Employee Testing and

Selection
Ashwini Naik
Background
• Achieving person - job fit
• Matching knowledge, Skills, abilities and other competencies (KSACs)
required for performing the job with applicants KSACs

• Employees with right skills perform better

• Recruitment and hiring is costly
• Avoid negligent hiring (lawfully): hiring workers with questionable
backgrounds without proper safeguards
Process of Selection

Preliminary Receiving Screening

Preliminary tests
Interview Applications Applications

Medical Checking Employment

Final Selection
examination references interview
Importance of selecting right employees

The Importance of Selecting

the Right Employees

Organizational Costs of recruiting Legal obligations

performance and hiring and liability
Avoiding negligent hiring
• Carefully scrutinize information on employment applications.
• Get written authorization for reference checks, and check references.
• Save all records and information about the applicant.
• Reject applicants for false statements or conviction records for
offenses related to the job.
• Balance the applicant’s privacy rights with others “need to know.”
• Take immediate disciplinary action if problems arise.
Basics of testing and selection
• Test: A sample of persons behaviour
• Characteristics:
1. Reliability : Describes the consistency of scores obtained by the same
person when retested with the identical or alternate forms of the same test.
Eg: Testing traits like introversion
2. Validity: Indicates whether a test is measuring what it is supposed to be
measuring
Eg: Measuring mechanical skills of the candidate
Checking Reliability =
correlation
coefficient

values of
1. Test retest =
the x-
variable in a
sample

mean of
= the values
of the x-
variable

values of
the y-
= variable in a
sample

mean of
the values
= of the y-
variable
2. Parallel forms reliability
• Parallel forms reliability example
• A set of questions is formulated to measure understanding of the topic recruitment in a
group of respondents. The questions are randomly divided into two sets test A and test
B, and the respondents are randomly divided made two groups.
• Both groups take both tests: group A takes test A first, and group B takes test B first. The
results of the two tests are compared, and the results are almost identical, indicating
high parallel forms reliability.

• Improving parallel forms reliability

3. Internal Consistency
• Internal consistency assesses the correlation between multiple items in a test that
are intended to measure the same construct.

• A group of respondents are presented with a set of statements designed to measure

optimistic and pessimistic mindsets. They must rate their agreement with each
statement on a scale from 1 to 5. If the test is internally consistent, an optimistic
respondent should generally give high ratings to optimism indicators and low ratings
to pessimism indicators. The correlation is calculated between all the responses to
the “optimistic” statements, but the correlation is very weak. This suggests that the
test has low internal consistency.

4. Inter-rater reliability
Ways to demonstrate test validity
1. Criterion validity: Showing scored on the test (predictor)are related
to job performance (criterion)
Those who do well in test perform well in job and vice versa
2. Content Validity: Contains fair sample of tasks and skills actually
needed for the job in question
3. Construct Validity: Demonstrates that a selection procedure
measures a construct (abstract idea such as moral or honesty) and
that the construct is important for the job performance
Steps in Test Validation
1. Analyse the Job
• Based on description and specification, specifying human traits and skills
required for job performance (predictors)
• Eg: Dexterity and patience for assemblers job
• Important to define success on the job (quantity, quality and personnel such
as absenteeism and length of service)
2. Chose the test
• Based on experience, previous research and best guesses
• Test battery: measure an array of possibility predictirs by chosing several tests
and combining them
Steps in Test Validation
3. Administer the test
• Current employees
• Compare with current performance

• Disadvantage
• Current employees do not represent new applicant
• Already trained
• Predictive Validation: Administer the test before hiring but hire only using
existing selection techniques and not result of new test. Compare the test
score after the hired employees have performed the job and validate
Steps in Test Validation
4. Relate scores and criteria
• Determine statistical relationship between
• Scores on the test
• Job analysis
• Expectancy chart: graph showing relationship between test scores and job performance
for a group of people
5. Cross Validate and revalidate
• Repeat steps 3 and 4
• Avoid bais
Difference
Reliability Validity

