Selection and Placement

Learning Objectives 1

LO 6-1 Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel

selection methods, including reliability, validity, and
generalizability.
LO 6-2 Discuss how the particular characteristics of a job,
an organization, or an applicant affect the utility of
any test.
LO 6-3 Describe the government’s role in personnel
selection decisions, particularly in the areas of
constitutional law, federal laws, executive orders,
and judicial precedent.
LO 6-4 List the common methods used in selecting human
resources.

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Learning Objectives 2

LO 6-5 Describe the degree to which each of the common

methods used in selecting human resources meets
the demands of reliability, validity, generalizability,
utility, and legality.

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Introduction

Choosing Employees
• Organizations make take utmost care.
• Decisions impact organization’s competitiveness and
every aspect of job applicant’s life.
• Decisions must promote best interests of the company
and be fair to all parties.

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 Selection Method Standards 1

Reliability

Validity

Generalizability

Utility

Legality

LO 6-1
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Selection Method Standards 2

Reliability
• Degree to which a measure is free from random error
• Estimating the reliability of measurement:
• Refers to measuring instrument rather than characteristic
• Correlation coefficient is a measure of the degree to which two sets
of numbers are related.
• Perfect positive relationship equals +1.0
• Perfect negative relationship equals −1.0

• Test-retest reliability

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Selection Method Standards 3

Reliability continued
• Standards for reliability:
• The required reliability depends on the nature of the decision being
made about the people being measured.

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Selection Method Standards 4

Validity
• Extent to which performance on the measure is related to
performance on the job
• Criterion-related validation:
• Method of establishing validity by showing a substantial correlation
between test scores and job-performance scores
• Validity coefficient
• Predictive validation
• Concurrent validation

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Figure 6.3 Graphic Depiction of Concurrent and
Predictive Validation Designs 1

Access the text alternative for slide images.

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Figure 6.3 Graphic Depiction of Concurrent and
Predictive Validation Designs 2

Access the text alternative for slide images.

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Table 6.1 Required Level of Correlation to Reach
Statistical Significance as a Function of Sample Size

SAMPLE REQUIRED
SIZE CORRELATION
5 0.75
10 0.58
20 0.42
40 0.30
80 0.21
100 0.19

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Selection Method Standards 5

Validity continued
• Content validation
• Items, questions, or problems posed by a test are representative of
situations or problems that occur on the job

• Simulations, computer-based role-playing games

• Best for small-sample settings

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Selection Method Standards 6

Generalizability
• Degree to which validity of a selection method established
in one context extends to other contexts
• Similar levels of correlation across different groups

• Validity generalization

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 Selection Method Standards 7

Utility
• Degree to which information provided by selection
methods enhances effectiveness of selecting personnel
• Utility is impacted by:
• Reliability
• Validity
• Generalizability

• Job performance follows a power law distribution

LO 6-2
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Figure 6.5 Comparing a Normal Distribution (Red Curve)
to a Power Law (Blue Shading)

Access the text alternative for slide images.

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 Selection Method Standards 8

Legality
• All selection methods should adhere to existing laws and
legal precedents.
• Federal legislation:
• Civil Rights Act of 1991
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

LO 6-3
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Selection Method Standards 9

Legality continued
• Civil Rights Act of 1991
• Protects individuals from discrimination based on race, color, sex,
religion, and national origin.

• Differs from 1964 act:

1. Establishes employers' explicit obligation to establish neutral-
appearing selection method.
2. Allows a jury to decide punitive damages.

3. Explicitly prohibits granting preferential treatment to minority groups.

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Selection Method Standards 10

Legality continued
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
• Covers individuals over age 40

• Outlaws “mandatory retirement” programs

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Selection Method Standards 11

Legality continued
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
• Protects individuals with physical or mental disabilities (or with a
history of the same)

• Reasonable accommodations are required by the organization to

allow the disabled to perform essential functions of the job.
• Employer need not make accommodations that cause undue hardship.

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 Types of Selection Methods 1

Interviews

References, Application Blanks, Background Checks

Physical Ability Tests

Cognitive Ability Tests

Personality Inventories

Work Samples

Honesty Tests and Drug Tests

LO 6-4
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 Types of Selection Methods 2

Interviews
• Selection interviews
• Without proper care, it is unreliable.

