Recruitment and Selection part 2 Flashcards
Biases in Person Perception
- Stereotyping:
making prejudiced assumptions based on the applicants personal or
demographic background - Self-Delusion:
Believe that you are unaffected / immune by / from subjective bias - Cognitive Overload- Cognitive overload is a state of mental exhaustion caused by excessive demands on working memory
Ability and Aptitude Tests
Ability refers to an individual’s current skill level or competency in a specific area, while aptitude is the potential to learn and excel in a particular field.
Abilities are developed through practice and experience, whereas aptitude is innate and can be assessed through tests.
o Very unpopular in the 1960’s & 70’s as thought to racially discriminate.
o Later found to be single best predictor of job performance.
o But predictive validity may be more important for some jobs than others
(e.g. train driver v. professor).
o Problems:
* Not popular with candidates.
* No test can be fair for everyone.
- https://survey-sondage.forces.gc.ca/snapwebhost/s.asp?k=157981363310
Personality Tests( hint 16 and EPI)
- In selection and assessment, focuses mainly on trait approach
- Traits: shape reactions to events & predict future behavior.
- Derived from self-reports on inventories like:
Cattell’s 16PF
Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) assesses 16 primary personality traits, such as warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, and dominance. It provides a comprehensive view of an individual’s personality for personal, clinical, or occupational analysis.
Eysenck’s EPI
Eysenck’s Personality Inventory (EPI) evaluates two major personality dimensions: Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism-Stability, along with a Lie Scale to measure social desirability in responses. It’s used to identify broad personality types.
- Different instruments use different trait factors, but they all tend to measure the “big five”
The BIG FIVE
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Extraversion
Openness to Experience
Neuroticism
New Insights
Critical Evaluation
Concerns with Personality Tests
- Questions are often transparent - people may be faking to create a good impression.
- Employers want to know what the perfect personality is for different jobs.
- More of a trait is not always better. (e.g., obsessively conscientious person)
what type of Work Sample Tests are there…depends on the work!( hint Pychomotor)
o Types of work samples include
- Psychomotor e.g., typing, sewing, using tools
- Individual decision-making e.g., in-tray exercises
- Mock situations: presentations, assessing clients
- Group discussions/decisions
o Positives: Applicants rate them positively and have good validity (.54)
- e.g., Call centre – Heathrow
o Problems: Can be expensive since they must be customised to job role.
Assessment Centers (AC)
▪ An assessment “process”, not a place
▪ Involves assessment of many candidates
▪ Includes a variety of assessments such as interviews, group
exercises, psychometric tests
▪ Candidates assessed by trained individuals (assessors)
▪ Usually.. over 1 to 3 days
what type of References( hint writing)
All employers think important - little research to support their
effectiveness.
▪ May be more about the referees writing ability.
▪ May include open-ended or structured format.
▪ Rating scales may increase effectiveness and structured rating forms may
yield better results.
▪ Phone reference – people have less time to select words carefully.
▪ Suggested questions: How long did the person work for you? Why did the
person leave? Would you re-employ this person?
References….other problems
- Candidates not want current employer to know
- While past behaviour often predicts future behaviour, not always
true. Person-job or person-organisation fit may not have been right. - Troubles with boss/co-workers - the result of bullying ?
▪ When there are far more reliable and valid means of predicting
future performance, the continued use of references is surprising.
▪ Most often used as final verification once job is offered.
Unfair Discrimination
▪ Arvey & Faley (1988):
“Unfair discrimination or bias is said to exist when members of a minority group have lower probabilities of being selected for a job when in fact, if they had been selected, their probabilities of performing successfully in a job would have been equal to those of nonminority group members.”
▪ Direct - treat another less favorably because they belong to a different group.
▪ Indirect - unintentional disqualification of candidates from one demographic
group in the course of a selection process.
Fairness
Of Outcome:
o Ensure reliability and validity of the process
o To reward fairly
o To discriminate - Need to adequately define the criterion
Of Process:
o Reduce the systematic biases
o Biases could be in:
▪ poor test administration
▪ inappropriate test choice
▪ test-takers’ expectations
