Selection System Design

& Validation

Hiring the Right People

Few decisions are as important as selecting the people who help your organization succeed.  Hiring the right people directly impacts productivity, quality, customer service and the profitability of your organization. How can you be sure that your selection procedures are able to identify the right individuals?  Competency-based selection helps assure that you are able to identify superior performers fairly and consistently. 

What is it?

AAI custom designs competency-based selection processes that assess the key capabilities of candidates.  We then validate these custom-designed systems.  We use either or both of the following validation approaches:

  • Criterion Related Validity—a demonstration, using a sample of employees, showing a significant relationship between assessment scores and job performance.
  • Construct Validity—a broad-based approach which uses information from job analysis, the scientific literature, and statistical relationships gathered from employees. 

Why do this?

In an era where an organization’s competitive advantage is achieved through its people, it is important to have highly effective staff.  AAI helps pinpoint pre-employment assessment tools that are valid and identify the best candidates for your organization’s jobs.

There are three primary reasons for doing this:

  • Leverage best practices in selection psychology.
  • Optimize your organizations workforce, thus enhancing organizational productivity, quality, and profitability.
  • Create  a "winning" organization.

What is the Process?

AAI’s process typically involves the following steps:

  1. Competency Modeling.  Identifing the essential responsibilities of the job and specifing the job competency requirements for job success.
  2. Design of Job-Relevant Assessment Tools.  Procedures that identify superior performers, are easy to administer, and are fair for diverse applicant groups.
  3. Validation.  Collection and analysis of validity information using Criterion-related validity and/or Construct validity approaches.
  4. Design of the assessment and hiring process. A process for administering and scoring the custom-designed tools.  If needed, training on this process can be provided.
  5. Validation Report.  Documentation of validity evidence,  the assessment process, and technical documentation for addressing legal compliance (EEO) issues.

What are the Benefits?

Benefits of implementing AAI’s selection process include:

  • Precise definition of the competencies that drive job success—assuring that you can target those behaviors that truly drive superior performance.
  • Hiring superior talent—because the most competent candidates are identified through an objective assessment process.
  • Greater objectivity and fairness in screening job applicants—for accurate comparisons across candidates.
  • Significantly improved productivity and profitability—because of reduced errors in selection decisions, reduced training time and costs, reduced staff turnover, and improved productivity and effectiveness of workers.
  • Legal defensibility of the employee selection process—providing peace of mind regarding hiring decisions and the avoidance of potentially costly litigation.