Recruitment efforts to reduce adverse impact: Targeted recruiting for personality, cognitive ability, and diversity.

Abstract

Noting the presumed tradeoff between diversity and performance goals in contemporary selection practice, the authors elaborate on recruiting-based methods for avoiding adverse impact while maintaining aggregate individual productivity. To extend earlier work on the primacy of applicant pool characteristics for resolving adverse impact, they illustrate the advantages of simultaneous cognitive ability- and personality-based recruiting. Results of an algebraic recruiting model support general recruiting for cognitive ability, combined with recruiting for conscientiousness within the underrepresented group. For realistic recruiting effect sizes, this type of recruiting strategy greatly increases average performance of hires and percentage of hires from the underrepresented group. Further results from a policy-capturing study provide initial guidance on how features of organizational image can attract applicants with particular job-related personalities and abilities, in addition to attracting applicants on the basis of demographic background.

Age-Differential Effects of Job Characteristics on Job Attraction: A Policy-Capturing Study

“…Our findings suggest that younger workers value certain job characteristics more than older workers, including task variety and feedback from the job. Thus, organizations aiming to recruit younger job applicants could adjust their job advertisements by emphasizing high levels of task variety and feedback from the job (i.e., targeted recruitment; Newman and Lyon, 2009). At the same time, younger, middle-aged, and older applicants appear to value job autonomy to a similar extent.…”

Personality and Cognitive Ability as Predictors of Effective Performance at Work

“…There are, of course, other factors that influence whether an organization can meet diversity and productivity goals. Newman & Lyon (2009) described the constraints of the recruitment process on the realization of diversity goals, and Tam et al (2004) examined the impact of applicant withdrawal on desired system outcomes. Although this research is mostly simulation or Monte Carlo work, it has added to our understanding of the practical constraints under which selection researchers and practitioners must work when designing selection systems that must serve sometimes conflicting goals.…”

The social perception of emotional abilities: Expanding what we know about observer ratings of emotional intelligence.

“…Cognitive intelligence-particularly verbal intelligence-is a worthwhile control variable when establishing the predictive validity of emotional intelligence . Although values were self-reported, meta-analytic evidence shows very high associations between students' self-reports and actual standardized test scores (Newman & Lyon, 2009).…”