AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

Chapter 1: Introduction to I/O Psychology 1. Define industrial/ organisational psychology. (2 marks) Industrial/ organisational psychology is a branch of psychology that applies the principles of psychology to the workplace. 2. Describe the three major fields of I/O psychology? (12 marks) a) Personnel psychology - determining the competencies needed to perform a job, staffing those with competencies and increasing the competencies through training. -I/O psychologists and HRM professionals who are involved in personnel psychology study and practice in areas such as analysing jobs, recruiting applicants, selecting employees, determining salary levels, training employees and evaluating employee performance. b) Organisational psychology is to create an organisational structure and culture that will motivate employees to perform well, provide them with necessary information to do their jobs and provide work conditions that are safe and result in enjoyable and satisfying work environment. -Psychologists involved in organisational psychology are concerned with the issues of leadership, job satisfaction, employee motivation, organisational communication, conflict management, organisational change and group processes within an organisation. c) Ergonomics -interaction between humans and machines. Psychologists in the area of human factors concentrate on workplace design, human-machine interaction, ergonomics and physical fatigue and stress. These psychologists frequently work with engineers and other technical professionals to make the workplace safer and more efficient. -Sample activities in this subfield have included designing the optimal way to draw a map, designing the most comfortable chair and investigating the optimal work schedule. Chapter 2: Job Analysis and Evaluation 1. Define job analysis Job analysis is a process of gathering, analysing and structuring information about a jobs components, characteristics and requirements. 2. a) Use of JA: Writing job descriptions Job description is a brief, two- to five-page summary of the tasks and job requirements found in the job analysis. Job description and job analysis serve as the basis for many HR activities, including employee selection, evaluation, training and work design. b) Employee selection By identifying the requirements of a task, it is possible to select tests or develop interview questions that will determine whether a particular applicant possesses the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to carry out the requirements of the job. c) d) Training Job analyses yield lists of job activities that can be systematically used to create training programs. Performance appraisal Another important use of job analysis is the construction of a performance appraisal instrument. The use of specific, job-related categories leads to more accurate performance appraisals that are better accepted not only by employees but also by court. e) f) Job evaluation Job analysis information can also be used to determine the worth of a job. Job design - Job analysis information can be used to determine the optimal ways in which a job should be performed, wasted and unsafe motions can be eliminated, resulting in higher productivity and reduced numbers of job injuries.

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AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

g) h)

Compliance with legal guidelines Any employment decision must be based on job-related information. One legally acceptable way to directly determine job relatedness is by job analysis. Organisational analysis During the course of their work, job analysts often become aware of certain problems within an organisation. The discovery of the causes of the problem can then be used to correct problems and help an organisation function better.

3. a) b)

What information should be in a well-written job description? (16 marks) A job description should contain the following eight sections: Job Title An accurate title describes the nature of the job, aids in employee selection and recruitment. The summary need be only a paragraph in length but should briefly describe the nature and purpose of the job and can be used in help-wanted advertisements, internal job postings and company brochures. Brief summary

c)

Work activities The work-activities section lists the tasks and activities in which the worker is involved, should be organised into meaningful categories to make the job description easy to read and understand.

d) e)

Tools and equipment used A section that lists all the tools and equipment used to perform the work activities in the previous section, is used primarily for employee selection and training. Job/ Work context This section should describe the environment in which the employee works and should mention stress level, work schedule, physical demands, levels of responsibility, temperature, number of coworkers, degree of danger and any other relevant information:

f) g) h) 4. a) b)

Work performance The job description should outline standards of performance, contains a relatively brief description of how an employees performance is evaluated and what work standards are expected of them. Compensation information This section of the job description contains information on the salary grade, whether the position is exempt, and the compensable factors used to determine salary. Job competencies/ specifications These are the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) (such as interest, personality, training) that are necessary to be successful on the job. Describe the four methods of collecting job analysis information. (10 marks) Gathering existing information Prior to interviewing incumbents, it is always a good idea to gather information that has already been obtained such as gather existing job descriptions, task inventories and training manuals. This information might come from the organisation which one is working, other organisations, trade publications and journal articles. Interviewing subject-matter experts (SMEs) i) ii) The most common method of conducting a job analysis is to interview SMEs. These are the people who are knowledgeable about the job and include job incumbents, supervisors, customers and upper-level management. Job analysis interviews come in two main forms: Individual interview where job analyst interviews only one employee at a time. Group interview/ SME conferences where many employees are interviewed together. Ammerman technique uses a group of job experts to identify the objectives and standards to be met by the ideal worker.

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AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

c)

Observing incumbents Observations are used in conjunction with other methods such as interviews. During a job analysis observation, the job analyst observes incumbents performing their jobs in the work setting. It lets the job analyst actually see the workers do their jobs and thus obtain information that the workers may have forgotten to mention during the interview. However, once employees know they are being watched, their behaviour change, which keeps an analyst from obtaining an accurate picture of the way jobs are done.

d)

Job participation One can analyse a job by actually performing it. It is effective because it is easier to understand every aspect of a job once the analyst has done it by himself. But problem arises when the analyst has not been trained in performing unfamiliar job.

