Chapter 6 Selection

Canadian Human Resource Management

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SELECTION

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Explain the strategic significance of the selection function.
Describe the various steps in the selection process.
Discuss the types and usefulness of application screening tools in selecting employees.
Explain the role of employment tests in the selection process.
Discuss the major approaches to test validation.
Outline the various steps in conducting an employment interview.

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POWERPOINT® SLIDES
Canadian Human Resource Management includes a complete set of Microsoft PowerPoint® files for each chapter.
(Please contact your McGraw-Hill Ryerson representative to find out how instructors can receive these files.) In the
lecture outline that follows, a reference to the relevant PowerPoint slide for this chapter is placed beside the
corresponding lecture material. The slide number helps you to see your location in the slide show sequence and to skip
slides that you don’t want to show to the class. (To jump ahead or back to a particular slide, just type the slide number
and hit the Enter or Return key.)

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 Chapter 6 Selection

®
LECTURE OUTLINE (with PowerPoint slides)

Selection
Slide 1

Selection Process Defined SELECTION PROCESS DEFINED

Slide 2
The selection process is a series of specific steps used to decide which
recruits should be hired.
• Begins when recruits apply for employment and ends with the
hiring decision
-- Steps in between involve matching the employment needs of the
organization and the applicant
Strategic Significance of
Selection
STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SELECTION FUNCTION
Slide 3
The selection process is integral to the strategic success of firms.
Critical dimensions include:
1. Successful Execution of an Organization’s Strategy Depends on the
Calibre of its Employees
-- Overall effectiveness and success depends on the quality and calibre
of the employees it hires
2. An Organization’s Selection Decisions Must Reflect Job
Requirements
-- Mismatch could result in poor hires or possible lawsuits from
applicants who believe they were discriminated against
3. Selection Strategy Must Be Well Integrated with Organizational
Priorities
Strategic Significance of -- Selection system should be consistent with the strategic posture of
Selection (cont’d) the organization and organizational characteristics discussed in
Slide 4 chapter 1.
4. Selection Strategy Must Recognize Organizational Constraints
-- Selection systems need to be cost-effective and consistent with
organization’s budgetary and other (e.g., policies) constraints
5. Selection Strategy Should Recognize Labour Market Realities
-- Ideally, an organization has a large, qualified pool of recruits from
which to select applicants
-- Selection ratio is the relationship between the number of applicants
hired and the total number of applicants e e.g. 1:25 is a large
selection ratio; 1:2 is a small selection ratio

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6. Selection Practices Must be Ethical

-- Hiring decisions are shaped by the ethics of employment specialists

Steps in the Selection Process – STEPS IN THE SELECTION OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Preliminary Reception
• Selection system needs to be related to the job descriptions and
Slide 5
specifications i.e. job specifications should form the basis of all
selection decisions
 The type of selection procedure will depend on factors including
the size of the organization, the stage of its growth, and the jobs
involved

Step 1: Preliminary Reception of Applicants

 Initial contact may be in person, in writing (e.g., through e-mail)
-- Walk-ins may receive a preliminary or “courtesy” interview
-- Write-ins are often sent a letter of acknowledgment
-- For many organizations, this step has disappeared due to the
increasing use of Internet recruitment
Steps in the Selection Process –
Screening
Slide 6 Step 2: Applicant Screening
 At the screening stage, most organizations will have received a
large number of resumes or job application forms.
 The purpose of screening is to remove from consideration those
applicants who do not need the broad qualifications of the job
(such as education or experience requirements)
 Weighted application blank
-- Job application form in which various items are given
differential weights to reflect their predictive power
 Care needs to be taken to ensure application is useful and meets
legal requirements
 Biographical information blanks (biodata)
-- Questionnaire about applicant’s personal history and life
experiences (e.g., hobbies, family relations, accomplishments,
Steps in the Selection Process – values, reactions to stressful situations)
Employment Tests -- Cautions: items may unintentionally discriminate, may be
Slide 7 viewed by applicants as invasive, not easily verifiable, rarely
commercially available so must be developed in house.

