WEEK 9: PERSONNEL SELECTION Flashcards
Outline the Work Design Process (EIITE)
- Explore: problem identification and prioritization
- where/what is the problem?
*Identify: use task analysis techniques to create a detailed analysis
*Ideate: prototype design-come up with a solution to the problem
*Test : user testing and evaluation
*Evaluate: evaluating/on going monitoring - look at KPIs (key performance indicators which act as quantifiable measures of performance over time for a specific objective)
Outline Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Workplace Interventions
1) change work
2) Change perceptions
3) Treat symptoms
Primary level directly address the causes of poor workplace health.
– eradicate or reduce the causes of within the organization in order to lessen its negative effects on the health of individuals.
* Secondary strategies mainly deal with the consequences rather than the causes of poor workplace health.
– acts on personal factors and helps workers adapt better to their work environment .
– Address personal factors that effect vulnerability
– Focuses on behaviour
* Tertiary prevention aims to reduce the suffering of individuals who have a work-related health problem.
– Physical, mental or behavioural
List the 9 principles of sociotechnical systems theory (Can Me Save Money? Bitch, I Swear Dats Impossible)
- Compatibility
- Minimal Critical Specification
- Sociotechnical Criterion
- Multifunctional Principle
- Boundary Location
- Informational Flow
- Support Congruence
- Design & Human Values
- Incompletion
What is meant by Compatibility ?
Compatibility - The way the sociotechnical design is performed must be compatible with the changes being made.
- Ex. in order to increase engagement we would want to include participatory methods in our design.
- Essentially, we want to make sure that each design strategy we implement is compatibility with sociotechnical principles
What is meant by Minimal-Critical specification
Minimum critical specification -In the design of a new system, no more should be specified than is absolutely necessary.
- This allows for increased autonomy, increased creativity, and better problem solving skills.
- Also focuses more on objective based outcomes rather than rules based outcomes
What is meant by Socio- technical Criterion ?
Allow control of unexpected events to be controlled by workers at their own levels
- allows problems to be handled close to the source
- common in TQM systems / 6 sigma
What is the Multifunctional principle?
Allow workers to perform many tasks. Increases adaptability by allowing workers to fulfill many roles within the workplace
What is Boundary Location ?
Boundaries between departments are not based on function, technology or territory but rather on social subsystems. Rather than having technical divisions, boundaries are based on social groups. This allows for greater teamwork and self-managing work groups
What is meant by Information Flow?
Information goes anywhere it is needed rather than simply from the top-down. So, info does not necessarily travel from senior management to subordinates. This allows us to direct information to where it is needed, and allows for greater Two-way communication
What is meant by Support Congruence?
Having rewards systems that reinforce behaviours that the organization encourages
- Supports motivation systems
What is meant by Design and Human Values?
Making sure that we are designing “high quality” jobs. Jobs should be fitted to the individual based on human needs and capabilities, not vice versa. This will increase satisfaction, motivation, and decrease stress, injuries etc.
What is meant by Incompletion?
Incompletion simply means that job design never ends→ it remains incomplete. This means there is space for continuous improvement
What is the CSA Z-1003?
From the Canadian Standards Association- standards for “Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace”
- A voluntary standard/ resource that provides guidance
13 areas:
1) Organizational culture. 2) Psychological and Social Support. 3) Clear Leadership and Expectations 4)Civility and Respect 5)Psychological Demands. 6)Growth and development 7) Recognition and Reward 8) Involvement and Influence 9) Workload Management 10) Engagement 11) Balance 12)Psychological Protection . 13) Protection of Physical Safety
What 3 areas does employment law in Canada cover?
1) Occupational Health and Safety
– Workers’ compensation in case of injury/illness
– Physical and mental compensation - Stress
– Hours of work
2) Personnel decisions
- Personnel selection/screening
– Employment standards
– Accommodation
– Termination
– Union relations
– Pensions and compensation
3) Drug and Alcohol abuse
What is discrimination? Differentiate between intentional and unintentional discrimination in the workplace
Discrimination: Use of any selection procedure that has an adverse impact (selection rate less than 80% of the group with the highest rate of discrimination) on the hiring or promotion of a defined minority group
- Protected groups include; race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital status, disability etc
Intentional: refusal to train, hire promote an individual based on any of the prohibitory grounds
- Can be overt or not (Age discrimination)
- Include differential or unequal treatment
- Because of association
Unintentional
- Difficult to detect
- Applicants may not be selected for the job if they do not have a skills/traits that the job requires ( ex. Height requirements
- Lack of harassment policies
What are BFORs? How are they identified?
