I/O PSY

• The job analysis process involves identifying the tasks, duties, responsibilities, and requirements associated with a particular position.
• 1. Describe the two objectives of industrial/organizational psychology.
• 2.Explain the basic principles of scientific management and discuss the applicability of those principles to today’s jobs.
• 3.Describe the Hawthorne studies and explain their results.
• 4.Explain what is involved in organizational downsizing, and the consequences of downsizing.
• 5 .Describe the difference between construct validity and content validity.
• 6.What is a major drawback to predictive validity?
• 7.Describe the purpose of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990.
• 8.What is the 4/5th rule?
• 9.Provide an example of a negative Hawthorne Effect.
• 10.List two ways WWII contributed to the growth of I/O psychology today.
• 11. Describe the difference between protected class and affirmative action.
• 12.List and describe the three ways to measure reliability of an instrument.
• 13.Explain the difference and importance of a measurement’s validity and reliability.
• Steps in the Selection Process

  • Job analysis

  • Worker analysis

  • Determine recruitment method

  • Determine anticipated selection ratio

  • Identify selection techniques

  • Select and classify new employees

  • Evaluate selection methods for:

  • Validity - did we hire the right people?

  • Fair employment practices

  • Evidence of adverse impact
• Realistic Job Preview


  A recruitment technique that acquaints

  prospective employees with positive and

  negative aspects of a job

  • Correlates positively with

  • Job satisfaction

  • Job performance

  • Reduced turnover

  • Also reduces number of applicants initially

  accepting jobs

  • Why might this be a good thing?
• Successful Recruiters


  Personableness more important than status, race

  or gender of recruiter

  • Smiles & nods

  • Eye contact & empathy

  • Thoughtful & warm

  • Competent

  • Stays on topic

  • Provides information about company

  • Solicits information about applicant

  • Answers applicant's questions
• Web-based Recruiting


  Increasingly important for providing job and

  organizational information

  • Advantages

  • Cost-effective means for transmitting lots of

  information

  • Gives impression that organization is sophisticated

  and technologically savvy

  • Allen, Mahto, & Otondo (2007) found that college students are

  more likely to apply if they like the company website

  • Applicants can quickly learn about and apply to

  companies

  • Job offers can be made more quickly
• Recruiting Sources

  Online search services

  • Help-wanted ads

  • Current employee referrals

  • Networking & personal contacts

  • Employment agencies/headhunters

  • Professional associations

  • Job fairs

  • Outplacement agencies

  • Campus interviews
• Gen Y

  More than half the workforce by 2012

  • Need to stay connected through IM, instant

  games and instant media

  • Multitaskers who work best in teams

  • Expect instant recognition and rewards

  • Jobs should be meaningful and challenging

  • Want responsibility ASAP

  • Don't see need to prove selves in low level jobs
• Influences on Job Preferences

  Age and generation

  • Education

  • Level, major and grades

  • Blue-collar vs. White-collar

  • Technical vs. management

  • Economic conditions

  • Strong economy - challenging work

  • Weak economy - pay and security
• Survey Says...

  Opportunities to learn and grow 78%

  • Interesting work 77%

  • Good manager/boss 75%

  • Organization you can be proud to work for 74%

  • Opportunity to advance 73%

  • Promise of stability/job security 70%

  • Creative or fun workplace culture 67%

  • Compatible work group/team 67%

  • Balance between work and personal life 65%

  • Opportunity for accomplishment 64%
• What's Your Ideal Job?

  Challenging, interesting work

  • High salary

  • Job security

  • Stock options

  • Good working hours

  • Good working conditions

  • Compatible co-workers

  • Respect from one's boss

  • Opportunity to learn new skills

  • Fair/loyal supervisor

  • Being asked for your opinion

  • Help with personal problems
• Outsourcing


  Contracting with an outside agency

  to perform "in-house" functions.

  Security, custodial services, R & D,

  HR services can be done by

  specialists who don't have to work

  inside the company.

  Let's one big contractor take care

  training, benefits, selection in an area

  the company may know little about

  (E.g. security).

  Lose the ability to directly manage

  those workers.

  Don't want contractors stealing

  company secrets.
• Alternative Staffing Strategies

  Temporary Help. Including seasonal

  workers, loaners, and contract

  employees.

  Since 1940s, there have been temporary

  agencies that place workers to fill in

  during busy times, cover maternity

  leaves, etc.

  "Kelly Girl."

  In the 1990s, 2 million temps deployed a

  day.

  Companies don't need to recruit and

  screen them, don't need to pay

  benefits, no hard feelings when "laidoff."

  Almost all jobs can be filled this way.

  Most temps looking for FT work, but not

  all.
• Placing New Employees


  Screening information also used to place

  people in the correct job.

  Basic abilities (universals) often will be

  suitable for a variety of entry level jobs.

  Four strategies for placing new people:

  1. Place them in the job with the

  highest priority.

  2. Put them where they are most

  likely to succeed.

  3. Place them where they will

  cultivate their potential.

  4. Place new hires where they want

  to be (and can perform the job).

  Trade b/n company needs and individual

  needs.
• EEOC and ADA Guidelines


  Screen and selection

  criteria must meet EEOC

  and ADA guidelines.