5.

What does KSAOs stand for? Define each competency of KSAOs. (4 marks) a) b) c) K- knowledge is a body of information needed to perform a task S - Skill is the proficiency to perform a certain task A - Ability is a basic capacity for performing a wide range if different tasks, acquiring a knowledge, or developing a skill O - Other characteristics refer to personal factors such as personality, willingness, interest, and motivation and such tangible factors as licenses, degrees, and years of experience.

Chapter 3: Recruiting and Interviewing 1. a) Explain the methods used to recruit employees. (25 marks) Two methods used to recruitment employees are as follows: Internal recruitment It is a process of promoting someone from within the organisation. To enhance employee morale and motivation, it is often good to give current employees an advantage in obtaining new internal positions. b) External recruitment It is a process of hiring someone from outside the organisation. The followings are some of the common use of external recruitment methods: a. i. ii. Media advertisement Running ads in periodicals such as local newspapers or professional journals is a common method of recruiting employees and is rated one of the most effective avenues of applicant recruitment. Besides that, electronic media such as television and radio are used to advertise job openings as well. It is found that people spend more time on electronic media than newspapers. b. 1. 2. Situation-wanted ads Situation-wanted ads are placed by the applicants rather than by organisations. Situation-wanted ads appear to be a useful way of looking for a job, and given that they do not cost an organisation any money, they may be a beneficial method of recruitment. c. Point of purchase Job vacancy notices are posted in places where customers or current employees are likely to see them such as store windows, bulletin boards, restaurant placemats and the side of bus. It is inexpensive and it is targeted toward people who frequent the business. d. Campus recruiters Many organisations send recruiters to college campuses to answer questions about themselves and interview students for available positions. Campus recruiters behaviour can greatly influence applicants decisions to accept jobs that are offered. e. Due to cost consideration, virtual job fairs has been increasingly use in which students and alumni can use the Web to visit with recruiters from hundreds of organisations at one time. Employment agencies

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AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

Public employment agencies are operated by state and local public agencies, are strictly non-profit and suitable for blue-collar and clerical jobs. Private employment agencies charge either the company or the applicant when the applicant takes the job.

Executive search firms, known as head hunters search for the higher-paying, non-entry-level positions such as executives, engineers and computer programmers. Both private employment agencies and executive search firms tend to exert tremendous pressure on applicants to take jobs that are offered because they make their money on the number of applicants they place

f.

Employee referral programs

Current employees recommend family members and friends for specific job openings, some organisations provide financial incentives to employees who recommend applicants who are hired. Referrals by successful employees are a good recruitment avenue because they provide a realistic job preview, informed applicants will tend to stay longer on the job g. Direct mail

With direct-mail recruitment, an employer typically obtains a mailing list and sends help-wanted letters or brochures to people through the mail. It is useful for positions involving specialised skills such as licensed irrigators. h. Internet There are two forms of internet recruiting: i) ii) With employer-based websites, an organisation lists available job openings and provides information about itself and the minimum requirements needed to apply to particular job. An Internet recruiter is a private company whose website lists job openings for many organisations and resumes for applicants such as Jobstreet.com. The Internet recruiting generates more applications than more traditional recruiting methods, but the relative quality of those applicants is not known. i. Job Fairs

Job fairs are designed to provide information in a personal fashion to as many applicants as possible. Job fairs are typically conducted in three ways: Many types of organisations have booth at the same location. Many organisations in the same field in one location. An organisation holds its own job fair. 2. Discuss three advantages and three disadvantages of structured interview. (12 marks) Advantages:

a) b) c)

Research clearly indicates that interviews high in structure are more valid than unstructured interviews. Research indicates that structured interviews can add predictive power (called incremental validity) to use of cognitive ability tests. From legal standpoint, structured interviews are viewed more favourably by the courts than are unstructured interviews because they based on a job analysis and result in substantially lower adverse impact than do unstructured interviews. Disadvantages: a) b) c) Although structured interviews reduce bias and result in less adverse impact, there may be a potential for discrimination. Interviewers tend to assign higher ratings to applicants at their own race. Applicants perceive structured interviews to be more difficult because they tap job knowledge, job skills, applied mental skills and interpersonal skills. Because the interview is so structured, applicants may feel that they did not have the chance to tell the interviewer everything they wanted to.

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AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

3.

