employees

Effective Employee Selection Techniques

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Optimal Employee Selection Should be:

Valid◦ Based on a job analysis (content validity)◦ Predict work-related behavior (criterion validity)

Able to Reduce the Chance of a Legal Challenge◦ Face valid◦ Don’t invade privacy◦ Don’t intentionally discriminate◦ Minimize adverse impact

Cost Effective◦ Cost to purchase/create◦ Cost to administer◦ Cost to score

Interviews Résumé References Testing

Effective Employee Selection Techniques

Structure◦ Structured◦ Unstructured◦ Semi structured

Style◦ One to one◦ Serial◦ Return◦ Panel◦ group

Medium◦ Face to face, telephone, video conference, in writing etc

Interviews

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Unstructured Interviews are Not Optimal

Because they:◦ Unreliable◦ Not valid◦ Legally problematic◦ Are not job related◦ Rely on intuition, “amateur psychology,” and

talk show methods◦ Suffer from common rating problems

Primacy Contrast Similarity Range restriction (e.g., leniency, strictness, central

tendency)

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Examples of Common Unstructured Interview Questions

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

What are your greatest strengths? What are your greatest weaknesses? What subject did you most enjoy in

college? Why should I hire you? Why are you interested in this job?

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Structured Interviews are Optimal

Because they are :◦ Reliable◦ Valid◦ Are based on a job analysis◦ Ask the same questions of each applicant◦ Have a standardized scoring procedure◦ Not as prone to legal challenge

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Goals of Structured Interview

Understand the Applicant◦ Clarify and confirm resume information◦ Obtain new information

Predict Job Performance◦ Ask questions focused on past behavior◦ Ask questions focused on knowledge and skills◦ Ask questions focused on future behavior

Predict Organizational Fit◦ Use several interviewers◦ Combine interview impression with test scores

Sell the Organization to the Applicant◦ Provide information about the

position/organization◦ Answer the applicant’s questions

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1. Conduct a thorough job analysis2. Determine best way to measure each

KSAO3. Construct Questions4. Determine rating anchors for each

question5. Choose two or more members for the

interview panel

Creating the Structured Interview

Employee Selection Techniques: Résumés

Résumés are summaries of an applicant’s professional and educational background.

Commonly asked by employers but little is known about the value of predicting employee performance.

It is unclear how much predictive value résumés have.

Résumés

Résumés may not predict performance partly because they are meant to “advertise” an applicant; making the “strengths of the applicant more obvious and weaknesses hard to find”.

Result: many résumés contain inaccurate information.

Aamodt and Williams (2005) found that 25% of résumés contained inaccurate information.

No best way to write résumés.

Résumés

More of Employee Selection Techniques

Common belief in psychology is : the best predictor of future performance is past performance.

Verifying previous employment is not difficult but DIFFICULT to ascertain the QUALITY of previous performance.

References and Recommendations

Terms :◦ Reference checks is the process of confirming the

accuracy of information given by the applicant. ◦ A reference is the expression of an opinion, either

orally or written regarding applicant’s ability, previous performance, work habits, character, work habits etc.

◦ A letter of recommendation is a letter expressing an opinion regarding an applicant’s ability etc.

References and Recommendations

Using applicant Training and Education◦ Min level of education and training◦ Inconsistent results regarding validity◦ Meta-analysis indicated a student’s GPA can

predict performance ...

Using Applicants’ Training and Education

Job performance can also be predicted using applicants’ knowledge; hence job knowledge tests are designed to measure how much a person knows about a job.

Examples : computer programming knowledge etc

Standardised tests are also available .

Using Applicant’s Knowledge

According to ability.◦ ..which tap the extent to which an applicant can

learn or perform a job-related skill. ◦ Ability tests are used primarily for occupations in

Applicants are not expected to know how to perform the job at the time of hire. Eg: police officers, fire fighters, military personnel.

Testing

Cognitive Ability: Includes oral and written comprehension, oral

and written expression, numerical etc. Important for professional, clerical and

supervisory jobs. Meta-analyses suggests that cognitive ability is

one of the best predictors of performance across all jobs, but job-specific meta-analyses raise doubts about the assumptions.

E.gs of cognitive ability test : Wonderlic Personnel Test, Miller Analogies Test and Quick Test

Testing: According to Ability

Other ability tests are :

Perceptual AbilityPsychomotor AbilityPhysical Ability

Testing: According to Ability

This method measures the extent to which an applicant has already a job-related skill.

Two most common methods are work sample and assessment centre.

With work-sample, the applicant performs actual job-related tasks; excellent selection tools and has high validity. Applicants also see the direct connection.

Using Applicant’s Skills

An assessment centre is a selection technique characterized by the use of multiple assessment methods that allow multiple assessors to actually observe applicants perform simulated tasks.

Major advantage: ◦ Assessment methods are all job related and

multiple assessors help guard against some types of biases.

Assessment Centers

Personality Inventories Interest inventories Integrity Tests Graphology

Using Personality, Interest and Character

Increasingly popular as an employee selection method.

Falls into 2 categories based on their intended purpose:◦ 1) normal personality◦ 2) abnormal personality (psychopathology)

Personality Inventories

Tests of normal personality measures traits exhibited by normal individuals in everyday life. Eg. of such traits are: extraversion, shyness, assertiveness and friendliness.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Edwards Personal Preference Schedule 16 PF Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

(MMPI)

Personality Inventories: Normal Personality

There are 100s of personality inventories, there is a general agreement that most personality traits can be placed into one of the five personality dimensions, known as the “BIG FIVE” or the five factor model.◦ Openness to experience (bright and inquisitive)◦ Conscientiousness (reliable, dependable)◦ Extraversion (outgoing, friendly)◦ Agreeableness (works well with others)◦ Emotional stability

Personality Inventories: Normal Personality

Tests of abnormal personality determine whether individuals have serious psychological problems such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Seldom used in IOP unless required as part of medical examinations .

Personality Inventories: Psychopathology

Designed to tap vocational interests. Most commonly used is the Strong Interest

Inventory(SII) which asked individuals to indicate whether they like or dislike 325 items such as bargaining, repairing electrical wire and taking responsibility.

Answers provide profile of the person.

Interest Inventories

Informs the employer of the applicant’s honesty; such as the probability that an applicant will steal money or merchandise

One study estimates that 50% of employees access to cash steal from their employers (Wimbush and Dalton, 1997).

Integrity tests

Handwriting analysis . Used 8% in the UK and 75% in France. The idea behind it is that the way people

write reveals their personality, which in turn indicates work performance.

Graphology

Aamodt, M. G ( 2010). Industrial/Organizational Psychology. An Applied Approach.( 6th Ed) USA: Wadsworth

Spector, P. E. ( 2008). Industrial and Organizational Psychology (5th ed). USA: Wiley

Employee Recruitment (2010). Cengage Learning

Main references: