Course Project
Alana Hooper hooper.alana@gmail.com Keller Business School of Management
Dr. Burnell Carden
October 18, 2015
HRM 594

Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..p. 3
What is a Realistic Job Preview…………………………………………………………p.3
Methodology used for Research…………………………………………………………p.4
Relevance of Research…………………………………………………………………..p.4
Arguments against the Realistic Job Preview…………………………………………..p. 5
Literature Review Jean Phillips……………………………………………………………………..p. 6 Stephanie Pane Haden………………………………………………………….p. 10 James Breaugh………………………………………………………………….p. 11 David Earnest…………………………………………………………………..p. 11 James Breaugh and Robert Billings……………………………………………p. 13 Paula Popovich and John Wanous……………………………………………..p. 14 John Wanous…………………………………………………………………...p. 16
Results………………………………………………………………………………….p. 17
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..p. 18
References……………………………………………………………………………..p. 19

Strategic Staffing Research Project
The chosen topic of discussion for this study pertains to the Realistic Job Preview, or RJP, that involves employee selection, performance, and retention. The following study addresses the methodology applied for this research and the value of the contents. The next factor describes situations where the present of a RJP appeared non-existent. The third component suggests recommendations to alleviate this problem in the future. The last portion of this dialog explains the value of content found in this study.
What is a Realistic Job Preview
The individual finds out, usually through the interview process, that the job fails to possess the qualities desirable. The failure to illustrate the qualities, requirement, and characteristics of the company and for the prospective employee causes a waste of time, money, and in some cases, self-esteem issues. This proves frustrating to both the employer and prospective employee.
The Realistic Job Preview assists in eliminating such factors, as mentioned above. Phillips and Gully (2015), protest that the RJP displays the positive and negative factors to the prospective employee with a realistic picture of what the company and position require from employees. The course project describes findings of Phillips and Gully (2015), that also makes noteworthy references from author and Professor John Wanous that illustrates three major purposes of the RJP. Wanous wrote many articles and textbooks describing the functionality of the RJP. From the information gathered through about the RJP, this topic appears to serve the HR profession and prospective employee very well to eliminate misleading job and candidate expectations.
It appears that the RJP serves a great purpose to the Industrial and Organizational psychology and Human Resources field when it pertains to placing the right person in the right job or the right company. The RJP paints a vivid picture for the company and the newcomer to the company. The RJP places the information out in the open so the employer and employee have a clear understanding of expectations.
Methodology used for Research
For the purpose of this study, a qualitative study focusing on naturalistic research proves the appropriate method for evaluating journal reviews. A qualitative study “emphasizes the importance of looking at variables in the natural setting in which they are found. Interaction between variables is important” (Key, 1997, para 1). Variable are elements that possess the potential to change the outcome of a situation.
Many qualitative studies exist, this study applies a naturalistic qualitative study proves beneficial because no modification to the observation exists. “Naturalistic inquiry is research that focuses on how people behave when absorbed in genuine life experiences in natural settings” (Frey, et al., 1999, para 1). Conducting a naturalistic research study, one eliminates the manipulation of the observable behavior. This study consists of documented research observation is a non-applicable aspect because the observation derives from the information gathered from written material.
Relevance of Research
Many times the employer, HR staff member, or prospective employee experiences situation where a job or candidate appears to possess great potential to fill an opening position at a company, only to find out during the interview that the candidate fails to meet the requirements. A realistic job preview is a description of the entails pertaining to job related tasks. The idea behind this theory relies on the assumption that if a prospective employee understands the entailments of a job position prior to accepting an employment offer, the individual gain awareness of the entities and therefore increases the chances of retention. In contrast, if an individual assumes job related tasks involve one thing and then find out after accepting the position that job duties involve something different, this increases the probability of employee turnover (Breaugh, 1983).
This problem led organizational psychologist and Human Resource personnel to conduct a study and devise the Realistic Job Preview theory. The underlying idea behind this idea suggests that a job description needs to include the actual tasks involved with holding a particular position. Normally, recruitment specialist place emphasis on constructing an appealing job description for drawing in candidates. Glamourizing a job, only to find out later the actual work holds little or no accuracy involving job tasks and causes problems between the employee and the organization. This issue according to research is a leading cause for employee voluntary turnover rate.
