Assessing Individuals

Topics of the week:

• foundations of assessment
• traditional assessment procedures
• additional assessment methods
• special topics in assessment
• conceptual issues in staffing
• practical issues in staffing
• Gig
• corporate headhunter
• Articles
• The new-boy network: What do job interviews really tell us?
• Initial evaluations in the interview: Relationships with subsequent interviewer evaluations and employment offers

cognitive ability test- allows individuals to demonstrate what they know, perceive, remember, understand, or can work with mentally; includes problem identification, problem-solving tasks, perceptual skills, the development or evaluation of ideas, and remember what one has learned through general experience or specific training

knowledge test- assesses the extent to which individuals understand course or training materials; also administered for licensing and certification purposes

individual assessment- situation in which only one candidate (or a very few) is assessed on many different attributes

• typical individual assessments include ability tests, personality tests, a personal history statement, and interviews
• process of gathering information about a person in order to classify that individual

Reaction

The process of getting to know who a candidate is involves many facets including assessments and interviews. But how reliable are these methods? It's a complex process and there are many issues to take into consideration while in this portion of filling a position.

Analysis

Since I currently have jobs and have a work history, I have gone through different types of interviews. For my internship this semester, I had a variation of a structured interview.

structured interview- consists of very specific questions asked of each candidate; includes tightly crafted scoring schemes with detailed outlines for the interviewer with respect to assigning ratings or scores based on interview performance

I do not know if it was the exact same interview experience for the other individuals interviewing for the internship. I do, however, know they were standard questions that related to my experience and what I could bring to the position.

When I interviewed to be editor for Tower yearbook, I faced a panel interview. Each panel member had different techniques to which questions they asked. During this interview, I was asked questions similar to those found in a situational interview.

situational interview- asks the interviewee to describe in specific and behavioral detail how he or she would respond to a hypothetical situation

These questions were mostly related to how I would handle potential personnel issues that arose.

For my job in the bakery of the summer, I faced a very informal and unstructured interview.

unstructured interview- includes questions that may vary by candidate and that allow the candidate to answer in any form he or she may prefer

 The interview was short and to the point basically double checking my physical abilities and availability schedule.

These different interviewing methods are unique to each position. I personally feel that each position should have a different type of interview because not all jobs are the same.

Reflection
All of the methods that go into assessing an individual are in-depth and complex. There are many ways to screw things up in an interview process where you could end up hiring a person not suited for the job. It just takes some research to help figure out the best method for each company/position/individual.

Performance

This week's topics:

• performance 
• contextual
• task
• adaptive
• expert
• productivity
• motivation
• knowledge 
• declarative
• procedural
• tacit
• job analysis
• properties 
• practices
• Gig
• video game developer
• hockey player
• Article
• personality matters in human performance

performance- actions or behavior relevant to the organization's goals; measured in terms of each individual's proficiency

• contextual performance- activities not typically part of job descriptions but support the organizational, social, and psychological environment in which the job tasks are performed; similar to organizational citizenship behavior
• predicted by personality dimensions, particularly conscientiousness
• task performance- proficiency with which job incumbents perform activities that are formally recognized as a part of their job
• determined by cognitive ability
• adaptive performance- performance component that includes flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances
• expert performance- performance exhibited by those who have been practicing for at least 10 years and have spent an average of four hours per day in deliberate practice

motivation- concerns the conditions responsible for variations in intensity, quality, and direction of ongoing behavior; choices which individuals make

Reaction

There are a lot of factors that contribute to performance in the workplace. The equation from Campbell's Three Direct Determinants of Job Performance:

declarative knowledge  +  procedural knowledge and skill  x  motivation  =  performance

helps to explain all of the variables that play into this concept. Without one variable, it is not possible to perform well in the workplace. This is so logical yet I had never thought about what goes into performance. The article we read this week added personality traits to the mix.

Analysis
One of the basic methods of job analysis model is:

critical incident technique- approach in which subject matter experts are asked to identify critical aspects of behavior or performance in a particular job that led to success or failure

Applying this to one of my jobs on campus- teaching assistant in media design classes. The critical aspects of this position are an in-depth understanding of design techniques/software and being able to convey that information clearly to students ranging from beginners to intermediate designers. Without being able to have that knowledge and ability to communicate clearly, I would fail at my job....epically fail.

