Industrial Psychology Notes PDF

Industrial Psychology Reviewer Cover to Cover by Chapter (except chapter 10) Disclaimer: Please don’t sell it to other students because I share it for free. Do not upload it to any platforms and claimed that it is yours....

Industrial Psychology Reviewer Cover to Cover by Chapter (except chapter 10) Disclaimer: Please don’t sell it to other students because I share it for free. Do not upload it to any platforms and claimed that it is yours. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK Made by: Maria Clarisse Baldonado, RPm  Page 1 of 13 Chapter 1: Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology ___________________________________________________________________ Industrial Psychology  Is a branch of Psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace. Purpose: to enhance the dignity and performance of human beings and the organization they work in, by advancing the science and knowledge of human behavior. Difference of I/O psychology and business fields: I/O Psychology examines factors yjay affect the people in an organization as opposed to the broader aspects of running an organization such as marketing Channels, transportation networks and cost accounting. T/n: I/O psychology relies on research, qualitative methods and test techniques. I/O psychologist are not clinical psychologist who happen to be in industry, and they do not conduct therapy for workers. They are psychologist who work for organizations and help employees with such problems as drug and alcohol abuse but they are counselors rather than I/O psychologist. Factor: is the reliance on the scientist-practitioner model. That is I/O psychologist act as a scientist when they conduct research and as practitioners when they work with the actual organizations. I/O psychologist act as scientist practitioner when they apply research findings so that the work they perform with the organizations will be high quality and enhance an organization’s effectiveness. Major Fields in I/O Psychology 1) Personnel Psychology a) Study and practice in such areas analyzing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting employees, determining salary levels, training employees, and evaluating employees performance. Made by: Maria Clarisse Baldonado, RPm  Page 2 of 13 b) Professionals working in these areas choose existing tests or create new ones that can be used to select or promote employees, i. These tests are then constantly evaluated to ensure that they are both fair and valid. c) Analyze jobs to obtain a complete picture of what each employees does, often assigning monetary values to each position. d) After obtaining complete JD, PPS construct performance-appraisal instruments to evaluate employee performance. e) Examine various methods that can be used to train and develop employees. 2) Organizational Psychology a) Are concerned with the issues of leadership, job satisfaction, employee motivation, organizational communication, conflict management, organizational change, and group processes within the organization. b) Often conduct surveys of employees attitude to get ideas about what employees believe are an organization’s strengths and weaknesses c) Usually serving in a role of a consultant, a organizational psychologist sProfessionals in organization development implement organization-wide programs designed to improve employee performance. i. Team building ii. Restructuring iii. Employee empowerment 3) Human factors/Ergonomics a) Concentrate on workplace design, human machine interaction, ergonomics and physical fatigue and stress. b) Frequently work with engineers and other technical professionals to make the workplace safe and more efficient. i. Designing the optimal way to draw a map ii. Designing the most comfortable chair  Page 3 of 13 iii. Investigating the optimal work schedule Brief History of I/O Psychology  Generally thought to have started either in 1903 when Walter Dill Scott wrote the Theory of Advertising** in which psychology is applied into business.  1904 when Hugo Munsterberg wrote the Psychology and Industrial Efficiency which was first published in English in 1913.  1911 when Scott wrote the book Increasing Human Efficiency in Business.  Regardless of the official starting date I/O Psychology was born in early 1900s. o Additional Pioneers of I.O Psychology  James Cattell  Walter Bingham  John Watson  Marion Bills  Lillian Gilbreth T/n: The term Industrial Psychology was seldom used prior to World War I. Instead, the common term for the field were “Economic Psychology”, “Business Psychology”, “Employment Psychology” T/n: I/O Psychology made its first impact during World War I, because of the large number of soldiers assigned to various units within the armed forces.  I/O Psychologist were employed to test recruits and then place them in appropriate positions.  Army Alpha o Used for recruits who could read  Army Beta o For recruits who could not read. Brief History of I/O Psychology (cont..)  I/O Psychologist along with the engineers such as Henry Gantt were responsible for increasing the efficiency with which cargo ships were built, repaired and loaded.  In 1920, Thomas A Edison, understood the importance of selecting the right employees by creating a 163 item knowledge test that administered to over 900 applicants.  Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, ‑ the scientist to improve productivity and reduce fatigue by studying motions used by workers. (Cheaper by Dozen)  Page 4 of 13  People who applied psychology to problems in Industry outside the US: o Jules Sulter in Switzerland o Bernard Muscio in Australia o Franziska Baumgarten Tramer in Germany o Jean Marie Lahy in France o Edward Webster in Canada o Cyril Burt, Charles Myers and Sir Frederick Batlett in Great Britain  In the 1930’s, I/O Psychology greatly expanded it’s scope. Also when the findings of Hawthorne studies were published o Hawthorne studies 1. A series of studies conducted at the Western Electric Plant in Hawthorne, that have come to represent any change in behaviour when people react to a change environment. 2. Function: To Investigate such issues as the effects of lighting level, work schedules, wages temperature and rest breaks on employee performance. o Hawthorne effect 1. When employees change their behaviour due solely to the fact that they are receiving attention or are being observed by:  Managers  In 1960’s were characterized by the passage of several major pieced of civil rights legislation. o These laws focused the attention of HR Professionals on developing fair selection techniques. o 1960’s were characterized by the use of sensitivity training and T‑groups (Laboratory and Training Groups for managers)  In 1970’s brought great strides in the understanding of many organizational psychology issues that involved employer satisfaction and motivation. o Development of many theories about employee behaviour organization o B.F. Skinners’ (1971) Beyond Freedom and Dignity resulted in increased use of behaviour modification techniques in organizations. o 1980’s and 1990’s major changes in I/O Psychology o 1970’s more simpler statistical techniques such as:  T‑test  Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)  Page 5 of 13 1. An increased used of fairly sophisticated statistical techniques and methods of analysis  Complex and statistical techniques such as: o Path Analysis o Structural Equation Modeling o Meta‑analyses o Mutivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) o Causal Modeling 2. New interest in application of Cognitive Psychology in industry. 3. Increased interest in the effects of work on family life and leisure activities. 4. When I/O Psychologist took a renewed interest in developing method to select employees. o By the mid 1980’s courts become less strict and wider variations of selection instruments was developed and used. 1. Cognitive Ability Test 2. Personality Test 3. Biodata 4. Structured Interviews  Massive organizational downsizing  Greater concern for diversity  Increased emphasis on o Organizational development interventions as total quality management (TQM), reengineering and employees empowerment o In the 2000’s rapid advance technology, many test and surveys are now administered on the internet, employers recruit and screen applicants online; 1. job seekings use such social media outlets as Twitter, LikedIn and facebook to find a jobs; 2. employees are being trained using e‑learning and distance education. 