Hello again supermom40-ga,
I?m afraid your supervisor has charged you with an impossible task.
There is no way to summarize all the information you seek in a one
page document.
You state that your chief concerns are the legal and ethical issues
involved in pre-employment testing. The possible types of testing you
want to consider are cognitive skills, motor and physical abilities,
personality and interests, and achievement tests. You would like to
research what is available and then compare and evaluate them for
suitability for your use. Finally you also want an evaluation of
technology issues related to pre-employment testing.
Through our preliminary conversations you clarified that your employer
is a superior court in the state of New Jersey and that you?re
interested in possible pre-employment testing for unclassified
employees.
Let me explain to you the current situation in pre-employment testing
and discuss why you will have to conduct further research before you
can possibly approach answering the questions you?ve delineated.
Since hiring by government agencies is usually covered by many
specific laws and regulations I first looked up the hiring process for
the New Jersey superior courts. I discovered that there are 9000+
employees in multiple jurisdictions who are assigned to three
classified and seven unclassified bands. The spectrum of jobs ranges
from lowest clerical to highest executive and everything in-between.
Next I investigated to find out if there is anything unusual about how
the civil service system is administered in New Jersey or if there are
some hot issues in public sector hiring. Some of the research alerted
me to remind you to consider the role of whatever unions you have in
your workplace in relation to employee recruitment and selection. This
can be an extremely troublesome area. In addition, I found the
national Government Performance Project?s Final Report that was issued
recently. This report gave New Jersey a C- in the area of Human
Resource Management. Whatever problems you?re facing seem to be
pervasive. Developing a pre-employment testing program would seem to
be applying a band aid to a case of cancer.
I next continued the research looking for legal issues involved in
pre-employment testing. This is a very difficult area and prone to law
suits unless you are extremely careful. Even more caution is advised
in a unionized environment. I?ve collected some articles for you to
help you get an overview of the minefield you might be facing. The
chief issues are that you must adhere to whatever laws govern
pre-employment testing, make sure that any testing procedures you
apply are applied fairly and that they are valid for the position
you?re applying the test to. All of these topics are complex and will
require additional research.
I?m somewhat familiar with the subject of human resources, recruiting
and hiring. I?m also familiar with some of the trends in
pre-employment assessment and testing. I?ve collected a variety of
articles to help you explore this subject. Employers are highly
motivated to hire and keep the best and avoid making expensive hiring
mistakes that lead to expensive turnover. The trend in recruiting has
been to try to identify selection methods that can be applied
objectively and will lead to consistently good selections.
Pre-employment testing offers the hope of certainty into the selection
process, which is more an art than a science. With the introduction of
online assessment tools many companies have seized the opportunity to
offer a variety of tests and assessments that can be easily
computerized and yield quick scores. I?ve provided you with some links
to help you explore this subject. I cannot possibly evaluate or
suggest which ones would be the best for you since the positions
you?re going to fill require a huge spectrum of knowledge, skills,
capabilities and attributes. You will first have to determine what are
the competencies required for each job. Next, you will have to develop
an application process that elicits sufficient information from the
candidate through resume and interviewing. Finally, you will have to
implement an assessment process. This is where whatever tests you
choose to use will come in. It?s useless to mandate pre-employment
tests if you don?t know what you?re trying to measure and how valid
the assessment instrument is in relation to your objectives. I?m
afraid you will have to do further research along these lines once
you?ve made some more basic decisions about your hiring process.
I?m sorry I can?t give you a simple, one page answer to your question.
My research shows you the complexity of the issues you?ve raised and
the size of the challenges you face. I?ve included lots of starting
points to help you continue your research.
Wishing you well in dealing with this daunting project.
~ czh ~
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GETTING A JOB WITH NEW JERSEY COURTS AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVICE ISSUES
====================================================================
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/hudson/eeo.htm#Getting%20a%20Job%20with%20the%20New%20Jersey%20Courts
Getting a Job with the New Jersey Courts
The Superior Court
Cases involving criminal, civil and family law are heard in the
Superior Court. The Superior Court is sometimes called the trial court
because it is where trials are conducted. Superior Court trial judges
sit in each of New Jersey?s 21 counties. The Superior Court itself is
divided into 15 vicinages, or court districts, several of which
include more than one county. Each vicinage is managed by an
Assignment Judge selected by the Chief Justice. Each vicinage also has
a Trial Court Administrator.