Extent to which outcomes are Extent to which the instruments

consistent when the experiment is that are used measure exactly
repeated more than once what you wan to measure
Expectancy chart
Test Takers individual rights
• Under the APA’s standard for educational and psychological tests, test
takers have the following rights:
• The right to the confidentiality of test results.
• The right to informed consent regarding use of these results.
• The right to expect that only people qualified to interpret the scores will have
access to them, or that sufficient information will accompany the scores to ensure
their appropriate interpretation.
• The right to expect the test is fair to all. For example, no one taking it should have
prior access to the questions or answers.
• Examine code developed by professional organisation of clinical
psychologists
Sample test
Types of tests
1. Cognitive ability tests
I. Intelligence test: Test Range of abilities (Memory, vocabulary, verbal
fluency, numerical ability)
II. Specific cognitive abilities: Specific mental abilities
2. Motor and physical abilities tests
i. Finger dexterity, Reaction time
ii. Lifting weight, Strength etc
3. Measuring personality and interests: measuring basic aspects of
applicants personality
Extraversion

Conscientiousne Emotional
ss stability/
Neuroticism

Openness to
Agreeableness
experience
• Extraversion: tendency to be sociable, assertive, active, and to
experience positive effects such as energy and zeal.
• Neuroticism: tendency to exhibit poor emotional adjustment and
experience negative effects such as anxiety, insecurity and hostility
• Openness to experience: disposition to be imaginative,
nonconforming, unconventional and autonomous
• Agreeableness: tendency to be trusting, complaint, caring and gentle
• Conscientiousness: Achievement and dependability
• Projective personality test: Ambiguous stimuli and person reacts
• Self reported:
• Applicants fill out the forms and results are analysed
• Interest Inventory: Personal development and selection device that
compares the person’s current interest with those of others now in
various occupations to determine preferred occupation for individuals
• Achievement test: School tests (Job knowledge in various areas)
• Talent Analytics: Using statistical techniques to let employers search
through their employee data to identify pattern and corelation that
shows what type of people or process succeed or fail
• Machine learning: self educating software
• Artificial intelligence
Work Samples and Simulation
Measuring Work Performance
Directly

Management Video-based Miniature job

Work
assessment situational training and
samples
centers testing evaluation
• Work sampling technique: Measuring performance on actual basic job
tasks
• Situational Judgement :
• Management Assessment centres:
• In basket
• Leaderless group discussion
• Management games
• Presentation
• Testing
• Interview
• Situational test (Video based)
• Miniature Job training: Training candidates to perform several of the
job’s tasks and then evaluating the candidates performance
Background Investigations and
Other Selection Methods
• Investigations and Checks
• Reference checks
• Background employment checks
• Criminal records
• Driving records
• Credit checks
• Why?
• To verify factual information provided by applicants
• To uncover damaging information
 Former Employers

Current Supervisors

Sources of Commercial Credit

Information Rating Companies

Written References

Social Networking Sites

Limitations on Background Investigations
and Reference Checks
Legal Issues:
Defamation

Background
Employer Legal Issues:
Guidelines
Investigations and Privacy
Reference Checks

Supervisor
Reluctance
Making Background Checks More Useful
1. Include on the application form a statement for applicants to sign
explicitly authorizing a background check.
2. Use telephone references if possible.
3. Be persistent in obtaining information.
4. Compare the submitted résumé to the application.
5. Ask open-ended questions to elicit more information from
references.
6. Use references provided by the candidate as a source for other
references.
Using Preemployment Information Services
Acquisition and Use of Background Information

1 Disclosure to and authorization by applicant/employee

2 Employer certification to reporting agency

3 Providing copies of reports to applicant/employee

4 Notice of adverse action to applicant/employee

Polygraph and honesty testing
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
• Antitheft Screening Procedure:
• Ask blunt questions.
• Listen, rather than talk.
• Do a credit check.
• Check all employment and personal references.
• Use paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests.
• Test for drugs.
• Establish a search-and-seizure policy and conduct searches.
Physical Examinations
• Reasons for preemployment medical examinations:
• To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of the position.
• To discover any medical limitations to be taken into account in placing the
applicant.
• To establish a record and baseline of the applicant’s health for future
insurance or compensation claims.
• To reduce absenteeism and accidents.
• To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to the applicant.
Substance Abuse Screening
• Types of Screening
• Before formal hiring
• After a work accident
• Presence of obvious behavioral symptoms
• Random or periodic basis
• Transfer or promotion to new position
• Types of Tests
• Urinalysis
• Hair follicle testing
Improving Productivity Through HRIS:
Using Automated Applicant Tracking
and Screening Systems (ATS)

Benefits of Applicant
Tracking Systems

“Knock out” Allows employers to

Can match “hidden
applicants who extensively test and
talents” of applicants
do not meet job screen applicants
to available openings
requirements online
Thank you