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2Employee Selection

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Learning Outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• Describe the critical stages of a job analysis.

• Explain why recruiting practices are important to organizations.

• Be familiar with initial screening tools for employee selection.

• Create effective employee interviews.

• Understand laws that impact employee selection practices.

• Apply positive psychology to employee selection.

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Section 2.1 The Importance of Employee Selection

2.1 The Importance of Employee Selection Think about the following scenario: Your employer or favorite shopping place is experiencing significant growth and needs to hire 20 new customer service representatives over the next 2 months. This can be an exciting time for the organization. The company is growing, and additional employees will ensure continued growth and increased revenue. Hiring these new employees, however, may pose some challenges. First, where will the company find qualified candidates for the new positions, and how will it encourage them to apply for the jobs? The company anticipates more than 200 people will apply for the 20 open positions. How will it screen the résumés and applications so as to identify the most qualified individuals? Addition- ally, who will conduct the interviews, and more importantly, how will the interviewers discern which applicants have the skills and abilities to best serve the company’s customers? Finally, how will the company ensure that each stage of the selection process is legal, ethical, and fair?

Most organizations encounter these challenges when they have to hire new employees. A common concern is the cost of hiring, which can be very expensive. There is the cost of adver- tising the job opening, which may include buying print ads, online ads, posting to a bulletin board, renting a booth at a job fair, or even paying a recruitment agency. Then there are the costs of processing the applications, screening the applicants, contacting prospective inter- viewees, and testing and interviewing applicants. These costs include not only the time of the organization’s HR employees and hiring managers, but also opportunity costs, or pro- ductivity sacrificed because their time is not being spent on other productive activities. Once an employee is selected, there are costs associated with orientation and training to get that employee ready to perform. Because the new employee is now on the organization’s payroll, the costs of this orientation and training phase include both the manager’s and the employ- ee’s time and opportunity costs.

Although hiring costs are high, hiring the wrong person can be even more costly. A Harvard University study estimated that 80% of turnover can be attributed to faulty hiring decisions (Yager, 2016). Turnover rate is the percentage of all the employees in an organization who leave in a given year. Turnover can be more expensive than hiring. When employees leave an organization, not only does the hiring process have to be repeated to fill the vacancy, but there are also the costs of separating the departing employee, including time spent by HR employ- ees and hiring managers, as well as any severance pay that may be due to the employee. The organization may never recover any returns on its investment in the departing employee’s training, or worse, this knowledge—as well as any intellectual property that the employee might have learned about—can go directly to a competitor who hires the separated employee.

Many of the problems that can lead to turnover—or to less extreme but still counterproduc- tive and costly alternatives such as absenteeism, disengagement, job dissatisfaction, and lack of organizational commitment—can be avoided through better hiring, which should start with a careful process of proactive planning and analysis. I/O psychologists play an impor- tant role in helping organizations design and implement effective selection processes. In this chapter, we describe how I/O psychologists gather information about the work functions of

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Section 2.2 Job Analysis

an open job position, as well as what characteristics a worker needs to have for the job to be done successfully. Then we review the most effective ways to recruit candidates for a job, design initial screening methods, and establish fair selection processes.

Find Out for Yourself: Hiring Costs 1. Visit several recruitment websites such as Monster and Ladders. How much does it cost

to advertise a job opening? 2. Research turnover rates at http://www.bls.gov/jlt/ in industries that are of interest to

you. Are you surprised by the numbers you found? 3. Contact an organization to which you have access, such as your employer, the employer

of a family member or friend, your bank, your grocery store, or your favorite fast-food restaurant or café. Ask how many applicants the organization usually gets per job open- ing. How much time does the manager spend processing each applicant? How long does it take to train a new employee?

4. How many employees work at that location, and how many left last year? Calculate the turnover rate.

2.2 Job Analysis Think about your current or past job. Begin by listing all the tasks and duties you must com- plete to perform the job. If you have trouble coming up with a complete list, start by thinking about a specific day, like last Monday. What did you do to start your day? What happened after lunch? Before you left for the day? Now that you’ve identified your regular job tasks, think about activities that you perform less frequently, perhaps on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Be sure to add these to your list. Once you’ve identified as many tasks as possible, indi- cate the level of importance for and amount of time spent on each one.

Now take a moment to think about the characteristics that would enable a person to per- form these tasks successfully. For example, what technical knowledge might someone need to do your job? Would a worker need certain innate abilities, such as good judgment, critical- thinking ability, or strong communication skills? What other KSAOs are necessary for a per- son to perform this job?

Congratulations! By completing this exercise, you have created a basic job analysis, which is the systematic study of a specific job based on information about its directly observable and verifiable job tasks and worker behaviors (Morgeson & Dierdorff, 2011). Organizations use a similar process to collect information about jobs and the people who perform them. See the feature box Consider This: Job Analysis for a more sophisticated example.

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http://www.bls.gov/jlt

Section 2.2 Job Analysis

What Is Job Analysis? The goal of a job analysis is to clearly understand what work is performed for a specific job. Typically, a job analysis will include three pieces of information:

• job tasks, • worker requirements, and • contextual factors.

The foundation for all job analyses is to clearly define a specific job’s tasks. Analyzing tasks provides a clear picture of what a worker does in the job. Tasks should be observable or verifi- able and recorded in the form of action statements. Here are examples of a few of the major tasks performed by a bank teller:

• greeting customers who enter the bank, • counting money back to a client, and • answering customers’ questions about their account.

Greeting customers and counting money are observable behaviors. Whether the teller has adequately and correctly answered a customer’s question may not be as readily observable, but it can be verified by assessing the customer’s satisfaction with the answer (e.g., by using a customer survey) or by comparing the answer the teller gave with an accurate source of information (e.g., a policy manual or a product brochure).

Sometimes, tasks will be combined into broader categories called responsibilities. Responsi- bilities are groups of related tasks that represent a generic behavior, which helps accomplish major goals (Cunningham, 1996). The three tasks listed for the bank teller, for example, could form a responsibility called “providing customer service.”

Second, a job analysis will include information about the specific worker characteristics needed to perform a job’s tasks (Sackett & Laczo, 2003). These characteristics are unique to each job; they are composed of specific knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics

Consider This: Job Analysis Any job, even a simple one, can benefit from job analysis. Read the sample from the Staffing- and-Recruiting-Essentials.com website to see a job analysis for a financial services salesperson.

Sample Job Analysis

Questions to Consider

1. Imagine you are applying for this type of job. What new information did you learn about it from reading this job analysis?

2. Now imagine you are the hiring manager for this position. What new insights did you gain from reading this job analysis?

3. If you were a competitor, which of the items listed on the job analysis would you include? Which ones would you eliminate? What would you add?

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http://www.staffing-and-recruiting-essentials.com/

http://www.staffing-and-recruiting-essentials.com/Sample-Job-Analysis.html#axzz4BNq2eiie

Section 2.2 Job Analysis

(KSAOs). Knowledge is a set of related facts and information about a specific field or work domain. For example, a bank teller probably needs to know bank policies and procedures, industry reg- ulations, and bank product and service informa- tion. Skills are the minimum level of competency at which a worker must perform a task. Our bank teller may need to show competency in many dif- ferent skills, such as typing, money counting, and data entry. Although workers can acquire skills, abilities are innate characteristics, such as cog- nitive, psychomotor, and physical capabilities. In short, they are a person’s enduring basic aptitude for performing a range of activities (Fleishman, Costanza, & Marshall-Mies, 1999). Other charac- teristics are all other relevant personal factors needed for a particular job, such as personality

and motivational traits, experience, licensure, education, and certification. For example, a bank teller might ideally have an extroverted personality, be motivated to serve customers, possess previous customer service experience and a high school diploma, and have a clean criminal background check.

Recently, there has been an increasing emphasis on competencies rather than on KSAOs. This is because a competency is a much broader cluster of KSAOs that is transferable and adapt- able across jobs, which is necessary in today’s continuously changing business environment (Gangani, McLean, & Braden, 2006). For example, specifying the software programs an admin- istrative assistant is required to use is not very useful, since many of these will become obso- lete over time. However, the broader competency “technological literacy” can be used. Besides avoiding having to reanalyze a job every time new and relevant software programs become available, including this competency in job analysis implies that the job incumbent is expected to stay up-to-date on new programs in order to maintain a current skill set. This is becoming a more realistic job expectation than mastering a predetermined set of programs. Similarly, the broader and more encompassing competency of “effective communication” can replace spe- cific tasks such as answering phones, meeting and greeting clients, and responding to corre- spondence. This competency is more reflective of the wide range of activities an administrative assistant must undertake in order to perform his or her job effectively, as well as the important capacity to adapt one’s communication modes and style to the situation at hand.

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The skills and abilities required for an office job are different from those required for an assembly line job.

Find Out for Yourself: Competencies of a Trainer Training and development are important areas through which an organization maintains its workforce’s KSAOs and competencies. U.S. organizations spend billions of dollars annually to train and develop their employees, and a large portion of these activities involve a professional trainer. Review the following page from the ATD’s website, which describes the competencies that a trainer needs to master in order to deliver effective training and development.

