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Personnel Assessment, Placement

Introduction

This unit focuses on selecting personnel and ensuring a good job-person match. It will

look at assessment and selection techniques, specific testing instruments, and the

requirements of a good test.

Personnel Assessment & Selection Techniques

Personnel assessment, selection, and placement became important during the First and

Second World Wars. A large number of recruits needed to be tested for suitability for

service and placement in military specialties. Techniques used and refined during these

two assessment efforts were adopted by industry and continue to be used today.

A variety of personnel selection techniques are available. Regardless of technique

used, they must meet two minimum requirements: scores generated by the test must be

reliable and the test must be valid. Reliability refers to consistency. There are several

methods to demonstrate reliability. One method is Test-Retest: if you take a test on

Monday and again on Friday, you expect the scores you receive will be fairly similar.

If they are, the scores are reliable. In addition to reliability of scores, tests must be

valid. A test is valid if it measures what it claims to measure. Like reliability, there are

several ways to demonstrate validity. One is Content Validity: if you took a class in

algebra and the final exam covered history, the test would not be valid because the

content of the test did not reflect the content of the material in the textbook or lectures.

Making a Good Job-Person Match

When an organization hires a new employee, it makes an investment; it takes time and

money to hire that individual. The organization has an expectation that it will receive a

return on its investment. If the person fits well in the position and remains with the

organization, a return on investment is realized; if not, there is a loss of investment.

Thus, it is important to establish a good job-person match.

A good match is accomplished by relying upon information from a job analysis. It

provides information on tasks to be performed and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and

personality characteristics (KSAPCs) required to successfully perform the job.

Assessment instruments which measure the required KSAPCs are then developed or

purchased to assist in matching the person to the job. To maintain professional and

legal standards, the instruments and methods must be reliable and valid, and they must

not discriminate unfairly. Ultimately, a good selection procedure should be fair to both

candidates and organizations. The candidates selected should be the best for the

positions being filled.

Employee Testing Tools

Personnel assessment includes methods such as biographical inventories; employment

applications; letters of reference; resumes and background checks; interviews; paper-

and-pencil tests of knowledge, skills, abilities, or personality characteristics; as well as

honesty and performance tests. Assessment centers typically combine most of these

methods in a multi-day program.

In addition to reliability and validity, assessment procedures must be standardized; all

job candidates should receive the same treatment. Job interviews have historically not

met this criterion. However, because employers like interviews, standardized interview

methods such as behaviorally-based or structured interviews have been developed.

Selection procedures may be fairly straightforward or complex. A compensatory

strategy is one in which low scores on one test may be compensated by higher scores

on another test. In a non-compensatory strategy, each test has a minimum score which

must be achieved by the candidate. A hurdles strategy requires that candidate pass one

test before being considered for the next.

There is no one selection method that is best. A good personnel selection procedure is

based upon job criteria (KSAPCs) developed using a defensible rationale and on

assessments that are valid, provide reliable scores, and are directly related to the job

criteria.