----------------------
Getting a Job With the New Jersey Courts
Judiciary Employees
The New Jersey Judiciary has a workforce of about 9,000 state
employees. There are over 400 Superior Court judges who employ about
400 law clerks every year. An additional 500 judges and approximately
2,000 non-judge personnel are employed with the 539 municipal courts
throughout the state. Municipal court employees are not state
employees.
Careers in the Judiciary are wide and varied and fall into 10 major
job bands. These job bands generally have entry, mid, and higher level
positions, each of which require increasing levels of competencies to
meet the requirements of the next level.
***** The table following this paragraph shows that 3 of the10 bands
are classified and require civil service testing. The table also shows
the requirements for each band.
----------------------
Classified Versus Non-Classified Service
Many jobs in the New Jersey Courts are ?classified?, meaning that you
will have to take and pass a qualifying Civil Service exam in order to
hold a permanent title in that job. Under certain situations, you may
be appointed provisionally in a title until you take the qualifying
exam.
Jobs in the Support Staff, Case Processing and Support Staff
Supervisory bands are classified. Individuals seeking entry-level
positions in these bands are required to pass a New Jersey State
Department of Personnel administered civil service exam to receive a
permanent appointment. In addition, these career service bands provide
advancement or promotional opportunities for judiciary employees. As
a consequence, many of the job opportunities within these bands are
offered to current employees before any applicant from a civil service
list is considered. These bands cover the clerical, investigator and
probation officer job titles.
----------------------
Non-Classified Service
Many jobs in the courts, however, are not subject to civil service
exams. These are ?unclassified? positions. Jobs in the Administrative
Professional, Information Technology, Court Interpreter, Legal,
Official Court Reporter, Professional Supervisory, and Court Executive
bands are unclassified positions. Jobs for which we usually recruit
external applicants most often fall in the Administrative
Professional, Professional Supervisory and Court Executive bands.
----------------------
How To Apply For A Job With The New Jersey Courts
To apply for a job with the New Jersey Courts, send a résumé with a
cover letter to the address listed on the Job Vacancy Announcement or
to the Human Resources Manager of the vicinage in which the vacancy
occurs. Be sure to read the announcement carefully, including the
minimum requirements for the job, so that you can ensure that your
résumé speaks to those requirements. Your résumé should include dates
and a description of your job duties for each position you?ve held.
Finally, be sure to send your résumé so that it arrives before the
closing date noted on the job vacancy announcement. In the Hudson
County vicinage late résumés are not considered if there is already an
overwhelming response to a job posting.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.chatpress.com/new_jersy_chapter.html
Reinventing New Jersey: Innovative Approaches Under Fiscal Pressure
October 12, 1994
The civil service system was frequently cited as a barrier to lean
responsive government. Panelists recommended reforms that would give
managers more flexibility in hiring and firing, and that would also
help attract the "best and brightest" to careers in public service.
The roundtable discussion ended with unanimous agreement that
government in New Jersey is too fragmented. With 567 municipalities
and 611 school districts, New Jersey must initiate efforts to
consolidate and regionalize services.
The discussion during the last panel, "Removing Barriers to a High
Performance Work Force," revolved around frustrations in workforce
development. A representative from the Communications Workers of
America argued that reform efforts were blatant attempts to "bust"
unions.
***** This article highlights that there are long-standing problems in
public service employment in New Jersey. It also alerted me to draw
your attention to the role of whatever unions are involved in your
agency/location.
-------------------------------------------------
http://governing.com/gpp/2001/gp1nj.htm
Government Performance Project's Final Report
Report Card ? New Jersey ? Human Resources
HUMAN RESOURCES: C-
New Jersey is making only slow progress here. Hiring is still heavily
reliant on formal tests, and testing very often delays the process.
Appeals of disciplinary actions can take a year and a half, and when
the decision is made to fire someone, 50 days notice is required, far
more than in other states.
