When jobs become available applicants begin flooding organizations with resumes and applications. This is a bad thing for the organizations because they have a wide variety of applicants to choose from to fill their needs. The problem arises when the organizations have to pick the best person for the job. To counter this problem organizations have developed testing and screening procedures to narrow down the applicant pool to the best applicants. These tests are made up of intelligence tests, behavioral interviews, assessment centers, realistic job previews, and personality tests. Some of these different batteries have become controversial due to the adverse impact or poor validity associated with them. I am going to discuss the controversies surrounding the adverse impact and validity of personality tests.
There are three major questions employers try to answer during the applicant selection process: does the applicant have the right skills and experience, are they enthusiastic and motivated, and will their attitude and works style personality fit in. Judging a person’s personality can help answer the motivation and work style questions. In most situations on the job it’s the personality of the workers and managers that affect the success of the company. If the employees don’t work well together or the managers can’t keep the workers motivated the productivity of the company will suffer.
Personality tests are normally given when an applicant first applies for a position. The results of these tests determine whether or not the applicant makes it to the next step of the selection process. The most common personality test used tests the applicant on “the big five” personality traits. These traits consist of openness...
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Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2015) report that the costs related to using personality tests are that the questions may not completely relate to the job. In addition, the questions may come off as very invasive to some test takers (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2015). Furthermore, the costs of utilizing personality tests
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During hiring process, employers use a wide variety of tests to choose the best candidate for their company. These tests are used to eliminate candidates that are not fit for the company. The personality test, is one of many that is being used in many organizations as a means of making a hiring decision. It has been studied that personality traits predict success in job performance. Having the ability to judge the candidate before hiring can ultimately forecast how fit the employee is for the company. Personality tests uses conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotionally stable as predictors of job performance. Companies want to know what type of personality traits you have before hiring, for the reason that bad hiring
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In an attempt to hire the best possible candidate and to properly analyze current workers, many companies have used some form of personality testing to attempt to better know their employees. Personality testing has shown the employers are desperately trying to fit the perfect person into the perfect position. Some of the "master chefs" of the selection business are paying special attention to the new chemistry between personality tests, competency requirements, and behavioural interviewing. But is the process of personality testing truly accurate? This paper will go into detail about how personality testing came to pass and how it evolved into the present environment. Furthermore, it will elaborate two major arguments as to why personality testing is not an adequate method of the hiring process and, mainly, how these arguments are addressed and dealt with by the creators of the tests.
For many years, there has been a debate in which whether or not personality plays a role in the workplace, in areas like “teamwork, job-fit, leadership, service, sales, and overall performance and satisfaction” (Furnham, 2008). Personality is an important topic for human resources and training professionals to consider during the hiring process and employee development. Employees’ personalities might have a significant impact on an organization’s performance. Therefore, I believe using personality tests in a workplace is necessary.
Personality tests have been used since the 1920’s to evaluate prospects for military service. Over the years, many different personality tests have been developed to evaluate the best type of personality traits for the workplace. The information provided for this essay presents one of the flaws that can happen with personality testing. Personality tests are set up to measure specific characteristics that will help the HR manager make a good hiring choice. In my opinion, personality tests should not weigh highly when making a hiring decision.
Matthews, G., Deary, I. J., & Whiteman, M. C. (2009). Personality traits. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Discussed below are different researchers’ arguments and explanations on how personality predicts employee performance. This essay will explore both negative and positive ways in which personality can predict the performance, as well as explaining what personality is. Past research has “demonstrated that personality constructs are associated with work performance, with some traits like conscientiousness predicting success around jobs. Other linked with specific occupations e.g. extraversion correlates with success in sales and management as well as training performance supporting”, (Barrick et al., 2002, 87: p.43).
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Psychometric tests are designed to measure the behaviour and capabilities of possible employees. (Johnstone, 1999). Employers use these tests to measure two categories of qualities – abilities and preferences (Mills et al., 2011). This provides an effective and efficient way to find the best person for the job as the tests give a true reflection of how an employee can accomplish assigned tasks which is completed online as part of the application process. Candidates are chosen for the next stage of the process through the comparison of test scores, resulting in grouping candidates into high and low percentile scoring categories. The higher scoring applicants are put through to the next stage of the process. This would normally be the interviewing stage. The lower scoring applicants would be declined. This is a form of filtering down the number of applicants, although the interviewing stage provides the means of selection, despite its subjectivity the tests provide a uniform set of standards to measure one candidate objectivity against another (Johnstone,1999). Psychometric
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (5th ed). Boston , MA, USA: Pearson
Taking a personality test is something that I have had to do a few times. First in college while going for my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, then while attending Airman Leadership School, and finally for this class. Taking these test all three times I have received similar if not the same results so I think that I have answered these truthful each time. Some of the tests that were required for this class were more in depth, taking 82 sub test
Secondly, an evaluation of an employee’s personality helps the manager in his leadership approach of that employee. Thirdly, perceptions can be the deciding factor of whether or not a candidate is hired or promoted. Managers can use personality characteristics to form work teams or to make determinations on job placements. Chapter 4 Review Questions 1. How are attitudes formed?