Chris Gilbey's ARTS301 Class: Week #3 - presentation by futurist, Dr Peter Saul.

1. Psychology in the recruitment market:
Approaches businesses take when hiring
Dr Peter Saul
www.petersaul.com.au
Dr Peter Saul

2. Attracting and Holding Staff
Source: AFR, 29 July 2008, p. 67
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

3. What is management trying to do when hiring?
 Acquire the knowledge and skills it needs to get work done
now.
Choices: relocate/promote, employ, contract, outsource, redesign
work
 Strengthen the potential to grow the knowledge and skills the
organisation will need in the future
 Build a cooperative, harmonious organisation and workplace
that is aligned with strategic corporate mission and values
 Maintain the organisation’s stated remuneration policy
 Adhere to the requirements of enterprise agreements and
employment laws
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

4. What are candidates trying to do?
 Get an interesting job with good pay, opportunities to develop
their talents, and prospects for future advancement
 Join an organisation they would be proud to work for
 Enhance their self esteem and social status
 Join an organisation that fits with their lifestyle and stage of life
 Enhance their feelings of job security (including the reliability
of future income)
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

5. Some recruitment tools used by employers
 Advertisements – in house and/or externally
(and use of employee networks)
 Letter of application and CV
 Interviews of job candidate
(Interviews may be by HR, manager/supervisor, work colleagues)
 Reference checking
(Discussions with previous managers and HR staff)
 Online searches (e.g. Facebook)
(Now used by over 25% of employers)
 Recruitment specialists (e.g. Chandler & Macleod)
 Psychological testing
(intelligence, reasoning, interests, personality, abilities)
 Work simulations
 Probationary periods; induction processes; training and
support
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

6. Some psych tools used by candidates
 Career guidance services
(that may use a variety of tests of
intelligence, interests, abilities, personality, etc)
 Self-assessment instruments, books, etc
(e.g. see Professor Martin Seligman’s website on “authentic
happiness”; and Dr Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People”)
 Psych-based training and development or coaching services
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

7. What best predicts future performance?
 Work Sample tests (.54 correlation with overall job
performance)
 General Mental Ability tests (.51)
 Structured employment interviews (.51)
 Peer Ratings (.49)
 Job Knowledge tests (.48)
Source: “Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent in a Tight Labor Market “
Wayne F. Cascio, Ph.D., Graduate School of Business, University of
Colorado – Denver. (Viewed on MGSM website in 2001).
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

8. Psych testing has many critics
“The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator has achieved cult status… It
appeals to many managers, educationalists and counsellors
…despite the fact that as many as three-quarters of people achieve
a different personality type when tested again. And it is easily
faked.
…I conclude that personality tests are
discriminatory, unreliable, invalid and cannot predict work
performance.”
Source: “Personality tests have too many deep-seated problems.”
Professor Robert Spillane, Macquarie Graduate School of Management
(Australian Financial Review, 21 February 2012, p. 51)
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

9. 6 hour testing marathon as part of merger
Source: Australian Financial Review, 8 March 2012, p. 68
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG

10. In summary
 Psychology and psychological tests and methodology can play
a valuable role in improving the quality of recruitment
decisions in the hands of HR professionals who are trained to
use them wisely.
 Psychology can improve the design of jobs and person
specifications in the first place so that we have better targets to
recruit to.
 It can also assist in building effective teams and improving
leadership training and coaching so that recruitment decisions
that are good enough deliver satisfactory work performance.
 When feedback on psychological assessments is given to job
candidates it can help people make better career decisions.
Peter Saul Peter Saul
Dr -Peter Saul
Dr AIPEG