In today’s competitive job market with all of legal precautions employers must take in the workplace environment, employers face the challenge of attracting, developing, and retaining the best employees. Personnel assessment is a systematic approach to gathering information about individuals (Dessler, 2011). This information is used to make employment or career-related decisions about applicants and employees. Any test or procedure used to measure an individual’s employment or career-related qualifications and interests can be considered a personnel assessment tool (Dessler, 2011). There are many types of personnel assessment tools that help in the selection process. Human resource management and employers can use various tests as well as the personal interview to aid in the employee selection process.
There are hundreds of employment tests on the market that measure attributes, from basic personality traits to specific skills, such as analytical, clerical and technical. General cognitive ability tests measure a job candidate's aptitude or ability to quickly acquire job knowledge and perform job-related tasks (Barclay, 1999). Personality and reasoning tests measure an individual's pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving (Barclay, 1999). Pre-employment integrity tests are designed to identify job applicants who are likely to steal, lie, or use illicit substances (Barclay, 1999). Management tests predict a person's potential for success as a supervisor, middle manager, or senior executive. (Barclay, 1999). All of these tests serve a elemental purpose for the employer in the selection process.
There are many tests that are used by employers in an effort to ensure they are adding a beneficial addition to their employment forc...
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...fair assessment, it is essential to take all assessment tools into consideration. No candidate should be hired solely based on the outcome of one of these tools but a combination of all of them.
Works Cited
Barclay, J.M. (1999). Employee selection: a question of structure. Personnel Review, 28(1/2), 134-151. Retrieved February 24, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 116360242).
Dessler, G. (2011). A Framework for Human Resource Management (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Lombardi, L. (2009, October). A LEARNING LESSON IN SELECTING TALENT. LIMRA's MarketFacts Quarterly, 28(4), 69,77. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1949104241).
McGinn, D. (2003, June). Testing, testing: The new job search. Newsweek, 141(23), 36-37. Retrieved February 25, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 349514251).
Zarowin, S. (1991). How to find and keep the best employees in the 21st century. Journal of
Fisher, C., Schoefeldt, L., & Shaw, J. (1996). Human resource management. (3rd Edition). Princeton, NJ: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Psychometric tests are designed to measure the behaviour and capabilities of possible employees. (Johnstone, 1999). Employers use these tests to measure two categories of qualities – abilities and preferences (Mills et al., 2011). This provides an effective and efficient way to find the best person for the job as the tests give a true reflection of how an employee can accomplish assigned tasks which is completed online as part of the application process. Candidates are chosen for the next stage of the process through the comparison of test scores, resulting in grouping candidates into high and low percentile scoring categories. The higher scoring applicants are put through to the next stage of the process. This would normally be the interviewing stage. The lower scoring applicants would be declined. This is a form of filtering down the number of applicants, although the interviewing stage provides the means of selection, despite its subjectivity the tests provide a uniform set of standards to measure one candidate objectivity against another (Johnstone,1999). Psychometric
One way employers can act ethically toward job candidates is to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of personal information and/or the results of any assessments taken as part of a selection process. This may be accomplished by maintaining test security and making reasonable efforts to establish the integrity of test materials or other assessment resources in an ethical manner (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010). In addition to privacy and confidentiality, employers should obtain consent from applicants prior to administering any form of test or assessment (APA, 2010; Cascio & Aguinis, 2011). Although employers may have certain policies or guidelines outlining acceptable behavior toward job candidates, these would be in addition to ethical guidelines of HRM or I/O practitioners who may take part in the process. Any type of assessment that is involved with the selection process should directly
The assessment would be able to identify gaps in employees’ mental abilities. The assessment can have the employee to respond to questions that are required for the position. Depending on the job requirement, it could ask the employee questions providing proper change for a cashier position. If the employees do not have the ability to assignments that are required of them, then the organization needs to either train the employees on hire employees that display the required knowledge skills.
Risavy, S., & Hausdorf, P. (2011). Personality Testing in Personnel Selection: Adverse Impact and Differential Hiring Rates. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 19(1), 18-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2389.2011.00531.x
...anization. As outlined in the “Devanna Model” the interrelatedness of all principal HR functions would lead to costly consequences for the organization as a result of unsuitable applicants being chosen in the selection process. While the selection processes available are versatile, including models of probation, random selection, quota systems, empirical considerations, and intrinsic attributes, there are several common characteristics which are often found when selecting external candidates. These include CV screening, preliminary interviews, application forms, psychometric testing, assessment centres, interviews, medical examinations, and reference checks. As each method has a different validity and reliability, it is important for HR officers to use a combination of different methods to objectively predict and select the most suitable workers for the job.