Fewer than 1 percent of new employees are fired during the
probationary period, a very sparse number. This could reflect the
state?s skill at picking workers, but another reason is more likely:
New Jersey is one of only a few states to give probationary employees
some appeal rights.
New Jersey also holds the dubious record for number of job titles ?
8,500 at last count. But a consultant has been hired to reorganize the
classification system, with a goal of slimming down to 2,000 titles
and plans for a compensation structure that rewards performance for
all employees. Managers receive pay for performance now, but most
employees are locked into a rigid pay plan that leaves little room for
rewarding superior efforts.
One significant positive note: The state is in the midst of an all-out
training effort, with a 50 percent increase in the number of employees
trained in the past three years.
***** This report highlights some of the issues I noted regarding the
hiring challenges for the superior courts. It seems that civil service
hiring for classified positions is very slow because of testing. The
issue of testing for unclassified positions is not clear. The report
also highlights what I noted about the proliferation of job bands and
positions. It would be extremely difficult to develop a fair testing
system for all the positions involved.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/pdfs/trends%20in%20human%20resource%20management.pdf
Government Performance Project's Final Report
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/grade/2002chap5.pdf
Chapter 5 - Human Resources Management (pdf | 280K)
***** This is a 31-page chapter that gives you an excellent overview
of the issues confronting the states in the area of staffing and
recruitment. It shows that there is a lot of turmoil and change
happening and gives you a good idea of what are the best practices
that are being adopted by the most advanced states.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/index.asp
The Government Performance Project
The Government Performance Project focuses on effective public sector
management. The project is an unprecedented activity that sparks
positive change in government management and performance across the
United States. Since 1996, the Government Performance Project has
assessed the management capacity of all the states, the nation's 35
largest cities, and 40 large counties.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/grade/state_2001/index.asp
State Grade Report 2001
Management Matters and Performance Counts
The Government Performance Project (GPP) examined government
management capacity in all fifty states during 2000. The results were
released on January 30, 2001. The project?s underlying premise is
that higher quality government management is vital for achieving
better government performance. The results of our assessment of state
management systems reveal that states are innovating and modernizing
management systems and improving the delivery of public services to
citizens. Furthermore, states that received high grades have
outstanding management systems, good integration across those systems,
and strong leadership with vision and a commitment to better
management and performance.
-------------------------------------------------
http://governing.com/gpp/2001/gp1nj.htm
THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT
Report Card: New Jersey
New Jersey grade in Human Resource Management is C-.
***** See the description of the issues for the reasons for the low rating.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/
THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/grade/2002full.asp
Final Report
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/gpp/grade/2002chap5.pdf
Chapter 5 ? Human Resources Management
***** This is a 31-page paper with lots of graphs, illustrations and statistics.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/campbell/Library%20Papers/Ingraham_WP8.pdf
Simply Meritorious: Recruiting and Hiring Reforms in Government
***** The first half of this 20-page paper gives you a good overview
of the issues and challenges facing state government agencies in
recruiting and staffing.
=============================================
APPLICANT ASSESSMENT / TESTING ? LEGAL ISSUES
=============================================
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/employment-employer/employment-employer-hiring/employment-employer-hiring-testing-preemployment.html
Pre-Employment Testing of Applicants
Before you hand a test to job applicants, know the legal dos and don'ts.
Many employers like to use pre-employment tests as a way to screen out
applicants who are not suitable for the job. These tests include
skills tests, aptitude tests, psychological tests, personality tests,
honesty tests, medical tests and drug tests.
Although you are allowed to do some testing of applicants, both state
law and federal law impose numerous restrictions on what you can do.
These restrictions are often vague and open to contradictory
interpretations. As a result, you should only use tests that are
absolutely necessary, and unless the test is as basic as a typing
test, you should consider consulting with a lawyer before
administering the test to make sure that it will pass legal muster in
your state.
