IO Psychology Flashcards
Job analysis
- systematic procedure for identifying how a job is performed, conditions under which it is performed, and personal requirements it takes to do the job
Functions of a job analysis
- obtaining info needed to write a job description
- develop or identify appropriate job performance and selection measures
- determine training needs
- Make decisions about job design and redesign
Ways to get information for a job analysis
- observing employees perform job
- interviewing employees and supervisors about the job
- having employee supervisors and others familiar with the job. Complete questionnaires or surveys
- electronic performance monitoring
Types of job analysis
- work oriented
- worker oriented
Work oriented job analysis
- focuses on the task that must be accomplished to achieve the desired job outcomes
- example: task analysis
Task analysis
- employees and supervisors develop a comprehensive list of job tasks, subject matter experts rate and identify task based on frequency and importance and tasks with the highest ratings are included in the job description
Worker oriented job analysis
Focuses on the ksaos required to accomplish job tabs
(Knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics)
- example: position analysis questionnaire (PAQ)
Position analysis questionnaire(PAQ)
- addresses six categories of work activity:
- Information input
- Mental processes
- Work output
- Relationships with others
- Job context
- Other characteristics
Job evaluation
- first step is usually a job analysis
- conducted specifically to facilitate decisions related to compensation
- often used to establish comparable worth
- point system is commonly used
Point system (job evaluation)
- determine monetary value of a job by assigning points to the jobs Compensable factors then sum up the points to determine the appropriate compensation for the job
Compensable factors
- effort
- responsibility
- skill
- working conditions
Comparable worth
- The principal that workers performing jobs that require the same skills and responsibilities or that are comparable in value to the employer should be paid the same
- has been applied primarily to the gender gap in wages
Criterion measures
- measures of job performance
Functions of criterion measures
- provided employees with feedback about their performance
- evaluating employee performance to obtain information needed to make decisions about races and promotions etc
Objective measures
- provide quantitative information
- direct measures of productivity and number of errors, accidents, and absences
Pros of objective measures
- can provide important information
Cons of objective measures
- Don’t always provide complete information about employee performance
- not available for certain jobs
- can be affected by situational factors like inadequate resources or support
Subjected measures
- Performance ratings
- most commonly used performance measures in organizations
Pros of subjected measures
- they can provide info on aspects of performance that cannot be assessed by objective measures
- they allow raiders to take situational factors that affect performance into account
- they can provide info that is useful for giving employee feedback about their performance
Cons of subjective measures
- they can be affected by rater bias and errors
Subjective rating scales
- relative
-Absolute
Relative rating scales
- rater evaluates an employee by comparing the employee to other employees
Ex) paired comparison, technique and forced distribution method
Absolute rating scales
- rater evaluates an employee without considering performance of other employees
Ex) critical incident technique, graphic rating scales, and behavioral anchored rating scales
Paired comparison technique
,- rater compares each employee to all other employees on dimensions of job performance, (work quality, job knowledge, communication) by indicating which employee is best
Pros of paired comparison technique
- alleviate central tendency, leniency, and strictness rater biases
Con of paired comparison technique
- can be very time consuming when there are many employees to rate
Forced distribution method
- raters have to assign a certain percentage of employees to pre-specified performance categories for each dimension of performance
Pro of force distribution method
- alleviates central tendency, leniency, and strictness rater biases
Con of forced distribution method
- provides inaccurate information when the performance of readers doesn’t match the pre-specified categories
- example when all employees are performing at average or above average level
Critical incident technique
- type of job analysis and performance assessment
- A list of critical incidences is used to evaluate performance of employees by checking those that apply. The list is created by observing employees or interviewing people familiar with the job to establish a list of exceptionally poor or exceptionally good performance.
Pro of critical incident technique
- provides useful information for employee feedback because it focuses on observable behaviors
Cons of critical incident technique
- can be time consuming to develop
- focuses on extreme rather than typical behavior
- Job specific
Graphic rating scale
- rate employees on several performance dimensions on a Likert- type rating scale. (1poor to 5 excellent)
Pro of graphic reading scale
- easy to construct
Con of graphic rating scale
- vulnerable to rater biases
Behaviorally anchored reading scales (BARS)
- graphic rating scale with each point on a scale anchored with a description of a specific behavior developed by job incumbents, supervisors, and other subject matter experts who identify essential dimensions of job performance and specific behaviors for each dimension associated with good average and poor performance
Pros of BARS
- behavioral anchors help reduce rater biases
- provide information that is useful for employee feedback
Cons of BARS
- Job specific
- Time consuming to develop
Ultimate criterion
- ideal measure that assesses all the important contributors to job performance
Actual criterion
- what a job performance measure actually measures
What are the causes of a gap between ultimate and actual criterion?
