Intelligence Tests.docx

It is a mental ability tests. They measure learning ability, ability to understand instructions and make judgment. They measure several abilities such as memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, numerical ability, perception. Such tests are used in competitive examinations at entry level management posi...

It is a mental ability tests. They measure learning ability, ability to understand instructions and make judgment. They measure several abilities such as memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, numerical ability, perception. Such tests are used in competitive examinations at entry level management positions in Banking, Insurance and other Financial Service sectors. They include tests like Stanford-Binet, Binet-Simon, etc. are designed to measure what the applicant **can do** on the job currently. Example, Typing test shows typing proficiency, a short hand test measures the persons ability to take dictation. They are also known as work sampling tests, wherein job applicant\'s ability to do small portion of the job is tested. They involve: 1\. Motor-involving physical manipulation of things 2\. Verbal Measures an individual\'s potential to learn certain skills-clerical, mechanical, mathematical. These tests indicate whether an individual has ability to learn a given job **quickly** **and efficiently.** measure an individual\'s personality factors and relationship between personality factors and actual job criteria. The personality aspects which are evaluated are as follows -- motivation, emotional balance, self confidence, interpersonal behaviour. Some of the tests are: Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI), California Psychological Inventory, Manifest Anxiety Scale. is an extended work sample. It uses groups and individual exercise. A batch of applicants is assessed by team of 6 to 8 trained assessors. Analysis of lines, loops, hooks, strokes, curves in a person\'s handwriting to assess the person\'s personality and emotional make up Also known as lie diction test, records physical changes in body such respiration, blood pressure and perspiration on a moving roll of paper while answering series of questions. Suitable for government agencies for filling security, police, fire and health positions. To measure employee\'s honesty to predict those who are more likely to steal from an employer. Such questions are generally asked. **TYPES OF TEST** PERSONALITY TEST - motivation, emotional balance, confidence INTELLIGENCE TEST - learning ability ASSESSMENT CENTRE - 6-8 panels GRAPHOLOGY TEST - person's handwriting ACHIEVEMENT TEST - what the applicant can do APTITUDE TEST - mechanical, mathematical, efficiency POLYGRAPH TEST - lie detection test INTEGRITY TEST - measure honesty **Standards for Selection Tests** 1\. ***Reliability:*** Test scores should not vary widely under repeated conditions. 2\. ***Validity:*** is the extent to which an instrument measures what it intends to measure. Example: typing speed. a. 3\. Qualified people 4\. Preparation 5\. Suitability **Employment Interview** It is the oral examination of candidates for employment. In this step the interviewer matches the information obtained about the candidate through various means to the job requirements and to the information obtained through his own observations during the interview. It gives opportunity to recruiter to: 1\. To ask questions that are not covered in the tests 2\. To make judgments on the candidates enthusiasm and intelligence. 3\. To assess facial expressions, appearance, nervousness. 4\. To give the facts to the candidate regarding the company policies, programmes and promote goodwill of the company. The coverage of the interview may include: 1\. Experience and education 2\. Previous employment 3\. Gaps in employment history 4\. Information on health, financial & domestic matters 5\. Marital status 6\. Likes & dislikes 7\. Expected level of achievement 8\. Extracurricular activities. **Types of Interviews** 1\. Appraisal interview- where superior and subordinate sit together after the performance appraisal to discuss the subordinate\'s rating and possible remedial actions. 2\. Selection interview. 3\. Exit interview. **6.3.1 Types of Selection Interview** 1\. ***Non-directive Interview:*** In this, the recruiter ask questions as they come to mind. There is no specific format. The question can take any direction. 2\. ***Patterned Interview:*** The employees follows a predetermined sequence of questions. Questions regarding his technical competence, personality traits, attitudes, motivation etc. 3. ***Structural Interview:*** They are fixed job related questions presented to each applicants. They are asked for specific job. 4\. ***Panel Interview:*** In this type of interview the candidate is interviewed by a group of panelists representing the various stakeholders in the hiring process. Within this format there are several approaches to conducting the interview. Example formats include: Thus, in a typical panel interview, the applicant meets with three to five interviewers who take turns asking questions. After the interview, the interviewers pool their observations to arrive at a consensus about the suitability of the applicant. The panel members can ask new and incisive questions based on their expertise and experience and elicit deeper and more meaningful responses from candidates. Such an interview could also limit the impact of the personal biases of any individual interviewer. On the negative side, as an applicant, a panel interview may make you feel more stressed than usual. 