The ATD Competency Model

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https://www.td.org/Certification/Competency-Model

Section 2.2 Job Analysis

The final piece of a job analysis deals with the context in which a job is performed (Berry, 2003). Job context consists of the external factors that influence the way work is performed, and it can be examined according to a variety of aspects. For example, a job’s social context includes a worker’s interactions with team members, customers, and managers. Jobs that involve significant interpersonal interaction require employees to have exceptional team- work and social skills. The same job could also be examined according to its physical con- text, which includes all environmental factors, such as background noise, temperature, and lighting, as well as whether a person sits or stands while working and whether the job is performed inside or outdoors. Clearly, job context is important in determining what a worker needs to perform at his or her best.

The organizational data a company needs can often be generated by systematically studying its jobs—in other words, by performing job analyses. Job analysis is often used to create job descriptions and job specifications. A job description identifies what a worker is expected to do to perform a job. It can also be used to design job recruitment postings or compensation programs. A job specification describes the qualifications of the ideal candidate for the job, in terms of KSAOs, competencies, education, experience, and other tangible characteristics.

Additionally, organizations can use job-analysis data to classify jobs into job families, which is necessary for constructing effective multilevel systems of compensation as well as paths employees can follow as they change jobs within the company. Perhaps job-analysis data is most critically used to develop and prepare measures to select employees and appraise their performance. Table 2.1 summarizes some of the uses of job analysis.

Table 2.1: Uses of job-analysis information

Type of uses Types of job-analysis information

Job descriptions Tasks performed, worker requirements, contextual information

Recruiting Tasks performed, worker requirements, contextual information

Employee selection Tasks performed, worker requirements

Compensation evaluation Tasks performed

Training and development Tasks performed, worker requirements

Job classification Tasks performed, contextual information

Placement Tasks performed, worker requirements

Find Out for Yourself: Jobs in Your Area 1. Search online for several job openings in one or two areas that interest you. 2. Read the details posted about each job. 3. Create a job analysis in which you identify the job tasks, worker requirements, and con-

textual factors for each position. 4. Rank the positions according to how well they fit with your KSAOs, past experience, per-

sonal characteristics and interests, and work context preferences.

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Section 2.2 Job Analysis

Information Sources Considering the importance of the job analysis, you may be asking yourself how I/O psycholo- gists manage to gather all the information they need to construct this useful tool. Although they vary from job to job, information sources fall into several basic categories:

• documentation, • role incumbents, • supervisors, and • other sources of information.

Each of these provides a different perspective of a job; using all of them increases the accu- racy and efficacy of the information collected.

Documentation Organizations may already have documents that describe certain aspects of a job. Examples include job descriptions, previous work analyses, training manuals, and operating guidelines. Generally, it’s good to start with such documents when beginning a job analysis because they are easily obtainable, contain a lot of good information, and provide a quick and efficient explanation of the job being analyzed. Even out-of-date documentation can provide useful comparative information as the job analysis progresses.

In addition to these internal sources, it is useful to review external documents. The U.S. gov- ernment supplies job-relevant information for many types of jobs in the Dictionary of Occu- pational Titles, as well as online through the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) at http://www.onetonline.org/. Perusing job postings on national online job boards, such as Monster and CareerBuilder, can provide insight on how other organizations define similar jobs. Finally, some professional associations for widely held jobs document the work of their members.

Consider This: Your Ideal Job Take a few moments to think about your ideal job, then create a job analysis and describe the job context for that position.

Questions to Consider

1. What would the job duties and responsibilities be? 2. What specific KSAOs do you have that would make you the best fit for this job? What are

the general competencies required? 3. How would you use your job analysis to determine the best compensation, career path,

training and development, and performance appraisal plan for this job?

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http://www.onetonline.org

Section 2.2 Job Analysis

Role Incumbents Because it is critical that a job analysis be accurate, it is crucial to talk to people who truly understand the job being analyzed. Role incumbents—that is, people who hold the job or have held it in the past—understand the intricate details of the job and how it is performed in the field. These finer points are not often available from written sources. Communicating with role incumbents is also ethically and politically appropriate. When incumbents help define their jobs, they provide insight into the job’s psychological and social contexts. They are also likely to be more committed to the outcomes of other HR processes based on the job analysis, such as performance appraisals, compensation, and promotions.

Despite the invaluable information incumbents can provide for a job analysis, keep in mind that this information is not infallible. Not all incumbents are equally able to share information about their jobs, perhaps because they lack communication skills or have poor memories. Some may intentionally provide incomplete or inaccurate information because they perceive the process as too time consuming or unimportant, or because they fear how the information will be used. It is therefore critical for the person performing the analysis to clearly explain the reasons for the study, as well as the way in which the information will be used.

Supervisors An immediate supervisor also has a good understanding of what work is performed for a specific job. Although supervisors are not typically as well acquainted with the day-to-day minutiae of a specific job as job incumbents are, they can usually validate the incumbent’s information and provide additional insight into the job’s performance expectations. Addition- ally, unlike job incumbents, supervisors have little motivation to distort information. They

Find Out for Yourself: External Information Sources for Job Analysis

View the summary report for “teller” on the O*NET website to search, then answer the follow- ing questions.

O*NET Teller Summary Report

What Did You Learn?

1. Does the job summary report match what you expected the job to be? Which details were new to you?

2. Use the Occupation Quick Search bar to look up a few more jobs that are familiar to you. Are the descriptions accurate? Do they adequately cover the job requirements as you know them?

3. Visit national online job boards, such as Monster, Ladders, or CareerBuilder, and search for positions similar to those you explored on O*NET. To what extent do the job postings reflect the O*NET descriptions?

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https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/43-3071.00

Section 2.2 Job Analysis

also tend to have experience with multiple incumbents who have held the same job title, so they may be able to give more detailed descriptions of the job and insight into how different types of people have performed it.

Other Sources of Information Sometimes, other sources are needed to accurately describe a job. For example, if a job involves frequent interaction with customers, such as sales or customer service jobs, it can be useful to gather information from customers. Customers know how they want workers to perform their jobs. Keep in mind, though, that customer-provided information pertains to only a small portion of the job being performed.

Technical experts are another source of valuable, but limited, information. These experts can provide insights into a job’s technical or complex aspects. Examples of technical experts are engineers, lawyers, scientists, and machine technicians.

Conducting a Job Analysis After determining what job information to measure and from whom or where to get it, the I/O psychologist must next determine how to gather it. Although there are many methods, there is really no one best way to gather information (Brannick, Levine, & Morgeson, 2007). The goal of a job analysis is to collect as much information as possible, and doing so requires more than one method (Gael, 1988). In this section, we will review the most common methods of gathering information and discuss different considerations for each one.

Observation One of the most common ways to collect job information is to simply observe people at work. With this method, an objective observer records specific actions the worker performs and documents the importance of each task. Observation sessions may be as short as one 60-minute session or as long as several sessions over the course of many weeks. Typically, job analysts will observe a representative sample of job incumbents to get an accurate pic- ture of the work. Observation yields such information as the tasks that are performed; the materials and equipment used; the work processes and procedures followed; and interac- tions with coworkers, subordinates, and supervisors.

As a method of gathering information, observation has mixed reviews. On the positive side, because this technique relies on direct observation, it overcomes the limitation of being dependent on the worker’s ability to recall all the relevant job details, which remains a chal- lenge for all other collection methods. Additionally, observation enables the job analyst to learn firsthand how and why work is performed, which in turn allows a job analyst to more accurately evaluate the quality of information provided from other methods. Despite these advantages, however, observation can be time consuming, and some jobs are not conducive to direct observation. Consider how difficult it would be to observe people such as doctors, engi- neers, scientists, or high-level managers with any sort of meaningful understanding! Finally, observation can be vulnerable to the Hawthorne effect, which was described in Chapter 1. In order to keep workers from acting abnormally while being observed, the job analyst must be as unobtrusive as possible.

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Section 2.2 Job Analysis

Interviews Interviews are used to collect information from people who have direct contact with the job being analyzed, including job incumbents, super- visors, customers, and trainers for the position. The job analyst will create a structured interview that asks these people about various aspects of the job, such as tasks performed; materials and equipment used; work processes and procedures followed; and interactions with coworkers, sub- ordinates, and supervisors. Interview questions are refined, and the process continues until workers begin to provide redundant informa- tion. In general, job analysts favor interviews as a way to gather information because they allow the analyst to ask clarifying questions. However, interviews can be time consuming. Another dis- advantage is that interviewees may be biased in the information they share with job analysts. They may be able to deduce the purpose of the interview from the questions and shape their responses accordingly, which may not yield accurate information.

Subject Matter Expert Panels An even more efficient interview technique involves collecting information from a group of subject matter experts (SMEs) at the same time. Members of an SME panel could be job incum- bents, supervisors, technical experts, or other people familiar with the work being analyzed. The analyst facilitates discussion among the panel members in order to create a list of the job’s major tasks and worker requirements.