- criterion deficiency and criterion contamination
Criterion deficiency
- aspects of performance that are not assessed by the criterion
Ex) A job knowledge test for clinical psychologists would be deficient if it includes questions on psychopathology and clinical psychology but not ethics
Criterion contamination
- when a criterion measure is affected by factors unrelated to job performance
Ex) supervisors ratings on criterion are affected by employees, gender or race or by the supervisor’s knowledge of how well the employee did on predictors that were used to hire them
Distribution errors
- occur when a reader constantly uses only one part of the rating scale on all employees
- Central tendency bias
- leniency bias
-Strictness bias
Central tendency bias
- rater consistently gives all employees average rating regardless of their actual performance
Leniency bias
- raider consistently gives all employees high ratings regardless of actual performance
Strictness bias
- gives all employees low ratings regardless of actual performance
Halo error
- also known as the Halo effect and Halo bias
- can be positive or negative
- raiders rating of an employee on one dimension of job performance affects how they rate the employee on all other dimensions
Example of positive Halo error
- supervisor highly values, cooperation, rates, all employees who are very cooperative high in all dimensions
Example of negative Halo bias
- raider highly values, cooperation and rates. Uncooperative employees as low on all dimensions of performance
Contrast error
- raiders ratings of an employee is affected by performance of a previously evaluated employee
Example of contrast error
- rater gives an average employee below average ratings because they just rated an excellent employee immediately before rating the average employee
Similarity bias
- raider gives high ratings to raters that yhey perceive to be similar to themselves
Methods to reduce rater biases
- using relative rating scales
- anchoring points on an absolute rating scale with descriptions and specific job behaviors
- providing raiders with adequate training
Using relative rather than absolute rating scales
- most useful for eliminating distribution errors since relative scales require raiders to give some employees higher lower ratings and they give other employees
Anchoring points on absolute rating scales or descriptions of specific job behaviors
- help reduce distribution errors and other biases by clarifying the meaning of each point on a scale
Providing adequate training
- Best way to reduce freighter biases as well as other factors that decrease rate or accuracy and relative and absolute rating scales
A frame of reference training
- ensures that trainees understand the multi-dimensional nature of job performance and the organizations definition of successful and unsuccessful performance
- allows for the opportunity to practice assigning ratings and receive feedback on their rating accuracy
Types of selection techniques
- predictors
- interviews
- general mental ability tests
- personality tests
- integrity test
- work samples
- Assessment centers
- biographical information
Interviews
- can be structured or unstructured
- research has found that structured and unstructured interviews have the same average validity coefficient unstructured interviews have the same average validity coefficient (.58)
Most valid predictors of job performance
- number one is general mental ability test and number two is structured and unstructured interviews
Structured interviews
- interviewees are asked the same questions that may be derived from the results of a job analysis
- answers are scored using the standardized scoring key
Unstructured interviews
- interviewers ask whatever questions they want and do not necessarily ask all applicants the same questions
Types of structured interviews
- behavioral interviews
- situational interviews
Behavioral interviews
- based on the assumption that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior
- ask questions about how an interviewee responded to specific job-related situations in the past
Situational interviews
- Future oriented
- ask questions about how interviewees would respond in hypothetical situations
Research on structured interviews
- situational questions were more valid. Predictors of job performance and behavioral questions
- intention is more predictive of future behavior behavior than past behavior
General mental ability tests
,- aka general cognitive ability test or intelligence test
- most valid predictor of job performance across variety of jobs, performance, criterias, and organizations
Disadvantage of general mental ability tests
- associated with greater risk for adverse impact on applicants belonging to some ethnic or racial minority groups
Personality test
+ usually assess big five personality traits
- conscientiousness has been found to be the best predictor of job performance across jobs and different performance criteria
Integrity test
- used to predict whether applicant is likely to engage in counterproductive behaviors
- overt
- personality based
Overt integrity test
- asked directly about attitudes towards and previous history of dishonesty and theft
Personality based integrity test
- assess aspects of personality that have been linked to dishonesty, disciplinary problems, sabotage, and other counterproductive behaviors
Pros of integrity tests
- No adverse impact to racial or ethnic minorities
- Good predictors of counterproductive behavior (overt) and job performance (personality based)
Most valid measures of selection methods
- general mental ability test
- interviews
- Job knowledge test
- integrity test
- combining general mental ability tests with integrity test is the greatest gain
Work samples
- applicants perform on the job tasks or activities in realistic conditions
Work samples versus general mental ability tests
- work samples have a slightly higher average validity coefficient then general mental ability test
- recent research found that work samples have a lower validity coefficient than for general mental ability, test, interviews, integrity test, and several other selection methods
- decrease in validity attributed to the fact that in the past work samples were used primarily as a selection method for manual skilled jobs, but are now increasingly used for jobs in the service sector and maybe less accurate for those jobs
Trainability work sample tests
- useful for applicants who do not have previous work experience
- incorporate periods of training and evaluation and are useful determining if an inexperienced applicant is likely to benefit from training
Realistic job preview
- involves informing job applicants about the positive and negative aspects of the job to reduce the risk of turnover after applicants are hired by ensuring they have realistic job expectations
Assessment centers
- most often used to evaluate candidates for managerial level jobs
- involve having multiple raiders rate candidates on separate performance dimensions using multiple methods
- methods include personality and ability. Test, structured interviews, and simulations (work samples)
Types of simulations used in assessment centers
- in basket exercise
- leaderless group discussion
In basket exercise
- used to assess decision making skills
- applicants respond to memos, phone messages, and other communications that are similar to those they would encounter on the job
Leaderless group discussion
- used to evaluate the leadership potential of participants
- requires small group of participants to work together without an assigned leader to solve job-related problem
Biographical information
- items used because they predict job performance referred to as bio data form or biographical information blank
- improperly derived items that ask about an applicant’s education and work history, but also about family history, health history, interest, social relationships and other issues
- questions are presented in multiple choice format or other format that can be easily scored
Validity of biodata
- Good predictor of performance for a variety of jobs ranging from unskilled to managerial and executive level jobs
Disadvantage of biodata
- lac face validity so applicants may consider them to be irrelevant to job performance and invasion of their privacy and refuse to answer