Step 3: Administration of Employment Tests

 Employment tests are used to obtain relatively objective
information that can be compared with other candidates and
current workers
 Reliability means that the test yields consistent results
 Validity asks the question, “Is the test accurately measuring what
it is purported to measure?”
-- Empirical approaches involves determining the correlation of

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the test scores and the job-related criterion, i.e., the higher the
correlation, the better the match
Predictive validity is determined by giving a test to a group of
applicants and later correlating their performance and test
scores.
Concurrent validity involves testing present employees and
correlating their test results with measures of their performance
-- Rational approaches are used when there is not a large enough
sample to use an empirical approach
Content validity is assumed when the test includes a sample of
the skills needed to perform the job, e.g., staffing test
Construct validity seeks a relationship between performance
and characteristics assumed to be required, e.g., cognitive
Steps in the Selection Process – ability
Employment Tests (Types of
Tests)
Slide 8 TYPES OF TESTS
 Personality Tests
-- Measure personality or temperament
-- Low cost, among the most reliable, moderate validity
 Ability Tests
-- Aim to predict which job applicants have the skills, knowledge,
and ability to do the job.
-- Low cost, high reliability and validity
 Knowledge Tests
-- Measure a person’s information or knowledge about job
requirements.
-- Moderate cost, high reliability and validity
-- Validity is assumed when the test includes a representative
sample of the work the application is to do when hired
 Performance Tests (or work samples)
-- Measure the ability of applicants to do some parts of the work
for which they are to be hired.
-- Although the cost is high for performance tests, they also have
high reliability and validity
 Situational Judgment Tests
-- Applicants are placed into hypothetical job scenarios, and asked
to select a behavioural response from among a list of alternative
courses of action.
 Assessment Centres
-- Used for identifying managerial potential
-- Several methods of assessment are used e.g. job simulations, in-
basket exercises, interviews, etc.
 Computer-interactive Tests
-- Uses computer simulations to measure perceptual-motor skills
(e.g., reaction time, control precision)

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Steps in the Selection Process –
Employment Interviews(s)
Slide 9
Steps in the Selection Process –
Realistic Job Previews
Slide 10
Steps in the Selection Process –
Verification of References
Slide 11
 Integrity Tests
-- Measure an applicant’s honesty and integrity through overt and
non-overt questions about dishonesty and counter-productive
behaviors
--Low cost, high reliability, moderate validity
Step 4: Employment Interview(s)
• Supervisors should have input into the final hiring decision
Step 5: Realistic Job Previews
 Involve showing the candidate the type of work, equipment, and
working conditions before the hiring decision is made
 Highlights both the positive and negative aspects of the job
 Tends to reduce employee turnover by attempting to reduce
initial job dissatisfaction
Step 6: Verification of References
 Employment references discuss the applicant’s work history
 Concern exists that former supervisors may not be completely
candid, particularly with negative information
 Many employment references become only a confirmation of prior
employment
-- Reference Letters are collected by an applicant from previous
employers and contacts
-- Rarely would an applicant pass along an unfavourable reference
letter; virtually all reference letters are positive limiting their
utility
-- Background checks may be used to verify the applicant’s
skills, education, and experience
-- Employers need to be aware of their legal obligations including
privacy and personal information protection in their collection,
use, retention, and disclosure of personal information about
applicants
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Step 7: Contingent Assessments

Steps in the Selection  Medical evaluation - A health checklist indicating health and accident
Process – Medical
Evaluation information or medical evaluation
Slide 12  Many employers do not include this step because of costs involved and
potential for charges of discrimination from rejected applicants, e.g.,
rejected applicant may believe they were not hired due to a pre-existing
medical condition
 May be scheduled after the hiring decision
 Drug tests are increasingly used, however, drug and alcohol testing
without a demonstrable relationship to job performance has been found to
be a violation of employee rights
 Drug-dependent users are a protected class of individuals under the
Canadian Human Rights Act
Step 8: Hiring Decision
Steps in the Selection • Whether made by the supervisor or the human resource department, the
Process – Hiring hiring decision marks the end of the selection process
Decision
Slide 13
-- Job applications of those hired should be retained to update HRIS and
for future analyses (e.g., to uncover invalid tests)
-- For public relations purposes, applicants who were not selected should
be contacted; retain applications for future openings where promising.
--Trade-offs among predictors are made using different approaches
(subjective, multiple cut off, compensatory)
-- Selection for self-managed teams require careful planning to ensure
inputs from everyone at the same time maintain objectivity, validity and
professionalism.
-- Applicants who are hired should be contacted immediately. The
employment contract should be carefully prepared specifying
conditions of employment and restrictive covenants where relevant.

