Lecture 8 - Staffing Decisions

Question 1

Staffing decisions

Answer 1

Associated with recruiting, selecting, promoting, & separating employees

Question 2

High performance work practices

Answer 2

Include use of formal job analyses, selection from within for key positions, & use of formal assessment devices for selection

Staffing practices have positive associations with firm performance

Question 3

Staffing from International Perspective

Answer 3

Job descriptions used universally
Educational qualifications & application forms widely used for initial screening
Interviews & references are common post-screening techniques
Cognitive ability tests used less frequently; personality tests used more frequently

Question 4

Extra slide : selection yield pyramyd

Answer 4

1) Hard criteria
2) Selection
3) Job offer

Note: select the best who fit JD, not per-se the number of positions !!

Question 5

Selection Decisions

Answer 5

1. False positive
   Applicant accepted but performed poorly
2. False negative
   Applicant rejected but would have performed well
3. True positive
   Applicant accepted & performed well
4. True negative
   Applicant rejected & would have performed poorly

Question 6

Incremental validity

Answer 6

Value in terms of increased validity of adding a particular predictor to an existing selection system

Question 7

Evaluation of Staffing Outcomes

Validity:

Answer 7

Validity: Accurateness of inferences made based on test or performance data

Question 8

Validity designs

Answer 8

1. Criterion-related
2. Content-related
3. Construct-related

Question 9

Selection Ratio (SR)

Answer 9

Index ranging from 0 to 1 that reflects the ratio of available jobs to applicants
low is better!

Question 10

SR =

Answer 10

SR = n/N

n = number of available jobs
N = number of applicants assessed

Question 11

Cut score or cutoff score

Answer 11

Specified point in distribution of scores below which candidates are rejected

Raising cut score will result in fewer false positives but more false negatives

Strategy for determining cut score depends on situation

Question 12

Establishing Cut Scores

Criterion-referenced cut score

Answer 12

Criterion-referenced cut score

Consider desired level of performance & find test score corresponding to that level

Question 13

Norm-referenced cut score

Answer 13

Based on some index of test-takers’ scores rather than any notion of job performance

Question 14

Utility Analysis

Answer 14

Assesses economic return on investment of HR interventions like staffing or training

Utility analysis can address the cost/benefit ratio of one staffing strategy versus another

Question 15

Utility Analysis and Base Rate

Answer 15

Includes consideration of the Base Rate, which is the percentage of the current workforce performing successfully
If performance is already high, then new staffing system will likely add little to productivity

Utility analysis calculations can be very complex

Question 16

Feelings of unfairness regarding Staffing Strategies can lead to:

Answer 16

Initiation of lawsuits
Filing of formal grievances with company representatives
Counterproductive behavior

Question 17

Clinical decision making

Answer 17

Uses judgment to combine information & make decision about relative value of different candidates

Question 18

Statistical decision making

Answer 18

Combines information according to a mathematical formula

Question 19

Hurdle system of combining scores

Answer 19

Non-compensatory strategy: individual has no opportunity to compensate at later stage for low score in earlier stage
Establishes series of cut scores

Question 20

Hurdle System of Combining Scores

Answer 20

Constructed from multiple hurdles so candidates who don’t exceed each of the minimum dimension scores are excluded from further consideration
Often set up sequentially
More expensive hurdles placed later
Used to narrow a large applicant pool

Question 21

Compensatory approach

Answer 21

Multiple regression analysis
Results in equation for combining test scores into a composite based on correlations of each test score with performance score
Cross-validation
Regression equation developed on first sample is tested on second sample to determine if it still fits well

Question 22

Deselection

2 typical situations

Answer 22

Termination for cause
Individual is fired for a particular reason
Generally not unexpected
Layoff
Job loss due to employer downsizing or reductions in force
Often occurs with little or no warning