According to Noe (2012), most experts believe that the most important human resource decision makes by a leader is deciding who to hire. Manager manages the recruitment and selection process. Selection for the best candidates for the job is very important in an organization because the performance always depends on employees, the recruiting and hiring is costly and the legal obligations like mismanaging hiring has legal consequence. The main aim of employee selection is to achieve person-job fit which is identifying the knowledge, skills, abilities (KSAs), and competencies that are central to performing the job. The objective of effective selection is to decide who the right people are, by matching individual characteristics (ability, experience, and training) with the requirements of the job (DeRue & Morgeson, 2007; Kristof -Brown, Zimmermam, & Johnson, 2005). The manager will do checking for reliability and validity of the interviewer. In PPNJ Poultry & Meat Sdn Bhd, the people who manage the recruitment and selection process is the Human Resource department or staffs.
An organization provides every necessary method before making a decision to select an applicant for the job position. A company will provide pre-employment testing/screening in order to select the most qualified candidate. An organization may decide to change its company into more diverse organization and therefore, it is their right to select more diverse employees. However, it is also important not to focus on a person’s gender, age or race. It is still very important to choose an employee who is the perfect fit for the job position. This is necessary because issues may arise and these issues may also impact the organization’s future.
Psychological tests play a vital role in the modern era’s recruitment and selection processes. These techniques are majorly used by employers to find the most efficient and most capable candidates. They test the persons’ attributes, knowledge, personality, intelligence, and how well they work with other people on solid grounds. These tests are used by over 80% of the Fortune 500 companies in the USA and by over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK (Unknown, 2013). The tests are not only used to find new recruits, but could also be applied to employees already working in a facility in order to maintain stability. Another important reason for using these techniques is to minimize the costs, because hiring and training new employees can be and expensive process, but by finding the right candidates with the help of these tests, those expenses could be reduced. (Hose, 2014)
Managers should understand an employee’s skills and abilities to make an informed decision on whether or not to hire him. Once hired a manager uses skills and abilities as a deciding factor for an employee’s job placement within the corporation. Secondly, an evaluation of an employee’s personality helps the manager in his leadership approach of that employee. Thirdly, perceptions can be the deciding factor of whether or not a candidate is hired and or promoted. An individual perceived as fitting in may be hired to negotiate business deals. Particularly, if the individual shows a favorable attitude through actions and deeds and has strong values and behaves
The difference between the skills needed on the job and those possessed by applicants, sometimes called the skills-gap, is of real concern to human resource managers and business owners looking to hire competent employees. While employers would prefer to hire people who are trained and ready to go to work, they are usually willing to provide the specialized, job-specific training necessary for those lacking such skills. Most discussions concerning today’s workforce eventually turn to employability skills. Finding workers who have employability or job readiness skills that help them fit into and remain in the work environment is a real problem. Employers need reliable, responsible workers who can solve problems and who have the social skills and attitudes to work together with other workers. Creativity, once a trait avoided by employers who used a cookie cutter system, is now prized among employers who are trying to create the empowered, high performance workforce needed for competitiveness in today’s marketplace. Employees with these skills are in demand and are considered valuable human capital assets to companies. Employability skills are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to get along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical decisions. Unlike occupational or technical skills, employability skills are generic in nature rather than job specific and cut across all industry types, business sizes, and job levels from the entry-level worker to the senior-most position. Job readiness skills are clustered into three skill sets: basic academic skills, higher order thinking skills, personal qualities Employability skills are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job. Employability skills are teachable skills.
...nt process. The results revealed that interviews are important in employee selection with face validity a major advantage. Personality trait tests are also highly effective in assessing candidates, in the selection and hiring of employees. Assessments also prove employee commitment to job satisfaction, career and occupation are highly sought after in any organisation. This review also revealed that although ability in any job is important, personality traits is another major factor in assessing an effective predictor toward job performance. Resources and assessments are significant, but the most important factor is manpower and how it is utilised. Therefore future research is important in gauging further appropriate assessment tasks in attaining the right employee fit for each organisation, as companies aim to establish certain objectives they need to achieve.
Work place performance and personality fit are essential to the employees and their success within the organization. It would be beneficial for employers to implement personality testing into their hiring process to better place employees into positions they are more apt for. Robbins states, “though self-report measures work well when well-constructed, one weakness is that the respondent might lie or practice impression management to create a good impression” (2009). I have experienced when a potential employee will basically tell you what you hear and not perform as well in the job as you expected. When I interview potential employees I often ask questions about their personality to better understand how they handle problems and assess their
This test can also be used for companies trying to employee new hires through what is called employment assessment test for the right candidates, which entails that a person requiring the job have high skills with dealing with people and being able to deal within a stressful environment. It has also bee...