Global Versus Decomposed Estimates of Cross-Job Retraining Time

Cross-job retraining is becoming a viable option for coping with increasingly rapid technological changes in the workplace. In this study, we used data col- lected from 836 supervisors in 43 U.S. Air Force enlisted jobs to compare global versus decomposed estimates of cross-job retraining time in terms of interrater reliability and convergent validity. Convergent validities of retrain- ing time estimates were assessed in terms of their correlations with each other and with two additional determinants of retraining ease: learning difficulty of the new job, and old-versus-new job differences in aptitude requirements. In general, the reliabilities for the global and decomposed judgments were com- parable. Additional correlational results supported the convergent validities of both the global and decomposed retraining time estimates.     

Development and convergent validation of a methodology for estimating cross-job retraining times

Cross-jobtransferability of skills is defined in terms of the ease with which individuals can apply knowledge and skills acquired in a previous job in learning to perform a new job. This study reports the development of a prototype methodology for estimating retraining times based on analyses of transferability of skills. Using this methodology which assesses interjob similarity in task content and task learning time, times to retrain across 41 different U.S. Air Force enlisted jobs were estimated. Convergent validities of retraining time estimates were tested in terms of correlations with differences in jobs': (a) general job learning difficulty, and (b) aptitude requirements. Results supported predictions that cross-job retraining time would be longer (a)into jobs that generally aremore difficult to learn, (b)from jobs that generally areless difficult to learn, and (c) across jobs having different, rather than similar, aptitude requirements. Implications for training, human resources planning, and coping with increasingly rapid technological changes in the workplace are discussed.Research sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research/AFSC, United States Air Force, under contract F49620-87-R-0004. The United States Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation hereon.     

Predicting Training and Job Performance for Transit Operators

Although considerable meta‐analytic research has validated the use of cognitive ability tests, structured interviews, and personality tests with training and job performance criteria, few studies have investigated the validity of these measures with transit operators. There are the only two single studies of concurrent validation research specifically with transit operators. This article presents the results of a predictive validation study conducted with transit operator applicants for a large urban transit authority in Canada. Key knowledge, skills, and abilities were determined for the role and used as a basis for the design and choice of predictors and criteria. Four predictors were used in the study: education, cognitive ability, personality assessment, and structured interview. Criteria included training performance (formative and summative), probationary performance, preventable accidents, and lost time injuries. Validation results supported cognitive ability, structured interview, and several personality factors as predictors of training performance, but less so for job performance. The use of formative training ratings greatly augmented the evidence supporting the predictors beyond typical organizational criteria.     

Meta‐Analysis of Clerical Performance Predictors: Still stable after all these years

Pearlman, Schmidt, and Hunter (1980) published a seminal paper on the validity of various measures for predicting performance in clerical jobs. They concluded that for both job and training performance criteria, 10 types of tests (e.g., perceptual speed, clerical aptitude, verbal ability) predicted performance across 5 clerical job families. This paper describes a psychometric meta‐analysis of validity studies using similar measures for clerical jobs conducted since 1980 to examine the stability of Pearlman and colleagues' validity estimates. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the long‐term stability of validity generalization estimates over a period of several decades. Clerical jobs provide a compelling case study because these jobs have changed considerably due to the increased use of computers and technology in the office environment. Results showed that the mean population estimates in the present study were consistent with, or higher than, those obtained by Pearlman and colleagues, thus demonstrating the long‐term stability of meta‐analytic estimates of validity. The relative stability of the validity estimates also supports the robustness of g as a predictor, even as jobs change over time.     