The group dynamic allows the SMEs to establish consensus about information the analyst has already gathered; however, panels can sometimes become dysfunctional and produce inaccurate information. For example, when one participant dominates discussion, other

Find Out for Yourself: Job Analysis Through Observation 1. Plan to observe three jobs this week. They can be at your favorite restaurant, doctor’s

office, bank, company cafeteria, gym, or anywhere else. Try to make your observation as unobtrusive as possible. For example, arrive early to appointments and observe as you wait.

2. Using your observations, attempt to create a job description for each position. 3. Describe the KSAOs that you would expect in the job incumbent. 4. Describe the job context. 5. Now search online for job openings that describe comparable positions. Compare your

analysis to the advertised positions to assess its accuracy.

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Interviews can be a great tool for gathering information for a job analysis, though interviewees’ responses may be biased.

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Section 2.2 Job Analysis

knowledgeable participants may not feel comfortable sharing openly. Additionally, some par- ticipants may feel intimidated by supervisors and other higher status members of the panel, resulting in information that is skewed toward the input and opinions of the supervisor. To counteract these challenges, the job analyst must be a skilled facilitator. Limiting panel size to between 5 and 10 participants is also helpful, as is grouping SMEs into panels based on management level.

Questionnaires The information gathered from observations and interviews can be used to develop a job- analysis questionnaire. A large number of SMEs can then rate each item on the questionnaire according to criteria such as importance, frequency of task performance, difficulty, length of time to learn a task, and relationship of the item to the job as a whole.

One advantage of the questionnaire is the large number of easily analyzed responses such tools can generate. With the advent of online survey tools, gathering data via questionnaires has become quicker and easier than ever before. However, long questionnaires (that contain hundreds of questions) can quickly fatigue participants, which often leads them to provide careless or incomplete responses. Naturally, such data will only increase the inaccuracy and unreliability of the resulting information.

A number of popular job-analysis questionnaires are available commercially. One widely used example is the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) developed by McCormick, Jeanneret, and Mecham (1972). The PAQ focuses on identifying worker characteristics or “elements” required by the job, rather than the specific tasks performed. Managers and employees rate the PAQ’s 194 job elements on areas of importance, difficulty, and time required. The elements are organized into the following categories: information input, mental processes, work out- put, relationships with persons, job context, and other job activities and conditions. Although widely used, the PAQ seems to be better suited for blue-collar than for professional jobs.

Work Logs A work log is a detailed record of work being done. Typically, supervisors and job incumbents create work logs by pausing several times a day over the course of the job analyst’s observa- tion period and recording all of their activities. Although used infrequently, the work log is valuable both for its low cost and the insights it provides. However, like other methods, work logs can be time consuming. They can also detract from performing a job, as workers stop working to complete the logs.

Critical Incidents Technique Originally designed to establish job requirements for military jobs, the critical incidents tech- nique (Flanagan, 1954) is a specialized job-analysis technique. Unlike those discussed thus far, this technique does not endeavor to gather information about tasks or worker require- ments. Instead, it attempts to identify behaviors that predict success and failure. Pinpointing these behaviors begins with job incumbents’ written or oral descriptions of behaviors that make the difference between success and failure in a job. These descriptions include informa- tion about the situation leading up to the success or failure; what exactly the individual did

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Section 2.3 Employee Recruitment and Selection

that made the action effective or ineffective; key contextual information, such as when and where the incident occurred; and the consequences of the action. Although this technique is time consuming, and infrequently used for that reason, it is a very effective way to design performance appraisals.

Job-Analysis Errors If two people perform the same job, it seems logical to assume they will describe the work in nearly the same way. As noted earlier, however, memory recall and communication skills can affect the quality of information they provide. Indeed, researchers have identified a number of additional factors that influence job-analysis information:

• Cognitive ability affects a worker’s capacity to explain the nuances of job functions (Hunter, 1986).

• Workers with higher conscientiousness tend to provide more detailed and accurate descriptions of their work.

• Contrary to what one might expect, workers with more job experience do not seem to provide greater information and insight about their jobs. A study by Richman and Quinones (1996) found that for new employees, each job experience is unique and can be easily recalled. Experienced workers, on the other hand, have performed their tasks so often that they seem to blend together.

• The way workers spend their time on the job can also influence the manner in which they describe their work. For example, high performers tend to spend more effort on important job tasks (Mullins & Kimbrough, 1988), so they may emphasize these tasks. Similarly, workers who receive more or less autonomy may change the amount of time they spend on various tasks, resulting in differences in perceived task importance.

2.3 Employee Recruitment and Selection Recruiting quality candidates involves much more than simply placing an ad in the paper or putting a Help Wanted sign on the front door. An organization must be able to set itself apart from others. Indeed, in 1997 Steven Hankin coined the phrase war for talent to describe the increasingly competitive world of recruiting and retaining talented employees (Chambers, Foulon, Handfield-Jones, Hankin, & Michaels, 1998). Today the term human capital is used to reflect the strategic value of investing in people and the direct link between these invest- ments and the organization’s long-term success. Hiring the best talent is big business and can ultimately mean the difference between a company’s success and failure.

A fundamental role of the I/O psychologist is to design selection processes that identify candi- dates who can successfully perform the functions of a specific job. Doing so requires a number of key processes. First, the organization must attract the most qualified candidates to apply for the position. Next, the organization must use tools that help identify those applicants who possess the requisite skills to do the job. Finally, all selection processes must be fair and must not discriminate against segments of the population. It is important to note that recruitment and selection processes are related to more than just hiring, however. They also include pro- moting, demoting, and terminating. Although this chapter focuses on hiring new employees, most of the aspects discussed here also apply to internal movements of employees across

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Section 2.3 Employee Recruitment and Selection

jobs and positions. The critical aspects of each of these processes will be discussed for the remainder of this chapter.

Recruitment Sources Organizations utilize a number of sources in their quest to identify and attract highly quali- fied job candidates. Some of the major types of recruitment sources are explained below.

Job Postings The most common job posting is the help wanted ad. Job postings tell applicants about a job’s major functions as well as information about the organization. If an organization wants to reach a wide audience, it can place postings in local or national newspapers; if, however, it is searching for an applicant with very specific skills, it may post the job in a business or trade publication. However, it is expensive to advertise in print media, and such ads reach a limited number of high-quality applicants—only those who happen to be looking for a job when the job posting is published.

Internet Recruitment Almost every organization uses the Internet for recruitment—either through its corporate website, online publications, job posting sites such as CareerBuilder or Monster, or online social networks. Although Internet advertising can reach large numbers of applicants quickly, it also tends to attract many unqualified candidates, and sorting through all the applications can be time consuming and expensive.

Employment Agencies Employment agencies offer a full spectrum of recruitment services and will locate job candi- dates for a broad range of jobs. The United Way, U.S. Department of Labor, and local employment service agencies will post jobs on their websites, allowing organizations to reach a large num- ber of people. Other agencies are more specific and focus on certain types of jobs, such as sales, management, or information technology. Executive search firms are agencies that specialize in identifying senior management candidates.

College Recruitment Colleges have long been a source of profes- sional, technical, and management recruits. Companies are encouraged to post jobs in career centers, on campus bulletin boards, and on college intranet sites. Additionally, college- sponsored career fairs allow company repre- sentatives to discuss job opportunities with a large number of students. During career fairs, representatives can conduct interviews with qualified candidates, discuss internship assignments, and even make job offers.

Richard Levine/age fotostock/Superstock

Companies sponsor career fairs in order to recruit the most qualified college graduates for jobs and internships.

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Section 2.3 Employee Recruitment and Selection

Employee Referrals One of a company’s best sources of recruitment is its own employees. Research has shown that applicants who have been referred by an active employee generally have lower turn- over rates (Brown, Setren, & Topa, 2012). Because people who are referred can learn detailed information from the current employee about the organization, its jobs, and environment, these applicants are able to evaluate job fit more accurately than other applicants. Interest- ingly, employees who refer others are also less likely to quit after making a referral (Burks, Cowgill, Hoffman, & Housman, 2013). Thus, employee referrals contribute to the retention of both referring and referred employees.

Often, organizations will notify their employees of a job opening. Employees are encouraged to refer someone who would be a good fit for the position, and they usually are compensated if their referral is hired. Typical referral bonuses are in the range of $500 to $1,000. However, organizations often compensate employees significantly more for hard-to-recruit positions. For example, Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, announced a $5,000 refer- ral bonus if a referred pilot is hired, completes training, and stays with the company for 6 months. The referred pilot also collects a $15,000 signing bonus (GlobeNewswire, 2016).

With so many options for job posting available, it may be hard to know which is best for attracting qualified candidates. Breaugh, Greising, Taggart, and Chen (2003) found that employee referrals (12.4%) and direct applicants (8.1%) were hired at higher rates than people recruited through job fairs (4.8%), newspapers (1.1%), or colleges (1.3%). Similarly, a meta-analysis that spans 50 years of recruitment research shows that internal sources such as employee referrals, in-house job postings, and rehiring former employees is more effective than external sources such as newspaper ads, school placement services, and employment agencies (Zottoli & Wanous, 2000). Contrary to what you might think, then, traditional job postings are often less effective than more informal, relationship-based recruitment tech- niques. In fact, 60% to 80% of jobs are found through networking and personal relationships, rather than formal channels (Driscoll, 2011).

