MARIAN POWER A QUICK GUIDE TO HUMAN RESOURCE TESTING Marian Power qualified as a psychologist in 1973, and has been registered since 1987. She has worked as an organisational psychologist, equal opportunity manager and human resources manager in federal, state and local government. Her roles encompassed recruitment and selection, conflict resolution and management of grievances. Marian is currently employed as consultant psychologist with the Australian Council for Educational Research providing advice to psychologists and human resource professionals regarding the selection of the most appropriate assessment instruments for their particular purpose. She also provides accreditation training in the use of restricted tests. Marian is an active member for the Australian Psychological Society, the College of Organisational Psychologists, the Australian Association of Psychological Type, the Australian Human Resources Institute and the Australian Association of Careers Counsellors. A QUICK GUIDE TO HUMAN RESOURCE TESTING Can you afford to make the wrong recruitment selection decision? The cost of a wrong selection decision can be up to one-and-a half times the salary of the job, let alone the time taken in the re-hiring process. Studies have shown that appropriate assessment tools enhance the chances of making a good selection and recruitment decision. Testing is also important to the human resources (HR) practitioner in a variety of other contexts, including team building, change management and ongoing organisational needs. A Quick Guide to Human Resource Testing is designed as an introduction, a refresher and a quick reference guide for HR practitioners who use or plan to use assessment instruments in any context. It includes explanations, tips, case studies and suggestions to help you get the most out of your HR testing. 9 ISBN 0-86431-458-2 780864 314581 Quick guide to HR cover.qxd 10/6/04 11:49 AM Page 1 Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page iv MARIAN POWER A QUICK GUIDE TO HUMAN RESOURCE TESTING ACER Press Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page i First published 2004 by ACER Press Australian Council for Educational Research Ltd 19 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124 Copyright © 2004 Marian Power All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers. Edited by Ronél Redman Cover and text design by Mason Design Printed by bpa DIGITAL National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: Power, Marian. A quick guide to human resource testing. ISBN 0 86431 458 2. 1. Employee selection - Australia - Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Employment tests - Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Employees - Recruiting - Australia - Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Employee selection - Law and legislation - Australia. I. Title. 658.3110994 Visit our website: www.acerpress.com.au Acknowledgement In writing this guide, I would like to acknowledge the support I received from my husband, Adrian; and Dominic, Stephen and Caithlin who freed computer time for me and provided encouragement. Ralph Saubern, Test Publisher at ACER Press, offered frequent support and constructive advice. My colleagues in Organisational Psychology and Human Resource Management have shared their experience over twenty-five years, which has been an invaluable addition to my formal learning. Thank you all. Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page ii Contents Introduction 1 Section 1:Test Selection and Administration When to Use Tests 2 Recruitment/Selection Organisational Development Career Planning Types of Tests 4 Ability and Aptitude Tests Achievement Tests Personality Assessments Interest Inventories Types of Test Questions 6 Response Type Content Type Test Formats 8 Questions Answers Score Keys Computerised Testing The Manual Choosing the Most Appropriate Test – the Job 10 Selection Criteria Job Level Choosing the Most Appropriate Test – the Practicalities 12 Time Budget Hand Scoring vs. Computer Scoring Qualifications Test Administration – Best Practice 14 Environment Administrators Getting Started Using Aids The Manual/User’s Guide Collecting Materials Section II:Test Interpretation Statistics 1: The Basics 16 Normal Population Mean Range Standard Deviation Statistics 2: Test Scores 18 Changing a Raw Score to a Standardised Score Percentile Ranks Stens and Stanines T-scores Statistics 3: Reliability, Validity and Measurement Errors 20 Reliability Validity Margins of Error Section III: Reporting and Feedback Reporting Results 22 Report Types Using Reports for Feedback Feedback to Candidates Feedback to Managers Section IV: Ethical and Legal Issues Test Security and Candidates’ Rights 24 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Legislation Discrimination in Testing Direct and Indirect Discrimination Appendix I: Frequently Asked Questions 26 Appendix II: Glossary 28 Appendix III:Tests and Selection Criteria Guide 29 Appendix IV: Annotated List of Tests 30 Ability, Aptitude and Skills Personality Interest Inventories Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page iii Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page iv Introduction An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Those who are put in charge of recruiting and selecting new staff face a decision-making process that needs to be responsible in its implementation and produce a positive outcome. The cost of a wrong selection decision has been estimated to be anywhere between one and a half times and five times the salary of the job in question. Think of the advertising costs, time spent reading through and short-listing applications, interviewing, testing, sourcing referees and notifying unsuccessful candidates, for a start. Then the successful applicant commences but is not working at full capacity for a number of months, with existing staff taking time out to help train the new recruit. After all that effort, what if the person selected turns out to be unsuitable for the position? The recruitment process starts all over again. Therefore, getting the right candidate in the first place is well worth the effort! It is important to investigate the most efficient and effective ways of conducting a selection process to maximise the chances of a positive outcome. Testing is an important part of this process. Studies have shown that the chances of making a good decision in recruiting or selecting staff are enhanced when structured interviews are combined with objective comments from referees as well as appropriately chosen assessment tools. Testing is also important in a variety of other contexts, including team building, change management and other ongoing organisational needs. Good practice and appropriate use of tests are as vital to these areas as they are in the selection and recruitment of staff. This book is designed as an