Reflection
There is so much that goes into the performance aspect of a job! Then there is the entire process of job analysis --> identification of KSAOs (knowledge, skills, ability, other characteristics) --> development of assessment devices. These processes require the person developing them to be very knowledgeable about the subject matter and I/O theory.

Individual Differences

This week we discussed:

• individual differences
• mental and physical abilities
• personality and interests
• additional proposed individual difference
• Articles
• Applying Attachment Theory to Explain Individual behavior in organizations
• The role of mindfulness in predicting individual performance
• Gig
• train engineer
• casino surveillance officer

individual differences- dissimilarities between or among two or more people

mental ability- capacity to reason, plan, and solve problems; cognitive abilities


personality- an individual's behavioral and emotional characteristics generally found to be stable over time and in a variety of circumstances; an individual's habitual way of responding

Reaction
Every person is different- thus their abilities, differences and personality vary significantly. These things need to be considered when an individual seeks employment. Why? Taking my personal differences and abilities into consideration, I know I would not make it as a lumberjack. I do not have near the physical abilities to fit that job well. It only makes sense that organizations take these things into consideration when filling positions.

Analysis
Over the summer, I worked in a bakery. One of the girls I worked with was of short like myself. She was one of a handful of bakers. After talking to her, she expressed how much she wanted to get into a different department like catering. I asked her if there were any specific reasons. She told me about how hard it is on her to be at work at 4 a.m. and work until whenever they were done. Sometimes she would start later and work until 7 or 8 p.m. Not only that, she struggled with lifting 50 lb. bags of flour, sugar, etc. multiple times a day. She said that when she got home, all she wanted to do was rest because work was such a physical demand. This is a strong example of her physical abilities not matching up with her job.

physical abilities- bodily powers such as muscular strength, flexibility, and stamina

stamina- physical ability to supply muscles with oxygenated blood through the cardiovascular strength or aerobic strength or endurance

Reflection

There are more things that we covered aside from physical abilities. However, this was one example I could relate to based on my most recent experiences. I think as long as an employer does not cross a line into discrimination, they should require certain physical abilities for specific jobs.

Justice and Fairness

This week we discussed:

• fairness
• practical implications of justice perceptions
• legal issues in staffing decisions
• articles
• reactions to others' mistakes
• fairness, feelings, and ethical decision-making: consequences of violating community standards of fairness
• Gig- poultry factory worker, film development assistant

fairness- an individual's view of the extent to which he/she is being treated fairly will influence the emotional and behavioral reactions of that individual to the work environment

justice- a framework for looking at an organization

trust- belief in how a person or an organization will act on some future occasion/behavior

Reaction

Most of the information we reviewed in these two chapters, articles, and Gig made sense. If someone feels they are being treated unfairly, they usually retaliate. All of these materials back up that statement. One thing I did learn was that people usually feel less angry, happier, etc. after their unethical behavior stemming from a perceived injustice. 

Analysis

There are many instances in which as an employee (or potential employee) I have felt wronged. One particular instance was when I applied for an internship with an Omaha-based advertising firm. They responded to my application immediately, requesting samples be sent. I sent my samples and then never heard from them again...until I e-mailed the contact person inquiring about what decision had been made. His response via e-mail? "You didn't make the cut." In class we discussed that if you are going to reject an individual, you need to give them a decent reason for that decision. When you don't, that's when people perceive the situation to be unfair. This ties in with a concept we learned:

interactional justice- concerned with the sensitivity with which employees are treated and linked to the extend that an employee feels respected by the employer; the extend to which people are treated with respect, politeness, and dignity

• addresses the explanations provided to people about procedures and outcomes

Reflection

It is important for employers to do their best to be fair during their decision-making processes. This means they have to have a just corporate policy and stick to that when making decisions. When dealing with people in terms of hiring and firing- be understanding and warm. 

Relevance of I/O Psychology

This week we discussed:

• science
• research
• data analysis
• interpretation
• practitioner-researcher divide in I/O Psychology
• Gig- research biologist, journalist

science- approach that involves the understanding, prediction, and control of some phenomenon of interest

• I/O psychology is very much a science!
• logical and systematic
• data-based
• a communal process
• DISprove, NOT prove theories, hypotheses
• places great value on objectivity
• holds responsibilities 

Reaction

In so many other classes we have gone over the whole science schpeel. It has become so ingrained in the brains of science and psychology majors alike. When we see this part of the syllabus we groan. However, this application of the science foundation was different. I was motivated and interested in reading the research article about how important it is that practitioners stay grounded in research/researchers producing meaningful research to be applied in the field. I had not thought about the divide I/O researchers and practitioners face. Applying this understanding to finding similarities and differences between the research biologist and journalist was very helpful.

