Hrm/531 Week 3

The use of interviews alone in determining the right candidates for a job can prove to leave many questions unanswered in terms of the actual competencies and capabilities of candidates. Therefore the use of psychological assessments and tests can help the practitioner to formulate a more objective and accurate assessment of the candidate’s capabilities and competencies against the inherent job requirements. Bartram (2004) pointed out the use of traditional methods (structured interviews, job application forms and knowledge and skills tests) in selecting the candidates who are likely to succeed or fail in a

In an attempt to improve the chances of securing and promoting high potential individuals for strategic and competitive reasons, organizations have increased the use of assessment measures in the workplace, attracting the scrutiny of the courts and enforcement agencies (Ashe & Lundquist, 2010). These authors posited that the reason for this increased scrutiny arises from the fact that even in spite of the fact that organizations may not harbor a negative or illegal intent, disparate impact, or the unintended negative outcome of a testing measure upon a protected class have been reported. According to these authors, some of the existing statutes that inform the acceptability and appropriateness of selection procedures included Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. With that in mind, they outlined the legal and professional standards that have evolved to guide the content and context of assessment applications.

Consider for example a university that is looking to hire 20 faculty members to fill positions within its math and science department from an applicant pool of 125. An assessment is given to identify the most qualified applicants. An optimal study design would use and test predictive validity simultaneously placing the 20 applicants with the best scores in the vacant positions. After 6 months, the hires work performance would be assessed. From there the assessment and work performances (criterion) can be correlated. The result is high reliability and high content validity. Chances for adverse impact are also greatly reduced. This approach also provides verification of job-relatedness of the assessment. It is also difficult for applicants to fake job proficiency which ensures a more positive correlation in the relationship between test scores and job performance.

Human resource practitioners and I/O psychologists have at their disposal a host of personnel assessment techniques. For example, traditional predictive measures used to screen job applicants have included the use of application blanks, job interviews and psychometric measures of personality and cognitive ability. For the most part these instruments attempt to predict an applicant's potential for success by estimating her current level of functioning on some psychological construct that is believed to be related to job performance. Recently, however, personnel professionals have added a unique assessment technique to their arsenal. Unlike traditional predictive measures of job performance- mental and motor functioning and

Hiring and training employees is costly and many employers use screening methods to filter out unsuitable candidates that do not meet the assessment criteria. In valid selection systems, there is a match between required job abilities and assessed abilities (Kitaeff, 2011). Cognitive ability tests are widely used in the application screening process and measure how well an individual understands and solves complex problems, applies reasoning to difficult situations, and thinks abstractly. Many organizations use the Wonderlic Personnel Test to assist in recruiting candidates that fit the behavioral, learning and problem solving job criteria. According to Kitaeff (2011),“the Wonderlic test provides a

Tanglewood's traditional selection method uses previous experience in the fields of education, work experience, and interview score to predict citizenship, absence, performance and promotion potential. Education had the best correlation at 0.17 and a p-value < 0.01. Education is seen as statistically significant but not practically significant. Work experience was a decent predictor of performance and promotion potential. Work experience had a 0.22 correlation to performance and a p-value < 0.01. Even better, work experience had a correlation to promotion potential of 0.25. Work experience was statistically significant to both performance and promotion potential. It also had a p-value < 0.01. Interview score had a correlation of 0.32 and a p-value < 0.01 with promotion potential. Interview score is seen as statistically significantly and practically significant.

Finding the best people to work in organizations has peaked over time due to many companies downsizing (Frankenfield, & Kleiner, 2000). For this reason, most organizations are no longer exclusively relying on interviews in the screening process of new employees. The purpose of pre-employment testing is to aid in predicting future behavior (Bloomquist, & Kleiner, 2000). The use of employment testing has increased over time in order to find and hire the best employee.

Personality tests give employers an opportunity to have a regulated way of assessing someone's preferences and how they are most likely to behave in a work environment. A number of employers make use of personality tests early on in selecting the kind of employees they want, and will then make a follow up by conducting an interview into the "red flags" or the areas that might be of concern as shown by the results of the personality test (Van Der Merwe, 2002).

HR uses validity to substantiate if the characteristic being measured by a test are actually related to the job requirements and qualifications. HR also uses test scores to validate and to determine if there a linkage between test performance and job performance. This is also crucial to the organizations using the tool as a valid predictor of potential employees’

Previous research has examined selection officials ' use and perceptions of various types of pre-employment tests used to measure a variety of constructs. Researchers have also examined factors likely to contribute to selection officials ' choice to use a particular test.

The Human Resources Department of an organization is responsible for recruiting the best employees for their organization's needs. They are looking for talented applicants who fit their culture and who demonstrate experience in management, organization, human relations, time management and knowledge about the company. Recruitment strategies are critical in attracting potential candidates. Basic information about the applicants is obtained through the application process and review of their resume; however, the interviewer should be looking for those traits and qualifications that are essential to the Service department’s needs. That is why a set of pointed questions during the interview would be an opportunity for the

We chose to use four assessments because it improves the prediction of job success. The Greenbrier uses the process of multiple hurdles to avoid employee conflicts later on. We chose the reference checks to determine if the applying candidates are hard-working individuals, who will give it their all in order to keep The Greenbrier profitable. Integrity tests are used to determine if the applying individuals will be continuously motivated and show if the candidate will be a valuable addition to the staff through their job performance. Job knowledge tests are used to evaluate if the applying candidate is aware of the many facets that accompany a job and if they can handle them. Background checks are mainly used by HR to determine if an applying candidate has no criminal record or is a dangerous individual that we do not want associated with The Greenbrier's rich and proud

The modern businesses entities operate in an environment that is highly competitive and dynamic. In this respect, organizations are always on the alert looking to attract the most suitable and capable personnel. Despite the fact that job seekers could have exceptional academic qualifications; employers put employees through vigorous and thorough assessments so as to assess the suitability, credibility, and the skills of the individuals. No organization wants to be left behind in terms of high and superb levels of efficiency. In an attempt to verify and ensure that an organization has the most proficient employees; employers apply a series of tests to the employees (Ployhart,

The American Management Association gives evidence of the importance of testing in its statistics which states that “7 out of 10 companies engage in some sort of job skill testing” (Barclay, 1999). Of these, more than half require that job applicants be tested, of these companies “nearly half 46 % of companies use some form of psychological testing, of these, 39 % test job applicants and 31 % test current employees” (Barclay, 1999). Testing is an essential part to the selection progress of a potential employee.

The assets and the objectives/mission statements are most relevant resource that dominates in determining the competency level of employees. Employee competency can be measure and many organizations have excelled the skill of filtering down to the best competent candidates. There are many broad strokes on how the competency level is ascertained, majorly by development and training. One of the organizations possessed a virtual selection system which was capable of assessing candidates via test programs. The process takes place in this manner where the candidate gets to the audition for the