Effective Employee Screening and Selection Strategies

Adverse Impact

Unintentional discrimination against a protected group.

Employee Screening

The process of reviewing information about job applicants to select individuals for jobs.

Clinical Approach

Subjectively combining sources of information based on the general impression of the hiring specialist.

Least Valid Employee Screening Test

Handwriting analysis.

Reliability and Validity

• Reliability: Refers to the stability of a measure over time, or the consistency of the measure.
• Validity: Refers to the accuracy of inferences or projections drawn from measurements.

Parallel Forms

A method of establishing the reliability of a measurement instrument by correlating scores on two different but equivalent versions of the same instrument.

Criterion-Related Validity

There are two approaches to criterion-related validity: concurrent and predictive validity. Concurrent validity is judged by test scores.

Standardized Tests

Available through published sources, these tests have established reliability and validity. For example, a dozen job applicants seated at word processors typing for 10 minutes to test speed and accuracy is a group, speed, performance test.

Cognitive and Personality Testing

• Intelligence Test: A type of cognitive ability test.
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI): Used to identify individuals who possess psychopathology that might hinder performance.
• Performance Predictors: Research shows that conscientiousness and dependability are good predictors of employee job performance.

Assessment Centers

When an applicant spends a full day in discussions with other applicants and completes work samples while being observed and rated, this is known as an assessment center.

Recruitment and Selection

• Recruitment: The process by which organizations attract potential workers to apply for jobs.
• Recruitment Tools: Recruiters rely on job descriptions, job specifications, and job analysis products.
• Realistic Job Previews: Providing these helps reduce new employee turnover, increase the satisfaction of new employees, and increase the rate of turning down employment offers.
• Predictor: In employee selection, a variable used to select a successful job candidate.
• Multiple Hurdle Approach: An ordered sequence of screening devices after each of which a decision is made.