Generating Applicant Pools Once a job is posted, the first step in recruitment is to attract applicants whose KSAOs match the requirements of the job. In order to do so, an organization will attempt to show how it dif- fers from other organizations, perhaps by advertising a low-stress work environment, family- friendly benefits, great pay, or challenging and interesting work. The goal is for the organiza- tion to distinguish itself from others in a positive way, thus attracting the best job candidates.

According to much of the research, certain characteristics of a job or organization influ- ence applicants’ perceptions of it. Applicants are attracted to organizations according to job types, organizational characteristics, recruiter characteristics, perceptions of the recruitment process, perceived job fit, and hiring expectations (Chapman, Uggerslev, Carroll, Piasentin, & Jones, 2005). For example, a study by Turban and Cable (2003) found that organizations with a positive reputation in their community attract more highly qualified job applicants than those deemed as less community-centric. Organizational characteristics such as flexible work schedules and dependent-care assistance have also been shown to influence applicant attraction (Casper & Buffardi, 2004). Interestingly, job factors such as potential for career growth and challenging work have greater influence on organizational attraction than does

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Section 2.3 Employee Recruitment and Selection

either pay or benefits (Lievens & Highhouse, 2003). It is important, then, that organizations consider enticements other than the traditional high pay and good benefits when actively attracting job applicants.

Maintaining Viable Applicants The recruitment process does not stop once an individual applies for a position. Both recruiter and applicant continue to gather information about each other to determine if there is a good fit, and their actions and interactions can influence each other (Higgins & Judge, 2004; Krist- off-Brown, 2000). Applicants use their early experiences with an organization to develop ideas and opinions about as-yet unknowable aspects of it (Rynes & Miller, 1983). Specifically, research has shown that recruiters’ interactions with job applicants influence applicants’ attraction to and intentions toward the organization. For example, Chapman and Webster (2006) found that recruiter friendliness is related both to applicant attraction and perceived fairness of the recruitment process. In a study of 361 on-campus interviews, Turban, Forret, and Hendrickson (1998) found that recruiters’ actions during the interview were instrumen- tal to increasing applicants’ perceptions of both the job and the organization.

Other factors influence applicant perceptions. Timeliness of the selection process is particu- larly significant (Rynes, Bretz, & Gerhart, 1991). Applicants lose patience with long, drawn- out selection processes and will be quick to exit the applicant pool if another company is faster at extending a job offer. Another important factor, especially for minority candidates, involves site visits. Studies show that if minority applicants perceive the organization to have a diverse climate, they will be more attracted to that organization (McKay & Avery, 2006). Ultimately, then, the goal is to keep applicants interested in the organization until a final job offer can be made to the right candidate.

Postoffer Closure Very often, an organization’s most valued applicants are also the ones who receive multi- ple job offers. It is therefore critical for organizations to persuade top candidates to accept their job offers. Over the course of several recruitment phases, Boswell, Roehling, LePine, and Moynihan (2003) examined the way in which 14 job and organizational factors influenced whether applicants decided to accept or reject job offers. Results indicated that the factors with the greatest influence on acceptance decisions were nature of work (37.6%), location (37.6%), company culture (36.5%), and advancement opportunities (25.8%). Even when unemployment rates are high, applicants often turn down job offers if they receive a better counteroffer from another employer if the salary, title, or job duties do not meet their expec- tations or if they do not like the corporate culture (Marks, 2012). This research suggests that the recruiters must continue to work with applicants to emphasize the appeal of such factors until the applicant accepts the organization’s offer.

Realistic Job Previews Realistic job previews attempt to give applicants a better idea of what a job is “really” like, in order to acquaint them with its positive and negative aspects. This information can be in the form of print materials such as brochures or job descriptions, interviews, videos, work sam- ples, or even a trial period on the job. Although companies must create a positive recruitment

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

experience to attract superior candidates, a realistic job preview, complete with the nega- tives, is also necessary to keep applicants from forming overly optimistic or unrealistic expec- tations about the job.

One large Fortune 500 company in the meat-processing industry experienced high turnover rates among its meat processors. When asked why they were leaving, many of these employ- ees described the continuous sorting of meat parts as boring; others pointed out that it was exceedingly difficult to stand in the same place for 10 to 12 hours a day. Although recruiters had explained these and other challenges during the recruitment process, the exiting employ- ees simply admitted that they “did not know it would be this hard.” To stem their departure, the company decided to take a bold step: It created a realistic 3-day job preview, during which applicants performed all functions of the job for 6 hours a day. During the preview period, the applicant could leave at any time, no questions asked. Almost immediately, turnover rates were cut in half. Even though more applicants chose to self-select out of the job offer during the preview period, the company was, in the end, able to find and hire more individuals who enjoyed doing the work.

In addition to reduced turnover, the use of realistic job previews correlates positively with job satisfaction, job performance, and organizational commitment (Ganzach, Pazy, Ohayun, & Brainin, 2002; Kammeyer-Mueller & Wanberg, 2003). There are a number of hypotheses as to why realistic job previews are so effective. One theory is that sharing a job’s negative aspects early in the recruitment process allows applicants to self-select out of jobs that are unappealing or otherwise inappropriate for them (Bretz & Judge, 1994). Additionally, evi- dence suggests that applicants perceive an organization that is willing to share both positive and negative information about a job as having a caring, honest, and trustworthy culture— an environment to which applicants aspire to belong (Meglino, DeNisi, Youngblood, & Wil- liams, 1988).

2.4 Selection Techniques Because hiring the right employees is a vital part of creating an effective workforce, it is impor- tant to use a variety of selection techniques when choosing possible candidates. As discussed in more detail in Chapter 3, the most important characteristic of a selection technique is its power to predict future performance accurately, consistently, and without violating employ- ment laws. Many managers believe that they know a good candidate when they see one. This notion relies on subjective and unsubstantiated judgments that can be dangerous, discrimi- natory, and ineffective in evaluating applicant quality. Instead, evidence-based selection tools should be used. Collecting personal history data, conducting thorough interviews, and check- ing references are three of the most commonly used techniques.

Personal History Data Organizations commonly collect biographical information, or biodata, about applicants’ back- grounds. They do so based on the assumption that past experiences or job performance can be used to predict future work behavior or potential for success. Because many behaviors, values, and attitudes remain constant throughout a person’s life, this is not an unreasonable assumption. Below are some common methods of biodata collection.

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

Application Forms One of the most widely used selection tools is the applica- tion form. In any given year, large businesses may receive applications from millions of people. The application form is a quick and efficient way to begin screening applicants. The typical application form gathers two kinds of infor- mation. Some is used in the HR department for record- keeping purposes, such as the applicant’s name, address, phone number, Social Security number, and emergency contact information. Other information, such as education and work experience, is used to screen applicants against job requirements.

Although application forms can be used to quickly sample past or present behaviors, they also have many critical limi- tations. A study of 200 organizations found that even though most questions on application forms gathered information that was job-related and necessary for the employment decision, 95% of the applications contained one or more legally indefensible questions (Lowell & DeLoach, 1982). Although employers have since become more aware of the potential discriminatory impact of questions on application forms, problematic questions continue to persist.

Thinkstock/iStockphoto

An application is a quick and easy way to screen job applicants. As a result, applications are one of the most common methods used to make employment selections.

Consider This: Legal and Illegal Questions The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing website provides a fact sheet that distinguishes what employers legally can and cannot ask job applicants and employees. While some questions may be similar and yield similar answers, legal questions focus on job-related facts that can influence an applicant’s performance of essential job functions.

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing Fact Sheet

Another potential drawback of the application form is the accuracy of the information the applicant provides. Many people provide misleading or fraudulent information, especially about their previous job titles, responsibilities, pay, or education. For example, in 2001, George O’Leary resigned as Notre Dame University’s football coach after only 5 days on the job when it was discovered that he had not won three undergraduate football letters or received a mas- ter’s degree, as he had claimed in his job application material.

Biodata Inventory A biodata inventory differs from an application in that it is more systematized and makes use of the principle of behavioral consistency (i.e., the idea that past behavior predicts future behavior). A biodata inventory is a standardized questionnaire that asks about job-relevant

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http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/files/2016/09/DFEH-161.pdf

Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

background and experiences that are predictive of job performance. Applicants respond to multiple-choice items related to their hobbies, experiences, training, education, demograph- ics, interests, beliefs, and values. Quality items are designed to elicit factual, observable, and verifiable information, although items can also examine feelings, beliefs, and opinions, which provide insight into an applicant’s attitudes and personality. As you will learn in Chapter 3, I/O psychologists use scientific procedures to develop and validate the quality of those items. Considerable research has found biodata inventories to be strongly predictive of job perfor- mance, though they must be designed correctly so as not to discriminate against minorities (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998).

