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Chapter 6: Employee Testing and Selection 6-7
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter Section Summaries:
6-1: Careful, employee selection is important for several reasons.
6-2: Whether you are administering tests or making decisions based on test results,
managers need to understand several basic testing concepts.
6-3: Whether they are administered via paper and pencil, by computer, or online, we
discussed several main types of tests.
6-4: With work samples and simulations, you present examinees with situations
representative of the jobs for which they are applying.
6-5: Testing is only part of an employer’s selection process; you also want to conduct
background investigations and other selection procedures.
Discussion Questions:
6-1: What is the difference between reliability and validity?
Reliability is the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with an
identical test or with an equivalent form of a test. It is a measure of internal consistency of
6-2: Explain why you think a certified psychologist who is specially trained in test
construction should (or should not) be used by a small business that needs an
employment test.
Due to the complex and legal nature of this activity, the use of a certified psychologist may
be the only safe way to accomplish your objectives. However, because of the high salary and
limited job scope of such a specialist, a definite drawback to this approach is the cost
6-3: Why is it important to conduct pre-employment background investigations? How
would you do so?
This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student
6-4: Explain how you would get around the problem of former employers being
unwilling to give bad references on their former employees.
Chapter 6: Employee Testing and Selection 6-8
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Since many companies have strict policies regarding the release of information about former
employees, it may not be possible to get information at all, good or bad. However,
conducting a thorough reference audit by contacting at least two superiors, two peers, and
two subordinates will help increase the chance that you will find someone who is willing to
6-5: How can employers protect themselves against negligent hiring claims?
This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student
Individual and Group Activities:
6-6: Write a short essay discussing some of the ethical and legal considerations in testing.
State and federal laws, EEOC guidelines, and court decisions require that you must be able to
prove that your tests are related to success or failure on the job and that they are not having
an adverse impact on members of a protected group. Test takers also have certain basic
6-7: Working individually or in groups, develop a list of specific selection techniques that
you would suggest your dean use to hire the next HR professor at your school.
Explain why you chose each selection technique.
The students should use the selection information presented in the chapter to list their
6-8: Working individually or in groups, contact the publisher of a standardized test such
as the Scholastic Assessment Test and obtain from it written information regarding
the test's validity and reliability. Present a short report in class discussing what the
test is supposed to measure and the degree to which you think the test does what it is
supposed to do, based on the reported validity and reliability scores.
Encourage students to contact different sources; it may be a good idea to have a sign-up
sheet so that no two students or groups are gathering information about the same
6-9: Appendix A and B at the end of this book list the knowledge someone studying for
the HRCI (Appendix A) or SHRM (Appendix B) certification exam needs to have in
Chapter 6: Employee Testing and Selection 6-9
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management and
Workforce Planning). In groups of several students, do four things: (1) review
Appendix A and/or B; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the
Appendix A and/or B required knowledge lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam
questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the
HRCI exam and/or the SHRM exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from
your team post your team's questions in front of the class, so that students in all
teams can answer the exam questions created by the other teams.
Material included in this chapter that relates to the HRCI certification exam includes
establishing and implementing selection procedures of testing; reference and background
Experiential Exercise: A Test for a Reservation Clerk
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice in developing a test to measure one
specific ablilty for the job of airline reservation clerk for a major airline. If time permits, you’ll
be able to combine your tests into a test battery.
Required Understanding: Your airline has decided to outsource its reservations jobs to Asia.
You should be fully acquainted with the procedure for developing a personnel test and should
read the following description of an airline reservation clerk’s duties.
How to Set up the Exercise/Instructions: Divide the class into teams of five or six students.
The ideal candidate will need to have a number of skills and abilities to perform this job well.
Your job is to select a single ability and to develop a test to measure that ability. Use only the
materials available in the room, please. The test should permit quantitative scoring and may be
an individual or group test.
Please go to your assigned groups. As per our discussion of test development in this chapter,
each group should make a list of the skills relevant to success in the airline reservation clerk’s
job. Each group should then rate the importance of these abilities on a five-point scale. Then,
develop a test to measure what you believe to be the top ranked ability. If time permits, the group
should combine the various tests from each group into a test battery. If possible, leave time for a
group of students to take the test battery.