5\. ***Stress Interview:*** It is an interview in which the applicant is made uncomfortable by a series of often rude, annoying or embarrassing question to test the applicants confidence level and ability to stand erect in difficult situation is put to test. Gate hiring (where job seekers, generally blue collar employees, present themselves at the factory gate and offer their services on a daily basis), hiring through contractors. **Interview Mistakes** 1\. Favour applicants who share his own attitudes. 2\. Not asking right question and not getting relevant responses. 3\. May be influenced by \'cultural noise\'- responses the applicant believes are socially acceptable rather than facts. 4\. May allow themselves to be unduly influenced by associating a particular personality trait with a persons origin or cultural background, stereotyping. 5\. May allow the ratings to be influenced by his own likes or dislikes (bias). 6\. Poorly dressed candidate is not intelligent, attractive females are good for public dealings etc. \'Halo effect\'- athlete make good sales people. 7\. Candidate order error. 8\. Have been under pressure to hire at short notice. 9\. Have been influenced by the behaviour (his body language) his or her dress (especially in case of a female candidate) and other physical factors that are not job related. It is not a foolproof method of selection. It may suffer from drawbacks: 1\. It is an expensive device. 2\. It can only test the personality of the candidate & not his skills & ability for the job. 3\. It depends on the personal judgment of the interviewer & it may not be always be correct. 4\. The interviewer may not be in the position to extract maximum information from the candidate. 6.4.1 Checking References An applicant may be asked to in the application blank to supply two types of references: 1\. Character references 2\. Experiences references Limitation to this method is that it lacks standardization and objectivity. It is rare to get correct opinion about the candidate, even after giving the assurance that the information supplied will be kept confidential. 6.4.2 Medical Examination A proper medical examination will ensure higher standard of health and physical fitness of the employee and will reduce the rate of accident, labour turnover & absenteeism. The advantages of medical examination are: 1\. It serves to ascertain the applicants physical Capabilities to meet the job requirement. 2\. It serves to protect the organisation against the unwarranted claims under workmen compensation laws or against law suits for damages. 3 It helps to prevent communicable diseases entering the organisation. 6.4.3 Job Offer It is made through a letter of appointment. It contains a date by which the appointee must report on duty. Decency demands that he rejected applicants be informed about their non-selection. **Employee Induction** After selection of employees, the first step is to orient them to organisational life. **Induction or** **orientation programme** of an organisation is a process to guide and counsel the employees to **familiarise them** with the job and the organisation. This process helps an organisation to clarify the terms and conditions of employment, specific job requirements and also to inculcate confidence in the minds of the new entrants. *Example:* Induction Training in India 1\. ***Aptech:*** The company takes its new entrants through a structured induction training programme. The one-day programme includes a *briefing on the company\'s market* *position, the business it is in, its functioning style, its organisational structure and its HR* *policies.* The entrants are also familiarised with what others do, before being deputed to their own departments. A six-month behavioural training is also offered in team building, self-development, customer-sensitivity etc. Finally, the recruits are put through an appraisal process to gauge fitment and progress. 2\. ***Maruti Udyog:*** The company customizes its initiation programmes to suit the profile of the new recruit. For engineers, the programme is offered in four parts: 3\. ***Standard Chartered Bank:*** The management trainees are picked from premium B-schools and undergo induction training for about 6 months. During this period, the trainees spend time in the various divisions of the bank to get a holistic view of the bank\'s operations, and get a chance to meet each of the bank\'s business heads. A two-day session dedicated to team-building is also conducted thereafter. After taking charge of the job, the new recruits have to attend a review session about the job itself. **Steps in Induction Programme** An induction programme essentially involves the following steps: 1\. ***General Orientation:*** It includes guided tours in different departments of an organisation, introduction with fellow employees, supervisors and executives, information about the organisations\' mission, philosophy, achievements and future plans, etc. Some organisations have their printed manuals, which they give to their new employees to orient them with their induction training programmes for a week or so. The purpose of such general orientation programme is to build a **sense of pride** in the minds of the new employees and also to create an interest in them about the organisation. 