Have you ever been impressed with a job applicant’s test results or personality profile, only to find out that the person you saw on paper was nothing like the person you saw on the job? How did that happen? Could that person have “faked” their way through your assessments?

Many organizations are streamlining their application process – delivering many of their pre-employment assessments “remotely” or on-line, without an organizational representative present to administer their tests. Unfortunately, while streamlining this way can save organizations time and money during the application process, it increases the chances that some applicants may be less honest and forthcoming in the way they respond to questions on the assessments.

During this session we’ll discuss the concept of applicant “response distortion” as applied to jobs in several settings (including retail sales and customer service). We’ll talk about the ways to reduce an applicant’s likelihood to “fake” their way through assessments, particularly for those delivered remotely, so that the information we use to make hiring decisions is as accurate as possible.

Finally, we’ll share the results of research on different techniques used to reduce response distortion in several organizations.

What will participants learn?

1)  The different ways applicants can distort their responses to items on pre-employment assessments

2)  How administering assessments on-line, in an unproctored setting, can increase the likelihood for inaccurate information

3)  Techniques for reducing an applicant’s likelihood to try to fake their way through assessments.

4) The impact these techniques can have on applicant test scores.

Who should attend?

1) Recruiters, Managers, Directors, VPs, etc., responsible for HR, Staffing, and Talent Acquisition.

2) Those interested in learning about the ways we can reduce faking on job assessments.

3) Business leaders.

Registration Information

If you are already a member of HR.com, please login to register for the webcast.  If you are not a member of HR.com, you will need to sign up for a FREE HR.com membership, this will only take you a moment to fill in the required information. Once you have confirmation of your membership, you will be able to register for this complimentary webcast.

Tuesday, August, 24th, 11:00 AM ET

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Ever hire an employee with all the right skills for the job, only to watch that person walk out the door for good three weeks later? Where did you go wrong? What did you miss?

Most organizations often overlook the importance of measuring an applicant’s work tolerance as part of the talent acquisition process. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if the applicant has the skills to do the work if they can’t tolerate the demands of the job!

During this session we’ll discuss the concept of work tolerance as applied to jobs in several settings including retail sales and customer service. We’ll talk about the process of analyzing jobs to discover their underlying work tolerance demands, as well as approaches for using work tolerance information to improve the talent acquisition process to reduce employee turnover, and increase levels of job satisfaction.

Finally, we’ll share the results of research using work tolerance measures in several organizations representing industries such as telecommunications and financial services, but the concepts learned during this session can apply to any job, in every organization.

What will participants learn?

1)  The difference between the work tolerance and skill demands of jobs

2)  How to analyze jobs to determine their underlying work tolerance demands

3)  Methods for using work tolerance demands for improving talent acquisition

4) The impact of work tolerance characteristics for reducing employee turnover in front-line jobs

Who should attend?

1) Recruiters, Managers, Directors, VPs, etc., responsible for HR, Staffing, and Talent Acquisition.

2) Those interested in learning about the impact of work tolerance on organizational success.

3) Business leaders

Registration Information

If you are already a member of HR.com, please login to register for the webcast.  If you are not a member of HR.com, you will need to sign up for a FREE HR.com membership, this will only take you a moment to fill in the required information. Once you have confirmation of your membership, you will be able to register for this complimentary webcast.

Tuesday, August, 31st, 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

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The following article is a summary of the research and practice implications from: Erdogan, B. & Bauer, T. (2009). Perceived overqualification and its outcomes: The moderating role of empowerment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94 (2). 557-565.

Have you ever worked in a position where you felt you were overqualified? Perhaps the knowledge you possessed was not used or the skills and abilities you had could not be demonstrated. Overqualification, or when an individual’s credentials surpass the job’s requirements, is increasingly common, especially when the job market is competitive.

How Does Overqualification Affect Organizational Outcomes?

