© Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence. Psychology of the Recruitment Process Prue Laurence & Nicole Russom October 2007.

© Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence.

Psychology of the Recruitment Process

Prue Laurence & Nicole Russom

October 2007

March 2007 © Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence.

Today’s agenda

• Introduction – who are we?• Psychology and the recruitment process• The benefits of using psychology in the recruitment

process• What are the limitations of psychology in

recruitment?• Ethical standards• Myths and Criticisms• Feedback and reports

Who are Psylutions?

• Organisational/Business Psychology consultancy.• We specialise in offering assessment and

development services to the corporate sector. • Our team of registered psychologists has expertise

in the design and delivery of behavioural and psychological assessment solutions.

• Psylutions does not publish or market psychometric tests.

• Our mission is simple; to balance our psychological skills and consulting experience to bring our clients flexible assessment solutions.

Psychology of the Recruitment Process: How does it work?

• Psychology can be used across the whole recruitment process.• From developing job descriptions and meaningful selection criteria

and competencies against which to recruit candidates.• To putting together job adverts that attract the ‘right’ candidates• To assessing the candidates to find the best ‘fit’ for the job and

organisation. Assessment methods include:– Behavioural event interviewing (BEI), personality tests,

cognitive ability tests, assessment centres.

– Best predictor of future performance is past performance

– Selection of most appropriate interview panel

• To feedback and coaching once a candidate is on board

March 2007 © Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence.

Psychology of the Recruitment Process: Insight

• Psychology provides insight.

• People are hard to read: Using psychology is about getting to the “below the line” assets such as motives, attitudes, drivers

• Refer to the Iceberg Model

• Psychology can also be used in support of “gut feel,” to inform decisions.

• Assess against key job relevant competencies

© Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence.

Why use Psychology in the Recruitment Process?

• Person job fit and person organisation fit:– Role clarity– Attracting the right

candidates• Research has shown traditional

recruiting practices – resume review, interview and ref check without psychology are not as effective predictors of future job performance as with psychology.

• Must first ask: To assess or not to assess? Is the assessment relevant to the job?

Benefits of using Psychology in the Recruitment Process

• Adds rigour to the entire recruitment process • Provides a methodology for predictors of

performance against key competencies• Assesses Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other

(KSAOs) i.e. “below the line attributes”• Is cost effective – both for volume recruitment and

costs associated with a poor ‘fit’• Managing candidate perceptions

Rigour

• Psychology adds rigour to the entire recruitment process.

• Implementation of a consistent recruit, select, retain process

• Enables the comparison of “apples with apples”• Ensures job relevant criteria from advertising, to

attracting to selection.• Ensures a fair and objective process eg maintaining

standards across assessment conditions, norm comparisons

• Reliability – the consistency of a test or measure• Validity – does it measure what it proposes to measure?

Predictor of Performance

• Psychology provides a methodology for predictors of performance against key competencies and job relevant criteria

• BEI is based on the premise that past behaviour is a key predictor of future behaviour

• Psychometric tests and assessment centres are a measure of performance and potential

• As psychologists we help inform selection decisions in order to ascertain fit – person-job fit and person-organisation fit.

Assess KSAOs

• Assesses Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other (KSAOs) i.e. “below the line attributes”

• Assesses a wide range of job relevant skills and behaviours – learning & cognitive style preferences, emotional intelligence, personal & leadership style, team skills etc

Cost Effectiveness

• Is cost effective – both for volume recruitment and costs associated with a poor ‘fit’

• High volume recruitment includes graduate selection, call centre staffing etc. Psychology provides a way to screen a large number of candidates effectively against job competencies

• Cost effective decision making – evaluate cost of using psychology to inform decisions vs not using psychology and making a poor selection decision

• Results in candidates being better matched to their job therefore increasing job satisfaction, organisational commitment and loyalty.

• Cost in lost revenue, lower productivity• Reduce turnover, increase in quality applicants

Candidate Perceptions

• Managing candidate perceptions• Perception of the commitment of the organisation

to invest in an employee’s selection and development

• “War for Talent” – great value in investing in the development of “high potentials” or “talent.”

• Likely to result in greater loyalty from employee to organisation, they are more likely to remain with that employer.

• Russom (2007)

March 2007 © Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence.

Limitations of Psychology in the Recruitment Process

• Psychology is not an exact science.• Psychology relies on a candidate’s self report and

this can result in test “faking” vs perceptions of “failed the psych test”

• What do we do when test results are contrary to client decisions?

• Measures work related behaviours only, we do not use clinical tools

• Risks are when there is the ineffective or inappropriate application of psychology egmaking decisions solely on test results.• Psychology is just one (important) pieceof the puzzle.

Ethical standards

• Psychologists are bound by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Code of Ethics.

• Standardised selection criteria, assessment procedures to ensure a fair process.

• Informed consent• Permission to release results• Feedback on results to candidates

March 2007 © Copyright 2007 Psylutions Pty Ltd. Commercial in Confidence.

Myths and Criticisms…

• There are a number of myths and criticisms to using psychology in the recruitment process:

1. Assessment centres are designed only for the extroverts

2. Candidates who do unsupervised online cognitive testing will cheat

3. Candidates make up answers to BEI questions4. Candidates are treated like guinea pigs5. All psychologists wear white coats andcarry clipboards6. Others??

Feedback and Reports

• Feedback and reporting across the whole recruitment process is vital to ensure consistency.

• Bound by APS Code of Ethics to provide feedback on request to all candidates.

• Feedback on their reports.