Workplace sociology

Gerhard Ohrband4th lecturePersonnel selection

Course structurePart I Introduction1 Managing diversity2 History and context for Work and Organizational

Psychology / Roles and methods

Part IIPeople at work3 Job Analysis and Design4 Personal Selection5 Training

Course structure6 Performance Appraisal: Assessing and Developing

Performance and Potential7 Job Stress and Health

Part IIIHuman Factors at Work8 Workload and Task Allocation9 Work Environments and Performance10 The Design and Use of Work Technology11 Safety at Work

Course structurePart IVOrganizations at Work12 Leadership and management13 Work motivation14 Teams: the challenges of cooperative work15 Organizational development (OD)

Part II – People at work4 Personnel SelectionOutline:1. Perspectives on Selection2. The Recruitment and Selection

Process3. Selection Methods and Techniques4. The Candidate’s Perspective in

Selection

1. Perspectives on SelectionThe predictivist perspective:

Person-job fit: finding the most suitable candidate

Steps:1 Job analysis2 Person specification3 Selection criteria4 Recruitment5 Selection

The constructivist perspective Candidates make decisions as well! Not only person-job fit but also 1 person-organization fit: the fit between

the applicant’s values and organizational culture 2 person-team fit: the fit between the

applicant’s skills and attitudes and the climate of the immediate working group

Several encounters between the individual and the organization

Socialization impact of selection (Anderson and Ostroff)

Key elements of the predictivist and constructivist perspectives

Predictivist perspective Constructivist perspective

Primary focus Organizational decision-making between numerous candidatesPerson-job fit

Organizational and candidate decision-makingConstruction of a viable psychological contractPerson-team and person-organization fit

Selection methods As “predictors” of future job performanceAs information elicitation techniques applied to applicantsAs representative samples of behaviour

As social episodesAs opportunities for information exchangeAs “socialization impact” upon applicants

Selection decision Unilateral, made by the organization upon candidatesPrimarily as (numeric) predictors of subsequent job performance

Socially negotiated, each party deciding whether to continue the relationship furtherThe “tip of the iceberg” concealing complex social and psychological processes “under the surface”

2. The Recruitment and Selection Process Contingency tables:

Valid positivesValid negativesFalse positivesFalse negatives

Correlation coefficients Criterion-related validity Meta-analysis and validity generalizations The criterion problem, criterion

contamination

Types of validity and reliability Predictive validity Concurrent validity Construct validity Content validity Face validity Parallel reliability Test-retest reliability Split-half reliability

3. Selection Methods and Techniques Application forms Curriculae vitae Biodata Realistic job previews (RJP) Interviews Cognitive ability tests Personality tests Integrity and honesty tests Work samples Assessment centres (AC s) References Self-assessment (SA) Alternative methods: graphology and astrology

Predictive accuracy Assessment centres promotion (0.68) Work samples (0.54) Ability tests (0.54) Structured interviews (0.44) Integrity tests (0.41) Assessment centres performance (0.41) Personality tests (0.38) Biodata (0.37) Unstructured interviews (0.33) Self-assessment (0.15) Reference (0.13) Astrology (0.0) Graphology (0.0)

Popularity Interviews (97%) References (96%) Application forms (93%) Ability tests (91%) Personality tests (80%) Assessment centres (59%) Biodata (19%) Graphology (2.6%) Astrology (0.0%)

4. The Candidate’s Perspective in Selection Two-sided decision-making process Social issues

Organizational justice theory (Gilliland): 1 procedural justice: fairness in the selection process 2 distributive justice: fairness of the hiring decision

Important issues to increase perceived justice: - job-relatedness and consistency of selection methods - opportunity to perform - honesty in communication with the candidate - interpersonal effectiveness of the recruiter - two-way communication - propriety of questions

Selection justiceCandidate’s reactions to selection justice can have an

impact on (Gilliland, 1993):

1 applicant’s reactions and decisions during hiring. E.g.: the extent to which the candidate will recommend the organization to others; the decision on whether to pursue discrimination cases2 attitude’s attitudes and behaviours after hiring. E.g.: organizational commitment, intention to leave and work performance3 applicant’s self-perceptions. E.g.: self-esteem and self-efficacy

Literature Personnel Psychology (1990) 43 (2), Special issue.

Project A, The US Army Selection and Classification Project.

Borman, W., Hanson, M. and Hedge, J. (1997). Personnel selection. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 299-337.

Gilliland, S.W. (1993). The perceived fairness of selection systems: an organizational justice perspective. Academy of Management Review, 18, 696-734.

Gilliland, S.W. (1994). Effects of procedural and distributive justice on reactions to a selection system. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79, 691-701.