Arguments against the Realistic Job Preview
While many researchers believe the RJP provides a number of beneficial factors, there are some issues concerning the RJP. The first issue concerning the RJP is the effect on employee performance. The initial prediction of the RJP involved the idea that an employee understanding the entailments of job tasks prior to beginning the job increases the performance of the employee. However, Stephanie Pane Haden (2012) suggests in some cases this idea falls short of the initial expectations of the research. While Haden illustrates the overall positive aspects of the RJP, the application of variables influences the outcome of the employee performance.
The analysis of the effectiveness involving the RJP gained the attention of many research projects. However, Bernard Dugoni and Daniel Ilgen (1981) suggest that the problem with finding conclusive results pertaining to employee turnover is in large part because of small sampling studies. The studies conducted fail to provide a group of sampling to provide adequate information because “failure to find turnover rate differences may be the result of a lack of statistical power” (Dugoni & Ilgen, 1981, p. 612).
Essentially, the main area of concern with the Realistic Job Preview appears to suggest that the RJP possess little effect on employee performance. Researchers advocate that informing the prospective employee of job related tasks help matching employees and jobs. The area of concern falls with the performance of the employee is the choice of that person. Describing job related tasks assist in the recruitment and selection process, however the performance falls within the realm of employee behavior.
The second area of concern with the RJP involves statistics. To measure any research, population and variables play a major role in the outcome of the experiment. John Wanous proposes the implementing a modification of the Realistic Job Preview to create a useful tool. An evaluation of the proper method for use of the RJP occurs below.
Literature Review
Jean Phillips (1998)
The first literature review used for research in this study derives from author Jean Phillips (1998). In this research study, there contains two major components. The first element involves moderators used in the study of the Realistic Job Preview and the second includes methods of research used.
Moderators of RJP. The setting of the research entails the analysis that Phillips believes influences the outcome of the study. Phillips ascertains that laboratory and field study influences the results of studying the RJP. Phillips also suggests that participants in a laboratory study endure more negative aspects of job related tasks than those in a field study. This assessment involves the psychological process the studies person endures. If an individual knows work performed is part of a laboratory study, that individual put forth more effort than not knowing about the experiment (Phillips, 1998).
The time portion of the study involves whether the knowledge of the job-related task occur before or after the employment acceptance. Phillips (1998) suggest “Researchers have proposed that realistic information administered after job offer acceptance is a different construct from a realistic job preview because the opportunity for job candidates to self-select out of the application process no longer exists” (p. 674). Providing the job-relate task prior to employment allows the prospective employee time to reflect on the work involved with performing duties required.
The third component Phillips states influences the Realistic Job Preview is the method of communicating job entailments. There are three primary methods of delivering the requirements of the job-related tasks. These methods include written, verbal, and technology. Because a job describes bears persuasion tactics, the method used influences the responsiveness of the prospective employee. Methods of Study. The second factor involves the methods applied for studying the RJP. Nine areas make up methods for evaluating the RJP according to Phillips. The first component involves study review procedures. Phillips enlists many sources of information to conduct this study. Some of the sources include publicized and unpublicized publications, manuals, article reviews, books, and meta-analyses reviews concerning the RJP. The variety of sources used when conducting research depends largely on the resources used for study. This draws perspectives from other viewpoints and employs a large range of methodologies to form a conclusion (Phillips, 1998). The second area for conducting research involves dependent variables. For the use of applying a Realistic Job Preview, the study involves the use of dependent variables. The dependent variables encompass aspects that influence an outcome. For the purpose of an RJP, the dependent variable involve the use of providing a job description and allowing the individual to determine if the entailments requirements match those of the prospective employee (Phillips, 1998). The third element comprises of the attribution from recruitment. Essentially, this area studies the longevity of employment in relation to the job requirements. Researchers evaluate the relationship between the job-related requirements and the responsiveness to endure the work from the employee. During this area of study, research determines if the job description influences the