Human Resource Management

INSTRUCTOR : HAROON AHMAD

RECOMMENDED READING: DESSLER, GARY
1 1 TH E D I T I O N
 LECTURE OUTLINE

 Importance of selection
 Testing
 Types of tests
 Background investigation and other selection
methods
 Importance of selection

 Performance
 Cost
 Legal obligations
 Non discriminatory selection

 Negligent hiring – hiring workers with questionable

backgrounds without proper investigation
 Testing concepts

 Tests should be
 Reliable
 A reliable test is the one that yields consistent scores when a person
takes two alternative forms of the test or when he or she takes the
same test on two different occasions.
 Valid
 Validity tells us whether the test is measuring what you think it is
supposed to be measuring.
 In employment testing there are two ways to demonstrate a test’s
validity:
 Criterion validity – shows that scores on tests are related to job
performance
 Content validity – contains a fair sample of the content of the job.
 How to validate a test?

 The validation test is usually done by a psychologist.

 The HR department coordinates the effort.
 The supervisor’s role is to describe the job and it’s
requirements.
 The validation process consists of five steps.
 Analyze the job
 Choose the tests
 Administer the tests
 Relate your test scores and criteria
 Cross-validity and reliability
 Rights of the test takers?

 If you were taking a test, what types of rights would

you expect??
 The confidentiality of the results
 The right to informed consent regarding the use of
these results
 The right to expect that only people qualified to
interpret the scores will have access to them
 The right to expect that the test is fair to all
 Types of tests

 Some broad categories of tests can be:

 Test of cognitive (mental) abilities

 Tests of physical abilities

 Measuring personality and interests

 Achievement tests
 Tests of cognitive abilities

 Intelligence tests
 Measures memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, numerical
ability
 These are called IQ tests

 Specific cognitive abilities

 These measure specific mental abilities such as inductive and
deductive reasoning, verbal comprehension, memory and
numerical ability
 These are called aptitude tests
 Tests of physical abilities

 Finger dexterity
 Manual dexterity
 Reaction time
 Static strength such as lifting weights
 Dynamic strength like pull ups
 Body coordination such as jumping rope
 Stamina
 Measuring personality and interests

 Test for intangible factors;

 Attitude

 Motivation

 Temperament

 Stability
 Achievement tests

 These measure what a person has learned.

 Job knowledge

 applicant’s abilities for e.g.. Typing test

 Work samples and stimulations

 Examinees are presented with situations

representative of the job for which they are applying,
and evaluate their responses.
 It measures actual job tasks
 It exhibit better validity than do other tests designed
to predict oerformance
 Other screening tests

 Video based situational testing

 The miniature job training and evaluation approach
 Assessment centers
 Background and other selection methods

 After testing an employer may go through

 Background investigations

 Reference checks

 Pre-employment information services

 Honesty testing

 Graphology

 Substance abuse screening

 Assignment

 Why is it important to conduct pre-employment

background investigations? Outline how you would
go about doing so.