2\. ***Specific Orientation:*** This is intended to help new employees to get acclimatized (adapt) with their new work environment. The supervisor or the departmental boss of the employee takes him to his place of work and imparts vocational guidance for his particular nature of work. He is also told about the technology, environment and other facilities available in the organisation, prevailing practices and customs and specific expectations from an employee. For executives and managerial employees, targets and key result areas for each of them are given to make them aware of what organisation expects from them. 3\. ***Follow-up Orientation:*** This orientation is conducted sometime after the initial induction of an employee, i.e. preferably within a period of six months or so. The purpose of such orientation is to give guidance and counsel to the employees to ensure that they are reasonably satisfied and gradually settling in the organisation. **Placement** After the initial programme is over, an employee is put to a specific job, for which he has been selected. Most of the organizations put new employees on probation for a specified period after which they are confirmed or made permanent, provided they match the organisational requirements. The personnel department periodically reviews the progress of such employees getting feedbacks on their performance from their controlling authority. Some organisations have also a system to extend the probationary period, if the employees fail to match to the organizational expectations. Such placement is known as **\'differential placement\'.** Placement is defined as assigning employees jobs for which they have been identified as suitable based on the selection techniques. But such definition would be meaningless, if a particular employee is recruited against a particular vacancy. Generally, the question of placement arises when a group of trainees are recruited. Organisations, to identify the true potentiality of an employee, in such cases, make provision for short-term placement, during which phase, employees are allowed to work on different jobs, through a systematic job rotation programme. However, at a later stage, permanent placement is effected matching the employees\' competence, knowledge, skill and job interest. **6.7 Induction and Placement: Requisites & Problems** Common use of higher technology, increased level of knowledge and skills of the new job entrants, production restructuring and flexibility coupled with perceptive change about human resource, which is now considered as most important resource of an organisation, have now transformed labour as an item for competitive sale and purchase. However, despite the problem of unemployment in India, there still exists dearth of knowledge and skilled workers and so also executives and managers. The recent economic liberalization programme of the Government of India has now paved the way for entry of multinationals and foreign companies. Market globalisation has further intensified the competition. Development of total quality management philosophy, inter alia, is also demanding sea change in product and service-mix of an organisation. All these together have now increased the scope for job mobility for employees with knowledge and skills of appropriate type and degree. Selection is the process of choosing individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organisation. The primary purpose of selection activities is to predict which job applicant will be successful if hired.  Selection tests include intelligence and aptitude tests, achievement tests, assessment centres and general psychological or personality tests. The value of tests should not be discounted, since they are objective and offer a broader sampling of behaviour. The interview is an important source of information about job applicants. Several types of interviews are used, depending on the nature and importance of the position to be filled within an organisation. Interviews can be conducted by a single individual or by a panel of interviewers who are generally trained for the purpose. The training helps interviewers to be more objective and not get carried away by biases and errors of various kinds.  Placement is the actual posting of an employee to a specific job. It involves assigning a specific rank and responsibility to an employee. Placement is an important human resource activity.  **Orientation or induction** is the task of introducing the new employees to the organisation and its policies, procedures and rules.  Induction is important as it serves the purpose of removing fears, creating a good impression and acts as a valuable source of information. **Keywords** ***Assessment Centre:*** It is a standardised form of employee appraisal that uses multiple assessment exercises such as \'in basket\', games, role play, etc., and multiple raters. ***Halo Error:*** This error occurs when one aspect of the subordinate\'s performance affects the rater\'s evaluation of other performance dimensions. ***Induction:*** Introduction of a person to the job and the organisation. ***Interview:*** It is the oral examination of candidates for employment. ***Panel Interview:*** An interview during the course of which several interviewers take turns in interviewing the candidate. ***Placement:*** Actual posting of an employee to a specific job - with rank and responsibilities attached to it. ***Realistic Job Preview:*** It is a process of providing a job applicant with an accurate picture of the job. ***Reliability:*** The ability of a selection tool to measure an attribute consistently. ***Selection:*** The process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organisation. ***Stereotyping:*** Attributing characteristics to individuals based on their inclusion or membership in a particular group. ***Structured Interview:*** Interview that uses a set of standardised questions that are clearly job related, asked of all job applicants. ***Test:*** A test is a standardised, objective measure of a sample of behaviour ***Validity:*** The relationship between scores on a selection tool and a relevant criterion such as job performance.