turnover rate (Phillips, 1998). The fourth constituent of the RJP study involves the level of initial expectations. Phillips (1998) ascertains that individuals that gained knowledge of the RJP expectations performed better. Phillips suggests groups participating in the experience tend to rely on the expectations as a whole instead of individual expectations. The theory behind conducting this portion of the study appears that an individual perspective benefits better than group expectations. The fifth element of evaluation is the accuracy of the expectations received. This portion of the evaluation assesses the comparison and correlation of the expectations of the prospective employee in relations to the organizational expectations. Phillips attempts to determine if the employee expectation match the Realistic Job Preview given by the organization (Phillips, 1998). The sixth portion addressed by Phillips (1998), is the degree to which the employee believes honesty, clarity, and accuracy derived from the RJP provided by the organization. This entails the trustworthiness the employee feels toward the organizational job description. An organization that fails in this area increases the probability of distorting the employee-employer relationship. The seventh area Phillips (1998) deems notable is the job satisfaction category. Phillips suggests the most common methods of obtaining accurate information pertaining to job satisfaction occurs through the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, which evaluates the responses of the employee in relation to the adaptability of the work required by the organization (Weiss, et. al., 1967). Also applied for this research, according to Phillips, is the Job Description Index. This assessment evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the organization (Cranny, et. al. 1992). The eighth element of the RJP study conducted by Phillips (1998) entails the level to which the organization commits to assisting the employee succeed. This generally refers to the task-oriented and the relations-oriented leadership styles of the organization in relation to the perception of employee evaluation (Brown, 2003). The ninth area assessed by Phillips (1998) is the voluntary turnover topic. This topic evaluates the longevity of employment and the resignation of a position by the employee on a voluntary basis. The organization attempts to study the causes of voluntary turnover in relation to the RJP. Essentially, this area attempts to determine if the employee believes the job entailments matches that of the RJP.
Stephanie Pane Haden (2012) Stephanie Pane Haden (2012) applies the theories of goal setting and expectancy theory to the Realistic Job Preview. Haden suggests that the positive elements of an RJP increase the expectancy and goal setting of the employee. Positive RJP build the perception of advancement and achievement through the RJP. “Therefore, participants that receive only positive information in their job preview should have higher expectancies about their performance on the job and, as a result, set higher performance goals for themselves” (Pane Haden, 2012, p. 165). In contrast, Pane Haden (2012) suggests a negative RJP lowers the goal setting and expectations of the employee. In essence, the underlying view of the RJP according to Pane Haden (2012) depends in large part of the projection of the Realistic Job Preview designed by the organization.
James Breaugh (1983) James Breaugh (1983) proposes two factors that influence the Realistic Job Preview. These factors include the psychological process and RJP boundaries. Breaugh (1983) eliminates the attempt to prove or disprove the effectiveness of the RJP. Instead the foundation of the study helps build on future research, development, and use of the RJP. The Psychological Process. According to Breaugh (1983), four components comprise of the psychological elements of the RJP. The first is the employee assessment pertaining to the meeting of expectations regarding job entailments. This area suggests that employees who obtain expectation produce an increase likelihood of performance and satisfaction. The second element involves the coping mechanisms and adaptability of the employee in relation to organization requirements. Essentially, Breaugh (1983) suggests a forewarning to the prospective employee helps cope with stressful situations that occur with the particular job position. This area constructs as a forewarning of potential events common with the job in question. This portion of the RJP introduces potential scenarios common with the position. The third aspect of the research conducted by Breaugh (1983) is the air of honesty. The air of honesty element illustrates the employee desire to complete the tasks and perform at, or above, organization standards because the individual constituted the decision based on the job description provided by the organization. Essentially, the employee follows through with the assignment the individual chose to accept employment based on the self-confidence to complete the job requirements.
The four element of the psychological process involves self-selection. An individual reviewing a job description finding the inability to meet the requirements appears less likely to apply for the position. Essentially, the prospective employee evaluates the self to determine the skills available to perform the organizational task (Breaugh, 1983).
