Which assessment method has the highest validity, on average?

A- Selection Assessment Methods

Organizations compete fiercely in the war for talent. Many invest an enormous amount of money, time and other resources in advertising and recruiting strategies to attract the best candidates. This is because today’s executives understand that one of the most important resources in organizations—if not the most important—is human resources.

Yet, when it comes to actually assessing which job candidates are likely to perform most effectively and make the most significant contributions, a large number of organizations employ rudimentary and haphazard approaches to selecting their workforces. This represents a serious disconnect for organizations that purport to have a strategic focus on increasing their competitive advantage through effective talent management.

One reason why more organizations do not use rigorous assessments to select employees is that many executives and HR professionals have misconceptions about the value of using them. Some of the most common misconceptions are presented below:

• Myth: Screening applicants for conscientiousness will yield better performers than screening applicants for intelligence.
• Myth: Screening applicants for their values will yield better performers than screening applicants for intelligence.
• Myth: Integrity tests are not useful because job candidates misrepresent themselves on these types of tests.
• Myth: Unstructured interviews with candidates provide better information than structured assessment processes.
• Myth: Using selection tests creates legal problems for organizations rather than helps solve them.

B- What are the most common Assessment Methods:

Here we describe the various assessment methods that can be used by organizations. The figure below shows which assessment methods are predominantly task-based and which are predominantly KSA-based. The methods mentioned below can be used for internal or external selection. Internal selection refers to situations where an organization is hiring or promoting from within, whereas external selection refers to situations where an organization is hiring from the outside. While some assessment methods are used more commonly for external selection (e.g., cognitive ability tests, personality tests, integrity tests).

1- Cognitive Ability Tests:

These assessments measure a variety of mental abilities, such as verbal and mathematical ability, reasoning ability and reading comprehension. Cognitive ability tests have been shown to be extremely useful predictors of job performance and thus are used frequently in making selection decisions for many different types of jobs. Cognitive ability tests typically consist of multiple-choice items that are administered via a paper-and-pencil instrument or computer.

2- Job Knowledge Tests:

These assessments measure critical knowledge areas that are needed to perform a job effectively.  Typically, the knowledge areas measured represent technical knowledge. Job knowledge tests are used in situations where candidates must already possess a body of knowledge prior to job entry. Job knowledge tests are not appropriate to use in situations where candidates will be trained after selection on the knowledge areas they need to have.

3- Personality Tests:

Personality tests that assess traits relevant to job performance have been shown to be effective predictors of subsequent job performance. The personality factors that are assessed most frequently in work situations include conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience and emotional stability.

4- Biographical Data:

Biographical data (biodata) inventories, which ask job candidates questions covering their background, personal characteristics or interests, have been shown to be effective predictors of job performance. The idea is that the best predictor of future performance is past performance.

5- Integrity Tests:

Integrity tests measure attitudes and experiences that are related to an individual’s honesty, trustworthiness and dependability.

6- Structured Interviews:

The interview is the most common selection device used in organizations. Structured interviews consist of a specific set of questions that are designed to assess critical KSAs that are required for a job. Structured interview questions can be developed to assess almost any KSA, but they are used most frequently to assess softer skills such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, leadership, planning, organizing and adaptability, among others. An important characteristic of an effective structured interview is that it provides standardized rating criteria to help interviewers judge the quality and effectiveness of the responses provided by the interviewee.

7- Physical Fitness Tests:

Physical fitness tests are used in some selection situations. These tests require candidates to perform general physical activities to assess one’s overall fitness, strength, endurance or other physical capabilities necessary to perform the job.

8- Situational Judgment Tests:

Situational judgment tests provide job candidates with situations that they would encounter on the job and viable options for handling the presented situations. Depending on how the test is designed, candidates are asked to select the most effective or most and least effective ways of handling the situation from the response options provided.

9- Work Sample Tests:

Work sample tests consist of tasks or work activities that mirror the tasks that employees are required to perform on the job. Work sample tests can be designed to measure almost any job task but are typically designed to measure technically-oriented tasks, such as operating equipment, repairing and troubleshooting equipment, organizing and planning work, and so forth.

10- Assessment Centers:

An assessment center is a type of work sample test that is typically focused on assessing higher-level managerial and supervisory competencies. Candidates are asked to complete a series of exercises that simulate actual situations, problems and tasks that they would face on the job for which they are being considered, and they are asked to handle these as if they were in the real situation. In this sense, assessment centers are similar to the work sample tests described previously. It should be noted that assessment centers are not only used for selection purposes, but can also be used to provide comprehensive development feedback to participants.

11- Physical Ability Tests:

Physical ability tests are used regularly to select workers for physically demanding jobs, such as police officers and firefighters. These tests are similar to work sample tests in that they typically require candidates to perform a series of actual job tasks to determine whether or not they can perform the physical requirements of a job. Physical ability tests are often scored on a pass/fail basis.

C- Criteria for Selecting and Evaluating Assessment Methods

Properly identifying and implementing formal assessment methods to select employees is one of the more complex areas for HR professionals to learn about and understand. This is because understanding selection testing requires knowledge of statistics, measurement issues and legal issues relevant to testing. Accordingly, here we provide guidelines and criteria to help HR professionals make informed decisions about what assessment methods to implement in their organizations. The table below lists the assessment methods discussed previously and shows their standing on four important criteria:

1.   Validity: the extent to which the assessment method is useful for predicting subsequent job performance.

2.   Adverse impact: the extent to which protected group members (e.g.: minorities, females and individuals over 40) score lower on the assessment than majority group members.

3.   Cost: both to develop and to administer the assessment.

4.   Applicant reactions: the extent to which applicants react positively versus negatively to the assessment method.

D- Summary and Conclusions

Selecting and using effective assessment methods can greatly enhance the quality and productivity of an organization’s workforce. Unfortunately, many HR professionals have misconceptions about both the value of formal assessments and the types of assessments that have proven to be most effective. This, coupled with the fact that the area of selection testing is inherently technical and difficult to understand, has led to an underutilization of formal assessments in organizations. By providing a basic understanding of key criteria for evaluating assessment methods and resources for accessing assessment-related information and expertise, it is our hope that this report has taken a positive step toward better equipping organizational decision makers and HR professionals to introduce effective assessment methods into their organizations.