***** This article from Nolo gives a good review of the categories of
pre-employment tests you might use and the issues you should be alert
for before deciding to implement such testing.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.littler.com/publications/index.htm
http://www.littler.com/publications/ch8.pdf
The National Employer 2002/03 Edition
Chapter 8 -- Innovative Hiring Strategies: Building a Winning Team
Page 7
II Overview Of the Law of Hiring
A The Law of Pre-Employment Screening
Page 25
B The Law of Pre-Employment Testing
***** This is a 52-page chapter from a yearly publication of Littler
Mendelson. You might want to browse the other resources they offer.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.workforce.com/section/06/
Recruiting & Staffing
http://www.workforce.com/picosearch/search.php?psel=46&phide=1&sup=staffing
Topic: Assessment and Testing
Found 180 documents.
***** Workforce is one of the leading publications for people
concerned with all aspects of human resources, including recruitment.
There are lots of articles that might be relevant to your concerns.
The site is free but you must register.
=================================================================
APPLICANT ASSESSMENT / TESTING ? METHODS, PROCEDURES, EVALUATIONS
=================================================================
http://www.ipmaac.org/conf04/joiner.pdf
Assessment Center Trends
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.ipmaac.org/ptcsc/conferences/flyers/spring_conference_flyer.pdf
Innovative Trends in Selection and Testing
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11519656&dopt=Abstract
Use of situational judgment tests to predict job performance: a
clarification of the literature.
Although situational judgment tests have a long history in the
psychological assessment literature and continue to be frequently used
in employment contexts, there has been virtually no summarization of
this literature. The purpose of this article is to review the history
of such tests and present the results of a meta-analysis on
criterion-related and construct validity. On the basis of 102
coefficients and 10,640 people, situational judgment tests showed
useful levels of validity (rho = .34) that were generalizable. A
review of 79 correlations between situational judgment tests and
general cognitive ability involving 16,984 people indicated that
situational judgment tests typically evidence relationships with
cognitive ability (rho = .46). On the basis of the literature review
and meta-analytic findings, implications for the continued use of
situational judgment tests are discussed, particularly in terms of
recent investigations into tacit knowledge.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.kenexa.com/newsletter/03042.asp?uid=1&tbl=news4
Scoring Situational Judgment Tests: Does the Middle Matter?
In the typical situational judgment test (SJT), an applicant is
presented with a series of situations s/he could be expected to
encounter on the job (these situations are usually determined via a
job analysis). In most cases, each situation has four or five possible
responses and the applicant is asked to indicate how s/he would handle
that situation from the choices available (see example below). While
situational judgment tests have been around for many years, they have
recently begun to garner much attention in the research literature.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.internationalmta.org/1998/9834d.html
Situational Judgment: An Alternative Approach to Selection Test Development
This paper discusses the Situational Judgment Test (SJT) methodology
for developing selection measures, and provides a brief review of some
key research on this type of test. SJTs have been used as employee
selection tools for several decades, but in recent years the
situational judgment approach has become increasingly popular. These
tests present realistic, job-related situations, usually described in
writing. Examinees are typically asked to indicate, in a multiple
choice format, what should be done to handle each situation
effectively. These responses are often scored according to relative
level of effectiveness, rather than simply right or wrong.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.msu.edu/~morgeson/SJT_Presentation_SIOP_2003.ppt
http://www.msu.edu/~morgeson/conference.htm
Assessing Situational Judgment with a Structured Interview: Construct
Validity and Adverse Impact.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.911hotjobs.com/bookstore/pn24.htm
Situational & Judgment Questions Book(Series #1)
Series #1 Book is comprised of Situational & Judgment Type Questions
that have been previously administered on Police Officer Written
Tests. This comprehensive, 15 item exercise poses hypothetical
scenarios that involve a police officer in ?what if? types of
situations.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327043hup1704_5?cookieSet=1
Human Performance
Personality and Situational Judgment Tests Across Applicant and
Incumbent Settings: An Examination of Validity, Measurement, and
Subgroup Differences
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.aon.com/us/busi/hc_consulting/talentsolutions/business_challenges/leadership_assessment/leader_sellsheet.jsp
Program Overview
LEADeRTM represents the "next generation" of managerial assessment
for selection, promotion and development planning purposes. The LEADeR
program provides high-quality, easily tailored assessment resources to
identify and develop leaders for today's and tomorrow's business
challenges. I
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.business.com/directory/human_resources/hiring_and_retention/employment_screening/skills_and_assessment_testing/
Employee Skills and Assessment Testing
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.corporateleadershipcouncil.com/guest/CLC/SampleResearch/47478.pdf
Pre-Hire and Developmental Assessment Tools at Fortune 500 Companies
***** This is an 18-page paper that gives you an excellent overview of
pre-hire assessment methods.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.shl.com/SHL/en-int/Solutions/LifecycleEvents/Selectionlifecycle.htm
Employee Lifecycle
Selection
SHL's in-depth assessment tools help organizations to identify key
skills and competencies required for a particular role in order to
match the right people to the right jobs. This detailed analysis
ensures that you achieve best value and minimize the risks associated
with the selection process. Products relevant to the Selection stage
of the employee lifecycle can be found in the following product
portfolios: Access Ability; Access Personality; Access Motivation &
Values; Access Competencies.