Application Case: The Insider
6-10: We want you to design an employee selection program for hiring stock traders. We
already know what to look for as far as technical skills are concerned – accounting
courses, economics, and so on. What we want is a program for screening out potential
bad apples. To that end, please let us know the following: What screening tests would
Chapter 6: Employee Testing and Selection 6-10
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
you suggest, and why? What questions should we add to our application form?
Specifically, how should we check candidates’ backgrounds, and what questions
should we ask previous employers and references?
Students should consider the different types of selection measures that they believe
6-11: What else (if anything) would you suggest?
Students should list (and be ready to defend) the specifications that they believe would be
Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company – Honesty Testing
6-12: What would be the advantages and disadvantages to Jennifer’s company of routinely
administering honesty tests to all its employees?
Polygraph testing raises a large number of legal and moral issues, issues Carter Cleaning
would best avoid. Using some of the available “paper-and-pencil” honesty tests may be a
6-13: Specifically, what other screening techniques could the company use to screen out
theft-prone and turnover-prone employees, and how exactly could these be used?
More thorough background checks are a recommended technique to eliminate potential
thieves. Some firms choose to contract this out to a private security agency, although cost
may be an issue to Jennifer. However, the company can quickly check to see if savings
6-14: How should her company terminate employees caught stealing, and what kind of
procedure should be set up for handling reference calls about these employees when
they go to other companies looking for jobs?
Terminating employees for theft should include the involvement of the proper authorities
and should only be done when there is absolute proof of the theft and who committed it.
Such an action will also send a message to other employees that you will not tolerate theft
Chapter 6: Employee Testing and Selection 6-11
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Hotel Paris: Improving Performance at the Hotel Paris – The New Employee
Testing Program
6-15: Provide a detailed example of a security guard work sample test.
Students should begin by discussing the types of tasks a security guard is responsible for.
6-16: Provide a detailed example of two possible personality test items you would suggest
they use, and why you would suggest using them.
Student answers will vary.
6-17: Based on what you read here in this Dessler Human Resource Management Chapter, what
other tests would you suggest to Lisa, and why would you suggest them?
Because front desk employees usually handle credit cards and make cash transactions,
6-18: How would you suggest Lisa try to confirm that it is indeed the testing and not some
other change that accounts for the improved performance?
Students’ answers will vary.
My Management Lab
Students can find the following assisted-graded writing questions at mymanagementlab.com.
Answers to these questions are graded against rubrics in the MyLab.
6-19: Explain how you would go about validating a test. How can this information be useful to
a manager?
6-20: Explain how digital and social media have changed the employee selection process, and
the advice you would give an employer about avoiding problems using such tools for
selection.
Key Terms:
Negligent Hiring – Hiring workers with questionable backgrounds without proper safeguards.
Reliability – The consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with idential
tests or with alternate forms of the same test.
Test Validity – The accuracy with which a test, interview, and so on, measures what it purports
to measure or fulfills the function it was designed to fill.
Chapter 6: Employee Testing and Selection 6-12
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Criterion Validity – A type of validity based on showing that scores on the test (predictors) are
related to job performance (criterion).
Content Validity – A test that is content valid is one that contains a fair sample of the tasks and
skills actually needed for the job in question.
Construct Validity – A test that is construct valid is one that demonstrates that a selection
procedure measures a construct and that construct is important for successful job performance.
Expectancy Chart – A graph showing the relationship between test scores and job performance
for a group of people.
Interest Inventory – A personal development and selection device that compares the person’s
current interests with those of others now in various occupations so as to determine the preferred
occupation for the individual.
Work Samples – Actual job tasks used in testing applicants' performance.
Work Sampling Technique – A testing method based on measuring performance on actual job
tasks.
Management Assessment Center – A situation in which management candidates are asked to
perform realistic tasks in hypothetical situations and are scored on their performance. It usually
also involves testing and the use of management games.
Situational Test – A test that requires examinees to respond to situations representative of the
job.
Video-based Simulation – A situational test in which examinees respond to video simulations
of realistic job situations.
Miniature Job Training and Evaluation – Training candidates to perform several of the job’s
tasks, and then evaluating the candidates’ performance prior to hire.
