Archive for
October, 2009
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Does HR really need to disappear? Is the whole idea of a central department to help manage all of an organization’s talent really a relic? Is HR dead? If HR is not dead, but just is on life support, how will it be revived? If you were able to start all over again and redesign the HR function from scratch, what would it look like?
These questions and potential answers will be bandied about on Steve Boese’s radio program on October 29th at 5pm (west coast time). My mentor, Employee Communications expert, Frank Roche is a guest.
I’ve touched on these issues many times right here in this blog. To sum up my position:
Human Resources should not ride into the sunset as long as Line Managers don’t get “it.” 
I would love to pose this question in a survey of HR professionals – Do we in Human Resources feel that CEOs, Vice Presidents, Managers and Supervisors have absorbed the human resource/management/leadership principles that most of us are dedicated to? In other words, are they, on their own…
- hiring the best people?
- promoting the people that deserve it?
- leading, managing, developing and motivating their employees to their maximum potential?
- arriving at compensation decisions objectively?
- successfully staying within legal constraints?
If the answers are a resounding “Yes!” then let’s wrap it up and go home. My sense is that – in general – management has become a little bit more sophisticated over the years, but still has a long, long way to go. They still need our help, but they resist our help for one or more of the following reasons:
- They think they know how to manage people
- They don’t want to admit that they need help
- They don’t think we have the answers
- They don’t think we understand their issues
- They have a negative view of the HR function and don’t want to use us
- We don’t give them the impression that we know the answers
- We act like bureaucrats, not business people
- We scare them with legal stuff
- We are only associated with event planning and benefits administration functions
Finally, I believe this -
In rare cases, the CEO gets “it.” He or she knows the value of HR, is a good leader and manager and makes it clear to the organization that Human Resources is a valued business partner and an equal player at the table. Without the CEO’s support, it is always an uphill battle for the HR function and many employees wish that we would disappear.
So, in Ron’s world, the only person we need in our corner is the CEO – everyone else will fall in line.
Read More…
 Sourced from: HRM Today Featured Posts
Tags: HRM, human resource management
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Friday, October 30th, 2009
Safety Audits are detailed and systematic inspections or reviews of programs related to occupational health and safety. These audits are done to ensure compliance with organizational policies and external regulations that are applicable to the operations and work being conducted. Safety audits can be conducted either by external members with no affiliation with the organization undergoing the audit and known as independent audits or conducted by internal members of the organization and are known as internal audits.
The key issues relating to safety audits is that it involves a process of checking the activities that are conducted within the organization against established internal standards as well as external regulatory standards. The checking of these activities is done to provide a measure of the level of compliance to the standards that are relevant to those activities. Finally, safety auditing can be viewed as a snapshot measurement of the current safety climate within an organization.
There are various purposes for conducting safety audits, safety auditing can help to facilitate a safe working environment for the personnel performing tasks in that environment by identifying potential conditions within the environment that may pose danger to their well-being. Safety audits can also be understood to be a system that can identify potential failures or weaknesses in the risk management system in place to protect workers in the workplace. It can also serve as a monitoring device and act as a deterrent to unsafe work practices. Another reason for safety auditing is to ensure that the work practices comply with regulation standards to protect not only the workers but other assets within the organization, establishes a measure of accountibility and identify potential areas for improvement. The final reason is that safety audits may be required to fulfill organizational licensing terms of operation.
Tags: Audits, Safety, Safety Audits
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Integrity tests, also known as honesty tests in recruitment and selection, refer primarily to self-report tests that are used during pre-employment screening to predict the possibility of dishonesty and counter productivity. Integrity tests work on the rationale that there are meaningful differences in behaviours, attitudes and values between individuals that could be used to identify individuals who are more likely to engage in dishonest behaviors and behaviours that are counter-productive at work. The results from integrity testing are then typically utilized to screen out individuals who may present a greater risk to an organization in areas such as absenteeism and other forms of counterproductive behaviour. The typical dimensions that integrity tests measure are perceived incidence of dishonesty, leniency towards dishonest behaviours, theft rationalization, theft temptation or rumination, perceptions regarding dishonest behaviours, impulse control and punitiveness towards self and others (Murphy, 1995).
Integrity tests typically come in two distinct forms, the first is overt integrity tests, also known as “clear-purpose” integrity tests and personality-based integrity tests, which are also known as “veiled-purpose” integrity tests (Gatewood & Feild, 2001). Overt integrity tests directly inquire about an individual’s attitudes and admissions about behaviours that are undesirable at the workplace such as workplace theft. Personality-based integrity tests are personality inventories that measure personality constructs that are linked with the undesirable behaviour.