The process of developing a biodata inventory begins with reviewing the job analysis to deter- mine the most critical KSAOs required to perform the job. Then subject matter experts iden- tify background experiences that may promote the development of these critical job-related characteristics (Berry, 2003). Theoretically, applicants who share those background experi- ences should possess a greater capacity to perform the critical job functions.

Biodata inventories can be quite long—up to 100 items—due to the need to establish a con- sistent trend of behaviors and experiences that can predict behavior in the new job. Examples of biodata items include: How many books have you read in the past 6 months? How often have you started a new assignment before completing the first assignment? From a list of responses, the applicant must choose the one that most closely represents his or her behavior in the given situation. In order to ensure the biodata items predict job success, the responses from a large group of applicants are correlated with their subsequent job performance.

One common limitation of the biodata measure is its susceptibility to false applicant informa- tion. Ultimately, applicants want to impress the hiring organization and will often respond to biodata items according to how they think the organization wants them to respond or in ways that suggest they have the skills, abilities, values, motivation, and experiences necessary to perform the job. One way to counteract this pitfall is to design items that are observable and factual and to tell applicants that their responses may be verified for accuracy.

Social Networking and Online Information Many employers find it easy, convenient, and highly informative to get additional insight into applicants by accessing the information they post on social networking websites and through basic online searches using tools such as Google. Networking media include professional web- sites such as LinkedIn and social and recreational ones such as Facebook, although the line is blurring as many employers and individuals also use Facebook and other social websites for professional networking. A Harris Poll commissioned by CareerBuilder in 2014 found that 43% of employers use social networking websites to research applicants’ backgrounds, and 51% of these employers have turned down applicants based on information they found online. Examples of inappropriate content that caused an applicant to be rejected include provocative, offensive, or discriminatory photos or language; information related to exces- sive drinking, drug use, or illegal actions; confidential or negative information about current or previous employers or coworkers; having an unprofessional screen name; and poor com- munication skills in general. This is a good reminder that anything posted on a public-facing

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

website will likely be searched and evaluated by potential employers, so it is important to consider what personal photos and information you post, and where.

However, on the upside, the same survey showed that a quarter to a third of employers also found information online that directly led them to hire the candidate. Examples include per- sonality and fit with company culture, additional qualifications and accomplishments, large followership, and evidence of professionalism, communication skills, creativity, and well- roundedness (Grasz, 2014).

The problem with social networking and online information is that it also includes personal information that can be deemed discriminatory. For example, an employer may be able to find information about an applicant’s race, religion, age, sexual orientation, political affilia- tion, or disability. Thus, the use of social networking and online information can lead to dis- parate treatment or impact. Moreover, evaluating social networking and online information has been criticized for being based on recruiters’ subjectivity. However, research shows that information gathered from social and online media tends to be accurate and job related, and that independent raters’ evaluations of candidates based on this information tend to be highly consistent (Kluemper & Rosen, 2009), which reflects the credibility of using social network- ing and online information.

Employment Interviews The most frequently used selection technique is the employment interview. The interview is used for two basic purposes: to promote the organization and recruit applicants and to evaluate applicants’ suitability for a job with the organization. Most businesses will not hire an applicant without first meeting him or her in person. Interviews help recruiters fill infor- mation gaps in the application, and they are effective for examining an applicant’s personality and KSAOs related to job fit.

Unstructured Interviews Job interviews may be designed and conducted in several ways, with varying results. The usual unstructured interview, which is what most businesses conduct, is the least effective option. Such interviews tend to be an indirect and nonstandardized conversation between recruiter and applicant. The interviewer has not previously decided on specific questions to ask and will most likely ask different applicants different questions. Questions are often vague, such as, “What do you think is your biggest strength?” Many interviewers do not take notes on what the applicant says and, once the interview is over, often make a subjective judgment regarding the applicant’s suitability for employment. With no numerical grading or other objective evaluation of the applicant’s interview performance, the unstructured inter- view can be ineffective at identifying quality candidates (Conway, Jako, & Goodman, 1995) and can lead to biased and even discriminatory decisions. For example, unstructured inter- views are more susceptible to applicants’ self-presentation tactics such as impression man- agement, appearance, and verbal and nonverbal cues that are not necessarily related to their subsequent job performance (Barrick, Shaffer, & DeGrassi, 2009).

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

Structured Interviews Interview structure relates to the level of personal discretion an interviewer has in con- ducting the interview. During a structured interview, applicants are all asked the same ques- tions. Follow-up questions are kept to a minimum, and the manner in which the interview

is evaluated is consistent for all applicants. The theory behind the structured interview is that it produces results that are consistent across inter- viewers and interviewees. Compared to unstruc- tured interviews, the structured interview is superior at predicting an applicant’s potential job performance (McDaniel, Whetzel, Schmidt, & Maurer, 1994). Developing a successful struc- tured interview requires I/O psychologists to consider a number of factors, including interview preparation, question design, the interview pro- cess, the types of questions asked, and judgments made during and after the interview.

Interviewer Preparation Interviewers generally have some prior informa- tion about job candidates, such as recruiter eval-

uations, applications, or psychological tests. The nature of that information can predispose an interviewer to have a favorable or unfavorable impression of an applicant before he or she even arrives for the interview. For example, applicants who performed well in preliminary recruitment screenings are generally rated higher by interviewers than are those who did less well, regardless of the applicants’ actual interview performance. Prior information can also affect the focus of the interview. Interviewers will often attempt to discern or elicit infor- mation that confirms what is in the applicant’s résumé, especially when they perceive the applicant as unsuitable for the job. Specifically, interviewers will try to frame questions that result in negative responses (Binning, Goldstein, Garcia, & Scatteregia, 1988) or will ask fewer positive and more difficult questions (Macan & Dipboye, 1988).

Ancillary information such as résumés and tests can often cause interviewers to inconsis- tently question and evaluate candidates, which in turn weakens the interview’s structure. Therefore, it may be better if interviewers do not review applicants’ ancillary information prior to the interview. Instead, they should prepare for the interview by reviewing the open position’s job analysis and receiving training to help them understand the job, the questions they need to ask applicants, and the interview rating criteria.

Question Design Information from the job-analysis process can be used to design job-relevant interview ques- tions, which will ensure that the questions are relevant to the job and relate to worker char- acteristics that are essential to job performance. Indeed, research suggests that structured interviews developed with the aid of a job analysis are stronger predictors of job performance than those that are not (McDaniel et al., 1994). Basically, then, interviewers are better able to

Ron Chapple Stock/Ron Chapple Studios/Thinkstock

In a structured interview, the questions are prepared in advance, and all applicants are asked the same questions.

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

evaluate a candidate’s ability to perform a job when interview questions directly align with the job’s critical worker characteristics. The questions that are posed in the selection pro- cess are a key ingredient in selection effectiveness. Failure to address the proper questions and topics can lead to a poor selection, which can impact performance. Improperly designed questions can also be deemed discriminatory.

Interview Process How an interview is conducted significantly influences its level of structure. Interviewers can follow some easy steps to maximize the interview’s quality.

• First, all candidates must be asked the same questions in exactly the same order. This ensures that each candidate has an equal opportunity to present his or her capabilities and allows the organization to accurately compare candidates.

• Second, interviewers should limit prompts and follow-up questions. Some inter- viewers deem these unscripted interactions as critical to an effective interview, yet they typically interfere with the time needed for the candidate to answer all the scripted questions and can be a distraction. Additionally, an applicant who looks good on paper may not wish to risk answering any questions and can attempt to distract the interviewer by asking a lot of questions; in this case the interviewer should try to steer the interview back to the script. If prompts or follow-up ques- tions are necessary, the interviewer should always wait until the end of the inter- view to present them.

• Third, using multiple interviewers, either as a panel or in turn, can increase accuracy by reducing the potential biases of a single interviewer. Each interviewer will also focus on different facets of a candidate’s experience, which will result in a broader range of information gathered.

• Finally, interviewers must use a consistent set of criteria to evaluate candidates’ interview performance.

Types of Questions The types of questions asked by an interviewer have a direct effect on the structure of the interview. Campion, Palmer, and Campion (1997) identified four types of interview questions for structured interviews, samples of which can be found in Table 2.2.

• The first type of question examines an applicant’s background in a domain impor- tant for job success (“What experience do you have working with mainframe com- puters?”). Typically, these background questions produce a wide variety of answers and are difficult to use when comparing candidates. Furthermore, they are less predictive of applicant success than the other three types of questions.

• Experience-based questions examine applicants’ experience with situations similar to those faced on the job (“Describe a time when you were forced to meet strict dead- lines. What did you do to ensure they were met?” or “Think about a time when you had to help an angry customer. What was the situation, what actions did you take, and how did you resolve the situation?”). This type of question is effective because it applies the principle of behavioral consistency.

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

• Situational questions ask applicants to describe how they would handle a number of job-related scenarios (“You are leading a project team in which you hold no formal authority. One of the team members continues to submit work late, impacting the work of the other team members. What would you do in this situation?”).

• Finally, job-knowledge questions will look for specific job-relevant knowledge that applicants must possess in order to succeed at the job (“What type of information might you use if you were developing a strategic plan for your organization?”).