3. Manages are holding meetings in cyberspace rather than in person. o Factors currently impacting I/O Psychology 1. High Unemployment Rates 2. Movement towards flexible work schedules 3. Family‑Friendly Work Policies  Page 6 of 13 4. Accommodation of increasing number of employees with child care and elder care responsibilities. Employment of I/O Psychologist  Typically work in four settings o College and Universities  Typically teach and conduct research, although some work as administrators (deans, provost, vice presidents) o Consulting Firms  Helped a variety of organizations become more productive, by helping them select a high quality and diverse workforce designing systems that will motivate employee while treating them fairly;  Training employees, and ensuring that organizations treat applicants and employees in a legal and ethical manner. o Private Sector  Work for a single company such as IBM, Microsoft, and FedEx, whereas consultant works with many companies o Public Sector  I/O Psychologist in the public sector of work for a local, state of federal government agencies. Educational Requirements and Types of Programs  Obtaining a Masters’ degree in I/O Psychology that takes between one and two years after the completion of Bachelor’s Degree  Graduate record Exams o A standardized admission test required by most psychology graduate schools. o The graduate school version of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)  Types of Graduate Program o Ph.D Program and terminate at Master’s Degree, o Terminated School Program  Graduate programs that offer a master’s degree but not a Ph.D  Best suited for students wanting an applied HR Position in an organization o Schools with doctoral programs offers both Master’s Degree and Ph.D  Page 7 of 13 o Doctoral programs are best suited for students who eventually want to teach, do research or consult. o Master’s Program  40 hours of graduate coursework, although 15 to 18 hours is considered a full undergraduate semester load;  9 to 12 hours is considered a full graduate load  Must complete a thesis‑‑ original research work created and conducted by the student; completed in the second year of graduate school.  Internship  A situation in which a student works for an organization, either for pay or as a volunteer, to receive practical work experience.  10 hours per week at an organization last semester of graduate school or in summer.  Practicum  A paid of unpaid position with an organization that gives a student practical work experience. o Doctoral Programs  Obtaining a Ph.D is more difficult than obtaining a master’s with atypical doctoral program taking five years to complete.  First two years is taking wide variety of courses in psychology.  Dissertation  A formal research paper required of most doctoral students in order to graduate. Research in I/O Psychology  Why conduct a research? 1. Answering questions and making decisions  One of characteristics of I/O Psychology is extensive used of research and statistics  Research saves organization’s money  Monetary savings can results of  Employee satisfaction  Increased productivity  Fewer accidents  Page 8 of 13 2. Research and Everyday Life 3. Commonsense is often wrong Considerations in Conducting Research  Ideas, Hypotheses and Theories o Decide what to search o Hypothesis  An educated prediction about the answer to the research questions  Usually based on a theory o Theory  A systematic set of assumptions regarding the cause and nature of behaviour. o Exploratory study without hypothesis  A practice that is not uncommon but is generally frowned on by scientist  Follow up studies should be conducted to confirm the results of the exploratory study.  Literature Reviews o Next step is to search the literature for similar research o Important: because if the question you are interested in answering has already been researched in 20 studies; it is not necessary for you to conduct a new study. o Four types of periodicals  Journals  Consist of articles written by researchers directly reporting the results of the study.  Can be difficult to read and boring; but the best source of unbiased and accurate information about the topic.  A written collection of articles, describing the methods and results of new research.  Examples: o Journal of Applied Psychology o Personnel Psychology o Academy of Management Journal o Academy of Management Review o Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process  Bridge publications  Designed to bridge the gap between academia and the applied world.  Page 9 of 13  Articles in this publications are usually written by professors about the topic of interest to practitioners, but as not as formal or statistically complex as articles in journals.  Examples: o Academy of Management Executive o Harvard Business Review o Organizational Dynamics  Trade magazines  Contain articles usually written by professional writers who have developed expertise in a given field.  The main audience is the practitioner in the given field.  Present topic to easy‑to‑understand format o Do not cover all the research on a topic and can be somewhat biased.  Examples: o HR Magazine o Trainings  Magazines  An unscientific collection of articles about the wide range of topics.  To entertain as well as to inform;  Good source of idea but terrible sources to use in support scientific hypothesis.  Written by professional writers who do not have training in the topic and thus little expertise in what they are writing about.  Scientific information in magazines is often wrong.  Internet  A wealth of information on just about every topic.  Problem: cannot be sure if the information in a secondary source accurately reflects the information in the primary source. Location of the study 1. Laboratory Research a. Usually done in a university but research is also conducted in such organizations. b. Disadvantage: i. External Validity‑‑ or generalizability of results to organizations to the real world.  Page 10 of 13 ii. External Validity  The extent to which research results can be expected to hold true outside yje specific setting which were obtained. iii. Generalizability  Like external validity, the extent to which the results hold tre outside the specific setting in which they are obtained. 2. Field Research a. Research conducted in a natural setting as opposed to a laboratory. b. Disadvantage: gains external validity but loses control of extraneous variables that are not interest to the researchers. c. Informed Consent i. The formal process by which subjects give permission to be included in a study. d. Institutional Review Board i. A committee designed to ensure the ethical treatment of the research subjects. ii. Monitor the research to ensure ethical treatment of research participants. The research method to be used  Experiments o Is the most powerful of all research methods because it is the only one that can determine cause and effect relationship. o In which an independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter. o Cause and effect relationships  The result of well controlled experiment about which the researcher can confidently state that independent variable caused change in the dependent variable. o Two characteristics define an experiment 1. Manipulation of one or more independent variables 2. Random assignment of subjects to experimental and control conditions. If these characteristics are mission a research project cannot be called experiment, instead it is called quasi‑experiment, a study, a survey or an investigation o Independent Variable  Intentionally manipulates one or more aspects of the question of interest.  Page 11 of 13 o Dependent Variable  The measure of behaviour that is expected to change as a result of changes in independent variable. o Experimental Group  The group of subjects that receives the experimental treatment of interest to the experimenter. o Control Group  The group of subjects who does not receive the experimental treatment of interest if the experimenter.  Quasi‑ experiments o Are often use to evaluate the results of a new program implemented by an organization o Research method, in which an experimenter either does not manipulate the independent variable or in which subjects are not randomly assigned to conditions.  Archival Research o Involves using previously collected data or records to answer a research question.  Surveys o Method of conducting a research is to ask people their opinion on the same topic. o Examples:  Mail  Personal interviews  Phone  Email  Internet  Meta‑ Analysis o Statistical method of reaching conclusions based on previous research o Effect Size  Statistical that indicates the amount of change caused by an experimental manipulation. o Mean Effect Size  Average size of the effect size for all studies included in the analysis.  Results in one number that indicates the effectiveness of some variable. o Correlation Coefficients (ꞅ )  A statistics, resulting from performing a correlation, that indicates the magnitude and direction of relationships.  Page 12 of 13 o Difference Score  Used as a effective size when researchers are looking at the difference between two groups.  Indicates how many standard deviations separate the mean score for the experimental group form the control group. o Practical Significance (d)  Depends on many factors and even small effect size can result in great monetary savings for an organization.  The extent to which the results of a study have actual impact on human behaviour. Sample Subjects  Random Sample o A sample in which every member of the relevant population had an equal chance of being chosen to participate in the study.  Convenience Sample o A nonrandom research sample that is used because it is easily available.  Random Assignment o The random, unbiased assignment of subjects in a research sample to the various experimental and control conditions. Running the Study 1. Debriefed a. Informing the subject in an experiment about the purpose of the study in which he or she was a participant and providing any other relevant information. 2. Statistical Analysis a. Help to determine how confident we are that our results are real and did not occur by chance alone. b. Proves the answer by determining the probability that our data were the result of chance. c. 5% or less is considered results to be statistically significant. d. Significant levels indicate only the level of confidence we can place on a result being the product of chance.  