Personality traits and job characteristics as predictors of job experiences

This study investigates the relationships of personality traits and job characteristics (predictors) with job experiences (criteria) in a sample of job incumbents working in a broad variety of occupations. Subjects were 181 job applicants, who participated in a personnel selection procedure carried out by a Dutch staffing organization. As a part of this procedure, subjects completed a number of personality questionnaires. Personality scale scores were factor-analysed, and four orthogonal trait dimensions were identified: Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Sensation Seeking, and Achievement Motivation. Between l½ and 2 years after the selection, subjects rated their current jobs on four job characteristics dimensions, namely dynamicity, autonomy, external–internal, and structure. At the same time, they completed a questionnaire measuring job experiences, namely job satisfaction, job-induced tension, propensity to leave the job, and self-appraised performance. The results indicated that personality traits had several significant and hypothesized longitudinal effects on the job experience criteria. Personality contributed to the prediction of the criteria even when the effects of job characteristics were taken into account. No significant Personality X Job Characteristics interactions were found, although subgroup analysis revealed a number of interesting differences among the various categories of occupations. For example, Sensation Seeking predicted job strain and propensity to leave, especially in highly structured and not very autonomous jobs. It is concluded that work experiences are clearly determined by person and job characteristics, although in an additive rather than in an interactional way.     

The effectiveness of Dry Bed Training for nocturnal enuresis in adults

Nine enuretic adults were successfully treated by the Dry Bed Training in a fairly short time (means = 15 weeks) including the retraining period for 3 Ss who relapsed after the therapy. There were no differences between primary and secondary (nocturnal) enuretics. The few relapses were neutralized by a short retraining. The study shows that this minimal intervention treatment is effective and efficient.     

General,Work-Specific,and Work-Role Conscientiousness Measures in Predicting Work Criteria: A Comparative Perspective

The current study compared general, work-specific, and work-role measures of conscientiousness as predictors of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention, job engagement, and task performance. As expected, work-role conscientiousness yielded stronger relationships with five of the ten work-related criteria than general conscientiousness, and with six of the ten criteria than work-specific conscientiousness. More importantly, work-role conscientiousness displayed incremental validity in predicting nearly all work-related criteria, when controlling for general and work-specific conscientiousness alone or in combination. It is also worth noting that six of ten analyses found that work-role conscientiousness demonstrated greater relative importance compared to its counterparts. Finally, we found that the context in which the items were completed moderated the relationships between work-role conscientiousness and two work-related criteria (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment). Together, these results suggest that researchers should consider the work-role measure of conscientiousness in the prediction of work criteria.     

The criterion-related validity of integrity tests: an updated meta-analysis

Integrity tests have become a prominent predictor within the selection literature over the past few decades. However, some researchers have expressed concerns about the criterion-related validity evidence for such tests because of a perceived lack of methodological rigor within this literature, as well as a heavy reliance on unpublished data from test publishers. In response to these concerns, we meta-analyzed 104 studies (representing 134 independent samples), which were authored by a similar proportion of test publishers and non-publishers, whose conduct was consistent with professional standards for test validation, and whose results were relevant to the validity of integrity-specific scales for predicting individual work behavior. Overall mean observed validity estimates and validity estimates corrected for unreliability in the criterion (respectively) were .12 and .15 for job performance, .13 and .16 for training performance, .26 and .32 for counterproductive work behavior, and .07 and .09 for turnover. Although data on restriction of range were sparse, illustrative corrections for indirect range restriction did increase validities slightly (e.g., from .15 to .18 for job performance). Several variables appeared to moderate relations between integrity tests and the criteria. For example, corrected validities for job performance criteria were larger when based on studies authored by integrity test publishers (.27) than when based on studies from non-publishers (.12). In addition, corrected validities for counterproductive work behavior criteria were larger when based on self-reports (.42) than when based on other-reports (.11) or employee records (.15).     

A comparison of supervisor and incumbent estimates of SDy

This study attempted to determine if experienced job incumbents were capable of providing estimates of worth that were similar to those provided by supervisors. The job class investigated in this study was Eligibility Technician, primarily found in Social or Human Services Departments of public agencies. The participants were Eligibility Supervisors (n=120), and Eligibility Technicians (n=203). The Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, and Muldrow (1979) global estimation method was used to obtain estimates of worth at the 15th, 50th and 85th percentiles of job performance. The results indicated that job incumbents provided estimates of job worth that were not statistically different from supervisorial estimates.Portions of this paper were presented as part of a symposium entitled,A psychometric and fiscal assessment for selecting eligibility workers: Multiple agency results. Annual meeting of the International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council, Chicago, Illinois, June, 1991.     