  EEOC for companies with

  more than 50 employees

  or federal contractors.

  ADA for most employees.

  Prevent selecting out of

  candidates based on

  protected status and

  disability.
• Quantitative Approach


  Better yet, figure individuals'

  likely job success from a predetermined

  numerical decision

  rule.

  Also known as a "multiple

  hurtle approach.

  1. Must be able to rank abilities

  and characteristics objectively.

  2. Each hurtle must have a

  validated and clear cut-off score.

  Some use a system where

  those who clear all hurtles

  become candidates and then

  are ranked.
• Selecting Employees


  Once you have recruited and

  screened, it is time to decide who

  gets the job offer.

  Most common way of doing this is

  when a person uses their knowledge,

  skills, experience and values to make

  a decision.

  This is also known as the "Clinical

  Prediction" approach.

  Many people will say there is no

  substitute for a person's

  judgment when making a hiring

  decision.

  This approach is flawed, since so

  many unrelated factors enter the

  equation.
• Tests


  Using tests to screen out applicants

  dates back to World War I.

  Test batteries group together

  aptitude tests, integrity tests, and

  personality tests.

  Assessment Centers often are the

  center piece of these assessments.

  Tests are only as good as those

  who interpret them.

  Tests should be reliable and

  validated.

  Shouldn't discriminate against a

  "protected" group.
• Use of Tests in Organizations.


  Tests and testing has a rich history in

  psychology, and the only thing it

  does not share with other disciplines.

  Testing can be very beneficial to

  organizations and employees.

  Ensures goodness of fit.

  Testing and measurement used to

  screen for superior employees,

  performance appraisal, job

  evaluation, and assessment of job

  training effectiveness.

  Take Psy 271.
• Final word about interviews.

  Structured interviews are better

  than those that are not.

  Candidates in structured

  interviews view them to be fair.

  Same-race effects minimized.

  Situational Interviews increases

  interviewer agreement about

  suitability.

  Both reduce unreliable and biased

  information.

  Some are using computerized

  interviews, relying on an equation

  to screen out people who are

  inappropriate.
• What interviewers like.

  Good grooming and appropriate

  dress.

  Enthusiasm and responsiveness.

  Asking questions about the job.

  Save salary and benefit questions for

  the end.

  Don't convey desperately needing a

  job.

  Don't exaggerate skills or

  accomplishments.

  Know something about the company.

  Don't be shy.
• Sources of Variability in the

  Interview

  Applicants viewed more favorably

  when they use correct grammar,

  speak clearly, are assertive, smile &

  maintain eye contact, use gestures,

  and focus conversation on them.

  Female applicants often given higher

  ratings when wearing "masculine"

  clothes.

  Interviewers in "bad moods" more

  likely to rate candidate as poor.

  Unattractive women often less likely

  to get a job offer than equally

  credentialed attractive women.
• Complexities of Interviews

  Applicant:

  Age, race, sex, physical appearance,

  educational/work background,

  psychological characteristics,

  interviewing skills, verbal and nonverbal

  skills.

  Situation:

  Role of interview, urgency to fill

  position, selection process, interview

  structure.

  Interviewer:

  Age, sex, race, physical appearance,

  psychological characteristics, prior

  knowledge of interviewee,

  experience as an interviewer.
• Interviews


  Oldest and most frequently used source

  of information about a job candidate.

  May be by a panel, or one-on-one.

  Corporations looking to find people who

  meet their "corporate culture" often use a

  series of interviews.

  Pridemark Paramedic Services

  (Arvada, CO).

  Some companies used "structured

  interviews."

  Set questions are asked and then

  coded.

  Reduces some of the individual

  variability.

  Many, complex variables go into job

  interviews.
• Preemployment Inquiries


  Activity of seeking out information

  about a job applicant from an

  independent source.

  Did they really work for a company

  and make the salary they claimed.

  Looking for people to provide a

  reference of the quality of

  employee.

  In 1991, the California Supreme court

  ruled that monetary damages could be

  awarded when a person does not

  provide information about an employee

  who the know to be dangerous.

  Letters of recommendation may not be

  worth it.
• Screening Job Applicants


  Trying to filter out people that

  may not be a good fit for a job.

  The first screening information

  comes from an application

  blank or résumé.

  Careful about unfair questions.

  Marital status or family questions.

  Religious preference.

  Membership to particular groups.

  Family care arrangements
• Sources of Job Applicants

  Some companies continuously

  recruit for entry level jobs.

  Often seen on college campuses.

  Internal recruiting is easier than

  going outside for interested

  people.

  Shows a company's loyalty and

  commitment to its employees.

  May conduct internal job fairs.

  External recruiting: "Help

  Wanted."

  Costs more, get more applicants.

  Also, job fairs, hiring services,

  the Internet.
• Recruiting Job Applicants

  Process of finding and attracting people to

  for jobs.

  Ideally, an organization wants to have a

  large pool of qualified applicants for each

  position.

  More difficult with a low unemployment

  rate.

  Presently, 40% of the labor pool is 45 or

  older.

  Young people for entry level positions

  declining.

  Leisure time and family winning out over

  work.

  Too many unskilled, minimally skilled,

  formerly skilled in the available labor pool.

  This makes recruiting a critical piece of

  hiring.