Page 13 of 13 3. Correlation a. Is a statistical procedure that enables a researcher to determine the relationship between two variables. b. Intervening Variable i. A third variable that can often explain the relationship between two other variable. Ethics in I/O Psychology  Ethical dilemmas are ambiguous situations that require personal judgement or what is right or wrong because there are no rules, policies or laws guiding such decisions.  Individuals often rely on their morals and personal values; which lead to different decisions by different people in similar situations.  Page 1 of 13 Chapter 2: Job Analysis and Evaluation ___________________________________________________________________ Job Analysis  Gathering and analyzing information about the work an employee performs, the conditions under which the work is performed, and the workers characteristics needed to perform the work under the indentified conditions.  Also called work analysis  The foundation for almost all human resource activities. T/n: It is difficult to imagine how one could write a job description, select employees, evaluate performance or conduct training programs without knowing the tasks an employee performs, the conditions under which they are performed and the competencies needed to perform the tasks. Importance of Job Analysis 1. Writing Job Descriptions  One of the written products of a job analysis is a job description i. A brief, two to five page summary of tasks and job requirements found in the job analysis.  Job analysis is the process of determining the work activities and requirements and;  A job description is the written result of the job analysis.  Job analyses and Job description serves as the basis for many HR activities, including employee selection, evaluation, training and work design. 2. Employee Selections  It is difficult how an employee can be selected unless there is a clear understanding of the tasks to be performed and the competencies needed to perform those task. 3. Training  It is difficult how an employees can be trained unless the requirements of the job are known.  Job analyses yield list of job activities that can be systematically used to create training programs. 4. Personnel Planning  One important but seldom employed use of job analysis is to determine worker mobility within an organization  Peter Principle Made by: Maria Clarisse Baldonado, RPm  Page 2 of 13 i. Promoting employees until they eventually reach their highest level of incompetence. 5. Performance Appraisal  Employees are often evaluated with forms that used some vague categories as ‘’dependability’’, ‘’knowledge’’ and ‘’initiative’’.  The use of specific job related categories leads to more accurate performance appraisals that ate better accepted not only by employees but also by the courts.  When properly administered and utilized, job related performance appraisals can serve as an excellent source of employee training and counseling. 6. Job Classification  To classify jobs based on similarities in requirements and duties  Job classification is useful for determining pay levels, transfers and promotions. 7. Job Evaluation  Use to determine the worth of job. 8. Job Design  To determine the optimal way in which job should be performed.  By analyzing a job wasted and unsafe motions can be eliminated resulting in higher productivity and reduced numbers of job injuries. Compliance with Legal Guidelines  No law specifically require job analysis, but several important guidelines and court cases mandate job analysis for all practical purposes.  Uniform Guidelines of Employee Selection Procedure o The HR principle designed to ensure compliance with federal standards o Contain several direct references to the necessity of job analysis Organizational Analysis  Job Analysis Interview o Obtaining information about a job by talking to a person performing it. o Example: The employee does not know how she is being evaluated so with the help of Job Analysis Interview, the organization can correct its problem.  Page 3 of 13 Writing a good job description  Job Description o is a short summary of a job and should be about two to five pages in length. o This suggested length is not really typical of most job descriptions used in industry; they tend to have one page. o Job descriptions should be detailed and lengthy, many professionals in organizations resist such efforts. o Eight Sections of Job Description 1. Job Title  Nature of the job; its power and status level  Competencies needed for the job  Can affect perceptions of status and worth of the job  Gender neutral titles such as ‘’administrative assistant’’ are evaluated as being worth more money than ones containing titles with a female sex linkage like ‘’executive secretary’’ 2. Brief Summary  One paragraph in length but should be briefly describes the nature and purpose of the job.  Can be used in help wanted advertisements, internal job postings and company brochures. 3. Work Activities  List the task and activities in which the worker is involved.  Task and activities should be organized into meaningful categories to make job description easy to read and understand. 4. Tools and Equipment Used  List of all tools and equipment used to perform.  Used primarily for employee selection and training. o If an applicant can be asked if she can operate an adding machine, computer and a credit history machine. 5. Job Context  Environment in which the employee works and mention  Page 4 of 13 o stress level o work schedule o physical demands o level of responsibility o temperature o number of coworkers o degree of danger.  Important with the applicants with a disability. 6. Work Performance  Brief description of how an employee’s performance is evaluated and what work standards are expected of the employee. 7. Compensation Information  Contain information of salary grade‑‑ a cluster of jobs of similar worth; whether the position is exempt, and the compensable factors used to determine salary. 8. Job Competencies  Job Specifications o A relatively dated term that refers to the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to successfully perform a job.  Competencies o Are determined by deciding what type of KSAOs are needed to perform a task identified in job analysis.  That can be determined through a combination of logic, research and use of specific job analysis techniques. Preparing Job Analysis 1. Who will conduct job analysis?  Job analysis is conducted by a trained individual in Human Resource.  Conducted by job incumbents, supervisors, or outside consultants.  Consultants are good choice for conducting a job analysis because they are well trained and have an extensive experience.  College interns students from I/O psychology programs tend to have job analysis training and experience and can be employed for a relatively small cost.  Page 5 of 13 2. How often should a job description be updated?  Job description should be updated is a job changes significantly.  Job Crafting  The informal changes that employees make in their job.  Employee unofficially changes their job duties to better fit their interest and skills. 3. Which employees should participate?  Subject matter experts‑‑ people who are knowledgeable about the job and include job incumbents, supervisors, customers and upper level management; meet to generate task perform, the conditions which under they are performed and KSAOs needed to perform them.  One session of 4 to 6 incumbents for jobs having fewer than 30 incumbents and two to three sessions for jobs with higher number of incumbents  Race  Job analysis ratings were related not only to the race of the incumbent but to the race of the incumbent’s coworker.  Gender  Men and women viewed differently their jobs.  Research: Male middle level managers were more involved in budgetary or finance related task than were female counterparts.  Education level  School diploma were less involved in court activities than were their more educated counterparts.  Personality  Extrovert incumbents such as friendliness, leadership, ability and ambition are important for the job  Conscientious incumbents work ethic and attention to detail as being important.  Viewpoint  People with different viewpoints of the job produce different job analysis result. 4. What type of information should be obtained?  Level of specificity  Formal versus informal 1. Formal requirements a. Typing letters or filing memos 2. Informal requirements  Page 6 of 13 a. Making coffee or picking up boss’s children. Conducting Job Analysis Step 1: Identify the task performed  Identify the major dimensions and the task performed for each dimensions, the tools and equipment used to perform the task and the conditions under which task are performed.  Gathering Existing Information o SME (Subject Matter Expert) are people who are knowledgeable about the job and include job incumbents, supervisors, costumers and upper level management. o Job analysis interviews come in two main forms  Individual 1. Job analyst interview only one employee at a time.  Group 1. SME Conference a larger number of employees interviewed together. 2. Guidelines in interview o Prepare o Open o Conduct o Ammerman Technique  A job analysis method in which a group of job experts identifies the objectives and the standards to be met by the ideal worker.  Basic steps of Ammerman Technique 1. Convene a panel experts that includes representatives from all levels of the organization 2. Have the panel identify the objectives and standards that are to be met by the ideal incumbent. 