Chapter 7 Selecting Human Resources

1. Chapter 7Selecting Human Resources

2. Start: p. 219, Selecting a Proper Ethics Officer Selection: the process of choosing individuals with the correct qualifications needed to fill jobs in an organization – invest the time in hiring because training will not make up for it Placement: fitting a person to the right job – matching the person with the job Person/job fit: matching the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) of individuals with the characteristics of jobs – satisfaction with work and commitment to company Mismatch: when poor pairing of a person’s needs, interests, abilities, personality, and expectations with characteristics of the job, rewards, and the organization Person/organization fit: person’s values are consistent with how business is conducted or the congruence between individuals and organizational factors. Attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) Theory: job candidates are attracted to and selected by firms where similar types of individuals are employed and individuals who are different quit their jobs to work elsewhere

3. Selection, criteria, predictors, and job performance Selection criterion: characteristic that a person must possess to successfully perform work, such as ability and motivation Predictors of selection criteria: measurable or visible indicators of selection criteria Indicator of permanence: individual interests, salary requirements, and tenure on previous jobs

4. Figure 7.1, Job Performance, Selection Criteria, and Predictors Elements of Good Job Performance: quantity of work, quality of work, compatibility with others, presence at work, length of service, and flexibility Characteristics necessary to achieve good job performance: ability motivation, intelligence, conscientiousness, appropriate risk for employer, appropriate permanence: to achieve good performance Predictors of selection criteria or what can be seen or measured to predict the selection criteria: experience, past performance, physical skills, education, interests, salary requirements, certificates, degrees, test scores, personality measures, work references, and previous jobs and tenure

5. Validity The predictor, actually predict what it is supposed to predict Correlation coefficient: index number that gives the relationship between a predictor variable and a criterion or dependent variable, -1.0 to +1.0, with higher absolute scores suggesting stronger relationships Concurrent validity: to establish the validity associated with a predictor, utilizing current employees to validate a predictor or “test”, Fig 7.2, Test current employee to applicant

6. Predictive validity Test results of applicants are compared with their subsequent job performance, fig. 7.2, requires a large SAMPLE AND TIME Do Test Results predict Success on the Job?

7. Reliability The extent to which the test repeatedly produces the same results over time.

8. Combining predictors Combining things like scores on test, years of experience and education level Multiple hurdles: establish minimum cutoff point on each predictor Compensatory approach: scores from multiple predictors are combined into an overall score IQ tests

9. Selection responsibilities • Review fig. 7.3, p. 226 • Applicant job interest, preemployment screening, application form, test and/or interview, background investigation, additional interview, conditional job offer, medical exam/drug test, and job placement • Legal, minimum requirements and screening versus interviews and final selection • Who checks the references? • Who are the references?

10. The selection process Applicant job interest: PR…be nice and be fair Realistic job previews: process through which a job applicant receives an accurate picture of a job. RECRUITMENT BRANDING: purpose of the business, compensation versus work schedules, traveling, etc. Truth in hiring lawsuits: don’t exaggerate opportunity, pay, don’t oversell the company

11. Pre-employment screening: electronic assessment screening to review resumes, track applicants, valid assessment tests, simulations • Application forms: applicant profile, employee record • Application disclaimers: at will, reference contacts, employment testing, application time line, information falsification • EEO considerations and application forms: retain for 3 years and don’t ask: marital status, body size, number and age of dependents, spouse info, date of HS diploma, who to contact in an emergency but YOU CAN ask for secondary phone number. • Resumes are applications • Immigration verification: I-9 or fines and jail time. What is on an I-9?

12. Selection testing 1. Ability tests: test individuals ability to perform in a specific manner are grouped as ability tests • Cognitive ability tests measure an individual’s thinking, memory, reasoning, verbal and mathematical abilities • Physical ability tests measure an individual’s abilities such as strength, endurance, and muscular movement • Psychomotor tests measure dexterity, hand-eye coordination, arm-hand steadiness, and other factors • Work sample tests require an applicant to perform a simulated task that is specified part of the target job • Situational judgment tests measure a person’s judgment in work settings • ASSESSMENT CENTERS: an assessment composed of a series of evaluative exercises and tests used for selection and development, with multiple raters: interview, tests, simulations, and work exercise

13. Selection continued 2. Personality tests to assess the degree to which candidates’ attributes match specific job criteria • MMPI, Myers-Briggs • 5 underlying traits: the BIG FIVE, Fig. 7.6 • Conscientiousness • Openness to experience • Agreeableness • Extroversion • Emotional stability • Faking personality tests

14. 3. Honesty/integrity tests Can be overly intrusive Polygraphs 4. Controversies in selection testing: Appropriateness of general metal ability testing Validity of personality testing

15. Selection interviewing: to obtain more info and clarify information gathered through selection process • Inter-rater reliability: high inter-rator reliability is usually within the same interviewer but only moderate to low across different interviewer. • High face value: interviews make sense to employers. Interviews should be structured and good interviewers are not always the best candidates • Structured interviews use a set of standardized questions asked of all applicants so that comparisons can be made more easily • Biographical interview: chronological assessment of the candidate’s past experience • Behavioral interview: applicants are asked to describe how they have performed a certain task or handled a problem in the past • Competency interview: the questions are designed to provide the interviewer with something against which to measure the applicant’s responses to be able to do the job • Situational interview: how might the applicant handle specific job situations

16. Less structured interviews Unstructured interview: the interviewer improvises by asking questions that are not predetermined Semi structured interview is a guided conversation in which broad questions are asked and new questions arise as a result of the discussion Nondirective interview: uses questions developed from the answers to previous questions Stress interview: designed to create anxiety and put pressure on applicants to see how they will respond

17. Effective interviewing Plan with appropriate questions Control the interview Use effective questioning techniques, fig. 7.8 Questions to avoid: yes/no, obvious questions, rarely produce true answers, leading questions, illegal questions, not job related DO NOT: nod, pause, make casual remarks, echoing, etc.

18. Problems with interviews Snap judgments Negative emphasis Halo effect: the interviewer allows a positive characteristic to overshadow other evidence Devil’s horn: negative characteristic overshadows other traits Biases and stereotyping: select those we believe are like us Cultural noise: what applicant thinks is socially acceptable versus what is factual

19. Background investigations Negligent hiring: the employer fails to check an employee’s background and the employee injures someone on the job Negligent retention: the employer becomes aware that an employee may be unfit for work but continues to employ the person, and the person injures someone. Criminal records, applicants webpages, fingerprints, etc. Get a signed release during the applicant process to check background Fair credit reporting act: disclose you are going to do it

20. Medical exams ADAAA and medical inquiries: NO Drug testing: it depends

21. References Dates of employment Position held Job duties Strengths/weaknesses Problems? Would you rehire?

22. Making the job offer Over the phone With a letter Salary benefits

23. Global staffing Cultural adjustment Personal characteristics Organizational requirements Communication skills Personal/family concerns

24. Legal concerns in selection process Who is an applicant: when the application has been submitted electronically: and has expressed interest in the job, has basic qualifications, does not remove interest in job, has been ranked using hit features by employer software Applicant flow documentation: race, sex, other demographics to fulfill EEO reporting requirement Selecting for “soft skills” : empathy, openness, cooperation, etc. Hard skills: cognitive, education, technical, etc.