Employee Selection and Training
Industrial/organizational psychology plays an important role in selecting and training employees. I/O psychology works to improve the efficiency of organizations. One way that I/O psychology does this is during the hiring process. I/O psychologists begin the hiring process by reviewing the number of people needed for that specific job. Some tests I/O psychologists design assist in the recruitment process. For example a typing test may be created to make sure the person has the ability to type at a certain WPM without error. Tests like these help to sort through candidates so time and resources are not wasted interviewing unqualified individuals. I/O psychology is also used in training programs to assist in making the programs efficient. It is important to have a way to measure the success in training programs. Legal and ethical concerns are important in the hiring and training process to protect organizations and maximize their efficiency.
Methods To Measure Success In Training Programs
Ways or methods that are used in measuring the success of training programs include “forecasting and measuring costs, forecasting and measuring benefits, calculating return on investment, and making ROI (return on investment) work for you” ( ,1999). When it comes to forecasting and measuring costs, one must consider eight things. These include “design and development cost, promotional costs, administration costs and faculty costs” ( , 1999). Other considerations are “materials, facilities, student costs, and evaluation costs” ( , 1999). Design and development costs also have considerations. The considerations for this section are the in-house design and development, the costs of designers and developers from outside the company, the copyright purchase, and travel costs. Promotional costs include the in-house publicity activity, costs for hiring from an outside agency, and advertising. The administration costs cover the number of hours of administration that is required as well as the registration fees and materials needed. The faculty costs include many sections. These include determining the number of participants, the amount of group training, one on one training, self-study training, and preparation time, and faculty expenses.
The cost of materials includes books, and licensing costs. The rooms that are used for the training programs, as well as the cost for the equipment that is used in the training programs falls under the category of facilities. The student costs, are considered the most significant cost. The cost of evaluations is referring to the time that is spent performing the evaluations.
In the method of forecasting and measuring benefits, there are four main areas to look at. These areas are labor savings, the increase of productivity, “other cost savings and other income generation” ( , 1999). By reducing the duplication of the efforts that are out into the labor savings and spending less time correcting mistakes, as well as having a quicker access to the information, a company can save money on labor costs. When there is an increase in productivity, a company will be able to reduce their efforts in methodologies. A company will also have a higher level of skills that will lead to faster work and higher levels of motivation. If an employee is well trained, the company will suffer less machine breakdowns, a lower turnover rate, and reduced debt. Finally, a company will have a higher success rate, an increase in sales referrals, and new product ideas. These fall under the category of other income generation.
When calculating return on an investment, companies look at the return on investment, the payback period, and simplifying the process. “The return on investment tells you the percentage return you have made over a specified period as a result of investing in a training programme” ( , 1999). The calculation for the ROI is “% ROI = (benefits / costs) x 100” ( , 1999). The payback period is the time frame in which the company has to wait for the benefits of the training sessions pay for themselves. The formula for the payback period is “payback period = costs / monthly benefits” ( , 1999). When simplifying the process, a company will use a training ROI calculator.
Legal And Ethical Concerns There are many ethical concerns that involve training and hiring programs within a corporation which include some of the future concerns as well. Some of these issues include the possible recruitment process of finding the new employee who is able to not only perform the necessary skills for the position but also one that can get along well with others. Another of the future concerns is the issues to end discrimination within the workplace. One of the current and ongoing issues within a corporation is the fact that organizations cannot be discriminatory. Prior to 1964 in the U.S. the discrimination against women and minorities was widespread and people will still see this same discrimination when it comes to promotions within the company or what society calls “the glass ceiling affect” (Spector, 2008). This is two people running for the same promotion a male and a female or a male and a minority, and the male is the one who gets the promotion based solely on the fact they are a white male in this society. The civil rights act has made it more difficult for companies to do this sort of discrimination relating to women, minorities, and the physically handicapped. In 1978 a new set of guidelines was introduced called the Uniform guidelines of employee selection, this is basically a set of guidelines that state if you hire a certain percentage of white males within the company, then next you must also hire a certain percentage of women and minorities as well. The Americans Disability act of 1990 also put a set of legal guidelines down for companies that state they must be able to provide the necessary equipment for pre-existing as well as newly hired handicapped employees. This act also states that they may not discriminate against hiring a handicapped person if they are well suited for the position. Due to federal sentencing guidelines for organizations of 1991, several companies comply with the requirements. The requirements include that companies implement a code of conduct, have high level oversight, provide ethics training to their employees, establish the company’s ethical cultures as well as make periodic assessments of the effectiveness of the program (Gorden, 2006). Other countries outside the U.S. also have their own strict guidelines that they must follow regarding the hiring and training of their own employees.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hiring process and training are important areas for I/O psychologist. I/O psychologists assist organizations to maximize efficiency in the training process and hiring process. Creating efficient hiring processes and training processes save organizations and corporations thousands of dollars. Ethical and legal issues are important for organizations to consider too. Laws have been created to protect minority groups from discrimination in the workplace and organizations need to consider these when hiring individuals. Organizations work with I/O psychologist to ensure they are proactive in every aspect of the business world and with continued research on the training and hiring processes organizations become more efficient. Reference
(1999). Calculating return on investment. Retrieved from http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/tngroi/tngroi05.htm
(1999). Forecasting and measuring benefits. Retrieved from http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/tngroi/tngroi04.htm
(1999). Forecasting and measuring costs. Retrieved from http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/tngroi/tngroi03.htm
(1999). Measuring the success of training. Retrieved from http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/tngroi/tngroi02.htm
Gorden, A. (2006, December 24). Ethics Trining Program for Employees. Retrieved from ezinearticles.com: http://ezinearticles.com/?Ethics-Training-Programs-For-Employees&id=395220
Spector, P. E. (2008). Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Research and Practice (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.