Chapter 6 – Employee Selection

Question 1

Selection

Answer 1

the process of choosing individuals who have the relevant qualifications to fill existing or projected job openings

Question 2

The goal of selection: maximize “hits” and avoid “misses”

Answer 2

Hit are accurate predictions, and misses are inaccurate ones - the cost of one type of miss (false positive) is the direct and the indirect expense of hiring an employee who turns out to be unsuccessful

The cost of the other type of miss (false negatives) is an opportunity cost - someone who could have been successful did not get the chance

Question 3

Begin with a Job Analysis

Answer 3

Job specifications help identify the individual attributes employees need for success - the KSAOs that lead to superior performance (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics)

Also have a high priority on selecting individuals who match the culture of their organization

Question 4

Value based hiring

Answer 4

organizations list their company values on their company website and then seek to hire candiantes who share those values

Question 5

The Selection Process

Answer 5

Completion of application, initial interview with HR department, employee testing, preliminary selection in HR department, supervisor/team interview, background investigation and reference check, hiring decision

Question 6

Reliability

Answer 6

he degree to which interviews, tests, and other selection procedures yield comparable data over time

Interrater reliability - agreement among two or more raters - ensures consistency
Without reliability it cannot be valid

Question 7

Validity

Answer 7

the degree to which a test or selection procedure measures a persons attributes and predicts future behaviour

Question 8

Initial Screening
Cover Letters and Resumes

Answer 8

• Evaluating resumes - subjective with low reliability, evaluators can have a difficult time setting a consistent standard across multiple candidates

Validity is also an issue because work experience from resume has low correlation with job performance

Biased based one name of applicant

Question 9

Application Forms -

Answer 9

Quick and systematic means of obtaining a variety of information about the applicant

Question 10

Weighted application blank (WAB) -

Answer 10

common standardized employment application that is designed to establish between sucessful and unsuccessful employees

Question 11

Biodata

Answer 11

collects biographical information about candiatees, questioned about events and behaviours that reflect attitudes, experiences, interests, skills, and abilities

Question 12

Internet Checks and Phone Screening - Video resumes -

Answer 12

short video clips tht highlight applicants qualifications beyond what they can communicate on their resume,

googling applicants - reduces privacy and opens the possibility of biasness/discrimination

Question 13

Employment Interviews

Answer 13

Doubts of validity, but remains a mainstay because
It is especially practical when there are only a small number of applicants
It serves other purposes, such as public relations
Interviews maintain great faith and confidence in their judgements

Question 14

The Structure of Interviews

Answer 14

• non directive
• structured

Question 15

Nondirective interviews

Answer 15

an interview in which the applicant is allowed the maximum amount of freedom in determining the course of the discussion, while the interviewer carefully remains from influencing the applicants remarks

Question 16

Strucutered interviews -

Answer 16

an interview in which a set of standardized questions with an established set of answers is used

Question 17

Type of structured interviews
- situational interview

Answer 17

• an interview in which an applicant is given a hypothetical incident and asked how they would respond to it

Question 18

Behavioural description interviews (BDI) -

Answer 18

an inteview in which the applicant is asked questions about what they did in a given situation - focuses on actual work incidents in an intervieww’s past

Question 19

Methods for Administering Interviews
Panel and sequential interviews

Answer 19

panel interview in which a board of interviews questions and observes a single candidate

Question 20

Sequential interview -

Answer 20

a format in which a candidate is interviewed by multiple people, one right after another

Question 21

Video interviews

Answer 21

interviews are conducted via videoconfrenecing or over the web

Question 22

Computer administered (automated) interview

Answer 22

interview in which the questions are administered to applicants via computers; the interview can be conducted at a firms facilities, using kiosks, online, or via phone

Question 23

Post-Interview Screening
Reference checks

Answer 23

most reliable information usually comes from previous supervisors, who are in the best position to report on an applicants work performance

Question 24

Background checks -

Answer 24

prevent embezzlement and theft of merchandise to workplace violence

Question 25

Credit checks -

Answer 25

for positions of trust, such as those involving financial responsibility of positions such as CFO

Question 26

Preemployment test

Answer 26

an objective and standardized measure that is used to guage a persons knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) relative to other individuals

Question 27

Job knowledge tests -

Answer 27

CPA exam, found to be a predictive of job performance

Question 28

Work Sample tests -

Answer 28

based on job knowledge tests, work sample tests which are developed based on an outline that includes the major job functions - tests are considered valid

Organizations that are interested in competency based selection - which is hiring based on an observation of behaviours

Question 29

Cognitive ability tests -

Answer 29

measure mental capabilites such as general intelligence, verbal fluency, numerical ability, and reasoning ability - ex - general aptitude test

Question 30

Personality and interest inventories

Answer 30

Measure dispositionate and temperament
The big 5 personalities - extraverison, ageeablemess, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to expereicne

Question 31

Polygraph tests -

Answer 31

lie detector - measures the physiological changes in breathing, blood pressure, and the pulse of a person who is being questioned - lack of reliability

Question 32

Honesty and integrity tests -

Answer 32

common in retail stores where employees have access to cash and merchandise - good predictor of job performance

Question 33

Physical ability tests -

Answer 33

firefighters or other jobs that can be dangerous or physically demanding

Question 34

Medical examinations

Answer 34

ask the candidate if they have any disaibilites, and it is the employers duty to accommodate

Question 35

Assessment centers -

Answer 35

a process by which individuals are evaluated as they participate in a series of situations that resemble what they might encounter on the job

Question 36

Determining the Validity of Tests
- Criterion-related validity -

Answer 36

the extent to which a selection tool predicts, or significantly correlates with, important elements of work behavior

Question 37

Concurrent validity -

Answer 37

the extent to which test scores (or other predictor information) correlate with criterion data obtained at about the same time from current employees

Question 38

Predictive validity -

Answer 38

the extent to which applciants test scores predict criterion data obtained from those applicants/employees after they have been on the jobs for a period of time

Question 39

Cross-validation

Answer 39

verifying the results obainted from a validation study by administering a test or test battery to a specific sample

Question 40

Content Validity

Answer 40

the extent to which a selection instrument, such as a test, adequately samples the knowledge and skills needed to perform particular job tasks

Question 41

Construct Validity -

Answer 41

the extent to which a selection tool measures a theoretical construct or trait

Question 42

Summarizing information about applicant

Answer 42

Can do - knowledge, skills, abilities, aptitude
Will do - personality, values, motivation

Question 43

Decison making strategy -
Clinical approach -

Answer 43

review all the data of the applications, basis of their understanding of the job they makr their decision - room for personal biases

Question 44

Statistical approach -

Answer 44

decision making is more objective - most valid predicirs and weighting them using statistical methods - quantified data

Question 45

Compensatory model -

Answer 45

a seleciton decision model in which a high score in one area can make up for a low score in another area

Question 46

Multiple cutoff model

Answer 46

a selection decision model that requires an applicant to achieve a minimum level of proficiency on all selection dimensions

Question 47

Multiple hurdle model

Answer 47

• a sequential strategy in which only the applicants passing the cutoff score at an initial evaluation statege go on to the next stage

Question 48

Selection ratio -

Answer 48

he number of applicants selected to be compared with the total number of applicants