Hiring an employee who is overqualified for the position could affect the organization both positively and negatively. Overqualified employees are:

• More likely to perform at a higher level. This could be a result of overqualified employees possessing more than the required skills and abilities. Additionally, the employee may expect that positive rewards often come from objective performance ratings (i.e. high supervisor ratings = high bonuses), which they feel they deserve. Finally, the employee may perform at a high level consistently applying their higher level of knowledge, skills, and abilities in the position. Therefore, the employee’s performance should be greater than those who are not overqualified.
• Less satisfied. Employees who possess certain knowledge, skills and abilities may feel entitled to a particular position or salary. When employees do not get what they perceive they deserve, they may become frustrated, and in turn, experience negative emotions directed toward the organization.
• More likely to leave the organization. As the discrepancy between what individuals feel they are entitled to and what the position offers increases, frustration and negative emotions toward the organization will also increase. This may result in individuals leaving the organization.

Is There a Way to Reduce the Negative Impact of Overqualification?

The negative organizational outcomes related to overqualification are due to a discrepancy in what the employee perceives they deserve and what they are receiving. Empowering the employee and giving them more autonomy within the workplace can mitigate the negative outcomes of overqualification. This can be done by communicating to the employee that they are valued and giving them control over work outcomes. This will convey the employee is a trusted and valued entity within the organization. As a result, the negative effects of overqualification can be reduced.

Practical Implications

Organizations must continue to actively recruit individuals who are the most qualified or even overqualified for positions. If an opportunity for advancement or a bonus may be available in the future, this can be communicated to the overqualified employee in advance to reduce negative attitudes; however, this approach should be used with caution, as employees may become extremely discouraged and dissatisfied if they believe they will advance or be given a bonus and neither occur. Hiring individuals who possess skills and abilities greater than those required of the position ultimately benefits the organization when coupled with giving the employee more autonomy and control, while communicating that they are a valued entity within the organization. This can aid in reducing both negative job attitudes and intentions to quit of these overqualified employees.

Interpretation by:

Elizabeth Allen

The DeGarmo Group

DeGarmo Group announced today that Mark Baker will be facilitating  an HR.com webcast titled “Finding the Missing Piece:  Creating Person-Job Fit Interviews“. The session will be held on August 17, 2010 at 1 pm ET.  Provided below is a description of the session, as well as registration information.

Session Overview

Organizations have a long standing love affair with the employment interview.   Unfortunately, the obligatory inclusion of an interview in any hiring process can potentially do more harm than good.  Even interviewers with several years of experience often make poor or inconsistent hiring decisions due to a lack of understanding of the purpose and best practices of interviewing.

During this session we will explore how to structure an employment interview to measure the degree of “fit” between applicants’ personal preferences, motivations, and “hot buttons”, with the specific demands and challenges they’ll face on the job.

Specifically, attendees will learn to identify and understand the basic elements of interviews,  learn what types of structured interviews are best suited for specific types of information, be introduced to person-job fit and learn how good “fit” contributes to reduced turnover and improved organizational functioning, learn about the importance of standardized training and follow-up calibration exercises for interviewers.

What will participants learn?

1)  How employment interviews can be designed to leverage their inherent strengths

2)  How person-job fit contributes to reduced turnover and improved organizational functioning

3)  The importance of interview training to ensure consistent decision are made across an organization

4)  The importance of follow up calibration exercises to maintain procedural and scoring consistency

Who should attend?

1)  Interviewers of all experience levels who wish to enhance their understanding of their role in the selection process.

2)  Recruiters, Managers, Directors, VPs, etc., responsible for HR, Staffing, Talent Acquisition and/or Organizational Development.

3)  Those interested in understanding how good person-job fit leads to smooth organizational functioning.

Registration Information

If you are already a member of HR.com, please login to register for the webcast.  If you are not a member of HR.com, you will need to sign up for a FREE HR.com membership, this will only take you a moment to fill in the required information. Once you have confirmation of your membership, you will be able to register for this complimentary webcast.

Tuesday, August, 17th, 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

Register Here!

