Chapter Three

HIRING ETHICAL PEOPLE

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Screen job candidates for their ethics

Chapter 3
Learning Objectives

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Understand which job candidate

factors are illegal to consider when

hiring
Obtain accurate behavior
information from resumes, reference
checks, background checks, and
integrity tests
Use personality test scales that
measure ethics
Ask interview questions that address
ethical issues
Understand when drug and
polygraph tests can be administered

Importance of an Ethics Screen

The most important factor for developing and

reinforcing a high-integrity work culture is hiring

ethical job applicants
The typical hiring process consists of reviewing

resumes and job application forms for knowledge,

skills and abilities necessary to perform the job task
Ethics is often assumed or overlooked

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 1: ethics screen notice

Inform potential

job applicants
about the
organizations
ethics job screen

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

People who

behave ethically
want to be
members of
ethical
organizations

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 2: legal ground rules
Gather and use

information in a way that

does not discriminate
against job candidates
based on their race,
color, religion, gender,
national origin, age, or
disability

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Employers signal good

ethics to job candidates

by respecting the law
when recruiting and
selecting employees

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Legal Ground Rules (cont.)
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

Prohibits businesses from discriminating among job applicants

based on the persons race, color, religion, gender, or national
origin
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created
in 1965 to oversee provisions of the Civil Rights Act

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Legal Ground Rules (cont.)
Disparate Impacts

Disparate impacts occur when members of a protected class

rarely make it through all the job screening filters, suggesting
that one of the decision rules could be unintentionally
discriminatory

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Legal Ground Rules (cont.)
Affirmative Action

Affirmative action plans remedy past discriminatory behaviors

by actively seeking, hiring, and promoting minority group
members and women to equalize opportunities previously
limited to Caucasian males
Affirmative action plans remain controversial

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Legal Ground Rules (cont.)
Other legal Issues

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, amended in

1978 and 1986
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Exhibit 3.2 Job Selection Rule Checklist

Insert Exhibit 3.2

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 3: behavioral
information

Four recruiting tools provide

useful behavioral information
about a job candidates
ethics:
Resumes
Reference checks
Background checks
Integrity tests
Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Behavioral information
about a job candidates
ethics is more reliable
than attitudinal survey
results or responses to
hypothetical dilemmas

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Behavioral Information (cont.)
Resumes

The best predictor of future performance is past performance

A job candidates previous accomplishments are encapsulated
on a resume or job application
Researchers estimate that more than one in five resumes
contain lies

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Exhibit 3.3 College Students Job Application Lies

Insert Exhibit 3.3

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Behavioral Information (cont.)
Reference Checks

Job candidates usually list references predisposed to sharing

favorable information
The previous supervisors perspective of the job candidates
strengths and weaknesses is probably the most relevant
information source

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Behavioral Information (cont.)
Background Checks

Conduct background checks to verify a job candidates

academic accomplishments, prior work responsibilities, and
other work-related issues
Other checks could include criminal records, credit checks, and
Facebook use

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Behavioral Information (cont.)
Integrity Tests

Also referred to as honesty tests, integrity tests typically gather

information about the job candidates behaviors and attitudes
toward unethical workplace activities, such as theft

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 4: personality traits and related characteristics
Conscientiousness measures responsibility,
dependability, and work ethic. Is the best predictor
of ethics and job performance.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior: work-related

helping behaviors that go beyond normal job

requirements, such as aiding others with job-related
problems

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Exhibit 3.4 Personality Traits, Related

Characteristics, and Ethical Behavior

Insert Exhibit 3.4

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Exhibit 3.6 Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Scale

Insert Exhibit 3.6

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 4 (cont.)

Social Dominance
Orientation and Bullying
is the belief that an
individuals particular
group membership
(defined in terms of race,
gender, religion, or
ethnicity) is superior to
membership in other
groups
Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Researchers have found

that high SDO scores are

associated with racism
and sexism

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 4 (cont.)
Mental Disability Tests

Mental health and other medical tests for job candidates can be
administered after a bona fide job offer has been made

Tests such as the MMPI are not a valid way to determine the
ethics of job candidates

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 5: Interview Questions
Previous Ethical Dilemmas

Asking job candidates to describe how they managed an ethical

dilemma at a previous employer can be very useful

Human beings are creatures of habit, and the job candidate

will bring these response patterns to work

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 5: Interview Questions (cont.)
Visual Lie Detection

Behavioral responses assumed to be cures for detecting a lie

include the following:

Bodily Tendencies: less eye contact, increased blinking, pupil

dilation, fidgeting, shaking knee, tapping fingers

Verbal Tendencies: Hesitancy in responding, frequent speech

disturbances, sighs, higher pitch, longer response before
answering

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 5 (cont.)
Present finalists with a realistic job preview, an honest
description of daily work activities that highlights
both the exciting and tedious aspects of the job

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 6: Post-Interview Tests
Drug Testing

Drug use can be determined by an analysis of blood, urine,

hair, or saliva. Marijuana, the most commonly tested for drug,
can be detected in the blood system for 2 days, in urine from 214 days, and in hair follicles for up to 90 days

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 6 (cont.)
Polygraphs

Also known as lie detectors, can be used as a job screen by

federal, state, and local government agencies, as well as
businesses, engaged in national security issues

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics

Exhibit 3.9 Standard Job Screening Polygraph

Questions

Insert Exhibit 3.9

Chapter 3: Collins, Business Ethics