3. Have the panel list the specific behaviors necessary for each objective standard to be attained. 4. Have the panel identity which of the behaviors from step 3 are ‘’critical’’ to reaching the objectives. 5. Have the panel rank order the objectives on the basis of importance. o Observations  Page 7 of 13  A job analysis method in which the job analyst watches job incumbents to perform their jobs.  Useful in job analysis methods esp. when used in conjunction with other methods such as interbiews. o Job Participation  A job analysis method in which job analyst actually perform the job being analyzed.  Easy to used when the analyst has previously performed the job.  Example: supervisor who worked her way up through the ranks.  The analyst should spend enough time on the job to properly sample work behavior in addition to job difficulty. Step 2: Write Task Statement  Task inventory o A questionnaire containing a list of tasks each of which the job incumbent rates on a series of scales such as importance and time spent. Step 3: Rate Task Statement  Task Analysis o The process of identifying the task for which employees need to be trained. o Using a group of SMEs to rate each task statement on the frequency and the importance or criticality of the task being performed. Step 4: Determine Essential KSAOs  Knowledge o A body of information needed to perform a task.  Skill o The proficiency to perform a learned task.  Ability o The basic capacity for performing a wide range of task acquiring a knowledge or developing skills.  Other characteristics o Factors are not knowledge, skills or abilities such as  Personality  Page 8 of 13  Willingness  Interest  Degree T/N: KSAOs are commonly referred to as competencies. T/N: It is also called Job Specifications. Competency Modeling  A process in which competencies are tied to an organization’s strategic initiatives and plans rather than to specific task. Using Job Analysis Method Methods Providing General Information About Worker Activities  Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) o A structured Job Analysis method developed by McCormick. o Contains 194 items organized into six dimensions 1. Information input 2. Mental processes 3. Work output 4. Relationship with other persons 5. Job context 6. Other job related variables  Work schedule  Pay  Responsibility o Level of analysis is fair and general; one of the most standardized methods and acceptable levels of reliability. o PAQ tell us if a job involves interviewing but does not indicated type of interviewing that is performed. o Advantage: Inexpensive and not time consuming. o Disadvantage: Instructions suggest that incumbents using the questionnaire have education levels between grade 10 and grade 12.  Page 9 of 13 1. Research suggest that: PAQ questions and directions are written at the college graduate level.  Job Structure Profile o A revised version of the PAQ, designed to be used more by the job analyst than the job incumbent. o Designed by Cornelius and Hakel (1978) o Item include content and style o New items increase the discriminatory power of the intellectual and decision making dimensions. o Advantage: Instruments are reliable, o Disadvantage: Little research has been conducted since 1985.  Functional Job Analysis o A job analysis method developed by Fine that rates the extent to which a job incumbent is involved with functions in the categories of data, people and things. o Method that can be used by the federal government to analyze and compare thousands of jobs. o A small group of subject experts meets the identity the key functions of the job (what gets done) as well as the task performed to complete each function. Methods providing Information about the Tools and Equipment  Job Components Inventory o A structured job analysis technique that concentrates on worker requirements for performning a job rather than on a specific tasks. o Developed by Banks, Jackson and Stafford and Warr (1983) o 400 questions conveying five major categories 1. Tools and Equipment 2. Perceptual and Physical requirements 3. Communication Requirements 4. Decision Making 5. Responsibility Methods providing Information about the Work Environment  Page 10 of 13  AET o Also known as Arbeitswissenchaftliches Erhebungsverfahren zur Tatigkeitsanalyse o Means “ergonomic job analysis procedure” o Concerning with the relationship between the worker and work objects. o Developed by Rohmert and Landau (1983)** Germany o 216 item, standardized questionnaire that analyzes a job along the dimension. Methods providing Information about the Work Environment  Occupational Information Network (O*NET) o The job analysis system used by the federal government that has replaced the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) o Which has been used since 1930; major advancement in understanding the nature of work in large part; o Because its developers understood that jobs can be viewed at four levels; 1. Economic 2. Organizational 3. Occupational 4. Individual o O*NET includes the occupation (generalized work activities, work context, organizational context) and the worker characteristics (ability to work, style, occupational values and interest, knowledge, skills and education) o O*NET also includes factors such as labor demand, labor supplu, salaries and occupational trends. 1. Can be used by the employers to select new employees and by applicants who are searching for careers that can match their skills, interes and economic needs.  Critical Incident Technique o The job analysis method developed by John Flanagan that uses written reports of good and bad employee behavior o Use to discover actual incidents of job behavior that make the difference between a job’s successful or unsuccessful performance.  Job Components Inventory o Provides information about the perceptual, physical, mathematical, communication, decision making and responsibility skills needed to perform a job.  Page 11 of 13  Treshold Traits Analysis o A 33 item questionnaire developed by Lopez that indentifies traits necessary to successfully perform a job. o Available only by hiring a particular consulting firm, but its unique style makes it worthy of mentioning. o Covers the five trait categories 1. Physical 2. Mental 3. Learned 4. Motivational 5. Social o Disadvantage: not available commercially; o Focuses on traits, its main use are in the development of an employee selection system or career plan  Fleishman Job Analysis o A job analysis method in which jobs are rated on the basis of the abilities needed to perform them o Based on more than 30 years of research o Requires incumbents or job analysts to view series of abilities and to rate the level of ability needed to perform a job. o This rating performed for 73 distinct cognitive, physical, psychomotor, sensory perceptual and social/ interpersonal abilities and knowledge. o Advantage: it is more detailed, commercially available, available in several languages and can be completed thru online.  Job Adaptability Inventory o A job analysis method that taps the extent to which a job involves eight types of adaptability. o 132 item inventory developed by Pulakos, Arad, Donovan and Plamondon (2000) o Eight dimensions or types: 1. Handling emergencies or crisis situations 2. Handling work stress 3. Solving problems creatively 4. Dealing with uncertain and unpredictable work situations 5. Learning work task, technologies and procedures  Page 12 of 13 6. Demonstrating interpersonal adaptability 7. Demonstrating cultural adaptability 8. Demonstrating physically oriented adaptability.  Personality Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF) o A job analysis instrument that helps determine the personality requirements for a job. o Developed by Raymark, Schmit and Guion (1997) o 107 items tapping 12 personality dimensions that fall under the ‘’Big 5’’ personality dimensions 1. Openness to experience 2. Conscientiousness 3. Extroversion 4. Agreeableness 5. Emotional Stability  Performance Improvement Characteristics o Similar to PPRF o 48 questions on PIC determine which of the seven main personality traits needed to perform given job. Job Evaluation  The process of determining the monetary worth of the job.  Done in two stages o Determining Internal Pay Equity  Involves comparing jobs within an organization to ensure that the people in jobs worth the most money are paid accordingly.  Step 1: Determining Compensable Job Factors  Is to decide what factors differentiate the relative worth of jobs.  Possible compensable job factors include the following: o Level of responsibility o Physical demands o Mental demands o Education requirements o Training and experience requirements o Working conditions  Page 13 of 13  Step 2: Determining the Levels for each Compensable Factors  Step 3: Determining Factor Weights  Wage trend line o A line that represents the ideal relationship between the number of points that a job has been assigned (using the point method of evaluation) and the salary range for the job. o Determining External Pay Equity  With the external equity, the worth of the job is determined by comparing the job to the external market (other organization)/  Important, because if an organization is to attract and retain employees.  