CHAPTER 6: EMPLOYEE TESTING

AND SELECTION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
6-1. Answer the question: Why is it important to test and select
employees?
6-2. Explain Testing and Selection Process.
6-2. Explain what is meant by reliability and validity.
6-3. List and briefly describe the basic categories of selection tests, with
examples.
6-4. Explain how to use two work simulations for selection.
6-5. Describe four ways to improve an employer’s background checking
process.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO TEST AND SELECT EMPLOYEES?

WHY EMPLOYEE SELECTION IS IMPORTANT

Nothing is more important than hiring the right employees.
The time to screen out undesirables is before they are in the door, not
after.
NEGLIGENT HIRING

Hiring workers with questionable

backgrounds without proper safeguards
PERSON AND JOB FIT
The main aim of employee selection is to achieve person-job fit.
PERSON- ORGANIZATION FIT

§A candidate might be “ right” for a job, but wrong

for the organization.
§Employers should care about person-organization
fit as well.
 TESTING AND SELECTION PROCESS

Scanning Health
CV Interview checking

Testing Background Offering

checking jobs
EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY RELIABILITY AND
VALIDITY.

Reliability
– Describes the consistency of scores obtained by the same
person when retested with the identical or alternate forms
of the same test.
– Are test results stable over time?
EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY RELIABILITY AND
VALIDITY.
Test Validity
- Indicates whether a test is measuring what it is supposed
to be measuring.
- Does the test actually measure what it’s supposed to
measure?
TYPES OF TESTS

We can classify tests according to what they measure:

1. Cognitive (mental) abilities.
2. Motor and physical abilities.
3. Personality and interests
4. Achievement.
COGNITIVE (MENTAL) ABILITIES

(A) intelligence tests (IQ): general reasoning ability.

Tests for general intellectual abilities. They measure not a single
trait but rather a range of abilities, including memory, vocabulary,
verbal fluency, and numerical ability
(B) specific mental abilities ( specific cognitive abilities): like
inductive and deductive reasoning, verbal comprehension, and
numerical ability memory
EXAMPLE: TYPE OF QUESTION APPLICANT MIGHT
EXPECT ON A TEST OF MECHANICAL COMPREHENSION
IQ TEST (LOGICAL REASONING TEST)
NUMERICAL REASONING TEST
VERBAL REASONING TEST
MOTOR AND PHYSICAL ABILITIES
Motor abilities such as:
§finger dexterity.
§manual dexterity.
§reaction time ( if you hiring
pilots).
Physical abilities include
§static strength ( such as lifting
weights).
§dynamic strength ( like pull-
ups).
§body coordination ( as in
jumping rope).
§stamina
MEASURING PERSONALITY AND INTERESTS

§A person’s cognitive and physical abilities alone seldom explain his

or her job performance.
§Other factors, like motivation and interpersonal skills, are very
important.
§“ most people are hired based on qualification, but are fired for non
performance”
§Nonperformance “ is usually the result of personal characteristics,
such as attitude, motivation, and especially, temperament.
WHAT DO PERSONALITY TESTS MEASURE?
The “Big Five” : the big five personality dimension: extraversion,
emotional stability/ neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
and openness to experience
WHAT DO PERSONALITY TESTS MEASURE?
§Some personality tests are projective. The psychologist
presents an ambiguous stimulus (like an inkblot or clouded
picture), and the person reacts.
§Other personality tests are self-reported: applicants fill
them out.
§Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
§DISC
ACHIEVEMENT
Achievement tests measure what someone has learned.
Most of the tests you take in school are achievement tests.
They measure your “job knowledge” in areas like
economics, marketing, or human resources.
IQ + EQ = SUCCESS
Emotional Intelligence Test
§EQ reflects a person's ability to empathize with others’
identify, evaluate, control and express emotions ones own
emotions;
§perceive, and assess others' emotions;
§use emotions to facilitate thinking, understand emotional
meanings.
WORK SAMPLES AND SIMULATIONS
1. Work samples: actual job tasks used in testing applicant’s
performance (measuring performance directly )
2. Situational judgment tests:
Are personnel tests “ designed to asses applicant’s judgment
regarding a situation encountered in the workplace”.
3. Management assessment centers: is two to three days
simulation in which 10 to 12 candidates perform realistic tasks (
like making presentations) in hypothetical situation and are scored
on their performance. It involves testing and the use of
management games
SITUATIONAL TESTING AND VIDEO-BASED
SITUATIONAL TESTING

1. Situational test: a test that requires examinees to

respond to situations representative of the job
2. Video-based simulation: a situational test in which
examinees respond to video simulation of realistic job
situations
WHY PERFORM BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION AND
REFERENCE CHECKS?

To verify factual information provided by applicants

To uncover damaging information such as criminal
records
To avoid hiring mistakes
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION AND REFERENCE
CHECKS
OTHER SELECTION METHODS