6

Employee Testing
and Selection
 Learning Objectives

• Answer the question: Why is it important to test and

select employees?
• Explain what is meant by reliability and validity.
• List and briefly describe the basic categories of selection
tests, with examples.
• Explain how to use two work simulations for selection.
• Describe four ways to improve an employer’s
background checking process.
Answer the question: Why is it important to
test and select employees?
Why Employee Selection Is Important

• Performance
• Cost
• Legal obligations
• Person and job/organization fit
Explain what is meant by reliability and
validity
The Basic of Testing and Selecting the Employee

• Reliability
• Validity
• Criterion validity
• Content validity
• Construct validity
 Test Reliability

• Reliability- is a selection tool’s first requirement. It is

defined as the consistency of scores obtained by the
same person when retested with the identical tests
or with alternate forms of the same test.
What can cause a test to be unreliable?

• Physical conditions
• Differences in the test taker
• Differences in test administration
• The questions may do a poor job of sampling the
material
 Reliability coefficient

Figure 6-1 Test Score Correlation Examples

 Test Validity

• Validity- is a selection tool’s defined as the accuracy

with which a test, interview, and so on, measure
what is purports to measure or fulfills the function it
was designed to fill.
How to demonstrate Test Validity

1. Criterion Validity
2. Content Validity
3. Construct Validity
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Evidence Based HR: How to validate a Test

• Step 1: Analyze The Job

• Step 2: Choose The Test
• Step 3: Administer The Test
• Step 4: Relate Your Test Scores and
Criteria
• Step 5: Cross-Validate and Revalidate
 Validity Generalization

• If the test is valid in one company, to what extent can we

generalize those validity findings to our own company? Validity
generalization “refers to the degree to which evidence of a
measure’s validity obtained in one situation can be generalized to
another situation without further study.”

• Factors to consider include existing validation evidence regarding

using the test for various specific purposes, the similarity of the
subjects with those in your organization, and the similarity of the
jobs.
How do employers use test at work?
• About 41% of companies in one survey tested applicants for basic skills
(defined as the ability to read instructions, write reports, and do arithmetic).

• About 67% of the respondents required employees to take job skills tests,
and 29% required some form of psychological measurement.

• Tests are not just for lower-level workers. In general, as work demands
increase(in terms of skill requirements, training, and pay), employers tend
to rely more on selection testing.

• And, employers don’t use tests just to find good employees, but also to
screen out bad ones.
List and briefly describe the basic categories
of selection tests, with examples
 Types of Tests
1. Test of Cognitive Abilities

• Intelligence tests (IQ)

• Specific cognitive abilities

2. Test of Motor & physical abilities

3. Measuring Personality and Interests

• Interest inventories
4. Interest inventories
5. Achievement tests
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Explain how to use two work simulations
for selection
 Work Samples and Simulations

• With work samples, you present examinees with

situations representative of the job for which they’re
applying, and evaluate their responses.
• Experts consider these (and simulations, like the
assessment centers we also discuss in this section) to be
tests. But they differ from most tests because they
directly measure job performance.
Using Work Sampling for Employee Selections

1. Basic procedure
2. Situational judgment tests
3. Management Assessment Centers
4. Situational Testing and Video-Based Situational Testing
5. The Miniature Job Training and Evaluation Approach
6. Realistic Job Preview
7. Choosing a Selection Method
Describe four ways to improve an employer’s
background checking process
Background Investigations and
Other Selection Method
Why to Perform Background Investigations and
Reference Checks?

• One of the easiest ways to avoid hiring mistakes is to check

the candidate’s background thoroughly.
• Doing so is inexpensive and (if done right) useful.
• There are two main reasons to check backgrounds—to
verify the applicant’s information and to uncover damaging
information.
Making the Background Check
More Valuable
 The Polygraph and Honesty Testing

• Meet Standards
• Written Honest Test
• Testing for Honesty Guidelines
Graphology
Physical Exams