DeGarmo Group announced today that Anthony Adorno will be facilitating  an HR.com webcast titled “More Than a Mission Statement: The Importance of Corporate Work Values“. The session will be held on August 10, 2010 at 11am ET.  Provided below is a description of the session, as well as registration information.

Session Overview

Just about every organization has a mission statement that includes some reference to a set of work values, but how many organizations really believe in their values and use them to drive organizational success?

During this session, we’ll talk about the importance of core work values, how to measure them, and how to improve alignment between the organization and its employees through talent acquisition and development.

Specifically, this session will focus on the results of research conducted with more than 1,200 people in the United States, U.K., and Philippines on work value alignment and important outcomes such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, job performance, and employee turnover.

What will participants learn?

1.  How work value alignment impacts corporate profitability.

2.  Metrics used for determining whether an organization’s leaders agree on the importance of work values.

3.  An approach for improving alignment in work values through both staffing and development models.

4.  How the impact of value alignment varies based on job level, job category or work experience.

Who should attend?

1.  Executives who determine and drive the values of their organizations.

2.  Recruiters, Managers, Directors, VPs, etc., responsible for HR, Staffing, Talent Acquisition and/or Organizational Development.

3.  Those interested in understanding how alignment with corporate values drives organizational success.

Registration Information

If you are already a member of HR.com, please login to register for the webcast.  If you are not a member of HR.com, you will need to sign up for a FREE HR.com membership, this will only take you a moment to fill in the required information. Once you have confirmation of your membership, you will be able to register for this complimentary webcast.

Tuesday, August, 10th, 11:00AM – 12:00 PM ET

Register Here!

The following is a summary of the research and practice implications from: Arthur Jr., W., Bell, S. T., Villado, A. J., & Doverspike, D. (2006). The use of person-organization fit in employment decision making: An assessment of its criterion-related validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 786-801.

Imagine a situation in which an individual has found an occupation that suits his needs, works for a pleasant supervisor, and receives a competitive wage and benefits. While this may sound like a storybook tale, if we further consider that the same individual enjoys working in teams, is excited by working to meet challenging goals, and cherishes the opportunity to make important decisions without asking for approval, all of which his organization does not foster, suddenly our storybook tale has taken a turn for the dark side: now our protagonist is unhappy, underperforming, and surfing the internet for a new place to work.

While this fictitious example may seem extreme, it is closer to reality than you think. When employees do not value the same things as the organization they work for, negative outcomes can result. Conversely, good fit between the values of an employee and organization can lead to positive outcomes, like higher levels of organizational commitment.

What is Person-Organization Fit?

Person-Organization fit (P-O fit) is a concept that goes back many years, and is generally defined as compatibility between employees and their organizations. Compatibility can result from one party supplying a need of the other party, similar values across parties, or both. Researchers have found meaningful relationships with P-O fit as a predictor of work attitudes, job performance, and turnover.

Why is P-O Fit Important?

The general idea behind the importance of P-O fit is based on the attraction-selection-attrition (A-S-A) theory. According to the A-S-A theory, individuals are attracted to organizations with similar values and organizations tend to hire such individuals during the selection process. Finally, attrition becomes important as the employee sees first-hand the extent to which he or she is actually congruent with the organization, leading to a choice to either continue working for or leave the company.

What does P-O Fit Predict?

As mentioned previously, P-O fit has demonstrated relationships with three very important outcomes:

• Work attitudes
• Turnover
• Job Performance

While each of the three aforementioned outcomes is related to P-O fit, these relationships vary in magnitude; the strongest relationships are listed first.

• Work attitudes - The link between P-O fit and work attitudes is the strongest and most robust: the more an individual fits with the organization, the more likely he or she is to display higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
• Turnover - Considering the high cost of turnover, this relationship is very important to the bottom line. It seems obvious, but individuals do not enjoy working for companies that do not align well with their personal values and often leave as a result.
• Job Performance - When individuals do not feel they fit well with the organization, it often has negative effects on the effort they put forth at work, leading to lower levels of job performance. Researchers have found P-O Fit to relate to both task performance (performance on tasks required of the job) and contextual performance (performance on tasks outside of those required by the job, like Organizational Citizenship Behaviors).