Gatewood, R.D., & Feild, H.S. (2001). Integrity Testing, Drug Testing and Graphology. In Human Resource Selection (5th ed, pp. 667-679). Mason, Ohio: South-Western
Murphy, K.R, (1995) Integrity Testing. In N. Brewer & C. Wilson (Eds), Psychology and policing. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Tags: Integrity Testing, Integrity Tests, Recruitment, Selection
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
There have been a number of comments from clients and the general public regarding the length of psychometric assessments and queries about the reasons why psychometric assessments are so long. It needs to be kept in mind that for psychometric assessments to have utility and be effective when assessing people for various purposes, the assessment has to be reliable and valid for the situation.
All psychometric assessments are not 100% accurate and measurement errors from a variety of sources can affect the results. The length (i.e. the number of items) of the assessment affects the reliabilty of the assessment and research has demonstrated that measurement errors are smaller in longer assessments than in shorter assessments. In addition, a larger number of items better represent the abstract characteristics that are being assessed. For example, when assessing personality, one cannot expect to obtain an accurate picture of an individual through a few questions, therefore more items are needed. It has to be noted that after a limit, increasing the number of items will not provide further increases to reliability as other factors such as fatigue will set in.
It is for this reason that good psychometric assessments will have a large number of items and therefore require some time for the candidates to complete the assessment (usually between 200-250 questions, taking around 30-40 minutes). Psychometric assessments that are shorter will tend to be less reliable and valid. With a large number of items, the reliability of the assessment will be better and in turn the validity of the assessment will be better too. Validity is all about predicting performance. So with high validity clients get a higher return on their investment.
Tags: Psychological Assessment, Psychometric Assessment, Psychometrics
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Friday, October 23rd, 2009
PsyAsia International is pleased to advise that we have published the dates for our final series of webinars in 2009. Webinars are free and open to all non-competitors involved in Human Resource Management, Coaching and/or related fields. These following provides information on the webinars:
4 November: Saville Consulting Wave
You will see an overview of the Wave alongside research that shows the Wave beats other tests on the market in predicting performance at work and leadership. You will also have an opportunity to trial the Wave.
• Overview of the Saville Consulting Wave
• Aptitude Assessments and Personality Assessments
• Brief overview of the various assessments
• Scales of the Saville Consulting Wave
• Features of the Saville Consulting Wave
• Benefits of the Saville Consulting Wave
• Saville Consulting Wave Accreditation (Conversion and Full Module)
• Comparison with other personality assessments
-To register, please click here.
-Then choose “Show all meetings” and click register next to your preferred webinar
-Complete and submit the short registration form
-We will review your registration and send you a link to attend the webinar within a few days
-Kindly note that we take a maximum of 25 attendees at the webinar, so early registration is advised
18 November: Utilizing Competency Profiling to Improve Recruitment and Selection
This webinar will introduce attendees to competencies and how to conduct competency profiling, along with research on the effectiveness of the procedure and outcomes.
• Explaining Competencies
• What is Competency Profiling?
• Why use Competency Profiling?
• Process of Identifying Competencies
• Methods of Identifying Competencies
• Process of Utilizing Competencies for Selection
• How does it help in Recruitment and Selection?
• Research on the effectiveness of Competency Profiling in Recruitment and Selection
• Other areas of Utility for Competency Profiling
-To register, please click here.
-Then choose “Show all meetings” and click register next to your preferred webinar
-Complete and submit the short registration form
-We will review your registration and send you a link to attend the webinar within a few days
-Kindly note that we take a maximum of 25 attendees at the webinar, so early registration is advised
10 December: Identity Self Perception Questionnaire
Attendees will be introduced to this personality assessment which produces the most comprehensive assessment of personality on the market. You will also have an opportunity to trial Identity.
• Overview of the Identity Self Perception Questionnaire
• Scales of the Identity Self Perception Questionnaire
• Range of Application for the Identity Self Perception Questionnaire
• Advantages of the Identity Self Perception Questionnaire
• Identity Self Perception Questionnaire Accreditation Course
• Relative Comparison with other Questionnaires
-To register, please click here.
-Then choose “Show all meetings” and click register next to your preferred webinar
-Complete and submit the short registration form
-We will review your registration and send you a link to attend the webinar within a few days
-Kindly note that we take a maximum of 25 attendees at the webinar, so early registration is advised
Webinars run during the China, Singapore, Hong Kong lunch hour – that is, 12.30pm to 1.30pm.