Realistic Job Preview boundary conditions. Breaugh (1983) argues with the hypothesis John Wanous devised pertaining to the boundaries employers place when seeking a prospective employee. Breaugh suggests, placing reasonable boundary concerning a job description allows the job seeker to assess the potential success or failure to perform duties required. Essentially, Breaugh suggests organizations to assess the need to fill the position and the requirements expected from an employee who performs this job (Breaugh, 1983). David Earnest (2011) David Earnest conducted a study using the foundation of information provided by Jean Phillips, John Wanous, and James Breaugh. The study Earnest attempts to elaborate on the results derived from previous analysis of the RJP. The four areas of research for this summary include job acceptance, expectations, and perception of honesty, role clarity, and organizational attraction. Job acceptance. As discussed in the previous literature analysis, job acceptance is the use of providing prospective employees with the job and working environment within the organization. This allows the employment candidate to reflect on the expectations and conclude the ability to perform the task prior to accepting a position. This element provides the candidate with the information needed to construct an informed decision regarding the acceptance of employment. Earnest (2011) argue that the evaluation of the job acceptance poses difficulty when evaluating the RJP because some individuals chose to decline employment upon the provision of the job description. Expectations. For this aspect of the analysis, the authors maintain that a correlation between the job description and actual experiences prove to provide beneficial information to the RJP. Essentially, the authors maintain that the matching of the expectations and the experiences helps increase employee retention. In contrast, the differential factors of the expectations and experiences cause an increase in the employee turnover (Earnest, 2011). Perceptions of Honesty. This component of the RJP suggests that organizational honesty increases the possibility of employee retention. The authors maintain an organization bearing honesty regarding the positive and a negative aspect of a job build a relationship with the employee with values of integrity and therefore increase the possibility of retention. The perception of honesty builds on the foundation of employee and employer interaction and relationship (Earnest, 2011). Role Clarity. This element of the RJP is the level of understanding that the organization provides the prospective employee pertaining to required attributes. Candidates failing to understand the job entailments increase the chances of leaving the organization because the job description fails to meet the expectations. Communication is a key component to this element of the RJP. Conversely, the organization needs to construct the job description in a manner that potential candidates understand. Complying with this need eliminates miscommunication and thus reduces turnover possibilities (Earnest, 2011). Organizational Attraction. This area attempts to match the goals and values of both the organization and employee. Essentially, this component addresses the acceptability the employee believes the organization provides. An organization failing to provide this need risks the opportunity to employ well-matched individuals within the organization (Earnest, 2011).
James Breaugh and Robert Billings (1988) An individual analysis of the work in relations to the RJP by James Breaugh appears above. However, writing in conjunction with Robert Billings the two authors illustrate areas that most RJP study fail to address. These areas include accuracy, specificity, broad, credibility, and importance. While accuracy and honesty appears in many of the above summaries, Breaugh and Billings (1998) elaborate on the five elements of the RJP. Accuracy pertains to the true information provided in the RJP. Honesty is a factor in providing accurate information. However, accuracy also involved providing the correct and precise information. Breaugh and Billings maintains accuracy poses an issue when attempt to validate the RJP (Breaugh & Billings, 1998). Breaugh and Billings (1998) inform about the generalization of job entailments in many of the cases studies. This poses difficulty for the ability to retain an employee and for the employee to gain satisfaction. Specificity refers to the manner in which the RJP explains the job entailments. The authors suggest that for the RJP to display effective the information provided needs to contain specific details to alleviate missing information (Breaugh & Billings, 1998). The broad aspect of the RJP fails to pinpoint the details of the job by narrowing the information down to specifics. This aspect works in conjunction with the specificity of the RJP. While the specific details define exact tasks, the broad aspect narrows those tasks down to the exact entailments of the job (Breaugh & Billings, 1998). The fourth element described by the authors involves the credibility factor. Credibility for the RJP according to Breaugh and Billings (1998) needs to match the RJP author with the position seeking candidates. In other words, the hiring individual understands the requirements for the position. This helps the organization put a hiring official with knowledge of the position in the selection process.
The fifth component addresses importance. “Given time constraints, it is obviously impossible to convey everything about the job and the organization to an applicant. Thus, the RJP must focus on the most important aspects of the work situation” (Breaugh & Billings, 1998, p. 296).
