 WHY CAREFUL SELECTION IS IMPORTANT:

 The aim of employee selection is To achieve person-job fit. This means

matching the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other competencies (KSAs) that
are required for performing the job (based on job analysis) with the
applicant’s KSA. Of course, a candidate might be “right” for a job, but wrong
for the organization. Therefore, while person-job fit is usually the main
consideration, person-organization fit is important too.

 Negligent hiring : If testing and selection is not done properly in terms of

background checking, without checking criminal records and hired employee-
commits a crime within the company, then company is to blame, not the
employee. This is called negligent hiring

 Avoiding Negligent Hiring Claims

1. Carefully examine information supplied by the applicant on his or her

employment application.

2. Get the applicant’s written authorization for reference checks, and carefully
check references.

3. Save all records and information you obtain about the applicant.

4. Reject applicants who make false statements or who have conviction records
for offenses

5. Take immediate disciplinary action if problems arise.

 Employee testing and selection is the procedure to examine a job

candidate’s ability,whether he is capable of doing the job perfectly .

 Reliability is a test’s first requirement and refers to its consistency. Refers to

the consistency of scores obtained by the same candidate when retested with
the similar or equivalent test.

 Measuring Reliability

 Test-retest reliability estimates: administer a test to a group one day, re-

administer the same test several days later to the same group, and then
correlate the first set of scores with the second

 Many things cause a test to be unreliable.

1. physical conditions(quiet one day, noisy the next),

2. Differences in the test taker (healthy one day, sick the next)
 Validity: Reliability, only tells you that the test is measuring something
consistently. It does not prove that you are measuring what you intend to
measure. validity means to measure what it is supposed to measure. Ex- IELTS
has to measure English language proficiency, not business skill proficiency

 Types of Validity

 Criterion Validity : it means demonstrating that those who do well on the

test also do well on the job, and that those who do poorly on the test do
poorly on the job.The test has validity to the extent that the people with
higher test scores perform better on the job

 Content Validity : It is supposed to measure all the areas of a test .Content

validity is a demonstration that the content of a selection procedure is
representative of important aspects of performance on the job.

 How to Validate a Test:

Step 1: Analyze the job

The first step is to analyze the job and write job descriptions and job
specifications. The point is to specify the human traits and skills you believe are
required for job performance.

Step 2: Choose the tests

choose the test that you want to validate. Employers usually base this choice on
experience, previous research, The best advice is probably to use a professional,

Step 3: Administer the test

Run the test to see whether test scores are correlated with job
performance

Step 4: Relate Test Scores and Criteria

Later, compare their on-the-job performance (assuming they have been

hired) with the earlier test scores. Is there any relation?

If there is, then the test can be used to predict job performance
 Step 5: Cross-Validate and Revalidate

Repeat Step 3 and 4 with a different sample of employees to make sure

results are accurate

A company selects a test based on 4 things . any test needs to fulfill all the following
criterias :

1. Reliability (all the aspects of reliability)

2. Validity (all the types of validity )

3. Validating test

4. Utility analysis and Equal Employment Opportunity aspects of a test

If any of the criteria remains unfulfilled, you can not use the test

 Utility Analysis : Knowing that a test is reliable and valid may not be of much
practical use

 It is going to cost the employer $1,000 per applicant for the test, and
hundreds of applicants must be tested, the cost of the test may exceed

 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Aspects of Testing : A organization

must be able to prove:

1. That its tests are related to success or failure on the job (validity)

2. That its tests don’t unfairly discriminate against minority or any specific group

 In order to use a test to select candidate, The test needs to fulfill all the 4
criteria :

1. Reliability

2. Validity

3. Utility analysis

4. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEEO) aspects of testing (both the points)

 If any of the criteria remains unfulfilled, you can not use the test
 Types of Tests: Cognitive Ability Tests (Information Processing-
Related): Cognitive tests include tests of general reasoning ability
(intelligence) and tests of specific mental abilities like memory and inductive
reasoning.

