HRM textbook

CHAPTER 6 EMPLOYEE TESTING AND SELECTION 191
Situational Judgment Tests
Situational judgment tests are personnel tests designed to assess an applicant s judgment
regarding a situation encountered in the workplace. As an example, You are
facing a project deadline and are concerned that you may not complete the project
by the time it is due. It is very important to your supervisor that you complete a
project by the deadline. It is not possible to get anyone to help you with the work.
You would: 64
a. Ask for an extension of the deadline
b. Let the supervisor know that you may not meet the deadline
c. Work as many hours it as it takes to get the job done by the deadline
d. Explore different ways to do the work so it can be completed by the deadline
e. On the date it is due, hand in what you have done so far
f. Do the most critical parts of the project by the deadline and complete the
remaining parts after the deadline
g. Tell your supervisor that the deadline is unreasonable
h. Give your supervisor an update and express your concern about your ability to
complete the project by the deadline
i. Quit your job
Situational judgment tests are effective and widely used. 65
Management Assessment Centers
A management assessment center is a 2- to 3-day simulation in which 10 to 12
candidates perform realistic management tasks (like making presentations) under
the observation of experts who appraise each candidate s leadership potential. The
center itself may be a simple conference room, but more likely a special room with
a one-way mirror to facilitate observation. Many firms use assessment centers. For
example, The Cheesecake Factory created its Professional Assessment and Development
Center to help select promotable managers. Candidates spend 2 days of
exercises, simulations, and classroom learning to see if they have the skills for key
management positions. 66
Typical simulated tasks include:
* The in-basket. This exercise confronts the candidate with an accumulation of
reports, memos, notes of incoming phone calls, letters, and other materials
collected in the actual or computerized in-basket of the simulated job he or she is
about to start. The candidate must take appropriate action on each item. Trained
evaluators then review the candidate s efforts.
* Leaderless group discussion. Trainers give a leaderless group a discussion question
and tell members to arrive at a group decision. They then evaluate each group
member s interpersonal skills, acceptance by the group, leadership ability, and
individual influence.
* Management games. Participants solve realistic problems as members of simulated
companies competing in a marketplace.
* Individual presentations. Here trainers evaluate each participant s communication
skills and persuasiveness by having each make an assigned oral presentation.
work samples
Actual job tasks used in testing applicants
performance.
work sampling technique
A testing method based on measuring
performance on actual basic job tasks.
management assessment center
A simulation in which management
candidates are asked to perform realistic
tasks in hypothetical situations and are
scored on their performance. It usually
also involves testing and the use
of management games.