Employee Selection: Psychometric Model

Introduction

• 'Best-practice' employee selection is associated with the 'psychometric' model
• Employee selection utilizes psychometric tests, performance-based or work simulation methods, and multiple assessment methods
• Assessment methods gauge a candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, personality, and attitudes
• Industrialization, mass manpower planning in the early 20th century, and psychological research led to systematic selection becoming a key component of HRM

Overview of Psychometric Quality

• Prediction or predictivist tests use four standards to make an evaluation

Standards of Prediction Tests

• Reliability: ensures that tests are accurate and free from 'contamination'
• Validity: demands assessments are designed around a systematic job analysis and person specification
• Subgroup predictive validity: emphasizes that the selection method treats all groups equitably
• Utility: incorporates cost, potential return on investment, and the selection ratio

Cognitive Ability

• Cognitive ability measures skill levels in specific areas
• Aptitude gauges the potential to learn or acquire new skills
• Tests involved are school exams and professional exams
• 1980s cognitive ability tests are referred to as g
• Tests of g predict performance differences between job applicants in any type of job
• Tests of g lead to potentially high returns on investment for organizations
• Testing includes different kinds of intelligence, emotional intelligence and tacit knowledge
• There is culture-free tests

Personality

• Personality is a non-cognitive characteristic
• The Five Factor Model, or 'Big Five' dimensions, includes extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism/emotional stability, openness, and experience
• 'Big Five' is most effective for customer service, sales, and managerial roles

Personality Testing Applications

• Predicts team performance
• Best used combined with other candidate information
• Emotional intelligence is an individual’s personal and social competence in managing their own or others emotions
• Personality traits are custom-made personality measures based on combinations of traits designed to predict job-relevant behavior

Biographical Information

• Retrospective description of past experience and work history
• Predicts how candidates will behave in future job situations by finding personal competencies (attitudes or motivation)
• Includes 'Criterion-keying'
• Weighted Application Blanks or Biographical Information Blanks is present

Performance-Based Methods

• Measures present performance to predict future performance
• 'High-fidelity' methods focus on testing current skills and performance of tasks
• These methods have higher validity and less adverse impact for non-traditional candidates

Low Fidelity Methods

• Tests judgement and measures tacit/acquired knowledge through experience
• Exhibits high validity, low subgroup differences, and distinctiveness
• Structured/behaviorally based assessments can be used to assess personality, knowledge, social skills, and values
• Structured interviews provide high predictive validity

Mixed Approaches

• Competency movement
• Transferable personal qualities, e.g. teamworking, business awareness and service orientation
• Behavioural outputs
• Future oriented behavioral competencies, e.g. leadership potential
• Assessment centers use multiple methods, assessors and procedures

Summary of Trends

• Increased reliability and validity in assessment tools
• Greater use of assessment tools with high validity and low adverse impact
• Rising importance of assessing non-cognitive qualities
• Increased use of bespoke simulations
• Technology and assessment

Organizational Practices

• Performance-based and competency tests are more common in the public sector
• Word of mouth and unstructured interviews still dominate
• Word of mouth and unstructured interviews ensure non-discriminatory hiring practices
• Issues for large organizations managing multinational workforces
• A single selection process across countries?

Explaining Practice

• 1. Selection as best fit: the organizations perspective
• 2. Selection as an interactive decision process
• Methods are perceived by stakeholders
• Applicants perceive the job organization
• 3. Selection as discourse
• The ‘good’ firefighter
• Graduate assessment centres

Economic Pressures on Selection

• Short-term financial impacts: includes skills supply, labor market tightness, employment patterns, organization size, lifecycle, performance orientation, ownership, HR presence, selector experience, & time
• Long-term financial impacts include high-skill occupations/vacancies, career potential, competition, market segment, & organization values

Socal Pressures on Selection

• Legislative/institutional factors: regulatory environment, visibility/accountability, national culture, and entry standards/statutory requirements
• Other stakeholders: users, applicants, industry/profession, and test developers

Conclusion

• Shift towards holistic assessments
• Includes cognitive, non-cognitive and performance qualities
• Move to performance based methods
• Selection can be judged in terms of the qualities of the social exchange between organisations and other stakeholders
• Selection is a core function within HRM