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B. Federal Guidelines and Professional Standards
1. Federal Guidelines
The EEOC has published guidelines to be used by employers seeking
compliance with federal statutes in hiring and selection matters:
• The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures.
C. Detecting Unfair Discrimination
Teaching Note: Explain to students that an employee does not initially sue the
company for discrimination, but files a case through the EEOC, and that agency
brings suit against the firm.
1. Disparate Treatment
An individual who is qualified, a member of a protected group, and is
2. Adverse Impact
Adverse impact occurs (disparate impact) when a selection process results
in unfair discrimination against an entire protected group. Statistics are
3. Labor Market Comparisons
Adverse impact can be shown by comparing the representation of a group in
the organization’s workforce to the representation of that group in the
relevant labor market. An employer’s selection practices have adverse
4. The 80% Rule
The 80% rule evaluates adverse impact by comparing the representation of
Teaching Note: Numerical examples here help a lot!!
Teaching Note: Be prepared for the question: But what if the group that fails
really can’t do the job?
D. Defending Discriminatory Practices
Legal justification for discriminatory practices may be based upon any of
several grounds:
• job relatedness.
1. Job Relatedness
Discrimination can be legally justified if the employer can show that it is job–
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2. Business Necessity
A very narrow exception, the employer must show that the selection
Teaching Note: Should employers be allowed to hire people with characteristics
similar to customers in specific locations? What are the arguments for and
against?
3. Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications
A BFOQ is permitted for decisions based on sex, religion, and national
4. Bona Fide Seniority Systems
5. Voluntary AAPs
Even though their status is increasingly uncertain (see Chapter 6) these
programs are defensible against charges of reverse discrimination if they
are:
E. Legal Considerations for Global Selection
U.S. court decisions have affirmed that U.S. employment laws prevail in foreign
VIII. CURRENT ISSUES
When venturing into global markets, properly and successfully selecting employees
for overseas assignments can vastly affect an organization’s strategic success in
CHAPTER 7 Selecting Employees to Fit the Job and the Organization
A. Selecting Expatriates and Host-Country Nationals
Staff international operations with expatriates (parent-country nationals)
B. Selecting Across Cultures
When job applicants come from a culture that is different from that of the
CHAPTER 7 Selecting Employees to Fit the Job and the Organization
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND REFLECTIVE THINKING
1. Explain why P&G considers employee selection to be an important strategic
practice. Then describe the selection methods used by P &G.
2. A frequent diagnosis of an observed performance problem in an organization
is “This person was a selection mistake”. What are the short– and long-term
consequences of so-called selection mistakes? If possible, describe your
own experiences with a selection mistake.
Answers will vary with the experiences of the respondent. Selection mistakes cost
3. Describe how selection practices are related to other HR activities.
Job design and job analysis, performance appraisal, and training and development
are inextricably linked with selection and placement issues. Job analysis helps
4. Given all the weaknesses identified with unstructured interviews, why do
they remain so popular? What can employers do to improve job interviews?
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5. What are the costs and benefits to employers of being responsive to the
applicant’s perspective throughout the selection process? Are the concerns
of applicants who are eventually accepted different from those of applicants
who are eventually rejected? Explain.
Greater honesty, candor, perhaps respect on the applicant’s part who may take the
6. How does the unethical behavior of job applicants affect an organization?
Describe the consequences of unethical job applicants for each member of
the HR Triad.
Answers will vary. For the organization, unethical behavior of applicants can place
7. Some people feel that the government should not be involved in regulating
selection practices. To what extent do you think legal regulations affecting
selection practices hinder or facilitate running an effective company?
CHAPTER 7 Selecting Employees to Fit the Job and the Organization
CASE STUDY: SELECTING PATIENT ESCORTS
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Before changing the selection process for hiring patient escorts, you want to
talk to current escorts to get their views about the problems reported by
patients. The patient escorts will probably not think they are the causes of the
problems. Other than a poor selection process, what are some other possible
reasons for the problems reported by patients?
2. After speaking with patient escorts, you conclude there is some room for
improvement in the selection of people for this job.
a. State THREE criteria that you would use when designing a better selection
process.
b. What validation strategy would you use to design new selection practices for
patient escorts? Why?
c. Review the various types of selection “tests” described in this chapter. Which
type of test do you think could most improve the process for selecting patient
escorts? Why?
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VIDEO CASE STUDY: LA JOLLA SCRIPPS HOSPITAL
Instructors: The following video case can be found on the companion DVD. The video
can be used in class as an introductory activity or a post-lecture activity, as well as an
online assignment for those students using CourseMate.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. If you were a nurse and were applying for a position at this hospital, based
on what you saw in the video, do you think you would be treated in a fair and
honest manner as you go through the application process? Do you think that
having the staff participate along with managers makes the process more or
less fair? Why?
Answers may vary. Probably most students will indicate that overall the process is
2. The Chief Nursing Executive Officer stated that they currently have an ample
supply of nurses, there are people on a waiting list for openings, and it will
be five to seven years before there will be retirements which will create a
significant need for replacements. Therefore, why should La Jolla be
concerned about the selection process?
3. Deborah Bennett indicated that the hospital uses a study by the American
Academy of Nursing that was based on 14 things that successful hospitals
have in common. Since the study was done 25 years ago, would you have
any reservations using it?
4. One of the managers (Melanie) stated that the interviewee’s behavior in the
interview and in the interactions with people while on tour is important to her
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in the selection process. Do you think that the behavior of people when
applying for a job is necessarily representative of how they would be under
normal circumstances? If not, would there still be some benefit in focusing
on behavior?
Answers may vary but it seems reasonable that people would be on the best