Salary Surveys  A questionnaire sent to other organizations t see how much they are paying their employees in positions similar to those in the organization sending the survey  Direct Compensation  The amount of money paid to an employee (does not count benefits, time off ) o Determining Sex and Race Equity  Comparable Worth  The idea that jobs requiring the same level and responsibility should be paid the same regardless of supply and demand  Page 1 of 5 Chapter 3: Legal Issues in Employee Selection ___________________________________________________________________ Grievance System  Employees take their complaints to an internal committee that makes a decisions regarding to the complaints.  A process in which an employee files a complaint with the organization and a person or a committee within the organization makes a decision regarding the complaint. Mediation  A method of a resolving a conflict in which a neutral third party is asked to help the two parties reach an agreement.  Employees and organization meet with a neutral third party who tries to help the two sides reach mutually agreed upon the solution. Arbitration  The two sides present their case to a neutral third party who then makes a decision as to which side is right.  A method of resolving conflicts in which a neutral third party is asked to which side is correct.  Difference between mediation: Mediation helps the two sides reach in an agreement while in Arbitration the neutral third party makes the decision. Binding Arbitration  A method of resolving a conflicts in which a neutral third party is asked to choose which side is correct and which side is neither party is allowed to appeal the decision.  They can appeal to the decision. Non-binding Arbitration  A method of resolving a conflicts in which a neutral third party is asked to choose which side is correct but in which either party may appeal the decision. Made by: Maria Clarisse Baldonado, RPm  Page 2 of 5 Legal Process in Employment Law Employee believes unfair treatment occurred Employee files a charge w/regulatory agency Agency investigates No fair practice found Unfair practice found and agreement Unfair practice found but agreement not reach with employer reached with employer Process ends Employer takes steps to correct Agency takes employer to court problem Involves state law Involves federal law Case goes before state district Case goes before district courts Decision Appealed? Process over Decision appealed? Case goes to state appellate court Case goes federal appellate court Decision Appealed? Process over Decision Appealed? Case goes to state supreme court Decision Appealed? Case goes to US Supreme Court Case Law  Is a judicial interpretation of a law and is important because it establishes a precedent for future cases.  The interpretation of a law by a court through a verdict trial, setting precedent for subsequent court decision.  If one side does not like the decision rendered in a lower court, it may take the case to circuit court of appeal.  Page 3 of 5 Determining whether an Employment Decision is Legal 1. Does the employment practice directly refer to a member of a federally protected class? a. Protected Class i. Any group of people which protective legislation has been passed. b. Fifth Amendment i. The amendment to the U.S Constitution that mandates that the federal government may not deny a person equal protection under the law. c. Fourteenth Amendment i. The amendment to the U.S Constitution that mandates that no state may deny a person equal protection under the law. d. Race i. According to congress the four races are African American, European American, Asian American and Native American Indian. e. Sex f. National Origin g. Religion (days of worship, worship practices, religious attire) h. Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) i. A federal law that with its amendments forbids discrimination against an individual who is over the age of 40. i. Disability i. Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 1. Prohibits federal government contractors or sub contractors from discriminating against the physically of mentally handicapped. ii. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1. A federal law, passed in 1990 that forbids discrimination against physically and mentally disabled. j. Pregnancy Discrimination Act i. Women affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment purposes including receipt of benefit programs. k. Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act l. Jobs for Veterans Act  Page 4 of 5 m. Bona fide occupational Qualification 2. Has Case Law, State Law or Local Law Expanded the Definition of any of the Protected Classes? a. Adverse Impact b. Four-fifths rule 3. Was the Requirement Designed to Intentionally Discriminate Against a Protected Class? 4. Can the employer prove that the requirement is job related? 5. Did the employer look for reasonable alternatives that would result in lesser adverse impact? Quid Pro Quo  A type of sexual harassment in which granting of sexual favors is tied to an employment decision. Hostile Environment  A type of harassment characterized by a pattern of unwanted conduct related to gender that interferes wuth an individual’s work performance.  Pattern of behavior, based on gender. Family Medical Leave Act  Entitles eligible employees (Male and Female) to a minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year to deal with the following matters: o Births, adoption, or placement for foster care o To care for a child, parent, or spouse with a serious health condition. o For employee’s own serious health condition that makes him or her unable to perform a jo. Qualified Workforce  The percentage of people in a given geographic area who have the qualifications (skills, education) to perform a certain job. Privacy Issues 1. Fourth Amendment 2. Drug-Free Workplace Act  Page 1 of 17 Chapter 4: Employee Selection: Recruiting and Interviewing ________________________________________________________________ Employee Recruitment  Important step in recruiting employee  Attracting people with the right qualification (as determined in the job analysis) to apply for the job. External Recruitment  Recruiting the employee outside the organization. Internal Recruitment  Recruiting the employees already employed by the organization  Promoting someone in the organization. Steps in Selecting Employees Job Analysis Selection of Test Recruitment testing methods Validation Hiring/ Screening Testing Selecting Rejection Media Advertisement Newspaper Ad  Running ads in periodical such as local newspaper or professional journals is a declining method of recruiting employees. Job Advertising  Whether to be found at newspaper itself or online Made by: Maria Clarisse Baldonado, RPm  Page 2 of 17  Typically ask the applicant to respond in one of four ways:  Calling  Applying in person  Sending a resume directly to the organization (usually electronic)  Sending resume to a blind box Respond by calling  Recruitment ads when an organization wants to either quickly screen applicants or hear an organization wants to either quickly screen applicants.  Instructed to call rather than to apply in person or send-resumes. Apply in Person  When they don’t want their phones tied up by applicants calling  Want the applicants to fill out a specific job application or want to get a physical look at the applicant. Send-resume ads  When the organization expects a large response and does not have the resources to speak with thousands of applicants.  Applicants are instructed to send their resume to the company rather than call or apply in person Blind box  Directs applicant to send resumes to a blind box  Instructs applicants to send their resume to a box at the newspaper; neither the name nor the address of the company is provided. Reasons: 1) The organization doesn’t want its name in public  Page 3 of 17 2) The company might fear that people wouldn’t apply if they knew the name of the company. 3) On rare occasions, as company needs to terminate an employee but want first to find a replacement. Electronic Media  The use of television recruitment in the private sector Point of Purchase Methods  Method of recruitment is based on the same “POP” (point of purchase) advertising principles used to market to consumers. Recruiters Campus Recruiters  Organizations send recruiters to college campuses to answer questions about themselves and interview students for available positions.  The behavior and attitude of the recruiters can greatly influence applicants’ decision to accept jobs that are offered. Virtual Job Fairs  Students and alumni can use the web to visit with the recruiters from hundreds of organizations at one time.  Applicants can talk to or instant message a recruiter, learn more about the company and submit resumes. Outside Recruiters  75% of the organizations use sch outside recruiting sources as a private employment agencies, public employment agencies and executive search films. (employment agencies, often called headhunters, that specialize in placing applicants in high paying jobs.  Page 4 of 17 Employment Agencies  Operate in two ways  They charge either the company or the applicant when the applicant takes the job.  The amount charge usually ranges from 10% to 30% of the applicants’ first-year salary. Risk sing employment agency that charges the applicant for its service 1. If the employment agency cannot find an appropriate candidate, the organization has not wasted money. 2. But, if the employment agency is successful, the organization gets a qualified employee at no cost.  Employment agencies are especially useful if an HR Department is overload with work or an organization does not have an individual with the skills and experience needed to select employees properly.  