Employment Interviews EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS

Slide 14  Formal, in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate the applicant’s
acceptability
 Most widely used selection technique
-- Allows a personal impression
-- Offers the firm an opportunity to sell a job to a candidate
-- Provides opportunity to answer the candidate’s questions
-- Effective public relations tool
-- Popular due to flexibility and ability to offer a two-way exchange
-- Flaw relates to their varying reliability and validity

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
Types of Interviews
Slide 15 Interviews may be conducted on a one-to-one basis, panel or group
interview basis
• Unstructured Interviews

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-- Uses few if any planned questions to enable the interviewer to

pursue, in depth, the applicant’s responses
-- Lacks the reliability of a structured interview because questions are
different for each applicant
• Structured Interviews
-- Rely on a pre-determined set of questions developed before the
interview; the same questions are asked of each applicant
-- A scoring guide is used to grade each applicant’s response on each
question
-- Interview may seem quite mechanical and rigid
-- Claimed to be highly job-related and some past research studies
improved reliability and validity over traditional, unstructured
interviews

Types of Structured
Interviews There are three common types of structured interviews:
Slide 16 • Behavioural Description Interviews
-- Based on the principle that the best predictor of a person’s future
behaviour is their past behaviour in a similar circumstance
-- Attempts to determine how job applicants responded to situations in
the past, e.g., “Tell me about the most serious disagreement that
you have had with a co-worker.”
 Situational interviews
-- Questions focus on situations that are likely to arise on the job
-- Applicants are asked to indicate what they would do in such
situations
-- Responses are scored according to a rating rubric wherein more
points are given to better responses
 Stress-Producing Interviews
-- Used for jobs that involve high levels of stress and may involve a
series of harsh, rapid-fire questions to learn how the applicant
handles stress
-- Should be used with other interview formats
Other Types of
Interviews Computer-Assisted Interviewing
Slide 17  Interviews that use computers to electronically profile job candidates
and screen new hires
 May increase reliability by making the interviews uniform, however,
some human resource managers are uncomfortable with the resulting
in-depth electronic profiling

THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

Employment Interview –
Stages 1. Interviewer Preparation
Slide 18  Develop specific questions/desired answers
 Anticipate applicants’ questions
 Be prepared to explain job duties, performance standards, pay, benefits

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 Review the application form

 Average cost of hiring new employees often exceeds 30% of the
annual salary for managerial and professional employees so there is a
need to ensure interview process is efficient and comfortable for the
applicant
2. Creation of Rapport
 Interviewer is responsible for establishing a relaxed rapport
 Use non-threatening questions and appropriate body language
Employment interview –
3. Information Exchange
Stages (cont’d)  The heart of the interview process is the exchange of information
Slide 19  Use open-ended questions
 Validity is enhanced by using structured interview questions

4. Termination
 The interviewer must draw the session to a close e.g. “Do you have any
additional questions?”
5. Evaluation
 Use of a checklist improves reliability and should be completed
immediately after the interview

INTERVIEWER ERRORS
Interviewer Errors
 Halo effect – use of limited information about candidate to bias
Slide 20
interviewer’s evaluation
 Leading questions – communicating the desired answer
 Stereotypes – harbouring prejudice or exhibiting personal bias
 Interviewer domination – using the interview to oversell, brag, etc.
 Contrast Errors – comparing the candidate to those who came before
instead of to an objective standard
INTERVIEWEE ERRORS
Interviewee Errors
 May be trying to cover job-related weaknesses or may be due to
Slide 21
nervousness
 Examples include: playing games (e.g., acting nonchalant), talking too
much, boasting, not listening, and being unprepared

Evaluating the Selection

EVALUATING THE SELECTION
Slide 22 To evaluate new employees and the selection process feedback is needed
 Quality and productivity of the workforce
-- are superiors and peers satisfied with the hires?
-- are training costs increasing?
-- are managers spending too much time managing new hires?
-- are grievances, absences, and turnover inordinately high?
 Costs incurred in the process should be at a level appropriate to the
organization

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ANSWERS TO REVIEW AND DISCUSSION

QUESTIONS
1. What is the strategic importance of the selection function for an organization?

