Theme 5: Industrial Psych

• Competitive advantage lies in the ability of an organisation to attract, recruit and retain people especially in this era of globalisation and increased competition
• Companies need to hire the best people and retain them=competitive advantage
• Characteristics of an effective approach to recruitment and selection


  • Evidence-based
  • Systematic
  • Fair
  • Strategic
• Effective recruitment and selection


  1. Analyse Job Requirements

  2. Recruit applicant pool

  3. Specify selection and performance criteria

  4. Choose assessments

  5. Selection assessment

  6. Select out candidates

  7. Select in using psychometric test

  8. Evaluate selection process
• Aims of effective recruitment and selection


  Find the person out of all the applicants with the greatest potential for success
• Role of I-O Psychologist in Systematic Recruitment


  • Develop, improve and evaluate assessment approaches and methodologies
  • Reduce subjectivity of the process and/or increase validity and reliability
  • Follow a logical, sequential process- sound job analysis
• Strategic Recruitment and Selection


  • Aligned to the organisational context and strategic contribution
  • Aligned to other HR practices
  • Encompass the influence of other organisational factors such as culture and leadership
• Job Analysis


  Systematic process of discovery of the nature of a job by dividing it into smaller units, with the goal of describing what is done on the job or what capabilities are needed to effectively perform the job
• Job Description


  Main tasks and responsibilities of the job
• Job Specification


  Minimum KSAOs required to perform the job
• Use of scientific methods for job analysis is very critical as job analysis is the foundation of the recruitment, therefore need to know exactly what you need for the job to determine the best applicant for the job
• Competency Modelling


  Process of identifying competencies for a specific job or job family, or the construction of an overall framework for an organisation
• Competencies


  Observable workplace behaviours instrumental to the achievement of job and organisational outcomes
• KSAO


  Person characteristics driving the competencies
• Recruitment


  Process of acquiring applicants who are available and qualified to fill positions in the organisation
• Recruitment Objectives


  • Strategy Development
  • Recruitment activities
• Selection


  Process of choosing from a group of applicants the individual best suited for a particular position
• Reliability and Validity are very critical in selection
• Selection Assessment Methods


  • CVs
  • Application Forms
  • Biodata
  • Psychometric Testing
  • Interviews
  • Assessment Centres
• Utility Analyses


  Aims to estimate the financial benefits of improvements in selection procedures
• Cognitive approach to facilitate learning


  1. Emphasising knowledge development

  2. Designing activities to facilitate problem-solving based on the acquired knowledge

  3. Using more difficult problem-solving scenarios to bolster and extend problem-solving strategies
• Training and delivery methods


  • Lectures
  • Demonstrations
  • Role-play
  • In-basket
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Simulations
  • Development centres
  • On-job training
• Kirkpatrick's four-level framework of evaluation criteria


  • Reactions
  • Learning and knowledge
  • Behaviour
  • Results
• Apart from reliability and validity, fairness is another critical consideration in selection in the South African context
• Fairness considerations in selection


  • Bias and prejudice
  • Procedural adverse impact and differential validity
• Learning, training and development serve a strategic function in organisations, linked to strategic performance management and other organisation-wide strategic issues
• Learning Needs Assessment (Training Needs Analysis)

  1. Organisational needs analysis

  2. Job and position analysis

  3. Task, KSAO and competency analysis

  4. Person analysis
• Behavioural and social learning theories to facilitate learning


  • Positive reinforcement
  • Negative reinforcement
  • Punishment
  • Observational learning
• Cognitive approach to facilitate learning


  • Emphasising knowledge development
  • Designing activities to facilitate problem-solving based on acquired knowledge
  • Using more difficult problem-solving scenarios to bolster and extend problem-solving strategies
• Factors determining learning transfer


  • Trainee characteristics
  • Training design
  • Work environment
  • Learning outcomes
  • Motivation to transfer
• HR Interventions


  Activities, practices and/or decisions by HR practitioners in partnership with line managers, that have the potential to make important contributions to improving people management processes and systems in business, resulting in better performance and effectiveness, and more positive psychological and physical health
• Categories of HR Interventions


  • Interventions aimed at the flow of employees in, through and out of the organization (e.g. recruitment and selection)
  • Interventions aimed at the quality/nature of employees in their current positions (e.g. learning, training and development)
• Social learning theory: Albert Bandura