Disadvantage: that a company loses some control over its recruitment process and may end up with undesirable participants. Executive Search Films  Better known as ‘’head hunters”  Differ from employment agencies in several ways: 1) Jobs they represent tend to be higher-paying, non-entry-level positions such as  Executives  Engineers  Computer Programmers 2) Reputable executive search firms always charge their fees to organization rather than to applicants. 3) Fees charged by the executive search films tend to be about 30% of the applicants first year salary.  Page 5 of 17 Public Employment Agencies  Third type of recruitment organization is state and local employment agencies  Designed primarily to help the unemployed find work, but they often offer services such as career advisement and resume preparation.  Organization Perspective: Public employment agencies can be of great value in filling blue collar and clerical positions. Employee Referral  A method of recruitment, in which current employees recommend a family members & friends for specific job openings. Direct Mail  A method of recruitment, that has been successful in product advertising, several organizations have used it to recruit applicants, especially those who are actively job hunting.  Direct mail recruiting is especially useful for positions involving specialized skills. Internet  Continues to be a fast-growing source of recruitment.  Internet recruiting efforts usually take one of three forms Employer-based website  An organization list available job openings and provided information about itself and the minimum requirements needed to apply to a particular job.  On most, applicants can uphold their resumes, answer questions designed to screen out unqualified applicants, and actually take employment test. Job boards  Is a private company whose website list job openings for hundreds or thousands of organizations and resume for millions of applicants.  Page 6 of 17  The largest net recruiter.  Advantage: the cost; depending on the geographical location, advertisement size, and lenght of ad run, advertising in a major newspaper can be 10 times more expensive than Internet recruiting. Social Networking Sites  Increased of Social Media outlets such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Job Fairs  Used by many organizations to provide information in personal fashion to as many applicants as possible.  Several employers are available at one location so that many applicants can obtain information at one time. Evaluating the Effectiveness of recruitment strategies It is important to determine which source is the best to use. 1) One method is to examine the number of applicants each recruitment source yields.  Using the number of applicants as the measure of success may be appropriate when the emphasis is simply getting enough bodies to fill the job openings. 2) Cost per applicant  Which is determined by dividing the number of applicants by amount spent for each strategy.  The amount of money spent on a recruitment campaign divided by the number of people that subsequently apply for jobs as a result of the recruitment campaign. 3-4) Number of qualified applicants or Cost per qualified applicant  The amount of money spent on a recruitment campaign divided by the number of qualified people that subsequently apply for jobs as a result of the recruitment campaign. Final method for evaluating recruitment source effectiveness is to look at the number of minorities and women that applied for the job and were hired.  Page 7 of 17 Realistic Job Previews  A method of recruitment in which job applicants are told both the positive and negative aspects of the job. Expectation-lowering procedure (ELP)  A form of RJP that lowers an applicant’s expectations about the various aspects of the job. Employment Interviews  Most commonly used method to select employees  In which an interviewer ask questions of an applicant and then makes an employment decision based on the answers to the questions as well as the way in which the question were answered. Type of Interviews 1) Structured Interviews i. Is one in which 1. The source of the questions is a job-analysis (job-related questions) 2. All applicants are asked the same questions 3. There is a standardized scoring key evaluate the answer 2) Unstructured Interview i. Is one in which interviewers are free to ask anything they want Example: Where do you want to be in 5 years? What was the last book you read? Ii. Are not required to have consistency in what they ask of each applicant, and may assign number of points at their own direction. Highly Structured - all three criteria are met Are more Valid and Reliable than Moderately Structured - two criteria are met interviews with less structure.  Page 8 of 17 Slightly Structured- one criteria is met Unstructured- none of the three criteria are met Style  Is determined by the number of interviewees and number of interviewers. One on One Interviews  Involved one interviewer, interviewing one applicant. Serial Interviews  Involve a series of single interviews Example: HR Manager might interview an applicant at 9AM The department supervisor interview an applicant at 10 AM VP interview an applicant at 11 AM Return Interviews  Are similar to serial interviews with the difference of being passing time between the first and subsequent interview. Example: An applicant might be interviewed by the HR Manager and then brought back a week later to interview with the Vice President. Panel Interviews  Have multiple interviewers asking questions and evaluating answers of the same applicant at the same time. Group Interviews  Have multiple applicants answering questions during the same interview. Serial-panel group Interview  Page 9 of 17  Combination of single interviews, multiple interviewers asking and evaluating questions of same applicant and multiple applicants answering questions during the same interview. Advantages of Structured Interview 1) Interviews high in structure are more valid than unstructured interviews. a) This is true even when conducted over the phone. b) Research indicates that structured interviews can add predictive power called incremental validity to use of cognitive ability test. c) Legal Standpoint: structured interviews are viewed more favorably by the courts than are unstructured interviews. i. Reasons: 1. Structured interview are based on job analysis. a) Interview based on Job Analysis will be more valid and legally defensible than ones not based on job analysis. 2. Structured interview result in substantially lower adverse impact than do unstructured interviews. Unstructured interviews concentrate on general intelligence, education and training Structured interviews tap job knowledge, job skills, applied mental skills and interpersonal skills Additional advantage of structure interview: 1) The racial and gender similarity issues mentioned previously as a problem with structured interviews do not appear to greatly affect structured interviews. 2) Are considered superior to unstructured interview ones, applicants perceive structured interview to be more difficult. Problems with Unstructured Interviews 1) Poor Intuitive Ability  Page 10 of 17  Hiring decision on “gut reactions” or intuition.  However, people are not good at using intuition to predict behavior  Human intuition and clinical judgement are inaccurate predictors of variety of factors ranging from future employee success to detection of deception.  Contrary to what HR Professionals think: there are no individual differences in interviewers’ ability to predict future performance. 2) Lack of Job Relatedness  Not related to any particular job.  Research suggest: which answers personnel managers prefer, but preference for an answer does not imply that it will actually predict future performance of the job.  Information that is used to select employees must be job related if it is to have any chance of predicting future employee performance. 3) Primacy Effect  First impressions  The fact that information presented early in an interview carries more weight than information presented later.  It has been suggested that interviewers decide about a candidate within the first few minutes of an interview,  Reduced potential primacy effects: Interviewers are advised to make repeated judgments throughout the interview rather than one overall judgment at the end of the interview. That is the interviewer might rate the applicants’ response after each question or series of questions rather than waiting until the end of the interview to make a single rating or judgment. 4) Contrast Effect  The interview performance of one applicant may affect the interview score given to the next applicant.  Page 11 of 17 Example: If a terrible applicant preceded an average applicant, the interview score for the average applicant will be higher than if no applicant or a very qualified applicant preceded her. One applicant’s performance is judged in relation to the performance of previous interviewees. 5) Negative Information Bias  The fact that negative information receives more weight in an employment decision than does positive information.  Occurs when interviewers aren’t aware of job requirements.  Supports the observation that most of the job applicants are afraid of being honest in interviews for fear that one negative response will cost them their job opportunities.  