The selection function is strategically important because the successful execution of an organization’s strategy depends
on the calibre of its employees. Poor selection practices may result in the organization not being able to fulfill its mission
and objectives.

2. List and briefly discuss the various steps in the selection process.

Figure 6-2, p. 212, provides a listing of the steps which are described under the major headings of the chapter.

3. What are the five stages of the employment interview? What specific actions should you, as an interviewer, take
to conduct a proper interview?

Figure 6-18, p. 241, lists the five stages of the employment interview; the discussion is on pp. 240-245.

4. What are the different types of validity? If you want to validate a new dexterity test (which measures physical
co-ordination) for workers in an assembly plant, how will you go about it?

There are 2 approaches to test validation: the empirical approach and the rational approach (see Figure 6-8, pg. 220). The
empirical approach is test scores are related to either future job performance (predictive validity) or to current job
performance (concurrent validity). The rational approach seeks to determine if the test items include reasonable samples
of the skills needed to successfully perform the job (content validity) or to establish a relationship between performance
and other characteristics that are assumed to be necessary to successful job performance.

To validate the dexterity test using the rational approach, a content analysis of the test items would help to ensure that the
necessary skills to perform the assembly work are measured in the test itself. Using the empirical approach, test scores of
job applicants would be correlated with their job performance after they are hired. A high correlation would indicate that
the test is able to predict who is able to perform the job.

5. What attributes of behavioural description and situational interviews make them appear more promising than
traditional interview formats?

Behavioural or situational interviews are claimed to be highly job-related; they ask the same questions in the same way to
all candidates, and responses are compared to a list of potential responses and scored against a scoring rubric. Research
studies have indicated improved reliability and validity over traditional, unstructured interviews. See pp. 237-240 for a
summary of validity data and study results.

6. What is a weighted application blank? How is it different from a traditional application form?

A weighted application blank is a job application form in which various items are given differential weights to reflect
their relationship to various criteria important to job success.

A weighted application form is different from a traditional application form in that it captures not only job relevant
information but also serves as a screening tool to distinguish between satisfactory and unsatisfactory job incumbents.

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ANSWERS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Suppose you are an employment specialist. Would
you expect to have a large or small selection ratio
for each of the following job openings?
a. Janitors. Probably a large ratio, since many
applicants qualify for this type of work.
b. Nuclear engineers with five years of experience
designing nuclear reactors. Since there are few people
with this background, there would be a small ratio of
hirees to applicants.
c. Pharmacists. A small selection ratio is likely to exist
because few people are qualified for this type of work.
d. Software programmers. A small selection ratio will
exist because candidates for this job seem to be scarce.
e. Elementary school teachers in the Yukon. A small
selection ratio is likely to exist because qualified
applicants may be in short supply.
f. Elementary school teachers in Ontario. A large ratio
is likely to exist, due to the province’s relatively large
population including many qualified teachers who may
be willing to re-locate within the province.
2. If a human resource manager asked you to
streamline the firm's selection process for hourly
paid workers, which steps described in this chapter
would you eliminate? Why?
Perhaps the two most likely candidates for deletion
would be the verification of references and the medical
evaluation. Although both provide useful inputs, they
do not appear as important as the other steps.
3. A Canadian university has been experiencing high
student dropout rates in recent years. One
calculation showed that although the first-year
enrollment in commerce courses increased from 650
to 980 students in the last four years, the dropout
rate for first-year students has worsened from 9
percent to 15 percent. The university has been using
uniform admission standards during the years and
has not made any significant changes in the grading
or instructional procedures. Based on what you
learned in this course on recruitment and selection,
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Chapter 6 Selection
what recommendations would you make to the
university to improve its retention rates? Why?
Giving a realistic preview of life at the university may
provide students with clearer expectations. Knowledge
of potential "stressors" on campus may better prepare
the new entrants to cope with them; those who are not
confident of their ability to overcome the stress may
simply not join the university. This should in turn
reduce the drop-out rates of registered students. Other
relevant information to be given to students may
include:
 the course load of a typical student
 information on how many hours of study are
usually needed to succeed in the various
courses and programs
 details about counselling services to let
students know where help is available)
 information on various systems that exist in the
university (e.g., registration procedures,
withdrawal from a course, faculty-advisor
system, etc.)
4. If you are hired as a consultant to evaluate the
selection process for salespersons in a large car
dealership in the Toronto area, what kind of
information will you collect?
The performance assessment of current employees will
provide the best measure of a successful hiring system.
Other relevant information would include employee
turnover, absenteeism, low employee satisfaction, union
activity, grievances, and legal suits.
Another measure is a utility analysis of the selection
system.
Part 3 Attracting Human Resources