introduction, a refresher and a quick reference guide for human resource practitioners who use, or plan to use, assessment instruments in any context. I hope the explanations, tips, case studies and suggestions help you form a solid base for sound testing practice, and encourage you to read further about how testing can help you provide the best possible human resource services. In the Appendices there is a section on frequently asked questions, a glossary of terms that will clarify any technical jargon, suggestions for which test to use in particular selection contexts, and an annotated list of tests together with icons that indicate appropriate usage areas. Marian Power 1 Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 1 In human resource management, many decisions are made based on information that is gathered and presented – for example, information about strategy planning, leave arrangements, observance of occupational health and safety regulations. When dealing with important decision making regarding people and the workplace, information should be gathered from all possible reliable sources. HR practitioners use testing to collect reliable, objective information in order to optimise the decision- making in a range of situations. Table 1 details some of these situations, which are further discussed below. tests When to use Section I: Test Selection and Administration 2 Table 1: Using Testing in Human Resource Management Recruitment/Selection Organisational Development Career Planning Screening Recruitment Order of merit for ongoing selection Staff development Organisation development Promotion Team building Change management Career choice Career change Redundancy support Succession planning Recruitment/Selection When a large number of applications is received for an advertised vacancy, it is usual to eliminate the first round on the basis of the applicant’s letter and résumé; that is, those candidates who fail to demonstrate that they adequately meet the selection criteria. When there is still an abundance of possible contenders, a screening test may be used. Typically, such a test is of reasonably short duration, may be administered to a large group and assesses a common skill or ability required for the position. The examiner, after consulting the associated test manual, may decide to keep only those candidates who score above a predetermined cut-off score in the recruitment pool. Only these candidates proceed to the next stage. The next stage involves interviewing and more specific testing – often two or more additional tests. If only a small number of applicants applied for the position, they should proceed directly to this stage. Depending on individual preferences of the HR practitioner and the selection committee, testing can occur before the interviews, with only the best Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 2 A Quick Guide to Human Resource Testing 3 performing candidates then being invited to an interview. Alternatively, all candidates can be interviewed and only the best performers tested. The tests used in this phase are chosen because they assess abilities, skills and attitudes that are clearly related to the selection criteria for the job in question. Verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, work style preference, manual dexterity, spatial reasoning, and personality measures are examples of tests that are commonly used. (See page 4 for more detail.) From these test results, organisations that have almost continuous recruitment needs can use candidates’ performance to compile an order of merit for further reference. This allows for candidates who achieve scores above a certain predetermined level to be invited to participate further in the selection process as their position on this ‘ladder’ is reached. Organisational Development When discrepancies are noted between the skills or attitudes of current employees and the requirements of the organisation, a range of testing protocols is available to assist the HR practitioner implement change. These are largely chosen from the same pool of assessments available for initial recruitment purposes, and should relate to specific needs as they arise. For example, if an employer is concerned that staff are experiencing difficulty with new financial reporting requirements, numerical reasoning tests may be given to identify those candidates who would benefit from training to address any gaps in their skills. This process needs careful handling to ensure that employees see it as constructive. In addition to assessing individual performance, personality or work style assessments are often used with great success to identify deficiencies in team performance, instigate more constructive work style interactions and develop appropriate team-building activities. The change management process is often more successfully implemented when the results of assessments can be used to help address staff members’ individual needs, communication styles and attitudes to change. Career Planning There is a range of assessment tools available that will assist in identifying employees’ career interests and help redirect others who are facing redundancy. Many of these tools are the same as those used in initial career guidance for school leavers – interest inventories, measures of values, card sorts, etc. – whereas others specifically consider any blockages that someone may be experiencing in making a career change. Outcomes enable the career counsellor to work more effectively with the client in formulating constructive future plans. Personality inventories are also helpful in this scenario – they identify those aspects of personal style with which an individual is comfortable as well as those that may cause them distress. Exploring career paths that accommodate these preferences is a positive outcome of the process. In the area of succession planning, tests that assess abilities and skills required in jobs at a higher level in the organisation are popular in assisting managers plan for advancement of their staff. Sensitivity is required in the management of this process so that employees see it as constructive. Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 3 Section I: Test Selection and Administration 4 Ability and Aptitude Tests Ability tests involve questions that require complex sets of mental processes and are designed to test a candidate’s natural ability in a particular area. Often ability tests explore relationships between two or more words, numbers or pictures and ask the candidate to extend a pattern or make an assertion based on an understanding of the relationship. Aptitude tests are similar to ability tests, but are designed to give an indication of a candidate’s likely successful future performance on the attribute that is being assessed. In selecting personnel, ability and aptitude tests are widely used as good general indicators of someone’s potential to perform the duties of the job to a satisfactory standard, and to demonstrate an ability to apply knowledge gained in new situations. Non-verbal tests are also often used when selecting staff for positions that demand skills not directly related to formal education outcomes. Example 1 on page 5 is an example from a numerical ability test. Ability and Aptitude Test Types The main kinds of ability and aptitude tests are listed in Table 2 on page 5, along with the common selection criteria relevant to each test type. Achievement Tests Achievement tests are designed to measure what the individual has learned in the past. Many educational tests are designed as achievement tests. Employers can also use achievement tests for promotional activities within their organisation. For example, insurance assessors may have to demonstrate that they have learned risk categories and appropriate application of policy levels before being considered eligible for their next promotion. Example 2 on page 5 is from an educational achievement test. Personality Assessments Personality assessments are designed to provide information about the way a person typically behaves in certain situations, their preferences and personal styles, and how they see themselves and others, but care must be taken in their use. It would be difficult, for example, to argue that only one personality type may successfully fulfil the requirements of a particular job. There may be jobs where particular personality profiles are more or less desirable. An applicant for the police force whose personality profile indicated an aggressive component could be considered highly unsuitable; positions involving ‘cold calling’ in sales often attract extroverted personalities. tests Types of Tests can be classified in a number of ways. One option would be to classify them according to what they are assessing. For example, tests may be assessing optimum performance (as in ability or aptitude tests) or practical knowledge (as in achievement tests). Alternatively, they may be assessing emotional responses to gain a picture of typical response patterns or to identify a person’s preferences, likes and dislikes. The following are some of the major categories of HR tests. Quick guide to HR testing.qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 4 [...]... spatial-visual reasoning Ability to interpret schematic electrical drawings Mechanical reasoning, spatial-visual reasoning Ability to read and follow maps, floor plans and diagrams Mechanical reasoning, spatial-visual reasoning Ability to work both autonomously and collaboratively as part of a team Personality assessment Ability to work effectively under pressure and meet set deadlines Personality assessment... Abstract/non-verbal reasoning APTS – abstract SPM General ability (non-verbal intelligence) General problem-solving skills Conceptual and planning abilities Useful for measuring general ability where language may be a barrier Spatial-visual reasoning APTS – spatial-visual Ability to understand and work with visual representations of the real world, e.g maps, designs, plans Mechanical reasoning ACER Mechanical Reasoning... candidate has already sat a test I want to use? Can I ask candidates if they have sat particular tests before? It is not usual to ask a candidate whether they have previously sat particular tests If the candidate offers this information, it may be possible to use a parallel form (an alternative version of the same test with a similar difficulty level but containing different questions) or an alternative... Feedback to Managers As with giving feedback to candidates, it is important to provide feedback to managers and selection committees in a manner that is readily understood, avoiding overly technical information unless they have a good grasp of test theory What do you do if a candidate challenges the results you report? You can ask if any factor on the day may have affected performance If the test is an... incorrect answers to obtain to score a candidate’s candidate sits at the computer and accesses the test material by using a unique password that has been a raw score, in which case a list of correct answers allotted to that candidate by the potential employer will be provided Sometimes each answer is given a at an earlier stage of the selection process different value and the values need to be added to The... be able to refer you to an appropriate provider in your area 27 Quick guide to HR testing. qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 28 Appendix II Glossary ability a person’s potential to demonstrate a particular skill or perform a certain task abstract relates to concepts, e.g in reasoning tests, no verbal or numerical learning is presupposed (See non-verbal) achievement a person’s performance in a certain field aptitude... aptitude a state that indicates an ability to learn and acquire new skills through training correlation a measure of linear association A correlation of zero between two variables indicates no linear relationship between them at all As the number moves towards plus 1, the positive nature of the association increases If the number is towards minus 1, an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease... and a standard deviation of 10 validity a test’s ability to measure what it is designed to measure verbal relates to an ability or skill that depends on written or spoken language for its representation or solution Quick guide to HR testing. qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 29 Appendix III Tests and selection criteria guide Many selection criteria for jobs relate to a candidate’s particular qualifications and... breaks, where toilets are located, etc Quick guide to HR testing. qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 15 A Quick Guide to Human Resource Testing It is wise to check if everyone can see and hear Personality tests usually have no time limit you Does anyone need reading glasses or need to Administrators are advised to suggest that candidates mark the first option that comes to move to the front of the room because... on-the-job training Factory assembly line or shopfloor roles are in this category Tests at a lower level Numerical reasoning tests are available that address assessment at this level A personality that assess general reading ability, numerical attribute such as the desire to help others is also a checking, and speed and accuracy are most desirable characteristic in customer service relevant here Scenario 1 . 11:49 AM Page 1 Quick guide to HR testing. qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page iv MARIAN POWER A QUICK GUIDE TO HUMAN RESOURCE TESTING ACER Press Quick guide to HR testing. qxd. in such a way as to facilitate simple and immediate hand scoring. Quick guide to HR testing. qxd 1/4/05 10:09 AM Page 8 A Quick Guide to Human Resource Testing 9 Score