Industrial Organizational Psychology

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Industrial / Organizational Psychology
Amy
Dawn

• Chapter 8 Personnel Selection and Placement

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Chapter 8 Personnel Selection

• The Importance of Personnel Selection
• Job Analysis, Description and Specification
• Recruitment
• Methods of Personnel Selection
• Selection Decisions

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The Importance of Personnel Selection

• Good hiring practices make good financial sense
• Poor employees are often absent and tardy
• Good employees dragged down by the bad ones
• In 1998, average cost of hiring the wrong
  employee was 6,000

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Job Analysis, Description and Specification

• Job Analysis lists duties, tasks and
  responsibilities
• Job Description lists job tasks, equipment,
  working conditions, hours and days of work.
• Job Specification lists the knowledge, skills,
  abilities and other qualifications - education
  and experience.

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Recruitment Methods

• Internal RecruitmentCompany bulletin
  boardDirect communicationLess costly
• External RecruitmentEmployee ReferralsCollege
  RecruitingJob FairsExecutive Search
  FirmsLegally Compliant

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Recruitment

• Psychology in Personnel SelectionExample
  Automated phone line to draw inand screen for
  qualified applicants.
• Factors Influencing Recruitment

Communication Skills, Enthusiasm, Motivation,
Credentials and a College Degree
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Methods of Personnel Selection
Application Blanks Typically used to screen out
applicants without minimal qualifications.
By law, companies cannot screen applicants based
on age, sex, race, arrest record or
religion. Weighted Application Blank assigns
numbers
to each response with the highest points given
for answers predicting on-the-job success
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Methods of Personnel Selection
Application Blanks (Continued)
30 of all applicants misrepresent themselves in
some way. (Executive Female, 1991) Example In
1984, Anderson, Warner and Spencer had clerical
applicants rate their own abilities
on various clerical tasks - some real and some
made up, such as Matrix solvency filing The
applicants who were bluffing, rating themselves
the highest on the bogus tasks, were found to be
the worst typists.
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Methods of Personnel Selection

• Résumé similar to an application blank, but
  composed by the applicant.
• Typically submitted for higher-ranking positions

Tips for getting your resume to the top of the
heapAttractive, error-free formatBullet-points
instead of paragraphsQuantifiable
accomplishmentsResearch/Include field-related
keywords.Mail unfolded in a large 9x12 envelope
to set yours apart.
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Methods of Personnel Selection

• Biodata Form similar to application blank,
  except questions are multiple choice and not
  directly related to the job.

• Can include questions on general behaviors, such
  as childhood participation in sports, home
  ownership, even age.
• With application blanks, resumes and biodata
  forms alike, the assumption is that past
  performance is a good indicator of future
• Example See page 291 in textbook

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Methods of Personnel Selection

• Interviews Goal is to gather information from
  the applicant that applies to the position and
  reduce bias factors as much as possible. Cannot
  eliminate all bias, judgement required.
• Unstructured Interview Different questions are
  asked of each applicant, may have little
  relevance to job.

• Structured Interview Same questions are used in
  same order for every candidate.Types of
  Structured Interviews
• Situational Interview
• Job-Related Interview
• Psychological Interviews

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Methods of Personnel Selection

• Situational Interview A structured interview
  technique that gives applicants job-related
  situations and asks how they would react to each
  one.
• Job-Related Interview Involves past work
  experiences instead of specific
  situations.Example Candidate may be

• asked about how they have dealt with difficult
  co-workers or about their experience with
  specific equipment.
• Psychological Interview Focuses on assessing the
  personal characteristics of applicants.

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Improving the Interview

• Applicant Factors Oral communication skills and
  appearance are assessed in both positive/negative
  ways
• Organizational Factors Organizations can improve
  their interview quality by using job analysis,
  structured interviews and computerized testing to
  eliminate personal bias.

• Some errors/biases include
• First Impression ErrorsInterviewer gives greater
  weight to info received early in the interview,
  rather than giving equal weight to information
  throughout the process
• Negative Information ErrorsInterviewer gives
  greater weight to negative information over
  positive.
• Contrast ErrorsWhen current applicant is being
  compared to previous applicants.

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Methods of Personnel Selection

• Physical Examinations A selection technique that
  evaluates the applicants physical skills,
  health, abilities and disabilities.
• Can include medical examinations, physical
  ability tests, drug and alcohol testing, HIV
  screening or a Job Applicant Medical History
  Questionnaire.

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More Methods of Selection

• Assessment Centers Involves a series of tests,
  activities and simulations scored by several
  trained raters. Refers to the evaluation process,
  not where it takes placeIn-Basket Exercise
  Simulation activity using sample documents
  jobholder would find in their in-basket, to which
  the applicant is asked to respond.Leaderless
  Discussion Group An exercise in which the
  applicants meet in a small group to solve
  problems with no leader assigned.Simulation
  Evaluation exercise where the applicant is put in
  a situation or activity similar to the actual
  job.

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More Methods of Selection

• Background and Reference Checks
• Graphology (Handwriting Analysis), Miscellaneous
  Selection Methods
• Fueled by fear of being sued
• Negligent Referral Hiring company can sue
  previous employer for not warning of a serious
  job-related problem with an applicant
• Negligent Hiring Hiring company is liable if a
  new employee causes harm to a customer, another
  employee or a visitor, so they use the screening
  methods above

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Selection Decisions - Diversity Issues

• The Selection RatioComparison between the
  number of applicants and the number of job
  openings.
• A number of federal and state laws require
  organizations to show that they encourage
  diversity among applicants and value diversity in
  final employment selection.
• Diversity ratios are a consideration for
  employers when hiring, firing, laying off or
  promoting employees.

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Selection Decisions Continued

• Simple Regression ModelMethod for correlating
  job success with scores on a single selection
  measure.
• Multiple Regression ModelSelection method
  showing the relationship between several combined
  scores and success on the job.

• Multiple Cutoff Model Selection model that uses
  a minimum score on each technique to determine
  the likelihood of on-the-job success.
• Multiple Hurdle Model Requires applicants to
  pass each step or test before going on to the
  next step or test.
• Utility Test An assessment of the cost-benefit
  ration of using a particular selection test or
  method.

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Chapter 8 Personnel Selection Summary

• The Importance of Personnel Selection
• Job Analysis, Description and Specification
• Recruitment
• Methods of Personnel Selection
• Selection Decisions

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The End