Implications for Practice

With the relationship between P-O fit and important work outcomes firmly established, the question becomes, how can organizations leverage this knowledge?

Unfortunately, as it is currently conceptualized, P-O fit cannot be taught. The values and interests individuals have when they join an organization are longstanding, and will likely not change much as a result of employment.

The alternative option is to look for applicants who match the company and bring them aboard to increase overall fit. This option is gaining in popularity in the last few years and will likely continue on that trend.

To bring people aboard who match the organization, a P-O fit test, interview, or other form of selection tool will likely need to be implemented. Several consulting firms are available to aide in this type of selection.

Going back to our initial example, let’s say our fictions organization implemented a screening tool to help choose the right people for the organization. As a result, the organization hires a different employee, one who prefers to work individually, is partial to working towards less optimistic goals, and would rather fall back on management when making important decisions. Now the organization and employee fit very well and stay together for a long time, perhaps living happily ever after?

Interpretation by:

David Daly

DeGarmo Group

The following is a summary of the research and practice implications from: Wang, M., Zhan, Y., Liu, S., & Shultz, K.  (2008). Antecedents of Bridge Employment: A Longitudinal Investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93 (4), 818-830.

As the workforce continues to age and individuals in the “baby-boomer” generation begin to retire,  employers may be faced with a workforce crisis – there are more positions to fill than available, qualified employees to fill them.  This presents a challenge to employers – how to keep positions filled with qualified individuals? One solution is to encourage employees to participate in bridge employment.

What is Bridge Employment?

“Bridge employment is defined as the pattern of labor force participation exhibited by older workers as they leave their career jobs and move toward complete labor force withdrawal”

Bridge employment can include part-time positions where the employee continues to work in the organization, part-time positions in another organization or self-employment. Bridge employment may occur in either the same career or a different field entirely.

Can We Keep Our Valued Employees Involved?

Understanding what factors lead employees to pursue bridge employment is the key to maintaining the talent pool. Organizations should seek out employees displaying these “staying” characteristics. These characteristics include:

• Individual characteristics related to age, education, and financial stability. Retirees who are younger, educated, healthy, and financially stable are more likely to participate in bridge employment.
• Job related factors such as work stress and job satisfaction. Retirees who experience less job stress and higher job satisfaction are more likely to participate in bridge employment.
• Retirement planning in relation to how much an employee has contemplated and/or made plans to retire.  Employees who have thought more about full retirement are less likely to participate in bridge employment.

Practical Implications

Employers faced with the dilemma of losing valuable employees should devote resources to developing “staying” characteristics within their organization. Redesigning or sharing jobs, providing more flexible work arrangements, helping older workers with their family care needs, allowing telecommuting, offering employee assistance programs and alerting employees to the option of bridge employment throughout the retirement planning process can decrease stress and increase job satisfaction.

Creating an older-worker-friendly environment by providing older employees with opportunities to grow professionally, avenues for maintaining good health, strategies for managing stress and positive experiences to increase job satisfaction will result in sustaining the talent pool in the midst of the workforce crisis.

Interpretation by:

Elizabeth Allen

DeGarmo Group

The following is a summary of the research and practice implications from: Edwards, J.R. & Cable, D.M. (2009). The value of value congruence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94 (3), 654-677.

The term value congruence, or value “fit,” has received much attention lately from both scientists and business leaders. The concept of value congruence is generally intuitive – when there is a match between employee and organization value systems, positive outcomes will result. This article will explain the benefits of value congruence, and show you how you can put value congruence to work in your organization.