5. Assume you are hired to improve the interview

process employed by a large real estate organization
when it hires sales and customer service
representatives. When suggesting improvements,
what factors will you focus on? What steps will you
recommend to check whether your suggestion
indeed resulted in better hires in the future?
Factors to focus on:
 interviewer preparation
 creation of rapport
 information exchange
 termination
 evaluation
 interviewer errors

Steps to be taken to improve the selection system:

The performance assessment of current employees will

provide the best measure of a successful hiring system.
Other relevant information would include employee
turnover, absenteeism, low employee satisfaction, union
activity, grievances, legal suits.

6. Suppose you are approached by the human

resource department in a large insurance firm that
routinely hires dozens of clerical workers. Of the
various types of tests discussed in the text, which
would you recommend? What are the steps that you
will suggest to validate the test(s) you
recommended?

For the clerical workers, performance tests, such as the

Minnesota Clerical Test and the Revised Minnesota
Paper Form Board Test, would be appropriate. The tests
should first be checked for its content validity (i.e., do
the test items adequately sample the skills necessary to
perform the job). Next, assuming the test is content
valid, the test scores of the job applicants can be related
to job performance after they are hired (predictive
validity). Alternatively, the test could be given to job
incumbents and their scores related to job performance
(concurrent validity).

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ETHICS QUESTION

Comments to Instructors
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It is for class discussion purposes.

WEB RESEARCH

Comments to Instructors
These exercises have been designed for students to demonstrate their computer and Internet skills to research the required
information. Answers will vary.

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Part 3 Attracting Human Resources

INCIDENT 6.1: A SELECTION DECISION AT

EMPIRE INC.

Incident Comments
Perhaps the underlying problem at Empire is that the supervisors do not take enough time with new employees to ensure
that they feel part of the team. Further, since the human resource department makes the final hiring decision, supervisors
may feel little, if any, commitment to new employees.

1. What information would you consider irrelevant in the preceding selection profiles?

Since the job is relatively easy to learn, the experience and educational levels probably do not play an important role in
job success. (Having a university education may imply applicant A is more likely to become bored.) Age is not likely to
be relevant either. To discriminate against applicant B because of age also would be illegal. Since the interviewer's
evaluations vary, their opinions seem of little use, too. Work history, apparent eagerness, and availability may be the
crucial variables.

2. Are there any changes you would recommend in the selection process?

Supervisors should be more involved in the selection process. They may be able to offer valuable inputs. If they
interviewed candidates, the supervisors could give potential employees a realistic job preview.

3. Which of the three candidates would you select, given the limited knowledge you possess? Why?

Applicant B appears to be slightly preferable because of strong eagerness, reasonably early availability, a stable work
history, and excellent job knowledge.

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INCIDENT 6-2: NATIONAL FOOD BROKERS'

SELECTION PROCESS

Incident Comments
Perhaps the key to this incident is the comment employees make when they are given an exit interview. That is, they had
no idea how much time they had to spend on the phone. Once employees have done this work for a couple of years,
apparently they accept the constraints of the job and perform well.

1. Suppose you are asked by the human resource manager to suggest some strategies for improving the selection
process in order to hire more stable workers. What suggestions would you make?

Pre-employment testing might be aimed at measuring the characteristics commonly associated with long-service
employees. Perhaps, some testable feature of certain applicants can help predict long or short service.

Reference checks may help identify employees who are not easily satisfied by jobs and help pinpoint which applicants
have an unstable work history which is likely to be repeated at National Food Brokers.

2. What role should the supervisory interview play in the selection process? What information conveyed to the
applicants can help reduce the future worker turnover rates?

The role of supervisors’ interviews is a crucial one because supervisors make the final hiring decision, not the HR
manager. Supervisors can explain the demands of the nature of the job and the demands placed on the employee. This
might cause some people to decline an employment offer before they are hired and trained.

