PERSONNEL SELECTION

• In this session on personnel selection I will:

• Explain the principles against which selection techniques should be measured

• Describe the scope of selection techniques

• Present a critique of the main selection methods

• At the end of this session you should be able to:

• Understand the main principles of psychometrics

• Critically evaluate your own organisation’s selection methods

• Understand what makes for a good reliable and valid interview

FURTHER READING

• Anderson, N (1997) “The Validity and Adverse Impact of Selection Interviews: a Rejoinder to Wood” Selection & Development Review, 13, (5), 13-17

• Boyle, S (1997) “Researching the Selection Interview” Selection & Development Review, 13, (4), 15-17

• Ceci, S & Williams, W (2000) “Smart Bomb” People Management (24 August 2000)

• Chmiel, N (ed) (2000) Work & Organisational Psychology. London. Blackwell.

• Cook, M (1998) Personnel Selection (3rd edition). London. Blackwell

• Silvester, J (1997) “Spoken Attributions and Candidate Success in Graduate Recruitment Interviews” Journal of Occupational & Organisational Psychology, 70, 61-73.

WHO USES WHAT?

• Interviews (99.6%)

• Ability Tests (54.2%)

• Personality Questionnaires (36.3%)

• Assessment Centres (26.0%)

• Telephone Screening (17.6%)

• (Source: CIPD 2000: N = 262)

PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOMETRICS

• Sensitivity• fair discrimination

between good and bad

• not too easy or hard• Standardisation

• compare results against larger population of like

individuals

• Reliability• consistency and

repeatability• across time and

raters• Validity

• face, content, criterion, construct

• it measures what it claims to measure

THE IMPORTANCE OF VALIDITY

• Face Validity• The method looks

plausible

• Content Validity• The method looks

plausible to experts

• Criterion Validity• The method predicts

performance

• Construct Validity• The method

measures something meaningful

A FOCUS ON PREDICTIVE VALIDITY

• Unstructured Interviews (0.20)

• Structured Interviews (0.44)

• Ability Tests (0.54)

• Personality Measures (0.38)

• Assessment Centres (0.43)

• Telephone Screening (?.??)

TELEPHONE SCREENING

• Used for Prescreening

• Genuine Occupational Qualification

• Poorer Ratings

• Staccato Communication

ASSESSMENT CENTRES

• Developed for WW2 Officer Selection Board

• Simulation Exercises Measure Competencies

• Various Techniques, Candidates, Assessors & Competencies

• Poorly Defined Competencies & Exercises

• Poor Training & Selection of Assessors

• Poor Selection & Briefing of Candidates

• Poor Scheduling & Timetabling

ABILITY TESTS

• Popularity Due in Part to Growth in Academic Qualifications

• Situated Cognition

• Clear but Modest Link with Performance, Earnings & Satisfaction

• The Flynn Effect

PROBLEMS WITH INTERVIEWS

• Unstructured & Unplanned

• Untrained & Biased Interviewers

• Structured Means Standardised or Artificial & Inflexible

• Biographical Interviews & Job Relevant Criteria

• Situational Interviews & Truth

• Competency-Based Interviews: Oral IQ Tests?

INTERVIEWS CAN.....

• Assess Certain Characteristics

• Assess Organisational & Team Fit

• Satisfy Social Exchange Function

• But Heed Warning Signs from Research:

• Same Sex Bias (Graves & Powell 1996)

• Attributions in Interviews (Silvester 1997)