Value Congruence and Positive Outcomes

Both individuals and organizations have value systems that dictate their attitudes, behaviors, and the ways in which they allocate resources. Value congruence occurs when the value system of an employee coincides with the value system of an organization. Value congruence can lead to several valuable outcomes for both the organization and the individual:

• Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is a positive emotional experience associated with one’s job. Satisfied employees are more productive and experience less stress than dissatisfied employees.
• Organizational identification. Organizational identification derives from an employee’s sense of belonging to the organization. Employees who feel like they belong are likely to be more committed to the organization, more productive, and more likely to engage in extra-role behaviors – helping behaviors that go above and beyond the duties of an employee’s position.
• Intent to stay. Intent to stay is an employee’s intent to remain with the organization over some period of time. Intent to stay is contingent upon both job satisfaction and organizational identification.

Although the link between value congruence and positive organizational outcomes has been firmly established, until recently it was not clear why this process takes place. Rather than directly causing positive outcomes, value congruence primarily leads to positive outcomes through the enhancement of communication and trust between the organization and the employee.

Value Congruence -> Trust + Communication -> Positive Outcomes

That is, when value congruence between an employee and the organization is high, there tends to be high levels of trust and communication between the two parties.

Practical Implications

Value congruence can be utilized to increase positive outcomes such as job satisfaction, identification with the organization, and intent to stay with the organization. There are several strategies that managers can use to maximize positive outcomes that result from value congruence.

1. Value congruence can be addressed during the hiring process. Match applicant value profiles with those of the organization in order to select employees with good value fit to the organization.

2. Socialize new employees toward the cultural values of the organization.  Incorporate organizational values into new employee training and reinforce them throughout the onboarding period – the extended process of assimilating new members into the organization.

3. For current employees, focus on strategies that directly impact trust and communication:

• Increase trust by being honest with employees about organizational and supervisor decision-making processes, ensuring that processes such as performance appraisal and distribution of resources are perceived as fair.

• Increase the benefits that result from good communication by ensuring frequent and open communication between management and employees, and among employees themselves.

Throughout various stages of employment, value congruence is a useful concept that managers can leverage to improve positive outcomes for both the organization and employees alike.

Interpretation by:

Michelle Toelle

DeGarmo Group

The following is a summary of the research and practice implications from: Siebert, W. S., & Zubanov, N. (2009). Searching for the optimal level of employee turnover: A study of a large U.K. retail organization. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 294-313.

Turnover has long been considered to be detrimental to an organization. It has been assumed that, regardless of the job, no turnover is optimal, and organizational performance (profitability, sales, etc.) suffers as turnover increases.

In spite of the aforementioned longstanding view of turnover, researchers have begun to speculate that, depending on the job and type of organization, turnover can actually be helpful.

Why might some turnover be helpful?

Most intuitively, turnover can help the organization by removing lower performers and making room for potential star performers. This can occur as a result of the organization terminating poor performers, or poor performers becoming unhappy with their lack of success and quitting.

A less often considered benefit of turnover is to help an organization maintain an appropriately sized workforce as a response to market changes. This can allow organizations to grow and shrink their workforce at times that are most advantageous.

Turnover findings

Sales assistant turnover rates of a large retail chain in the United Kingdom were compared to store sales figures to determine the optimal level of turnover.

The staff in the organization consisted of full-time sales associates and part-time sales associates. Full-time sales associates (FTSAs) help with daily store operations and have the potential for advancement to management whereas part-time sales associates (PTSAs) typically do not intend to remain with the company long-term.  The FTSAs receive more training and are more integral to the success of a store.

Researchers found that any turnover, regardless of the amount, was detrimental to a store’s performance when the person leaving was a FTSA. However, the relationship was more complex with PTSAs; the PTSA turnover rate that yielded the highest store sales figures was about 30%, with store sales performance decreasing at both higher and lower rates. One likely explanation for this lies in the likelihood that the lack of career growth opportunities for PTSAs may reduce engagement.