========================================================================
APPLICANT ASSESSMENT / TESTING ? IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING, TRENDS, ISSUES
========================================================================
http://www.skillcheck.com/docs/papers/seven_rules.pdf
The Seven Rules of Employee Testing
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.dimihr.com/main-new13.html
ELIMINATE COSTLY HIRING MISTAKES: THREE ESSENTIALS FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT CANDIDATE
There are three essentials to truly insure the quality and
effectiveness of the selection process:
» Competency Modeling
» Effective Interviewing Process and Techniques
» Comprehensive Candidate Assessment
Typically companies utilize one or perhaps two of these tools but very
few use all three and yet all three are vital to making the right
selection decisions.
=======================================================================
APPLICANT ASSESSMENT / TESTING ? ORGANIZATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, RESOURCES
=======================================================================
http://www.ipma-hr.org/
International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR)
http://www.ipmaac.org/broch.html
International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR)
The IPMA-HR Assessment Council (IPMAAC) is the leading organization of
applied personnel assessment professionals with more than 600 members
actively engaged in practice, research, and training in personnel
assessment to meet the needs of both public and private organizations.
Formed in 1976 as a section of the International Public Management
Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) (formerly IPMA), its members
include personnel directors and managers, specialists in staffing,
recruiting, and organizational performance management, psychologists,
attorneys, management consultants, academic faculty and students, and
others sharing professional interests and expertise in the development
and effective use of personnel assessment methods in local, state, and
federal government agencies, private companies, quasi-public
organizations, and schools, colleges, and universities.
IPMAAC interests and activities cover the full range of assessment
methods and applications, from use of personnel tests and interviews
for employee selection to measurement of the productivity of
organizations as a component of productivity and customer service
improvement programs.
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.ipmaac.org/mapac/members.htm
Mid-Atlantic Personnel Assessment Consortium
Current Members
States
-- Delaware
-- Maryland
-- New Jersey
-- New York
-- Ohio
-- Pennsylvania
The Mid-Atlantic Personnel Assessment Consortium (MAPAC), is chartered
as a non-profit organization of public sector personnel agencies
involved and concerned with testing and personnel selection issues.
The goal of MAPAC is to enhance the quality of testing and selection
programs among its member agencies, thereby assisting them in meeting
professional and legal standards. MAPAC provides a number of
mechanisms to promote the sharing of selection related information
among its members. MAPAC also provides a framework for conducting
cooperative projects and studies.
***** You may want to explore this organization and their activities
to see if they can assist you with the concerns you have regarding
pre-employment assessment. The Library of resources may be of special
interest. New Jersey is a member of the consortium
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.shrm.org
Society for Human Resource Management
***** This is the leading organization in HR management and they have
a huge collection of resources available to help you with your
pre-employment assessment issues.
===============
SEARCH STRATEGY
===============
civil service test "superior court" new jersey
re-employment testing OR assessment pros cons
trends in personnel testing
trends in personnel OR candidate OR employe assessment OR testing
competency oriented simulations
situation judgment tests
job candidate assessment OR testing
recruiting best practices |
