Ch. 3 Flashcards
What is Criterion?
Evaluative standards
What does a “successful” worker look like?
Specific example: Intellectual growth is a criterion for a successful college student
Criterion issues have major significance in I/O psychology
Should be something employees are recruited, hired, trained, paid, and evaluated by
Disagreements and discrepancies occur in:
Choices over the proper criteria to use
Their definition and the best way to measure
Conceptual criterion vs. Actual criterion
- Conceptual Criterion (theoretical)
Intelectual Growth
Emotional Growth
Citizenship - Actual Criteria (empirical measures)
Gpa
Advisor rating of emotional maturity
Number of volunteer organizations joined in college
Goal: obtain a reasonable estimate of the conceptual criterion by selecting one or more actual criteria that we think are appropriate
Criterion Deficiency
Degree to which actual criteria fails to overlap conceptual criteria
Can reduce it as much as possible, but never eliminate entirely
Criterion Relevance
Degree to which actual criteria and conceptual criteria coincide
Criterion Contamination
Unrelated to the conceptual criteria – two parts:
Bias – extent actual criteria consistently measure something else
Error – extent to which actual criteria are related to nothing at all
Both distort the conceptual criterion
Can be controlled statistically to some degree
Work Analysis
The systematic process for gathering, documenting, and analyzing information about:
*compensation
- Work content
Tasks, responsibilities, work outputs - Worker attributes
Knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics (KSAOs) - Work context
Physical and psychological conditions in the immediate work environment, broader organization, and external work environment - Procedure helps to identify criteria in job performance
- Formerly called job analysis
- Still called job analysis by O*NET
- Representative of the western focus on individualism
Job incumbent
Implicitly understand their own job
But could be motivated to describe their job as harder than it is
Job supervisor
Knows roles slightly, but focused on organizations needs
(Trained) Work Analyst
- Can compare across jobs
- Understand similarities and differences across jobs in terms of work activities performed and human attributes needed
- IMPORTANTLY a work analyst (likely human resources specialist or talent acquisition partner) can talk to the hiring manager (or higher) about the needs of the organization and the strategies/goals from an organizational perspective
May not want to just replace what you had before
Task-Oriented Procedures
Seeks to understand work by examining tasks performed
What is accomplished by this role?
Work analyst compiles list of task statements (e.g., “order materials and supplies)
Incumbents then rate tasks on various dimensions (e.g., frequency, importance, difficulty)
Classic example is Functional Job Analysis (FJA)
Rates work on three dimensions: Things, Data, and People
Jobs then rated as high, medium or low on people, data, and things
Often used in federal government
Worker-Oriented Procedures
Examines human attributes needed to perform work
K –knowledge – types of information needed
S – skills – proficiencies needed that can be practiced
A – abilities – relatively enduring innate proficiencies
O – other – personality or capacities
How do you obtain information for a work analysis?
Gather information on
- Work content
Tasks, responsibilities, work outputs
- Worker attributes
Knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics (KSAOs) - Work context
Physical and psychological conditions in the immediate work environment, broader organization, and external work environment
Linkage Analysis
Analysis unites task-oriented and worker-oriented information
What personal attributes (worker-oriented information) are needed to perform the task (task-oriented information)
Uses of Work Analytic Information
- Offers rationale for personnel selection tests
- Organizes positions into job families to help determine compensation levels
- Provides information as to content of training needed
- Provides basis for content of performance appraisal
- Can be used in vocational counseling – career selection (O*NET)
- Can help with ADA criteria for reasonable accommodation
Competency
A characteristic or a quality of people that a company wants its employees to manifest
- Modeling
Refers to the identifying the array of competencies the organization desires - Competency modeling does NOT consider the work performed
- Meant to cover the entire range of employees in an organization
Are abstract and don’t differentiate jobs like KSAOs
- Tries to link employee’s personal qualities to company mission (fit)
- Has little precision/rigor but has populist appeal