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EXERCISE 6-1: HOW DO YOU SELECT YOUR

FRIENDS?
This exercise is meant to show that we generally like people who are like us, i.e., share similar values. This exercise is a
demonstration of the similarity effect – an interviewer error.

The exercise shows how selection criteria are often driven by personal and cultural values that we may not be consciously
aware of. Moreover, the criteria used in selection will have varying degrees of importance or weight. Those criteria which
help to differentiate among “liked” and “disliked” individuals, should be given more weight in the selection of friends.
Similarly, those criteria, even if value driven, which help to differentiate successful from unsuccessful applicants should
be given more weight in the selection of employees. However, unlike the selection of personal friends, selection of
employees on such things as gender, race and other personal attributes not related to the job, is illegal and of course,
should be discouraged! The exercise should be done individually and the application to employment selection should be
discussed in activity groups or in class as a whole.

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CASE STUDY: MAPLE LEAF SHOES LTD. –
SELECTION OF A HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGER
Answers to Discussion Questions
1. Based on the information given in this case, what
education, experience, job skills, and other
competencies would seem to be required for the
future human resource manager of Maple Leaf
Shoes?
The person selected as human resource manager in
Maple Leaf Shoes should be able to immediately attend
to some of the pressing problems and prepare the
organization for the turbulent years ahead (mainly
because of increased competition, potential for
expansion and growth, dealing with a work force that is
becoming increasingly unionized, etc.).
This means that the new incumbent should possess:
 a sound training in human resource
management techniques
 considerable experience in a somewhat similar
setting
 good “people management skills”
 the ability to lead tough negotiations with
unions
The person should be a self-starter with considerable
vision and be able to introduce systems and procedures
in the organization.
2. How do the various candidates rate on these
factors you identified?
The profiles of the four major candidates indicate that
no one possesses all these qualities to a very great
extent. However, the firm has to make a decision
quickly as the new incumbent must begin contract
negotiations with one of the unions soon. This raises the
difficult question: whom to hire?
To complicate matters, there is not a whole lot of
agreement among the three interviewers regarding the
candidates. They seem to agree only on one thing,
namely, Robinson is not the best candidate! While
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Chapter 6 Selection
Robinson has a number of years of experience in
human resource management work, it is mainly in
service and the public sector where job demands
are somewhat different. Working for a township is
qualitatively different from working in a shoe
company. The major argument in his favour is that
he is black and that by hiring him the firm will be
sending out a message to its work force and the
larger community that it favours minority
employment. However, Robinson's lack of formal
training and inadequate experience should prevent
him from being a serious contender for the job.
Note that his “people skills” are also probably not
very great, as indicated by the impressions formed
by the interviewers. It should be noted that he has
been active in a number of social activities and was
a sportsman at college. It could very well be that
he is a great team player.
Dougherty is just the opposite to Robinson in the
matter of dealing with people. This, in fact, seems
to be the major strength of his candidacy. He has
also worked for over five years in the human
resource management area, though mostly in a
clerical capacity. Dougherty is primarily a
salesperson (16 years of sales experience) and this
probably shows during his interview. In total, he
has done four non-credit courses in the human
resource management area. It is debatable whether
this is adequate, considering the firm's present and
future challenges. The impression one gets is that
Dougherty is unlikely to start very many new
human resource systems and procedures.
Anderson and Reynolds are probably the two most
promising candidates for the job. Anderson has
several years of experience in a managerial
capacity including five years as assistant human
resource manager in a grocery store setting.
Reynolds has eight years of experience in the HR
area although not in managerial capacity (her title
is only that of a human resource assistant;
however, in the absence of a human resource
manager in the firm, she probably has equivalent
responsibilities of an assistant manager). Anderson
is a self-starter and seems to have many years of
Part 3 Attracting Human Resources
administrative experience. He has also done extension
courses in human resource management. Reynolds is the
only one (if you do not seriously consider Robinson for
the job) who has a degree in an area which is relevant
for human resource management, has done extension
courses, seems quite bright (Dean's List), and by nature
is a mover (started several new systems since coming to
Maple Leaf Shoes). Above all, she also has relevant
experience, since she knows the company well. There is
also the matter of her leaving the company if Anderson
is hired over her.
The personal details of the candidate are probably
irrelevant for the purpose of selecting human resource
management. The student should realize that these can't,
in any case, be used for selection purposes, as this can
create new criticisms of discrimination. However, the
president's reservation about Reynolds has to be
respected since he will have to work with the new hire
closely.
3. What is your evaluation of the selection process
employed by the firm (especially Robert Clark) in
this instance? If you were in charge, would you have
done anything differently? How?
The case does not describe the interview process used
in selecting these candidates, but Robert Clark could
have made his decision easier had he conducted a
behaviourally based interview. Also, there was
apparently little agreement on the selection criteria
among the four other managers, who conducted their
own interviews. A job description and a job
specification should have been given to all the
interviewers.
One possible solution may be to defer a hiring decision
until the first contract negotiations with the union are
completed. Reynolds should be asked to lead the
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negotiating team and informed that successful
completion of the bargaining could lead to her
being appointed as the new human resource
manager. This will reduce the likelihood of her
leaving the firm now. It could provide an
opportunity for Clark to test her out before making
the hiring decision. Hiring Anderson and in that
process losing Reynolds will not be desirable for
the firm right now, considering the number and
criticality of the challenges facing the firm.
4. Among the candidates, who (if any) would
seem to be suitable for the position? What are
the issues you should consider and trade-offs
you should make when selecting one of these
candidates for the position?
Students will give different answers to this
question. Some will suggest Steven Robinson, who
has experience in HRM, is black, and thus may
present a great opportunity for the company to
demonstrate being an “equal opportunity
employer.”
Jane Reynolds is probably the most suitable
candidate, given that she has practically done the
HRM job at Maple Leaf Shoes for two years in the
absence of a human resource manager. She knows
everyone in the company, including the union
representatives, and may be able to conduct the
bargaining process, perhaps with the assistance of
a negotiation professional. Time is a major concern
in this case. One would expect that a new human
resource manager would need perhaps a year to
“learn the ropes,” which means that an outsider
may not be effective. Appointing a woman
manager would indicate equal opportunities for
women, signaling a change in the company’s
policies.
 Chapter 6 Selection