Effect of Rater Nationality on the Relationships among Ratee Task,Contextual, and Counterproductive Behaviors and Salary Estimates

This study examined the moderating effect of rater nationality on the relationships among ratee task, contextual, and counterproductive behaviors, and rater salary estimates gauging the dollar value of overall job performance. As hypothesized, rater nationality had a significant moderating effect, such that the Lebanese sample showed stronger relationships between each of the three types of job performance and their dollar value estimates than did the American sample. In other words, results indicated that Lebanese participants made stronger salary differentiations among the different levels of task, contextual, and counterproductive performance. These results seem to suggest that Lebanese participants provided salary estimates using more of an equity approach, whereas American participants provided salary estimates using more of an equality approach. Results contribute to the growing evidence that national culture is important in evaluating job performance.     

Training the disturbed enuretic

Twenty-two disturbed enuretic children were treated for their bedwetting with training procedures. Eighteen of 22 (81.8%) reached the initial success criterion in an average of 57.5 days. Ten of the 18 (55.6%) met the retraining criteria of relapse, and 9 of the relapses were successfully retrained, while I stopped wetting spontaneously. As compared to non-relapsed children, relapsed children had a significantly higher number of initial symptoms checked. The results indicate that a training approach is effective for the treatment of enuresis in disturbed children, but the more disturbed have a greater likelihood of relapse.     

Job Satisfaction and Effective Performance of School Counselors

This study examines the relationships between job satisfaction and the effectiveness of the performance of first-year school counselors. Co-workers and administrators rated the counselors' effectiveness in 6 job activities, and clients rated the counselors in 3 aspects of the counseling interview. The performance ratings were correlated with the counselors' job satisfaction in 8 areas. Several job satisfaction dimensions were related to effective performance of selected activities by the co-workers, administrators, and clients. Satisfaction with their future and security in the job, relations with associates, involvement in the job, and training for the job were the dimensions most frequently related to job satisfaction. The nature of the relationships among the criteria of effective performance indicated that 3 groups had different perceptions of the counselor.     

A trilevel approach to motivators for retraining

A three-level taxonomy of the reasons for vocational retraining is proposed. The compliance level is characterized by the necessity of immediate acquisition of a profession. At the identification level retraining is motivated by the need for a satisfying self-definition through the profession. With the internalization level the profession is chosen to suit one's capabilities and self-fulfillment. Participants in retraining programs filled out the following questionnaires: locus of control, vocational maturity attitudes, level of motivation for retraining, evaluation of the retraining program, and new job satisfaction. Internalization level motivators positively correlated with internal locus of control and vocational maturity attitudes. No such correlations were found for identification or compliance level. Subjects who retrained because of high compliance motivation were less satisfied by the programs, more inclined to drop out, and less apt to seek employment in jobs for which they had retrained than those high on the other levels of motivation. No difference in job satisfaction was determined for those who did work in the new profession.     

THE VALIDATION OF A MINICOURSE FOR TELEPHONE COMPANY SWITCHING TECHNICIANS1

The introduction of electronic switching equipment has changed the nature of the telephone company switching job. A lengthy and complex training program must be completed before an employee can perform the electronic switching job. Because of the high cost of this training a more elaborate, second-stage selection procedure was developed. The ESS Minicourse was designed to be a self-paced content valid sample of ESS training which would be suitable for use with job candidates without any previous telephone company experience. A criterion-related validity study was undertaken to provide further evidence of validity as well as data helpful in setting a cutting score. Results showed that a combination of time to complete the Minicourse and performance on the objective tests was predictive of time to complete self-paced training in electronic switching. Cross- validated estimates of validity were used to develop estimates of u'tility given different selection ratios.     