1. Intelligence Tests Intelligence (IQ) tests: are tests of general intellectual abilities.
They measure not a single trait but rather a range of abilities, including memory,
vocabulary, verbal fluency, and numerical ability

2. Aptitude tests: Tests that measure specific mental abilities, such as inductive
and deductive reasoning, specific mathematical calculations (calculus etc),
specialized mechanical knowledge etc.

 Tests of motor abilities: Tests that measure motor abilities, such as finger
dexterity (skill of movements), manual dexterity (the ability to make
coordinated hand and finger movements to grasp and manipulate objects),
and reaction time etc. (required for pilots, tailors etc). Related to nervous
system responses focusing the speed of finger, hand, and arm movements

 Tests of physical abilities: Tests that measure static strength (lifting weights),
dynamic strength (push-ups or pull-ups), body coordination (skipping rope),
and stamina. Ex- required for military personnel, firefighters, bouncers, etc.

 Personality tests: Tests that use psychological techniques and behavior

analysis to measure aspects of an applicant’s personality

 Some personality tests are projective. The psychologist presents a situation or

pictures and the person reacts

 Other personality tests are self-reported: applicants fill them out. Thus,
available online.

 Advantage: Can give detailed analysis of an employee’s mind not possible

through other tests

 Disadvantage: Open-ended personality tests are very difficult to measure and

use (you might need a psychologist. Also, proving validity is difficult, very
subjective)

 Limitation of Personality Test:

1. First, projective personality tests are particularly hard to interpret. An expert

must analyze the test taker’s interpretations and identify his or her personality.
2. Second, a panel of distinguished industrial psychologists said using self-
report personality tests in selection “should be reconsidered [due to low
validity].”

3. Third, people can and will fake responses to personality and integrity tests.

 The bottom line: make sure the personality tests you use predict
performance for the jobs you are testing for.

 Achievement tests: 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

 Work samples : on the spot

With work samples, you present examinees with situations representative of the
job for which they are applying, and evaluate their responses.

Ex- for a teacher, take a demo class

For an ad designer, prepare a sample print ad

 Work sampling technique

1. First, the work is broken down into separate parts (tasks)

2. Then, candidate is asked to do each task

3. Reviewer watches candidate and gives score on each task

 Situational judgment tests : are personnel tests “designed to assess an

applicant’s judgment regarding a situation encountered in the workplace

 Management assessment centers: A simulation center in which managerial

candidates are asked to perform real-life management tasks in hypothetical
situations and are scored on their performance.

 Usually can last for 2-3 days

 Involves around 10-12 candidates (usually)

 Typical exercises given to candidates include:

 Leaderless group discussion (Group thinking and decision-making)

 Individual presentations
 Case Study

 Interview etc

 The miniature job training and evaluation approach: Candidates

are given training on how to perform a sample of the job’s tasks, and then are
evaluated on their performance. (asked to do it while being assessed). The
method assumes that a person who can learn and perform the sample of tasks
will be able to learn and perform the job itself. So, learning ability is tested

 Reference Checking : One of the easiest ways to avoid hiring mistakes is to

check the candidate’s background thoroughly.

There are some reasons to check backgrounds—

 to verify the applicant’s information (name and so forth) and to uncover

damaging information. Lying on one’s application isn’t unusual.

 Even relatively sophisticated companies fall prey to criminal employees,

 Because they haven’t conducted proper background checks.

 Few employers will talk freely about former employees.

 Many supervisors don’t want to damage a former employee’s chances for a

job;

 others might prefer giving an incompetent employee good reviews to get rid
of him or her.

 Sources of information for background checks:

1. Former employers

2. Current supervisors

 Making Background Checks More Useful

1. Include on the application form a statement for applicants to sign explicitly

authorizing a background check.

2. Use telephone/email references

3. Be persistent in obtaining information.

4. Ask open-ended questions to elicit more information from references.

5. Compare the application to the résumé; people tend to be more creative on
their résumés than on their application forms, where they must certify the
information.

 Physical Examination:

1. Reasons for pre employment medical examinations:

2. To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of the position

3. To discover any medical limitations you should take into account in placing
the applicant.

4. To establish a record and baseline of the applicant’s health for future

insurance or compensation claims.

5. To reduce absenteeism and accidents

6. To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to the applicant.