Assessment in organizations
Hoorcollege 1: introduction & fundamental assumptions
Individual assessment = the use of measurements (tests/assessments) used in an
organizational/work context to make employee-related decisions.
Measurements
- Interview
- Personality questionnaire
- Intelligence test
- Assessment centre
3 goal assessment, op 3
niveaus analyse
Diagnose – individual/team/organization
Development/change –
individual/team/organization
Exploration –
individual/team/organization
What is the use of assessment?
Individual/group differences in performance matter:
- People have skills and other qualities
- These skills relate to job performance
- Relative differences in these skills are fairly stable, so people with higher skill levels will
perform better
- People differ in work performance and different jobs require different skills
- Required skills can be measured
What should an assessment meet?
(1) Reliable, valid, practical to use, produce the right results, fair to all concerned and not lead to
discriminatory effects for groups of people
(2) Fairness/non-discriminatory recruitment and promotion process
Basic model of individual assessment
Constructs = mental constructs, which derive
scientific value from shared meaning for
different people. Building blocks for theories
Measurements = observable, represent
constructs, used to test theories.
,Predictor constructs: intelligence, personality, motivation
Criterion constructs: overall performance, citizenship behavior, absence
Predictor measures: selection interview, intelligence tests, graphology
Criterion measure: manager rating/evaluation, personnel data, BARS, 360 ratings
Predictive hypothesis =
(a) Tussen 2 measures
(predictor&criterion)
(empirical, observed in
research)
(b) Tussen 2 constructen
(predictor&criterion)
(Theoretical, based on
theory)
Construct validity = tussen
construct en measure (measure naar construct, of andersom).
Hoorcollege 2: Job analysis & performance
Job analysis = the process of studying and collecting information related to the activities and
responsibilities of a specific job. Defines the jobs/roles within the organization and the behaviors
required to perform these jobs. A study of what a jobholder does in the job, what must be known in
order to do it, what resources (facilitate goal achievement) are used in doing it and perhaps the
conditions (demands of the job) under which it is done. The starting point for all HRM activities:
recruitment & selection, training & development, performance appraisal, evaluation &
compensation. Now the tasks in a job are more diverse. Is it still relevant?
- Job analysis in the basic model of individual assessment: on the right (criterion measure and
construct). This is where you start is, you want to identify the indicators of the job.
- Performance indicators for an HR-manager at an international company: speaking the
language (successful communication with stakeholder), evaluations by employee that were
successfully helped by the manager, initiatives started up by the manager.
- Why would you do a job analysis? optimize results, getting good results from good
candidates, recruit the right candidates, also more fair (fairness) (justice to select), this will
iterative employment, justify, save work & energy.
Organizational Need Analysis
- An important management task
- Method: conference/dialogue, root-cause-analysis (core issue), SWOT
(strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats), survey
- Outcomes: problem definition, actions and alternatives, costs and benefits, commitment,
practical opportunities.
- Organization-group-person (level of analysis)
, - This analysis links assessment to strategy goals of the organization
- If the organization need analysis shows that assessment can fix the problem, then to the next
step: job analysis criterion. Otherwise, it is not as necessary.
Approaches of job analysis
(1) Method
a) Inductive. You collect data and then make the idea of reality. Structured information
gathering. Analysis and interpretation of data. Data – outcome. Leads to very specific
information.
b) Deductive. Based on theories. Theory-based, best-fit model. Often standard survey linked
to model. Prior knowledge and theory about jobs and performance, what are generic
elements of ‘all’ jobs.
(2) Orientation
a) Task oriented. Duties & tasks of job. Job description/describe work. A classification
system of jobs is needed; how do jobs compare.
b) Worker oriented. Good performance indicators, behavior focus. Competency list. A
classification system of performance behaviors is needed; how is performance best
described?
1. Task inductive
Interview, ask what is your task
Hierarchical task analysis
2. Worker inductive
Repetory grid
3. Task deductive
Task characteristics approach,
translation of tasks into generic tasks,
comparison between jobs.
4. Worker deductive
Factor analysis of behavioral judgements/items. Cluster analysis
Inductive task-oriented example of hierarchical task analysis
Duty is responsibility, consists of different
tasks to be able to fulfil the duty.
Repertory grid = ask about high performers, low performance. Ask them to tell you HOW they are
different performance. Interview focused on difference in behavior. Divide the groups.
Critical incident = interview for examples of essential behaviors of high or low performance. Give an
example of a situation where it was essential to do x… What did the situation look like and what did
you do.
