Human Resource Selection, Robert D. Gatewood, Hubert S. Feild, Murray R. Barrick
Based on the latest research, court findings, and best practices from the field, Gatewood, Feild, and Barrick’s Human Resource Selection 9e equips readers with the knowledge and tools to develop and implement effective selection programs within today's organizations. It does this by fully explaining and providing detailed examples of three necessary components in the design and use of effective and legally defensible selection programs. The first of these is doing a job analysis to identify both the important activities of the job to be filled and the worker characteristics necessary to successfully complete these activities. The second is understanding the various laws and legal issues that apply to recruitment of applicants and the conduct of selection programs. The third is a unique feature of this book. Six chapters are devoted to how to build and use the main instruments that gather information from applicants about the type and amount of worker characteristics that each possesses. These six major instruments are: application materials, interviews, ability and job knowledge tests, personality inventories, job simulations & work samples, and tests for counterproductive work behaviors (integrity, drug, and genetic testing). Organizations use one or more of these but frequently the instrument used gathers information that is not directly related to job performance, does not have adequate evaluation guidelines, and can be contested by applicants as unfair or discriminatory. Each chapter discusses how to avoid these issues and how to form a useful and defensible instrument that provides valid information to use in making selection decisions.
The book presents “best practices,” not “easy practices.” It takes time, thought, and effort to build a useful selection program. There is ample evidence that organizations that develop “best selection practices” have high levels of employee performance. There are three assumptions of such practices. First, the information that is gathered from applicants must be directly related to performance of the job. Usually information such as degrees earned, previous job titles, future individual goals, years of experience are not strongly related to job performance and not even verifiable. Second, there must be a numerical scoring method to apply to the information gathered from applicants. These numbers quantify the amount of a worker characteristic that the applicant possesses. As in most fields of organizations, e.g., financial, marketing, production, numbers are the basis for decisions. The third assumption of selection is that there are decision rules that use the numbers of applicants to make decisions as to whom to offer employment. Evidence is clear that in selection, as in the other areas mentioned, decisions based on numbers are superior to those based upon human judgment. These three assumptions are fulfilled in growing numbers of successful firms.
Extremely reader friendly, the text is written to clearly present its ideas and provide specific examples and details of its recommendations. The fact that it is in its 9th edition, having been updated in each edition since its original printing in 1987, is evidence of its value to selection students and practitioners.
Robert D. Gatewood
Robert D. Gatewood, Emeritus Professor, University of Georgia completed his Ph.D. at Purdue in industrial psychology. He worked as a consultant and then joined academia as a member of the Department of Management at the Terry College of Business, University of Georgia. He held both faculty and executive positions as a department chair and associate dean in the College of Business. Bob was also elected to five executive positions, including President, within the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management. During this time he also served as a consultant to several firms and taught in multiple executive education programs.
Hubert S. Feild
Hubert S. Feild is the Torchmark Professor Emeritus of Management in the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University. He received his Ph.D. in industrial psychology from the University of Georgia where he met Bob Gatewood. Since then, he has been an impactful and influential faculty member during his time at Auburn. He has published in leading research journals in both management and psychology in a number of areas of human resource management, but especially in selection. While at Auburn, he has been a mentor and friend of many graduate students who have gone on to successful careers.
Murray R. Barrick
| ISBN | List Price | Wessex website price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard cover | 978-0-9995547-4-6 | $234.70 | $234.70 |
| Soft cover | 978-0-9995547-5-3 | $139.70 | $139.70 |
| eBook | 978-0-9995547-6-0 | $89.70 |