Case Study for Human Resource Management Class - Essay Example

Bob Santa was a personnel specialist for a federal government agency. He attended a conference regarding the Uniform Guidelines on Employee SelectionProcess. With the additional knowledge, Bob decided to evaluate and ratify the agency's current staffing practices which were made a decade ago. He believed that it was necessary to make amendments to keep up with the changing times and to comply with the laws and regulations on equal employment and discrimination. Bob utilized the two-step multiple- hurdle process.

Later, he worked with Rob Burden and they were able to identify the aspects of the job selection process that needs to be addressed. Ron was also able to proceed with job analysis through the critical-incident technique. They were able to organize a meeting with the supervisors and they were able to come up with a conclusion. The only remaining aspect that they will need to look into is the type of validation strategy they needed to use. They had contradicting views on this matter. Ron believed that it criterion-related validity was appropriate while Bob chose content validity over the other.

When Bob finished the evaluation of the agency's current staffing practices, the results tabulated in Exhibit 2.14 clearly depicts the presence of adverse impact. Using the 80 percent rule and by taking two sample groups which has the highest and lowest positions namely Blacks and Women, it shows that there is only 58.04% or less than four fifths of the selection come from the group with lowest rate. Even if there is no adverse impact evident on the selection process, it is still essential to evaluate other components for adverse impact.

Aside from the standard 80 percent rule used to determine adverse selection, there are other issues that should be looked into the hiring process including the examination, interview and training of employees. The processes involved in the selection of employees must not result to a "chilling effect" and the applicants achieving the minimum job requirements or qualifications should be considered for employment. With Bob and Rob's issues as to which type of validation to use, I would prefer criterion-related validity over content validity.

The latter deals with the assessment of an individual using tests and examination which are similar to what the skills the job requires. To cite, an applicant for secretarial position undergoes typing test to ensure that his or her typing skills match the requirements of the position he or she is applying for. Criterion-related validation has to do with the correlation between scale or instrument measurement items and known and accepted standard measures or criteria. There is predictive value with this type of validity since there is a correlation being established between the performance on the employment examination and interviews and future performance on the job.

Predictive validity may be considered a variant on criterion validity, where the criterion is in the future. For instance, comparing if people who score high on an employment test also rate high on subsequent job performance evaluations would be an effort to establish predictive validity because the criterion is not concurrent with the test.Ron used the critical incident technique for job analysis. The procedure applied by Ron was essential because he would want to establish a relationship between the interview process and the skills that are required with a particular job.

With this, they will be able to predict the future performance of the individual on the actual job once he is hired.If criterion-related validity will be used in the assessment of the job selection process, the criterion to be used should be success on the job performance instead of success in training. To justify this choice, training provides the new hire with the skills and knowledge that is required of the job and with this stage the trainee is expected to learn and understand these skills and knowledge to equip him for the actual job.

There is a learning curve as employer call it. The application of the skills and knowledge is done when he is already on the job. The performance of the individual exhibits the successful correlation between the results of his application examination and interviews.REFERENCES:APA, & NCME. (1999) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Hoel, P. (1971). Introduction to mathematical statistics . NY: Wiley, 1971.