As you can see, the last three types of question, if designed using a thorough job analysis, will elicit job-related responses.

Interview Judgments Several factors can bias an interviewer’s judgment about a job applicant. Often, these biases are subtle and not intentionally discriminatory. One type of judgment is the contrast effect, which manifests itself when interviewers base their evaluation of an applicant on the per- formance or characteristics of the applicants they previously interviewed. For example, after interviewing three undesirable candidates, the interviewer may rate the next candidate more favorably than that candidate’s qualifications actually merit. Conversely, that same average candidate might be evaluated much less favorably if the previous three applicants were all highly qualified.

First impressions play a huge role in final hiring decisions, because they establish a bias that affects the interviewer’s interpretation of all other information gathered in the interview. One classic study found that 90% of the time, just one unfavorable impression of a candidate resulted in the candidate’s rejection. Positive information, on the other hand, was given little, if any, weight in the final decision (Bolster & Springbett, 1961).

Table 2.2: Structured interview questions

Type of questions Example questions

Experience-based questions • Describe a time when you influenced someone to change his or her position on an issue.

• Tell me about a project that really tested your analytical abilities. How did you handle the challenge, and what were the results of the project?

• Provide an example of a time you had to work with a difficult customer. What did you do to produce a positive outcome?

Situational questions • If you were responsible for rolling out a new product for the company, what are the first actions you would take to manage the project?

• The company has just landed a new, very profitable client. What would you do to build a strong relationship with that client?

Job-knowledge questions • How would you create a strategic planning presentation that would be influential for a board of directors?

• Explain what procedures you would follow when putting together an expense report.

• What functions do you use in Excel to create macros?

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Section 2.4 Selection Techniques

Finally, personal prejudices, or interviewers’ personal beliefs and experiences, may affect their interviews and evaluations. Interviewers may hold beliefs about the type of person they feel can do the job, yet these beliefs may be unrelated to a candidate’s skills or abilities. For example, some interviewers may believe women are unfit for male-dominated job positions, such as truck drivers or law enforcement officers. Male applicants may suffer similarly when applying for traditionally female-dominated job positions, such as nurses, teachers, or day care providers. Often, the effect of personal prejudices can be very subtle, and most inter- viewers do not admit that they are influenced by them.

Despite their imperfections, almost all organizations will continue to use interviews. Fortu- nately, these flaws can be reduced, if not eliminated, if an organization creates highly struc- tured interviews and trains their interviewers to recognize and avoid personal prejudices and biases.

Reference Checks Until recently, employee-selection processes routinely included reference checks, in which information about an applicant was gathered from people who are familiar with the appli- cant’s background, skills, and work history (such as a former teacher, previous employer or coworker, or friend). The purpose was to learn other people’s impressions of the applicant and to verify the information reported in applications or interviews. As you can guess, the applicant’s references were often deliberately misleading. For example, a past employer might wish to be kind and say only favorable things about a valued former employee. Alternately, a former employer might skew his or her information positively out of fear of lawsuits for written (libelous) or oral (slanderous) defamation. Thousands of costly lawsuits have been filed against U.S. corporations for defamation, and the mere possibility of legal action keeps many companies from cooperating in even the most basic reference checking (Korkki, 2007). There is, however, some legal precedent for punishing organizations that do not openly share information. Employers can be held negligent if they did not inform another employer that a former worker has a propensity for violence and that worker subsequently causes harm to an individual at the new organization (Ryan & Lasek, 1991).

Despite legal considerations, many companies still make at least a cursory attempt to check references. It is unadvisable, however, for the previous employer to reveal information beyond a person’s dates of employment, job title, and final salary. Should the company choose to go

further, it should, for its own protection, keep written evidence in the form of an objective performance appraisal. Spe- cific historical examples of an employee’s past performance should be documented by date, time, and location. Addition- ally, managers and supervisors should always assume that a judge or jury might one day scrutinize anything they include in a letter of recommendation. Given the potential risks, it is easy to see why ref- erence checks are used much less fre- quently today than in the past.Roy –Christ Taylor-/CartoonStock

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Section 2.5 Employment Law

2.5 Employment Law By its very nature, employee selection methods attempt to differentiate between candidates who possess requisite job skills and those who do not. When selection methods treat appli- cants differently based on other factors such as race, age, or sex, they are said to be discrimi- natory. It is imperative for HR professionals to understand the rights and obligations of both the company and the job candidate in order to protect both parties’ legal rights and avoid the litigation costs and damage to the organization’s reputation that may result from discrimina- tory practices. This next section, although not exhaustive, highlights landmark discrimination legislation and how it has affected organizations’ selection processes.

Equal Employment Opportunity The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (amended in 1979 and 1991) is divided into several sections, or titles, each of which deals with a different facet of discrimination, such as voting rights, pub- lic accommodations, and public education. For an employer, discrimination occurs when an employee is treated differently due to a legally protected characteristic such as gender, race, or religion. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act guarantees equal opportunity in employment and prompted the establishment of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to administer and enforce federal civil rights laws. Today the EEOC enforces laws that prohibit discrimination in employment based on gender, race, national origin, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation, status as a parent, and marital status. These laws apply not only to selection but also to other employment practices such as compensation, training, and apprenticeships.

Find Out for Yourself: Quality of Different Selection Methods Go to the following website and read the section on predictive validity, which summarizes the quality of various selection methods in terms of how well they predict applicants’ subsequent performance. The concepts of validity and reliability will be discussed further in Chapter 3.

Predictive Validity

Find Out for Yourself: Evolution of EEOC Browse through the links provided by the EEOC for additional perspectives on the history and evolution of the EEOC and associated laws.

EEOC History

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http://www.nicheconsulting.co.nz/validity_reliability.htm#PredV

https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/index.cfm

Section 2.5 Employment Law

Age Discrimination Age discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee differently based on his or her age; it is legally defined in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 (amended in 1978, 1986, and 1993). The ADEA is a federal law that protects all workers in the United States over age 40 from the moment they contact an employer about a job opening. Specifically, this law forbids employers from making any kind of employment decision based on a person’s age. For example, employers cannot terminate employment, deny a bonus or raise, or refuse to hire or promote someone simply because they think that person is too old. However, it is important to note that people under age 40 are not protected under the ADEA. Thus, it is possible for an organization to discriminate against an individual for being too young without legal repercussions.

Discrimination Based on Disability People who are physically or mentally disabled are protected from discrimination in the work- place. Starting with the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, organizations were required to recruit and hire disabled workers. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 makes it unlawful for an employer with 15 or more employees to discriminate against a quali- fied individual with a disability in hiring prac- tices, testing, firing, promotion, job training, or wages. The ADA requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation if a person with a disability needs one to apply for or perform a job. However, the employer has the right to withhold accommodation that would impose an undue hardship on the organization.

Other Employment Laws Several other laws are also relevant for employ- ment in general and for employee selection in particular. For example, over 75 years ago, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 legal- ized unionization and collective bargaining. Just before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibited pay differentials for equal jobs across genders. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 prohibits dismissing an employee due to pregnancy and ensures job security during maternity leave.

More recently, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibited hiring illegal immigrants. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 requires a 60-day notice prior to shutting down or conducting massive layoffs. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 limits the scope of lie detector use and prohibits it as the sole determi- nant in hiring and firing decisions. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 grants employ- ees who have worked for 1 or more years for an organization that employs 50 or more workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical reasons in any given 1-year period.

Thinkstock/Digital Vision

The Americans With Disabilities Act makes it unlawful for an employer with 15 or more employees to discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability.

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Section 2.5 Employment Law

Finally, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly known as Obam- acare or the Affordable Care Act, increases the responsibilities of employers, employees, and insurance companies to expand health care coverage’s accessibility and affordability, and progressively penalizes them for failing to do so. Although the act does not require any firm to provide health care insurance to its employees, firms that employ more than 50 full-time workers and do not offer health care coverage, or whose existing levels of health insurance do not meet the government’s guidelines for affordability, could be liable for annual penalties for each full-time employee who receives a tax credit or subsidy to obtain health care insur- ance through a government health care exchange. These penalties can increase each year. The act also prohibits excluding people from coverage based on any preexisting conditions. This act went into effect in 2014; however, to date, there continue to be many gaps and unknowns regarding the rules and regulations of the Affordable Care Act.

Interpretation and Enforcement of Employment Laws Several concepts are critical for implementing and enforcing these and other employment laws. For example, illegal discriminatory practices can include disparate treatment or dis- parate impact. Just because a policy or selection procedure does not explicitly discriminate against members of a protected class (which would be a form of disparate treatment) does not make that procedure legal. If the procedure has a discriminatory effect (disparate impact), even if unintended, it can be illegal.

For example, setting height or weight requirements for a particular job may not be intended as a discriminatory practice. However, because such requirements exclude more women than men and members of racial groups that tend to be shorter or lighter, they can be found to be discriminatory, unless they can be justified by a job’s specific requirements. These require- ments must be what is referred to as a business necessity.