• Should be structured, standardized, and focused on goals oriented

to skills and observable behaviors.
• Interviewers should be able to quantitatively rate each interview.
• Interviewers should have a structured note-taking system to justify
ratings.

• Focused totally on rating and ranking applicants, not recruitment.

LO 6-5
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Types of Selection Methods 3

Interviews continued
• Situational interviews
• Confronts applicants on specific issues, questions, or problems
likely to arise on the job
• Experience-based questions

• Future-oriented questions

• Important to use multiple interviewers to avoid subjective errors

• Digitally taped interviews, Skype

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Table 6.2 Examples of Experienced-Based and Future-
Oriented Situational Interview Items 1

EXPERIENCE-BASED
Motivating employees: “Think about an instance when you had to
motivate an employee to perform a task that he or
she disliked but that you needed to have done.
How did you handle that situation?”
Resolving conflict: “What was the biggest difference of opinion you
ever had with a co-worker? How did you resolve
that situation?”
Overcoming resistance “What was the hardest change you ever had to
to change: bring about in a past job, and what did you do to
get the people around you to change their
thoughts or behaviors?”

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Table 6.2 Examples of Experienced-Based and Future-
Oriented Situational Interview Items 2

FUTURE-ORIENTED
Motivating employees: “Suppose you were working with an employee who
you knew greatly disliked performing a particular
task. You needed to get this task completed,
however, and this person was the only one
available to do it. What would you do to motivate
that person?”
Resolving conflict: “Imagine that you and a co-worker disagree about
the best way to handle an absenteeism problem
with another member of your team. How would you
resolve that situation?”
Overcoming resistance “Suppose you had an idea for a change in work
to change: procedures that would enhance quality, but some
members of your work group were hesitant to make
the change. What would you do in that situation?”

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Types of Selection Methods 4

References, Application Blanks, and Background Checks

• Reference checks are weak predictors of future job
success
• Background information from applicants is low-cost and
useful
• Education gap
• Misinformation on references, resumes.

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Types of Selection Methods 5

Physical Ability Tests

1. Muscular tension
2. Muscular power
3. Muscular endurance
4. Cardiovascular endurance
5. Flexibility
6. Balance
7. Coordination

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Types of Selection Methods 6

Cognitive Ability Tests

• Verbal comprehension
• Quantitative ability
• Reasoning ability
• Have adverse impact on some minority groups
• Race norming, banding

• Concern that applicants may cheat

• Question harvesting

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Types of Selection Methods 7

Personality Inventories
• Five major dimensions of personality, known as the “Big
Five”
• Extroversion
• Adjustment
• Agreeableness

• Conscientiousness
• Openness to experience

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Table 6.3 The Five Major Dimensions of Personality
Inventories

1. Extroversion Sociable, gregarious, assertive, talkative, expressive

2. Adjustment Emotionally stable, nondepressed, secure, content
3. Agreeableness Courteous, trusting, good-natured, tolerant, cooperative,
forgiving
4. Conscientiousness Dependable, organized, persevering, thorough,
achievement-oriented
5. Openness to Curious, imaginative, artistically sensitive, broad-minded,
experience playful

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Types of Selection Methods 8

Personality Inventories continued

• Emotional intelligence
• Self-awareness

• Self-regulation
• Self-motivation
• Empathy
• Social skills

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Types of Selection Methods 9

Personality Inventories continued

• Validity in terms of predicting job performance is higher
when scores are taken from other people
• People tend to lack insight into their own personalities
• Personalities vary across contexts
• It is easy to fake traits on tests

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Types of Selection Methods 10

Work Samples
• Can vary greatly
• May include role-play, interactive videos, simulations, or
competitions
• Since tests are job-specific, generalizability is low
• Tests are expensive to develop
• Used in assessment centers

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Types of Selection Methods 11

Honesty Tests and Drug Tests

• Polygraph Act of 1988 banned use of polygraph tests for
most private companies.
• Paper-and-pencil honesty testing
• Assess likelihood of employees stealing.
• Test social conformity, conscientiousness, and emotional stability.

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Types of Selection Methods 12

Honesty Tests and Drug Tests continued

• Drug-use tests
• Consideration of opioid epidemic and shifting legal status of
marijuana

• Testing mandated by federal law for occupations classified as

“safety sensitive” jobs regulated by Transportation Department.

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