Chapter 5 Employee Selection: References and Testing Quiz

Predicting Performance

• Predicting performance can be done using various methods, including applicant ability, applicant skill, prior experience, and personality, interest, and character.

Applicant Ability

• Cognitive ability tests assess dimensions such as oral and written comprehension, oral and written expression, numerical facility, originality, memorization, and reasoning.
• Perceptual ability tests consist of vision, color discrimination, depth perception, glare sensitivity, speech, and hearing.
• Psychomotor ability tests measure finger dexterity, manual dexterity, control precision, multi-limb coordination, response control, reaction time, arm-hand steadiness, wrist-finger speed, and speed of limb movement.
• Physical ability tests are used for jobs that require physical strength and stamina.

Applicant Skill

• Applicant skill measures if the applicant already has a job-related skill.
• Work samples involve performing actual job-related tasks.
• Assessment centers use multiple assessments to evaluate applicants.
• Development and component in basket technique simulates daily information that appears on a manager's or employee's desk.
• Simulation exercises enable assessors to see an applicant "in action."
• Work samples are used when a simulation does not involve a situational exercise.

Leaderless Group Discussions

• Leaderless group discussions involve exercises where applicants meet in small groups and are given a job-related problem to solve or a job-related issue to discuss.

Business Games

• Business games are exercises that allow applicants to demonstrate attributes such as creativity, decision-making, and ability to work with others.

Predicting Performance using Prior Experience

• Prior experience is typically measured in one of four ways: experience, biodata, reference checks, and interviews.
• Experience ratings predict future performance based on past experience.
• Biodata considers an applicant's life, school, military, community, and work experience.

Reference Checks

• Reference checks are the process of confirming the accuracy of information provided by an applicant.
• Reference is an expression of an opinion.
• Letter of recommendation is a letter expressing an opinion regarding an applicant's qualifications.
• Resume fraud is lying on one's resume.
• Negligent hiring is when an organization hires an applicant without checking their references and background, and they later commit a crime.
• Negligent reference is when a former employee does not provide relevant information.

Problems with References and Letters of Recommendation

• Leniency: most letters of recommendations are positive.
• Knowledge of the applicant: the person writing the letter often does not know the applicant well.
• Reliability: lack of agreement between two people who provide references for the same person.
• Extrinsic factors: letters written by references who like applicants are longer than those written by references who do not.

Ethical Guidelines for Reference Providers

• Explicitly state your relationship with the applicant.
• Be honest in your reference.
• Let the applicant see your reference before sending it.

Predicting Performance using Applicant's Knowledge and Skill

• Applicant knowledge is designed to measure how much a person knows about the job.
• Applicant ability is used primarily for occupations in which applicants are not expected to know how to perform the job at the time of hire.