Advantage and disadvantage of unstructured interview

Briefly discuss the problems of unstructured interview. (16 marks) Advantages: a) b) c) a) applicant feel free to tell everything feel free to ask/enquiry present themselves better Poor intuitive ability

Disadvantages: Interviewers often base their hiring decisions on gut reactions, or intuition. However, people are not good at using intuition to predict behaviour. b) Lack of job relatedness Some of the most common questions asked by interviewers are not related to any particular job. In addition to not being job related, many questions asked by interviewers are illegal. c) Primacy effects Research indicates that information presented prior to the interview or early in the interview carries more weight than does information presented later in the interview. Furthermore, interviewers decide about a candidate within the first few minutes of an interview. d) Contrast effects The interview performance of one applicant may affect the interview score given to the next applicant. Thus, it may be advantageous to be interviewed immediately after someone who has done poorly. e) Negative-information bias Negative information apparently weighs more heavily than positive information. Negative-information bias seems to occur only when interviewers are not aware of job requirements. f) Interviewer-interviewee similarity In general, research suggests that an interviewee will receive a higher score if he or she is similar to the interviewer in terms of personality, attitude, gender or race. Interviewer-interviewee similarity also affects the interviews other than those for employment. g) Interviewee appearance Meta-analyses indicate that in general, physically attractive applicants have an advantage in interviews over less attractive applicants. This attractiveness bias occurred for men and women and for traditionally masculine and feminine job types. h) Nonverbal cues The one interview variable that accounts for most for high or low interview scores is nonverbal communication such as smiling, eye contact and head nodding. Research found that smiling and making an appropriate level of eye contact were related to higher interview evaluations. Chapter 4: References and Testing 1. Why do you think that references typically dont predict performance? What are the problems associated with using references to predict performance? References and letters of recommendation often are not great predictors of performance. Explain your answers. (10 marks) References and letters of recommendation often are not great predictors of performance due to the following reasons: a) Leniency

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AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

Most letters of recommendation are positive because applicants choose their own references who could provide them with favourable evaluation and if the applicant is allowed to see the letter, the writer is more inclined to provide a favourable evaluation.

Furthermore, a person can be charged with defamation of character if the content of the reference is both untrue and made with malicious content.

b)

Knowledge of the applicant

The person writing the letter often does not know the applicant well, has not observed all aspects of an applicants behaviour. Those behaviours that a reference writer actually recalls are only a fraction of the behaviours actually occurring in the presence of the person writing the recommendation. c) Low reliability

Low reliability means lack of agreement between two people who provide references for the same person. The low reliability is probably due to the reference writer has not seen all aspects of an applicants behaviour. d) Extraneous factors Extraneous factors will affect the writing and evaluation of letters of recommendations. Research has indicated that the method used by the letter writer is often more important than the actual content. It is found that letters that contained specific examples were rated higher than letters that contained generalities. Letters written by references who like applicants are longer than those written by references who do not. 2. a) What are the factors should be considered when choosing a selection method? Explain your answer. Reliability

The extent to which a score from a test or from an evaluation is consistent and free from error. If a score from a measure is not stable or error free, it is not useful. Test reliability is determined in four ways: test-retest reliability, alternate form reliability, internal reliability and scorer reliability. When deciding whether a test demonstrates sufficient reliability, two factors must be considered: the magnitude of the reliability coefficient and the people who will be taking the test. b) Validity The degree to which inferences from scores on tests or assessments are justified by the evidence. As with reliability, a test must be valid to be useful. However, a reliable test does not mean it is valid. Even though reliability and validity are not the same, they are related. The potential validity of a test is limited by its reliability. Thus, if a test has poor reliability, it cannot have high validity. There are five common strategies to investigate the validity of scores on a test: content, criterion, construct, face and known-group. c) Cost

If two or more tests have similar validities, then cost should be considered. Ideal selection tests are cost-effective in terms of the costs to purchase or create, to administer and to score. Group testing is usually less expensive and more efficient than individual testing, but important information may be lost in group testing. Computer-assisted testing can lower testing costs, decrease feedback time and yield results in which the test-takers can have great confidence.

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AHLA 3413: BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

d)

Potential for legal problems Selection tests will reduce the chance of a legal challenge if: their content appears to be job related (face validity) the questions do not invade an applicants privacy

Dont intentionally discriminate any groups. Adverse impact is minimised. Adverse impact is an employment practice that results in members of protected class being negatively affected at a higher rate than members of the majority class.

Chapter 5: Evaluating Employee Performance 1. Discuss the FIVE purposes/ reasons of evaluating employee performance. (15 marks) Explain the reasons why accurate performance appraisals are important to an organisation. a) Determining salary increases One important reason for evaluating employee performance is to provide a fair basis on which to determine an employees salary increase. If performance appraisal results are to be used to determine salary increases, a numerical rather than narrative format is probably needed. b) Making promotion decisions Another reason is to determine which employees will be promoted. If performance evaluations are used to promote employees, care should be taken to ensure that the employee is evaluated well on the job dimensions that are similar to those of the new position. c) Providing employee training and feedback The most important use of performance evaluation is to improve employee performance by providing feedback about what employees are doing right and wrong. Another use of performance appraisal data is in training-needs analysis. If many employees score poorly on performance appraisal dimension, an increase or change in training is probably necessary for all employees. d) Making termination decisions Providing feedback, counselling and training to employees does not always increase performance or reduce discipline problems. When performance management techniques are not successful, the results of a performance review might suggest that the best course of action is to terminate the employee. e) Conducting personnel research Employment tests must be validated, and one way this can be done is correlating test scores with some measure of job performance. Personnel research is important especially in organisations where union contracts forbid the use of performance evaluations in personnel decisions.

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