Lecture 11: Selection Decision Making

Question 1

Exam =

Answer 1

• 50 Halberstadt (Lectures + Labs)
• 50 this section (Lectures, Labs, Readings)
• Questions include issues NOT covered in lecture
• Learning objectives covers most things in exam
• Sample questions on BB

Question 2

Methods of Selection:

Answer 2

• Selecting right personnel is critical
• CV and interviews most widely used tools
• Tests (personality and cognitive) used by minority
• Graphology (handwriting) and astrology used in France

Question 3

Researching the Interview (Reliability, Validity, Results)

Answer 3

• Reliability:
  When you repeat the measurement, the results are the same (agreement between different interviewers on ratings of sam candidate)
• Validity:
  Correlation between interview ratings and job performance
• Results:
  Reliability: Generally Low
  Validity: Ranges from 0 - 0.25

Question 4

Findings about interviews:

Answer 4

• Decisions reached early (

Question 5

Interviews amount to beauty contests in which narcissists have a heavy advantage…people get hired on the basis of their charm not….competence or talent

Answer 5

• (End quote)

Question 6

SURPRISE - most bosses are incompetent:

Answer 6

• Up to 10% of workplaces have psychopaths
• Appear charming, outgoing, a good time
• BUT not really

Question 7

Management Incompetence

Answer 7

• Majority (60 - 75%) are incompetent
• All selected by interview performance
• Job performance affected by ‘dark side’

Question 8

Key Issues of Selection Decision Making:

Answer 8

• Can the interview be improved?

- What does the widespread use of an invalid tool tell us about human judgement

Question 9

Adding structure to Interviews:

Answer 9

- Unstructured Interview:
Convo covers various topics
- Structured Interview:
Predetermined sequence of questions like a test
Much greater reliability
Validity increases: .3 - .5

Question 10

Why do we still have interviews?

Answer 10

• Practical (esp for small firms)
• Efficient (allows organisation to ‘sell’ itself’)
• Attractive (employers like to pick people they like) –> discriminatory though
• Illusory (employers are subject to the “illusion of validity”)

Question 11

The Illusion of Validity:

Answer 11

• Step 1: You believe in your ability to pick successful applicants
• Step 2: You select the ‘best’ interviewees
• Step 3: You only see the performance of those you hire
• Step 4: Your ‘experience’ serves to reinforce your initial belief and you grow more confident

Question 12

Key Concepts in Selection:

Answer 12

• Selection Ratio:
  Proportion of applicants who are selected e.g. if only 1% selected, selection ratio is low (Google, Air NZ)
• Job Performance:
  Commonly measured by supervisor ratings

Question 13

Elliptical Medium-Ratio:

Low Ratio:

Answer 13

• Job performance vs. Test Score

- Proportion of hits increases for Low Ratio (google)

Question 14

Treatment Effect in Normal Selection:

Answer 14

• Selected people naturally become better because of better resources, alongside really good people, amplification etc.

Question 15

Famous Rejects:

Answer 15

• J.K Rowling
• The Beatles
• Fawlty Towers
• Flight of the Conchords

Question 16

Learning from experience:

Answer 16

• Normally, half the information required to form a valid judgement is missing
• The information that is available can be distorted by:
  Selection Ratios + Treatment Effects

Question 17

Conclusion:

Answer 17

• “One does not necessarily learn from experience, and indeed, often cannot”
• Illusory Feedback

Question 18

Final Words:

Answer 18

• “….and that’s what science is…rechecking by new direct experience, and not necessarily trusting authority figured, and experiences from the past. That is my best definition”