Lack of honesty: is evident in the interview, where face to face nature of process increases the odds that an applicant would respond in such a way as to look better in the interview. 6) Interviewer-Interviewee Similarity  Research suggest: That an interviewee will receive higher score if he or she is similar to the interviewer in terms of personality, attitude, gender, or race. 7) Interviewee Appearance  Meta-analyses indicate: that in general, physical attractive applicants who dress professionally receive higher interview scores than do more poorly dressed applicants.  This attractiveness bias occurred for men and women and for traditionally masculine and feminine job types.  Indicates that obese applicants receive lower interview scores and are less likely to be hired and are offered lower salaries than their leaner counterparts. 8) Nonverbal Cues  Include such things as smiling and making appropriate eye contact, posture that are associated with actual words spoken.  Structured interview are not as affected by nonverbal cues as are unstructured interviews.  Page 12 of 17  Appropriate use of Verbal Cues as tone, pitch, speech rate and pauses are also related to higher interview scores. Creating Interview Questions 1) Clarifier  Allow the interviewer to clarify information in the resume, cover letter, and application, fill gasps and obtain other necessary information. 2) Disqualifier  Are questions that must be answered a particular way or particular applicant is disqualified.  Wrong answer will disqualify the applicant from further consideration. 3) Skill-level determinant  Tap an interviewee’s level of expertise, questioned designed to tap an applicants knowledge or skills. 4) Future-focused or Situational questions  Ask an applicant what she would do in a particular situation. 5) Past-focused questions or Patterned-behavior description interviews (PBDIs)  Differ from situational interview questions by focusing on previous behavior rather than future intended behavior. 6) Organizational-fit questions  To which an applicant will fit into the culture of an organization or with the leadership style of a particular supervisor. Creating a Scoring Key for Interview Answers 1) Right/Wrong Approach  Some interview questions, especially skill-level determiners can be scored simply on the basis of whether the answer given was correct or incorrect.  Page 13 of 17  The wrong answer would actually disqualify the individual from further consideration rather than merely result in no points being awarded. 2) Typical-Answer Approach  Create list of all possible answer to each question, have subject matter experts (SMEs) rate favorable to each answer, and then use these ratings to serve as benchmark for each 5-point scale.  Scoring interview answers that compares an applicants answer with benchmark answer. Benchmark answer  Will greatly increased the scoring reliability.  Standards answers to interview questions, the quality of which has been agreed on by job experts. 3) Key-issues Approach  A method of scoring interview answers provides points for each part of an answer that matches the scoring key.  Problem: there are many possible answers to a question and applicants often provide answers that could fit parts of several different benchmarks.  SMEs create list of key issues they think should be included in the perfect answer. Successfully Surviving Interview Process 1) Scheduling the Interview  If they arrived late, the score will be drastically lower  No applicant who arrived late was hired  No differences however, have been found in interview scores based on whether an applicant arrives on time or five minutes early. 2) Before the Interview  Learn about the company  Commonly asked unstructured interview questions “What do you know about our company?”  Page 14 of 17  Purpose: To determine the applicant’s knowledge of the organization.  Applicant’s knowledge significantly correlates with the interview rating.  Organizations are really impressed if an applicant knows its products and services further needs, problems faced and philosophy or mission  One day of the interview: dress neatly and professionally and adjust your style as necessary to fit the situation.  Avoid wearing accessories such as flashy large earrings and bright colored ties.  Hair should be worn conservatively, avoid big hair and colors such as purple and green. 3) During the Interview  Nonverbal behaviors should include a firm handshake, eye contact, and head nodding.  Desired verbal behavior include asking questions, subtly pointing out how you are similar to the interviewer, not asking about the salary, not speaking slowly and not hesitating before answering questions. 4) After the Interview  Write a brief letter or email thanking the interviewer for her time.  This nice touch certainly cannot hurt. Writing Cover Letters Cover Letters  A letter that accompanies a resume or job application  Tell an employer that you are enclosing your resume and would like to apply for a job. Cover Letters contain: 1) Salutation  Get the name of the person to whom you want to direct the letter  Page 15 of 17  If not sure: Call the company and simply ask for the name of the person (have it spelled) to whom you should send your resume.  Do not refer to the person by his or her first name  If you can’t get the person’s name a safe salutation is “Dear Human Resource Director”  Avoid: Dear Sir or Madam (unless the company is a house of ill repute) or “To Whom It May Concern 2) Paragraphs  Opening Paragraph: should be one or two sentences long and communicate three pieces of inform I. The fact that your resume is enclosed II. The name of the job you are applying for III. How you know about the job opening ( such as newspaper ad or from a friend)  Second Paragraph: states that you are qualified for the job and provided three reasons why. This paragraph should be only 4-5 sentences in length and should not rehash the Content of your resume.  Third Paragraph: explains why you are interested in the particular company to which you are applying.  Final Paragraph: closes your letter and provides information on how you can be best reached. (Phone number) this paragraph is good place to tell the employer the best days and times to reach you. 3) Signature  Above your signature, use words such as “cordially” or “sincerely”  Yours truly is not advised, and words such as Love, Peace or hugs and snuggles are strongly discouraged. Tips about Cover letter: 1) Avoid sounding desperate and don’t beg  Page 16 of 17 2) Avoid grammar and spelling errors. a) Employers view cover letters and resumes as examples of the best work applicants can produce. b) The employers will be concerned about the quality of your regular work. 3) Avoid officious words or phrases. 4) Don’t discuss personal circumstances such as ( I find myself looking for a job because I am recently divorced) 5) If possible, tailor your letter to each company. Standard cover letters are efficient but not as effective as those written specifically for each job you are applying for, 6) Don’t write your cover letter on the stationery of your current employer. a) Correct name of the organization Writing a Resume Resume  Are summaries of an applicant’s professional and educational background.  Some studies: that when an interviewer reads a resume before interviewing an applicant, the validity of the employment interview may be actually reduced.  Companies specialize the resume design openly brag about their ability to “make your strengths more obvious and your weakness hard to find.” Types of resume 1) Chronological Resumes  List of previous jobs in order from the most to least recent.  Useful: for applicants whose previous jobs were related to their future plans and whose work histories do not contain gaps. 2) Functional Resume  Organizes job based on the skills required to perform them rather than the other in which they worked.  Page 17 of 17  Useful: for applicants who are either changing careers or have gaps in their work histories.  Problem: the employers longer to read and comprehend than the other resume. (least more popular with the employers) 3) Psychological Resume  As it contains the strengths or both the chronological and functional styles and based on sound psychological theory and research.  Should begin with short summary of your strengths.  Advantage: Impression-formation principles of priming (preparing the reader for what is to come) Primacy (early impressions are most important) and short term memory limits (the list should not be longer than seven items)  Next section is either your education or your experience- whichever is the strongest for you.  Three impression-management rules  Relevant to your desired career.  Unusual information should be included when possible as people pay more attention to it than to typical information.  Page 1 of 20 Chapter 5:Employee Selection: References and Testing _________________________________________________________________ Reference Check  Is the process of confirming the accuracy of information provided by an applicant Reference  Is the expression of an opinion, either orally or through a written checklist, regarding an applicant’s ability, previous performance, work habits, character, or potential for future success.  The content and format of a reference are determined by the person or organization asking for the reference. Letter of Recommendation  Is a letter expressing an opinion regarding an applicant’s ability, previous performance, work habits, character, or potential for future success.  