Validity of Selection/ Classification Variables for Performance in Three Navy Ratings

This study examined speed of advancement and score on a job knowledge test as job performance criteria in the validation of selection and classification variables for three Navy ratings. Longitudinal samples spanning a 4-year period were drawn for men in radioman, machinist's mate, and hospital corpsman ratings who, within their first enlistment, advanced to E-4 by means of the Navy competitive advancement system. Validity coefficients for Navy enlisted selection and classification variables (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery [ASVAB] and education) were computed for personnel in each rating, subgrouped by entry pay grade. Validity coefficients for the job knowledge test were high by historical standards, and the effects were highest for the subgroups with the highest selection standards. Validity coefficients for the advancement criterion were much lower. Advancement, the criterion that appeared to have the greater face validity, was not as good a measure of job performance as the job knowledge test. The criteria were predicted much better by mental ability than by level of education variables. Personnel who enlisted at E-2 and E-3 pay grades spent substantially more time working at the journeyman performance level during their first enlistment than did personnel who enlisted at E-1.     

An Evaluation of Occupational Behavior in Individuals with and without Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is now conceptualized as a life-course persistent disorder, including impairments in the occupational functional domains. Occupational impairment is one of the considerations in contemporary diagnostic criteria for ADHD. This study compares the workplace behavior of 26 young adults without ADHD to 24 young adults with ADHD in a simulated pizza restaurant and delivery setting on a job application completion task, in a job interview, and on job performance tasks. Results indicated that there were significant differences in masked ratings of job interview performance, favoring the performance of individuals without ADHD. No significant differences were obtained for job applications and job performance. Results suggest that job interviewing skills may be an important area to address for individuals with ADHD entering the workforce.     

The impact of job complexity and performance measurement on the temporal consistency, stability, and test-retest reliability of employee job performance ratings

Although research has shown that individual job performance changes over time, the extent of such changes is unknown. In this article, the authors define and distinguish between the concepts of temporal consistency, stability, and test-retest reliability when considering individual job performance ratings over time. Furthermore, the authors examine measurement type (i.e., subjective and objective measures) and job complexity in relation to temporal consistency, stability, and test-retest reliability. On the basis of meta-analytic results, the authors found that the test-retest reliability of these ratings ranged from .83 for subjective measures in low-complexity jobs to .50 for objective measures in high-complexity jobs. The stability of these ratings over a 1-year time lag ranged from .85 to .67. The analyses also reveal that correlations between performance measures decreased as the time interval between performance measurements increased, but the estimates approached values greater than zero.     

Developing Measures of Basic Job-Relevant English Proficiency for the Prediction of Job Performance and Promotability

The present study is an attempt to devise reliable and valid measures of job-relevant basic English proficiency to be applied in the prediction of job performance and promotability in an entry-level manual labor job dominated by workers whose native language is not English. An audio test and a reading test were developed to assess the ability to understand spoken English and written English respectively using job relevant material. Results showed that both tests demonstrated high predictive validity for the criteria of supervisory assessments of incumbents' English proficiency on the job, overall job performance, and promotability. In predicting ratings of overall job performance and promotability, each test provided incremental validity over the predictability provided by the other test. In addition, the tests also provided incremental validity in predicting promotability over the predictability provided by overall job performance.     

Conscientiousness,Its Facets,and the Prediction of Job Performance Ratings: Evidence against the narrow measures

This study empirically tested the predictions of the three basic perspectives on the bandwidth debate about the relationship between personality and job performance, regarding the validity of conscientiousness and its facets. The sample consisted of 226 police officers. Conscientiousness and three facets (order, industriousness, and self‐control) were correlated with three performance criteria (overall job performance, task performance, and orderliness). A Schmid–Leiman transformation made it possible to residualize the variance of the facets and to isolate their unique contribution to the prediction of performance measures. The results showed that conscientiousness predicted the three criteria (true validities of.25,.28 and.37, respectively) and that the facets neither predicted job performance nor showed incremental validity over conscientiousness. Finally, the implications of the findings for theory and practice are commented on, and future research is suggested.