As a case in point, it has been found justifiable to deny an individual in a wheelchair a job as a firefighter. On the other hand, height and weight are no longer included in a firefighter’s job requirements and have been replaced with job sample tests through which applicants are evaluated on their fitness level and ability to successfully carry out the physical requirements of the job.

Like discrimination, workplace harassment can assume two forms: quid pro quo or a hos- tile work environment. Quid pro quo (Latin for “this for that”) is a more explicit form of harassment in which the harassing employee requires the harassed employee to exchange favors against his or her will. However, the more subtle but equally illegal form of harassment, known as a hostile work environment, can be created by some employees. This is a work- place in which workers are offended to the point that they experience undue hardship and are hindered in their ability to adequately perform their job. Examples include sexual or racial remarks and displays of inappropriate forms of art (e.g., sexually explicit posters that would make some employees uncomfortable). Unfortunately, many employees who act in such ways do not realize that their employers can be held legally liable for their behavior. For example, employees who use company e-mail to forward jokes with sexual, racial, or religious connota- tions are exposing their employers to such risks.

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Section 2.5 Employment Law

It is also important to note that discrimination laws protect not only minorities but also mem- bers of majority groups. For example, in attempts to appear less discriminatory and more diverse, some organizations may consider hiring less qualified women and minorities. How- ever, these attempts can be found discriminatory against more qualified White male appli- cants, who have traditionally constituted the majority of the working population. This “over- compensation” effect is referred to as reverse discrimination and is illegal.

It is important to note that it does not cost an employee to file a claim with the EEOC; this often results in large numbers of unsubstantiated claims. Moreover, most of the laws dis- cussed here also have no-retaliation clauses that prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who report discriminatory practices. Once an employee provides basic evidence of the occurrence, the burden of proof shifts to the employer, which can be impossible if there is a lack of documentation and evidence. Discrimination lawsuits can cost the employer mil- lions of dollars in punitive damages. Employment laws cover not only current employees but also job applicants and past employees, which makes these laws particularly relevant for selection as well as for all HR practices.

Find Out for Yourself: More on Employment Laws Employment laws, statutes, and regulations are continuously evolving and changing. Further- more, like other legal matters, their interpretation and implementation are influenced by case law, or court rulings in prior cases, also commonly referred to as precedent. Government regu- latory agencies also routinely issue guidelines to help employers interpret and comply with the law. The following websites can help you expand your knowledge of employment laws.

Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP)

This website provides a brief background of the 1978 UGESP from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

UGESP: A Free Resource for HR Professionals

This website provides more detailed information on UGESP.

Employment Tests and Selection Procedures

This website provides a summary of equal employment opportunity laws that govern employ- ment tests and selection procedures, with recent examples of EEOC litigation and settlements.

Enforcement and Litigation Statistics

This website provides statistical reports by the EEOC on how various employment laws are enforced. Be sure to click on the “Definition of Terms” links under each table to better under- stand the information in them. Also, note the relative weight of different types of litigation and resolutions (many of which are out-of-court settlements), the large percentage of EEOC claims that are found to have “no reasonable cause,” and the substantial number of claims that are retaliation based.

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https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title29-vol4/xml/CFR-2011-title29-vol4-part1607.xml

http://uniformguidelines.com/uniformguidelines.html

https://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/factemployment_procedures.html

https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/index.cfm

Section 2.6 Recommendations for Applicants

2.6 Recommendations for Applicants Not everyone will be in a position to recruit, screen, interview, or select job candidates. How- ever, almost everyone is likely to apply for a job, submit a résumé, fill out an application form, or participate in a job interview on one or more occasions throughout his or her career. This section provides some helpful and evidence-based recommendations for doing so. It is orga- nized in terms of what an applicant should consider doing before applying for a job, during the application process, and after receiving a job offer.

Before Applying One of the most important but often neglected steps of finding the right job is preapplication research. With the prevalence of online job search websites that feature an online applica- tion process, applicants have become accustomed to painless, one-click submissions, which essentially send the same generic, preloaded résumé to all prospective employers. However, these automated processes do not promote an in-depth knowledge of the employer or posi- tion. Nor is the application material adapted to fit them. An applicant who wishes to increase his or her chances of being selected for further consideration should invest more time and energy, as follows:

• Read the job announcement carefully. Consider the job description and specifications carefully in relation to your qualifications and experience. They do not have to match perfectly, but they need to be compatible. Remember that employers receive many more applications than they need, and they do not select applicants randomly. Like- wise, you should not apply to jobs randomly. It should be a thoughtful and calculated process. It is better to apply to fewer positions more intentionally than to “throw an application” at every job you find.

• Research the organization to which you are applying. Visit the organization’s website. Google the organization and read any recent media coverage or reviews you can find. If the organization has a social media presence, visit the appropriate websites and read what others post about it. Remember that employers research applicants online, too. Clean up your social media pages. Remove controversial material, make it private, or limit its accessibility to your friends. Also consider your e-mail address and screen names; they should reflect professionalism and dignity.

• Tailor your résumé to each position. Do not use a generic résumé, especially for positions that are high on your priority list. If you are applying for a lot of positions, at least consider creating a unique résumé for each type of job. Remember that a résumé is nothing more than a screening tool. The purpose of a résumé is not to get you the job, but to help you secure an interview. According to a study by Ladders, on average, recruiters spend 6 seconds looking at a candidate’s résumé. Within these 6 seconds, they need to be able to spot keywords that reflect your suitability for the job or they move on to the next résumé (Adams, 2012). Furthermore, many employ- ers now screen résumés electronically. Generic, cluttered, or unprofessional résumés have almost no chance of making the cut.

• If there is a separate application form, fill it out thoughtfully and accurately. Résumés and applications are often used by different people for different purposes, so do not rely on your résumé in order to avoid completing a tedious application form.

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Section 2.6 Recommendations for Applicants

• Network with current or former employees if you happen to know any. Widen your network if you don’t. Networking is the most important source of jobs. Use your con- tacts to find out more about an organization’s culture, what makes employees stay, and what makes them leave.

• Be truthful. Falsifying application material is unethical and illegal. It can provide grounds for dismissal after employment and can destroy your career years, even decades, after the fact, as was evident in the case of George O’Leary, discussed earlier.

During the Application Process Once you hear back from an employer regarding your application, there is more work to be done:

• Further research the organization. Study the organization’s website in more depth. Look at financial reports. Visit local branches and operations if accessible. Keep up with recent media coverage of the organization. Join social media sites affiliated with the organization, if they are public. Network with contact persons within the organi- zation in person or through social media.

• Further research the position. Find out more about the specific duties and responsibilities.

• Research potential interviewers. If you are invited to interview, request the names of the interviewers ahead of time and find out more about them through social media and other online resources. Study their qualifications and interests and prepare to show common ground during the interview. However, keep your efforts subtle. Do not overcommunicate, in order to avoid the impression that you are overbearing or desperate for a job. Also, do not get too personal in the interview or make the inter- viewers feel like you have been stalking them.

• Find out about the organization’s dress code and dress accordingly. Do not make assumptions. Being overdressed could poorly reflect your fit for the organization’s culture. Similarly, dressing too casually can impart that you are not serious about the job or your career. Importantly, it is always in fashion to dress modestly and avoid flashy or revealing clothes. Your goal is to draw attention to your professional qualifications, not your outward appearance (unless outward appearance is the primary qualification for the position, such as in modeling).

• Prepare for potential interview questions. Be pre- pared to explain what qualifies you for each item on the position’s description. Speak to your qual- ifications accurately and clearly. Neither conceit nor bashfulness is desirable in a job interview. Also be prepared to address your weaknesses and limitations. For example, consider enroll- ing in a class that covers a particular area that appears to be important to your employer but that your skill set is lacking.

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Blend Images/Thinkstock

Dressing appropriately is crucial to having a successful interview.

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Section 2.6 Recommendations for Applicants

• Prepare a few thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer. Focus on the organization and the position. Do not ask about salary, benefits, or vacations. It is more appropri- ate to ask these questions after you have been offered the position.

• During an interview or site visit, be on your best behavior. Act politely and courteously toward everyone, even those who appear to be uninvolved in the selection process. This includes receptionists, janitors, elevator operators, and cafeteria staff. If part of the visit includes a meal, be kind and courteous to servers and exhibit proper table manners. Also remember to mind your manners in the parking lot and sur- rounding areas before and after the visit. Poor road etiquette can limit or destroy your chances of getting the job if accidentally observed by a recruiter or potential coworker in the vicinity.

• Send a thank-you letter to the interviewers. The letter should be brief and have a pleasant and professional tone. It should express your continued interest in and fit for the position very concisely. It should not imply that you require a response.

After Receiving a Job Offer A job offer is a wonderful outcome, but it is not the end of the process. If you have been suc- cessful in landing a job, make sure you consider the following:

• Carefully evaluate the offer in light of your expectations and research. Consider the full package, not just the pay. Consider the position, benefits, working hours, work- ing conditions, location, travel requirements, and prospects for promotion. Compare these aspects to other jobs to which you have applied. If this is not your top choice, consider waiting for another offer. If you have received multiple offers, compare them carefully and maintain a long-term perspective. A job with development opportunities and promotion prospects may be more favorable in the long term than a job with a higher starting salary. If you have any questions, it is legitimate to ask the employer at this point.