Bona Fide Occupational Requirement (BFOR) - a standard or criteria that is integral to carrying out the requirements of a particular position within a workplace. Allows employers to “ unintentionally discriminate” against applicants who not meet these required standards.
BFOR criteria includes:
- must be imposed honestly and good faith
- is in the interest of safety and economy
- not to defeat the purpose of the Human Rights code
- must be related to the performance of the job without endangering the employee, his fellow employees and the general public
How to identify BFORs?
* Physical task analysis techniques
* Cognitive task analysis techniques
* Job Demands Analysis
* Worker related analysis – KSAOs, FJA
What is accommodation ?
Accommodation: If a workplace rule or procedure puts an employee at a disadvantage or creates barriers for that employee on account of a prohibited ground, the employer must make every reasonable effort, short of undue hardship, to remedy that disadvantage.
Undue hardship
1. financial cost;
2. impact on a collective agreement;
3. problems of employee morale;
4. interchangeability of the work force and facilities; 5. size of the employer’s operations;
6. Safety.
How is discrimination tested?
- Is there a policy/standard which discriminates directly/indirectly on a prohibitory ground?
- Is the skill/trait reasonably necessary to accomplish the work?
- Is there honest and good faith belief that it is a BFOR?
- Is accommodation possible without undue hardship?
Briefly explain the BFOR preceding case of Terry Grismer, 1999
- Terry Grismer was a truck driver who failed a vision screening test because he had Homonymous Hemianopia (HH) (no left side peripheral vision in both eyes)
- Terry passed all drivers’ tests except peripheral vision test
- He was not given the chance to demonstrate that he was able to compensate and get his job done despite his vision disability
- His case was taken to the Supreme Court who determined that 120 degree vision not reasonably necessary for the job
- Terry got his job back
Briefly explain the BFOR preceding case of Tawny Meiorin, 1999
Tawney Meiorin was employed as a firefighter by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests. Three years after being hired, the government adopted a series of fitness tests that all employees were required to pass. She passed all the tests except for one that required her to run 2.5 km in 11 minutes. (VO2 max test). After four attempts, her best time was 49.4 seconds over the maximum allowed. As a result, she was fired.
-Though the fitness tests had a valid purpose of ensuring safety, the court found that the research that the tests were based on was incomplete and “impressionistic” and did not take into account the differences between men and women in establishing a standard.
- Established the Meiorin Test, aka the standard criteria of all BFORs:
- standard is rationally connected to the performance of the job
- standard is in an honest and good faith belief
-that the standard was reasonably necessary to the accomplishment of that legitimate work-related purpose. To show that the standard is reasonably necessary, it must be demonstrated that it is impossible to accommodate individual employees sharing the characteristics of the claimant without imposing undue hardship upon the employer.
Define the types of validity used to predict performance on the job
Construct Validity - intelligence, personality etc. - the integration of evidence that supports the interpretation of the metric including criteria- related validity and content validity
* Criterion-Related Validity - degree to which the test measures performance (against a standard/criterion)
- how to asses: Prospective Analysis
* Concurrent Validity -Test, hire all, measure all and compare scores to performance
* Predictive validity - Measure performance pre-test administration and post-test administration
- Content Validity - is the content in the test related to the job performance
-how to asses: Comprehensive task analysis, Subjective evaluation by incumbents, Cut-offs reflect job demands - Face Validity – how valid does the test seem to the test taker
What is g?
The g factor is a construct developed in psychometric investigations of cognitive abilities and human intelligence (aka general intelligence)
- “g” biggest predictor of successful information processing and verbal skill performance at work
- scores may be influenced by education bias, cultural bias, and age bias (flynn effect= people have greater fluid and crystallized knowledge with age)
Other intelligence tests …
1) Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence 1985 - Analytical
-Creative
- Practical
2) Carroll’s Hierarchical Model of Intelligence, 1993
3) Emotional Intelligence (EQ) testing
4) Mechanical aptitude tests - for specific tasks
5) sensory motor ability tests (Snellen Charts,Peg Board)
6) integrity testing- moderate validity
7) knowledge testing- about a particular topic
8)skills testing
9) Physical abilities testing - must be BFOR
What are the “BIG 5” personality traits? (open candy every afternoon- nerds)
Big Five Theory of Personality
1. Openness to experience
2. Conscientious
3. Extraversion
4. Agreeable
5. Neuroticism
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
- Certain traits are linked with higher rates of performance and satisfaction in different jobs