CASE STUDY: CANADIAN PACIFIC AND

INTERNATIONAL BANK – EVALUATING A NEW
SELECTION TEST

Answer to Discussion Questions

1. Calculate the cut-off test score that will minimize the overall cost of testing plus training.

The overall cost of training will be lowest when the success rate is the highest. However, the number of persons who
receive these high test scores are not very high (for example, only 15 out of 100 receive the score of 90 or above where
success rate is the highest (100%).

The students should be encouraged to prepare a spread sheet which calculate the total number that need to be hired for
each score. For example, the success rate for people who get a score of 40 is only 2/12 or (1/6). This means that to get
one successful person, the firm has to hire six persons. However, only 82 out of 100 applicants get a score of 40 or
above. Hence a lot more applicants have to be tested before getting 6 successful persons who have a score of 40.

Adding the total testing and training costs would show that a score of 70 minimizes the total costs.

2. To get 40 “successful” employees, how many persons will have to be hired who have:

a) A score of 70 or higher in the test?

At a score of 70, 43 out of 100 applicants will meet this cutoff, but only 37/43 will be successful. Thus, to get 40
successful applicants, 47 will have to hired.

b) A score of 60 or higher in the test?

At a score of 60, 56 out of 100 applicants will meet this cutoff, but only 43/56 will be successful. Thus, to get 40
successful applicants, 52 have to be hired.

3. What suggestions will you make to the bank in validating and using the above test?

The test should first be checked for content validity to ensure that the test items sample the skills necessary to perform the
job. Since the test is administered to employees from other countries, checking for cultural bias is especially important.
Items that are culturally biased should be replaced with less biased items. The test scores should then be correlated with
job performance separately for the Canadian and Asian employees to ensure that there is no differential validity for the
two groups. If the test predicts equally well for both, then one standard cutoff score should be determined.

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Part 2 Planning Human Resources

APPENDIX A

Comment to the Instructor

In Appendix A the concept of Utility Analysis is discussed. Since it is a complex procedure it would typically be dealt
with in advanced undergraduate or graduate HRM classes. Utility Analysis is a powerful method to assess the bottom-line
implications of using valid selection measures.

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