• Negotiate the terms of employment as needed. Except in rare situations, most terms of employment are negotiable. Do not assume that these terms are cast in stone, unless the employer explicitly says this. Be flexible and courteous in all negotiations and do not give the employer an ultimatum. If you cannot reach an agreement on the terms of employment, decline the offer but maintain professional courtesy. You never know when you will cross paths with the same employer in the future.

• Follow all the requirements in the job offer. This includes responding by the deadline, undergoing medical examinations and background checks if requested, and complet- ing any necessary paperwork.

• Once you accept a job offer, do not back out or consider other offers. If you are expect- ing or considering alternative offers, request a deadline extension, but once you commit, keep your word.

• Respectfully transition into your new position. As soon as you accept a job offer, update all your professional profiles to reflect your new position and reflect excite- ment about your new professional identity. Do not bad-mouth your former employer or coworkers. Maintain positive relationships throughout your career. Remember that you will always need references and people who can vouch for your qualifica- tions and character.

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Section 2.8 Select for Positivity: Applying Positive Psychology to Selection

2.7 Quantifying the ROI in Effective Selection Although effective selection can be expensive, the costs of making mistakes can be even higher. One of the recognized scientific approaches to quantifying the ROI in effective selec- tion is utility analysis. Utility analysis uses statistical formulas to calculate these returns over time. Although the calculations for utility analysis are beyond the scope of this course, it may be helpful to gain a conceptual understanding and appreciation of what this technique has to offer.

Utility analysis takes into consideration several aspects of the selection process. For example, it accounts for the predictive capacity of one selection tool or process versus another or for the joint predictive capacities of multiple selection devices, such as a combination of struc- tured interviews and aptitude tests. Furthermore, it also accounts for the importance of the job for the organization in terms of the financial impact of a particular job. Some jobs may exhibit higher variability in performance, warranting more accurate selection; others may not have as much variation across incumbents, which limits the ability to improve selection. Utility analysis also accounts for factors such as the supply and demand of labor, which may be out of the organization’s control. When the desired talent is in abundant supply, organi- zations can afford to be more selective; this can increase the ROI in more effective selection procedures. On the other hand, the cost may outweigh the benefits when the organization intends to select the majority of applicants due to a talent shortage.

The primary difference between an investment and an expense is that ROIs accrue over more than 1 year. If effective selection is indeed an investment, its benefits should accrue beyond the current year. Statistical methods such as utility analysis go beyond the costs of using various selection devices and even the opportunity costs of effective selection (e.g., managers’ time and energy being redirected away from other activities). They also consider time-sensitive factors such as employee flows, which in turn are affected by the number of employees hired using one or more selection procedures, as well as these employees’ reten- tion and turnover rates.

2.8 Select for Positivity: Applying Positive Psychology to Selection There is increasing evidence that just like KSAOs, positivity can predict productivity, as well as numerous other desirable outcomes in the workplace, such as job satisfaction and organiza- tional commitment (Avey, Reichard, et al., 2011). Numerous studies over decades of research have also demonstrated that positivity functions as an effective predictor of performance. The logical question then becomes whether organizations should select more positive employees.

Based on studies conducted by Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, the answer is a resounding yes. At the time Seligman conducted his studies on the sales force of Metropolitan Life Insurance, the company was basing selection decisions on the results of an industry-recognized test of applicants’ technical knowledge. However, selling insur- ance requires more than technical skills; being a successful salesperson requires a high level of positivity.

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Section 2.8 Select for Positivity: Applying Positive Psychology to Selection

Seligman suggested to Metropolitan Life that positivity may be even more important than technical skills. To test this notion, Seligman convinced Metropolitan Life to hire a “special force” of applicants who had failed the industry’s technical test but who scored highly on a test that he had designed to measure optimism, a recognized dimen- sion of positivity. The optimists who had failed the industry test went on to outper- form pessimists who had passed it, indicat- ing that hiring for positivity may be more important than hiring for skills!

Obviously, it is advantageous to hire candi- dates who possess every desirable quality

that can predict job performance. However, such candidates are rare and can be expensive to locate, hire, and retain. Thus, selection should focus only on the job requirements that are dif- ficult, expensive, or impractical to develop within a short time after an employee is hired and thus are necessary for the employee to possess from the start. Other qualities that are open to development can be the emphasis of training (which is covered in Chapter 5). An organiza- tion should adopt a balanced perspective about selection versus development, comparable to make-versus-buy decisions in other business areas. Although technical skills are important, they can be easily acquired and developed through training. The question, then, is whether positivity can be taught.

Contrary to what you might expect, research shows that only about 10% of positivity depends on circumstances such as income, material belongings, physical attractiveness, marital status, or where one lives or works (Lyubomirsky, 2007). Fifty percent of positivity is a set point that is determined by genetics or hardwired into the brain at a very early age. About 40% of posi- tivity is evidently malleable and thus open to development. Some approaches to developing positivity are discussed in Chapter 5. However, I/O psychologists must remember that when- ever possible, positivity should be only one of the selection criteria, along with other factors such as technical, conceptual, and interpersonal skills and abilities.

Rawpixel Ltd/iStock/Thinkstock

Research shows that positivity may outweigh technical skills in selecting new hires.

Find Out for Yourself: How Positive Are You? Both employers and employees can benefit from positivity. The University of Pennsylvania’s Authentic Happiness website provides easy access to many assessments of various aspects of positivity. The site allows you to sign up for an account and save your results from each assess- ment, so take as many of these assessments as possible to determine your level of positivity.

Authentic Happiness Questionnaire Center

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https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/testcenter

Summary and Conclusion

Hiring the right employees is not just an added benefit, a good use of resources, or an ethical concern. It is essential for organizational success and effectiveness. I/O psychologists will often find it necessary to educate managers on the benefits of effective selection and the various tools available to better design and implement their organization’s selection pro- cesses. Furthermore, accurate selection is an elaborate process that should start with formal planning and a deep understanding of each job, followed by systematic and objective imple- mentation of measurement and selection procedures.

abilities Innate, enduring basic aptitudes for performing a range of activities.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) A law that prohibits discrimination against employees over age 40.

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) A law that prohibits discrimination against and requires reasonable accommodations for physically or mentally disabled people who are otherwise qualified for a job.

disparate impact An illegal situation in which a policy or selection procedure that does not explicitly discriminate against members of a protected class has a dis- criminatory effect, whether intended or unintended.

disparate treatment An illegal situation in which an organization explicitly discrimi- nates against an individual based on one of the protected classes.

Employee Polygraph Protection Act A law that limits the scope of lie detector use and prohibits it as the sole determinant in hiring and firing decisions.

Equal Pay Act A law that prohibits pay dif- ferentials for equal jobs across genders.

Family and Medical Leave Act A law that grants employees who have worked for 1 or more years for an organization that employs 50 or more workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family or medical reasons in any given 1-year period.

hostile work environment A discrimina- tory and thus illegal form of harassment where some employees create an uncom- fortable or offensive environment for others, causing them undue hardship and hinder- ing their ability to adequately perform their jobs.

Immigration Reform and Control Act A law that prohibits the hiring of illegal aliens.

job analysis The systematic study of a job based on information that is collected about the directly observable and verifiable job tasks and worker behaviors for that specific job.

job context External factors that influence the way work is performed.

job description What a worker is expected to do to perform a job.

job specification Qualifications of the ideal candidate for a job.

Key Terms

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Summary and Conclusion

knowledge A set of related facts and information about a specific field or work domain.

National Labor Relations Act A law that legalizes unionization and collective bargaining.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A law that increases the responsibili- ties of employers, employees, and insurance companies to expand health care coverage’s accessibility and affordability and progres- sively penalizes them for failing to do so.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act A law that prohibits an employee from being dismissed due to pregnancy and ensures job security during maternity leave.

quid pro quo Latin for “this for that”; when used in regard to harassment, it refers to the discriminatory and thus illegal prac- tice of requiring the harassed employee to exchange sexual favors against his or her will.

responsibilities Groups of related tasks that represent a generic behavior, which helps accomplish major goals.

reverse discrimination An illegal practice in which the majority group is discriminated against in favor of a minority group.

role incumbents People who currently hold a particular job or have held it in the past.

skills The minimum level of competency at which a worker must perform a task or learned activity.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act A law that prohibits discrimination based on sex, religion, race, or national origin in hiring, promoting, firing, setting wages, testing, training, apprenticeship, and other terms and conditions of employment.

turnover rate The percentage of all the employees in an organization who leave in a given year.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Com- mission (EEOC) An agency that enforces antidiscriminatory laws and facilitates their application in organizations through educa- tion and technical assistance.

utility analysis A scientific approach that uses statistical formulas to quantify the ROI in effective selection and other organiza- tional practices related to people.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Noti- fication Act A law that requires employ- ers to give employees a 60-day notice prior to shutting down or conducting massive layoffs.

work log A detailed record of work being done.

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