Analysis

I have a work situation that reaffirms people who are not actual practitioners in a specific field (even though they think they are) are not knowledgeable about current research. This makes it difficult when they feel they are properly practicing within the field and have no idea (or perhaps interest) in how to do things properly. It is frustrating when you work underneath such individuals and know more about the field. These types of individuals are focused on "producing results" and less worried about taking necessary steps to get proper results. I would classify them as focusing on:

popularist science- where practical relevance is high but methodological rigor is low

Where the actions they take are relevant to the end goal, they are not concerned with following a "rigorous" and researched based path. We work to obtain data, specifically:

 quantitative data- numerical, data which can be measured

and

descriptive research- observe, measure, and record behavior- hopefully without intruding; can describe but not explain

 and

correlational design- looks at the relationship between variables

It's hard to get much more descriptive about applying these terms to the position I am referring to without completely giving it away.

Reflection
I realized how very important it is for practitioners to remain rooted in research and for researchers to remain relevant to what is going on in the field.

I/O Psychology 9.9.10

This week, we were introduced to:

• the importance of I/O psychology
• how the course can help us
• foundations of organizations
• social dynamics of organizations
• research in I/O psychology from 1963-2007
• I/O vs. OBM
• Gig- Kinko's co-worker, Ford auto worker

I/O psychology- the application of psychological principles, theory, and research to the work setting (Landy & Conte)

• factors that influence work behavior
• family responsibilities
• cultural influences
• employment-related legislation
• non-work events
• personality
• the effect of work on non-work behaviors

Reaction

Wow! What a vast and increasing field. There is so much that goes into understand the work setting. All of this is so applicable to every worker in the world. I find it really interesting to break down all of the aspects that affect how we are when we work.I'm eager to delve deeper into the topic matter, especially human factors engineering.

I felt the in-class activities motivated me to prepare for class. However, I sit next to two people who rarely or fully prepare for class and they look at me and a girl next to me (who also prepared) to catch them up. I wish there were some way to force people to be prepared for class. To me, I thought the in-class activities were enough but apparently people can bluff their way through it. It's unfair to those who do prepare. The issue is I don't know how to more strongly enforce preparation.

Analysis

It is possible to apply the Hawthore Effect to what I experienced this past summer. I truly felt more motivated to perform better at the tasks I did when my manager was there and showed me he actually paid attention to what I was doing for the department.The rest of the time, it seemed he was not interested in what his employees were doing.

Hawthore Effect- change in behavior that results from researchers paying attention to the workers; ushered in HR movement; based on Hawthorne studies performed at the Hawthorne, Illinois Western Electric plant.

I worked in a bakery this summer. It could be said that we were a large batch/mass production type of organization, as presented by Woodward.Since we were making a variety of product each day. We did have an assembly line of sorts while in production mode during the mornings. The bakers would bake the products, roll them out to cool, once things were cool enough to package, we packaged the products, labeled the products, stocked the products on the shelves.

large batch/mass production- produces large numbers of discrete units, often using assembly line operations

I needed to make money over the summer, thus it was a "job" for me. Some of the people I worked with considered it a career. They knew they wanted to work for the company "family" so they slowly worked their way up to managerial positions. I never met anyone in my department who considered working in the bakery their calling. I know some of the managers and the store director were on the "calling" track. They truly felt part of the family.

job- necessary to make money

career- opportunity to advance

calling- fulfills social need 

Reflection
I was not aware of the history of I/O psychology. It was interesting to learn about the progression from the beginning to today. Most of everything we covered was a learning experience. I have come into contact with some small portions via Psychology in Films. (thinking back to Desk Set) The one area I am still confused about is I/O vs. OBM. I think I understand that OBM is a bit more in-depth than the broad scope of I/O. But, I think everyone had a different understand of that article. It might be something worthwhile to touch on again next week.

Perspective

Often times, we find ourselves drowning in our own issues. Sometimes this can be so overwhelming we do not realize that there are people around us who are sinking faster than you are. That is the time we need to open our eyes and take a look at our issues from a different perspective. The new perspective can help us realize we are not as sunk as we feel and we can start to swim towards the surface. Don't hang out waiting for someone to come rescue you- they might be drowning too.