Paula Popovich and John Wanous (1982) In this study, Popovich and Wanous reiterate the values of RJP as described in the above review. Much of the information concerning the RJP derives from Wanous. However, one additional element added to this review in lieu of the other studies consists of the use of social psychology and the effects of persuasive communication. There are two key elements to this review. Attitude. The authors maintain attitude holds three components. The first element is the affect. For this element, the employee concludes the perception of organization likability, which determines the emotional response toward the organization. An employee who perceives the organization as good and likeable displays positive outward emotions to performing well (Popovich & Wanous, 1982). The second factor is the cognitive evaluation the employee emulates toward the organization. This entails gaining knowledge and applying that knowledge toward the information gathered about the organization. A positive cognitive perception displays the behavior from the employee to perform well (Popovich & Wanous, 1982). The third factors concerning attitude is the behavior of the employee in relation to the organization. This is the outward display of actions from the employee. An employee who perceives a positive relationship with the organization performs better than a negative behavioral perception (Popovich & Wanous, 1982). Sources of persuasive message. This is the second factor of social psychology affecting the RJP. There are three elements to this portion of the study. The first involves the audience. Popovich and Wanous (1982) maintain the two areas addressed in this section entail the reception of the audience and the yielding. The reception involves the understanding the message in relation to method used to convey the information. The yielding relates to how the employee uses the information. The next area addressed involving social psychology is the content of the message. Essentially, to produce an effective message pertaining to the RJP, the content contains both positive and negative tasks involved with the job position. Providing this information allows the employee to take the information provided and assess if the position appears desirable. The employee understands all aspects involving work related tasks (Popovich & Wanous, 1982). The last methods for conveying a message involve the channels used to deliver the information. The authors maintain that the method used to deliver information directly affects the perception of the entailments concerning work related tasks. Though each method of information delivery presents benefits to the employee and organization, the ultimate goal derives from establishing a clear and concise method of determining expectations (Popovich & Wanous, 1982).
John Wanous (1989) In the literature review composed by John Wanous (1989), the review of the ‘ten tough choices’ occur. The first choice addresses the assessment of the RJP regarding a reaction or proaction to the commitment and employee retention issues. The stance the organization assumes before the use of the RJP determines what avenue the organization takes towards commitment and employee retention. The second factor involves determines if the RJP contains a structured or unstructured method of application. Third includes the use of descriptive or judgment factors. Essentially, this element determines if the perception of the RJP satisfies or dissatisfies the prospective employee. The fourth component is extensive or intensive. This portion describes the information provided to the employee. Information contains elements of the RJP evaluates the level of information provided and the delivery of the message (Wanous, 1989). The fifth choice of the RJP pertains to the level of negativity applied in the RJP. Both positive and negative aspects create the RJP. The organization determines to the degree of providing the negative aspects. The sixth section determines the most effective method of communication delivery. The organization determines the appropriate method to indicate the entailments of a position. The seventh element determines the individual that delivers the RJP (Wanous, 1989). The eighth and ninth choices address when the organization introduces the RJP. Common questions for the portion concentrate on answering if the organization pursues reducing retention before or after the problem occurs. The last determines the possibility of sharing RJP results with those outside of the organization (Wanous, 1989).
Results
Each of the resources used in this study provide valuable information to the success of the RJP. The authors depicted above each greatly contribute to designing an effective RJP. The recommendation concerning the application of the RJP derives from each source to create a combining study of validating the use of the RJP. The RJP applied for the recommendation of use incorporates both the organizational and social psychology aspects. In doing so, the organization addresses three major components to the RJP to increase effectiveness. The first involves informed decision. This element provides specific details pertaining to job task in an understandable fashion by illustrating the positive and negative entailment of the job. The employee obtains enough information through this method to conclude the acceptance or denial of employment offer. The second characteristic of an effective RJP involves detailing the expectation of the organization and the employee. This portion of the RJP assists in making an informed decision because it assess if the expectations of both parties correlate. Compatibility factors occur in this section of the RJP. The last element of the RJP revision to provide effective use, involves honesty. This section addresses the building of organizational and employee relations. Trust occurs in this section. The most effective method for maximizing performance from an employee occurs through a healthy relationship between the organization and employee.
Conclusion
The above study defines the Realistic Job Preview and benefits from using this methodology to recruit, select, and retain employees. This report employs the use of a qualitative naturalistic research method to provide an un-manipulated study to provide the resources for making an informed decision pertaining to employment offers. The study also eliminates a bias opinion of the study by illustrating the pros and cons of the RJP. Many sources of research conclude this study and a summary of each encompasses this study. The last area address involves revising the RJP to recommend an modern and useful tool organizations and employees benefit from.

References
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