The content and format of a letter of recommendation are determined by the letter writer. Reasons for using References and Recommendations 1) Confirming Details on a Resume a) Resume fraud- lying on their resumes about what experience or education they actually have. i. Is simply to confirm the truthfulness of information provided by the applicant. Examples of Fraud:  1994- assault against figure skater Nancy Kerigan arranged by the late Shawn Eckardt, the bodyguard of Kerigan’s skating rival Tonya Harding.  2014- David Boxterman-Polk State College Professor- lied about Ph.D from USF.  2012-Scott Thompson-Yahoo CEO-Degree in ComScie- Degree in Accounting Made by: Maria Clarisse Baldonado, RPm  Page 2 of 20  2009-Patrick Avery-Pres-Intrepid Potash Inc.,-MD at Loyola Marymount U and BD University of Colorado  2008- Robert Irvine 2) Checking for Discipline Problems a) is to determine whether the applicant has a history of such a discipline problems as poor attendance, sexual harassment, and violence. b) Such a history is important for an organization to discover to avoid future problems as well as to protect itself from a potential charge of i. Negligent Hiring 1. A situation in which an employee with a previous criminal record commis a crime as a part of his/her employment. T/n: If an organization hires an applicant without checking his references and background and he later commits a crime while in the employ of the organization, the organization may be found liable for negligent hiring T/n: If an employee has a criminal background that would have been detected had a background check been conducted. T/n: Negligent hiring cases are typically filed in court as common law-cases or tort. Based on the Premise: that an employer has the duty to protect its employees and costumers from harm caused by its employees or products. How court determined negligent hiring: Nature of the job. Organization involved with the safety of the public such as police departments and day-care centers, must conduct more thorough background and reference checks than organizations such as retail stocks. 3) Discovering New Information about the Applicant a) Employers use a variety of methods to understand the personality and skills of the job applicants.  Page 3 of 20 i. References and letter of recommendation certainly can be two of these methods. ii. Former employers and professors can provide information about an applicant’s work habits, character, personality and skills. iii. Problem: Care must be taken, however when using this methods because the opinion provided by any particular reference may be inaccurate or purposefully untrue. 4) Predicting Future Performance a) In psychology a common belief is: the best predictor of future performance is past performance. i. References and letters of recommendation are ways to try to predict future performance by looking at past performance. ii. Validity Coefficient a) For references/letters of recommendation and performance is only.18 with a corrected validity of.29 b) The correlation between scores on a selection method. (e.g interview, cognitive ability test) and measures a job performance (e.g supervisor training, absenteeism. iii. Corrected validity a) A term usually found with meta-analysis, referring to a correlation coefficient that has been corrected for predictor and criterion reliability and range restrictions. b) Sometimes called ‘’true validity’’ This low validity is largely due to four main problems with references and letters of recommendation 1) Leniency a) Research is clear that: most letters of recommendation are positive. Fewer than 1% of reference rate applicants as below average or poor. b) Because we have all worked with terrible employees at some point in our lives, it would at first seem surprising that the references are so positive. c) Keep in mind that applicants choose their own references.  Page 4 of 20 d) Although coworkers are willing to say negative things about unsatisfactory employees, confidentiality concerns can hold them back. e) Fear of legal ramifications- a person providing references can be charged with defamation of character (slander if reference is oral, libel if written) i. If the content of reference is both untrue and made with malicious intent. ii. This fear keeps many organizations from providing references. f) Conditional privilege- which means that they have the right to express their opinion provided they believe what they say is true and have reasonable grounds. g) Reference detective- contact the former employer under the guise of being a company considering hiring former employee. h) Negligent Reference a) An organization’s failure to meet its legal duty to supply relevant information to a prospective employer about a former employee’s potential legal trouble. b) For not contacting references, and if does not provide relevant information to an organization that requests it. 2) Knowledge of the applicant a) Problem: the person writing the letter often does not know the applicant well, has not observed all aspects of applicant’s behavior or both. i. Even in a work setting in which a supervisor provides the recommendation, he often does not see all aspects of an employee’s behavior. ii. See figure on page 166. 3) Reliability a) Involves lack of agreement between two people who provided references for the same person. b) The extent to which a score from a test or from an evaluation is consistent and free from error.  Page 5 of 20 c) Problem: there is more agreement between recommendations written by the same person for two different applicants than between two people writing recommendations for the same persons. 4) Extraneous factors a) Extraneous factors that affect their writing and evaluation. b) Research: method used by the letter writer is often more important than the actual content. i. Knouse (1983) found that letters that contained specific examples were rated higher than the letters that contained generalities. ii. Mehrabain (1965) and Wens, Jackson, Manaugh, and Matarazzo (1969) found that even though most letter of recommendation are positive letters written by references who like applicants are longer than those written references who do not. iii. Loher and colleagues (1997) found that the longer letter of recommendation letter, the more positively the letter was perceived. T/n: A promising approach to increasing the validity of reference is to increase the structure of reference check. T/n: this can be done by conducting job analysis and then creating a reference checklist that is tied directly to the job analysis results. T/n: reference and letters of recommendation often are not great predictors of performance. T/n: but with further refinement and research techniques such as trait approach or increased structure may increase the predictive abilities of references. Ethical Issues Three Ethical Guidelines that reference provided should follow 1) Explicitly state your relationship with the person you are recommending. a) Are you the applicant’s professor, boss, coworker, friend, relative, or some combination of the five. b) Important: because people often have dual roles.  Page 6 of 20 Without understanding the exact nature of the referee-referent relationship, making judgments about the content of reference can be difficult. 2) Be honest in providing details a) A referee has both ethical and legal obligation to provide relevant information about the applicant. b) Deciding what information to provide can often be a difficult process. 3) Let the applicant see your reference before sending it, and give him the chance to decline to use it. a) Such a procedure is fair to the applicant and reduces the referee’s liability for any defamation charge. b) Disadvantage: this last piece of advice seems wise, it can result in some uncofortable discussion about the content of references that are not positive. Predicting performance using Applicant Knowledge Job Knowledge Test  Are designed to measure how much a person knows about the job.  Amount of job-related knowledge an applicant possesses.  Similar to the exams given several times a semester in a college class.  Typically given in Multiple-choice fashion for ease scoring, but they can also be written in essay format or given orally in job interview. Includes test of compute programming knowledge, knowledge of electronic, knowledge of mechanical principles  Standardized job knowledge tests are commonly used by state licensing boards for such occupations as lawyers and psychologist. T/n: indicates that job knowledge tests are good predictors of both training performance. T/n: because of their high face validity, they are positively accepted by applicants. Disadvantage: they often result in adverse impact and can be used only for jobs in which applicants are  Page 7 of 20 expected to have job knowledge at the time of hire or promotion. Predicting Performance using Applicant Ability Ability test  Tap the extent to which an applicant can learn or perform a job related skill.  Used primarily for occupations in which applicants are not expected to know how to perform the job at the time of hire. 1) Cognitive Ability a) Indicates such dimensions as oral and written comprehension b) Oral and written expression, numerical facility, originality, memorization, reasoning (mathematical deductive, inductive) and general learning. c) Important: for professional, clerical and supervisory jobs including such occupations as supervisor, accountant and secretary. d) It is commonly used beca