Tags: competencies in recruitment, competency based selection, hrm webinars, Human Resource Management Webinars, identity personality test, psychometric tests, saville wave, saville wave webinars
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
There are several techniques which can be used as a method of performance appraisal. Some traditional techniques involve using critical incident methods, graphic rating scales and ranking methods. Some modern techniques involve 360 degree performance appraisal, assessment centers, behaviorally anchored rating scales and using self appraisal.
Rating scales are a very structured method. This involves rating an employee on a scale which ranges from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’ performance. The employee is assessed on this scale based on their performance or traits which are considered relevant to the job. For example, attributes such as punctuality, initiative, creativity and excellent knowledge in programs, such as Photoshop might be crucial to a role such as graphic designing. This method provides a structured and standardized way of evaluating performance and comparison between employees can be made easily. Rating scales are easy to interpret for both, the appraiser and the appraisee and is a very popular method.
It is very important to ensure that the traits and the competencies which the individual is evaluated against are clearly relevant to the job. For example, if the employees performance is not included in the selected traits, then their value to the organization might not be reflected. Some problems regarding interpretation might also occur. The perceptions/steretypes an appraiser has of someone can be reflected either negatively or positively in the appraisal, and we might basically see in others what we want to see in them. For example, if a supervisor believes that an employee is good (halo effect), then they might ignore all the evidence which is against that individual. Instances such as showing up late might be ignored, or excuses for bad performance might occur. In the same way a supervisor might form a bad impression of someone (horn effect) and be more hard in their assessment and might even ignore evidence of good performance. The halo and horn effect can have huge implication on the appraisal process.
Perceived meaning on the selected traits on the rating scales can also be problematic if it is not clear. For example, if a competency, such as “initiative” might be perceived to an employee as reporting problems to a supervisor. However, another person might express this trait as not reporting problems and might see this as being too dependent and therefore lacking in initiative. It is important to ensure that the language on the rating scales is clear, and factors such as “good” and “well done” might mean different things to different people.
Rating errors might also occur. This is because some people might deliberately avoid giving a bad rating to others because of the repercussions of it. In all performance appraisal meetings individuals should be encouraged to respond honestly because it is reflective on their performance and is designed to help them and the organization as a whole.
Tags: 360 performance appraisal, Performance Appraisal, rating scales, Rating Scales in Performance Appraisal, reliability of rating scales
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
PsyAsia International is pleased to announce a special offer from Saville Consulting. For clients interested in attending our Saville Consulting Wave® Training in Singapore or Hong Kong and who are able to send 2 or more delegates from their organisation, Saville Consulting Asia Pacific are offering a complimentary Saville Oasys Online Psychometric Assessment System.
Oasys is a cutting-edge management system for the administration, scoring, reporting and interpretation of the world’s most revolutionary psychometric assessments. These include the Saville Consulting Wave®, the Saville Consulting Wave Focus, the newly released and revolutionary Saville Personality Profile, a full range of modern and innovative aptitude tests*, a job profiler for use prior to selection and a 360 performance appraisal. Use of the Oasys system cuts down on the costs of psychometric testing in organisations as clients have full control over their candidates and pay a system fee per report rather than paying us a higher bureau service fee. Oasys usually sells for SG$6000 or HK$30,000 so this is a very special offer. It is limited and will expire after the following training course dates and the system will then sell at the regular fee.
To avail of the offer, please register at least 2 people from the same organisation for one of the following courses at http://www.psyasia.com/register
SINGAPORE COURSES
Wave Conversion: 25 November 2009
(for those who already hold a qualification in a substantive personality test or BPS Level B)
Wave Full Training: 25-26 November 2009
(for those without a qualification in a substantive personality test)*
HONG KONG COURSES
Wave Conversion: 1 December 2009
(for those who already hold a qualification in a substantive personality test or BPS Level B)
Wave Full Training: 1-2 December 2009
(for those without a qualification in a substantive personality test)*
IN HOUSE COURSES
PsyAsia International is also accredited to run in-house courses for the Saville Wave. The same offer will apply. By engaging PsyAsia to run an in-house course for you before December 2009, we will be able to supply one Saville Oasys System on a complimentary basis. Please contact us for further details on our in-house training for Saville Wave.