Practical Implications

While it is important to remember that theories of optimal turnover rates are still in their infancy, large organizations should examine their performance numbers closely to determine the optimal level of turnover. This can be accomplished with a detailed statistical comparison of the success of individual stores in relation to store turnover rates. Knowing your organization’s optimal turnover rate can be very helpful in determining if further turnover reduction strategies would be appropriate for the organization.

Interpretation by:

David Daly

DeGarmo Group

The following article is a summary of the research and practice implications from: Lee, T.H., Gerhart, B., Weller, I., Trevor, C.O. (2008). Understanding voluntary turnover: Path-specific job satisfaction effects and the importance of unsolicited job offers. Academy of Management Journal, 51 (4), 651-671.

Voluntary turnover has been the subject of much scrutiny, both by organizations and by researchers. Voluntary turnover occurs when employees leave the organization deliberately (i.e. quitting); this can be contrasted with involuntary turnover, which occurs when employees leaving the organization without choosing to do so (i.e. being fired or laid off).

More effective prediction and prevention of turnover is highly valuable to organizations because the cost of replacing an employee can be extraordinary – around ½ to 2x the employee’s first-year salary.  However, despite the large amounts of time and energy that have been invested in trying to understand why employees quit, there is still much that is not understood about the turnover process.

What We Do Know About Turnover

What researchers and organizations are learning is that there are many different “paths” that employees may take when they quit a job.  The “standard model” of turnover – what people traditionally associate with “quitting” – occurs when an employee is dissatisfied with his or her current job, so he or she initiates a job search and quits when a suitable replacement is found.

New research indicates, however, that this standard model is often more of an exception than the rule when explaining why and how an employee quits his or her job. In fact, one study found that 23% of turnover occurred as a result of unsolicited job offers – when an employee is sought out by another organization and offered a more attractive position.

Another important factor that contributes to voluntary turnover is the condition of the labor market. When unemployment rates are high, employees are more likely to continue working a job that they are dissatisfied with. When unemployment rates are low, job satisfaction becomes more influential, and employees are more likely to seek new employment if they are dissatisfied with their current job.

Exit Paths

There are four distinct paths that employees may take when exiting the organization through voluntary turnover.

• Path 1: Dissatisfaction à Search for a new job à Quit. These individuals are unsatisfied with their current job and quit after searching for and finding a new job.  This path represents the “standard model” of turnover.
• Path 2: Dissatisfaction à Quit à No new job à Search. These employees are dissatisfied with their current job, but quit before initiating a job search.  This may be because they feel it is more efficient to job search while unemployed, or because of unbearable working conditions or impulsiveness.
• Path 3: No search à New job à Quit. These individuals receive an unsolicited job offer and then quit in order to accept the new position. Often, these employees are relatively satisfied with their current job, but the new offer is more enticing.
• Path 4: Quit à No new job à No search. These are employees who leave the workforce altogether. This type of exit is often associated with pregnancy or other family-related issues. Job dissatisfaction may play a role in whether the individual decides to quit, but is not a primary factor.

Practical Implications

The most important point that employers can take away from this information is to be aware of the most common types of turnover within your organization.  This can be done by conducting exit interviews or surveying departing employees. This information can then be used to focus employee retention strategies to minimize future turnover.

• If the most common exit paths are job satisfaction-related, as in Paths 1 and 2, then efforts should be focused on monitoring and increasing employee job satisfaction.  Organizations can monitor the satisfaction of their employees by using surveys or interviews, and also by encouraging communication between managers and subordinates.
• If employees are being drawn away by more attractive job offers from other employers (Path 3), resources can be devoted to more actively managing salary increases, career paths, promotion and training opportunities and making positions more competitive.
• If employees are leaving because of family or other personal reasons (Path 4), employers should consider implementing “employee-friendly” policies, such as flexible work arrangements, childcare, or other employee assistance services.

By determining the most common reasons employees leave the organization, employers can use resources more effectively to reduce voluntary employee turnover.

Interpretation by:

Michelle Toelle

The DeGarmo Group