More details on the courses
More details on Saville Consulting Wave
*for those without training to BPS Level A or an equivalent, the aptitude tests will be disabled in the system until such time as the client undergoes such training. PsyAsia offers BPS Level A Certification Training in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Tags: online psychometric systems, online psychometric testing, psychometric test training hong kong, psychometric test training singapore, save consulting wave singapore, saville consulting oasys, Saville Consulting Wave, saville wave, saville wave test, Saville Wave Training, saville wave training hong kong, saville wave training singapore, waves test
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
A Realistic Job Preview is an approach that enables the communication of aspects of a job to prospective applicants before the applicant accepts the offer of a position(Masternak, 2004).
For a RJP to be effective, it is critical to allow employees to obtain a balanced view of the positive and negative aspects of the position. Discrepancies between the applicant of the position and the actual operational requirements of the job role may lead to lower commitment levels and increased turnover. A RJP works by providing applicants with information that clarifies their expectations and allows them to have a more realistic perspective of the role. By providing a well designed and consistent RJP process to all potential employees, the organization can reduce turnover and increase commitment by allowing the employer to match job requirements with the applicant’s qualities and the applicant to match their personal needs with the position requirements and the organizational culture.
Research on the effects of utilizing a RJP has demostrated cost savings due to increased performance and job survival (Gatewood & Field, 1990); decreased levels in turnover by better meeting employee expectations, improving their ability to cope, providing a perception of honesty for the organization and allowing them to self-select themselves for the position. In addition, there is also increased post-employment job satisfaction by giving them preparation to cope with the demands of the position and making them feel that the employer has been honest in their recruitment process.
Gatewood, R.D, Feild, H. S. (1990). Human Resource Selection. Sydney: The Dryden Press
Masternak, M. (2004) Realistic Job Preview: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Michigan Family Independence Agency. Retrieved Oct 21, 2009, from http://cps.ca.gov/ConsultingServices/HSRC/MIFIAAppendices/Append_G_FIA_CCHP_Realistic_Job_Preview.pdf.
Tags: Realistic Job Preview, Recruitment, RJP
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Competency Profiling is a method utilized to identify the specific knowledge, skills, abilities and other qualities (KSAOs) that are needed to complete and achieve particular tasks and activities. Typically, these KSAOs are linked with specific behavioural indicators to achieve the ultimate aim of fulfilling the needs of external clients and customers. Competency profiling can be conducted through various job analysis methods such as critical incidents technique and behavioural event interviews.
With well designed competency profiling measures, an organization can ensure that its objectives are fulfilled by providing clearly defined standards and methods for the employees. The employees will also be provided with clear guidelines regarding what is expected of them and provide them with the opportunity to address any potential competency gaps so as to improve their individual performance. Having clearly defined competencies is critical for activities such as recruitment, succession planning and organizational restructuring as it provides a map to the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities and other qualities that are necessary for the organization to fulfil its goals.
The advantages of competency profiling is that it provides a clear guideline to all members of staff regarding the behavioural indicators that they will be assessed on, when staff are involved in the competency profiling process, they will gain insight and clarity regarding their role and responsibilities; it can also serve as motivation when employees track their development over their career; it allows for training needs and Return on Investment (ROI) to be readily assessed and measured and finally it provides managers with key information with which to make decisions on the selection or development of employees.
Tags: Competencies, Competency, Competency Profile, Competency Profiling, Job Analysis
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Personality assessment can be divided into two categories, type and trait based personality assessments. Across both types of personality assessments, it is assumed that personality remains stable over time, involves a genetic basis and influences individuals to demonstrate similar behavior in most situations.
Trait based personality assessments assess various aspects of an individual’s personality which contributes to them behaving in particular ways. Across the population, different people’s aspects of their personality will tend to vary and this explains the wide variety of personality descriptions. Such assessments have tended to be developed to fulfill a certain need to explain personality in various contexts such as work. Although these assessments may be more difficult for people to understand and can be difficult to use in team building activities, they are more psychometrically sound and allow for more accurate comparisons between individuals. These assessments can be used in conjunction with other methods in activities that require differentiation between individuals such as in recruitment and selection.
Type based personality assessments assess an individual’s personality by categorizing them in particularly distinct theory-driven types. One way to understand this is that these types are collections of particular personality traits that influence them to behave in particular ways in certain situations. A number of personality theories have proposed classifications of certain personality types that explain a wide range of human behavior. These assessments are attractive as they are easy to understand and possesses utility in team building activities, but they are less psychometrically sound and have the tendency to “pigeon-hole” individuals into particular types. This results in less accurate comparisons between individuals. As such, they should not be used in activities that require accurate differentiation between individuals. Nevertheless, these assessments are particularly useful in team building activities.
Tags: Personality Assessment, Personality Test, Trait, Type
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