Personnel Selection: Test Development and Validation
BRG experts develop customized selection systems that are fair, valid, and legally defensible; and conduct independent reviews of existing selection systems to assess evidence of validity.
Employers use various strategies to identify the best employees to hire, promote, and retain. Selection tests commonly are implemented as one of these strategies to increase the accuracy of employment decisions. Selection tests can be implemented to improve a range of job-related outcomes such as increased job performance or reduced employee turnover, injury costs, or internal theft.
The validity of a selection test is a critical consideration, as it refers to whether a test’s scores are useful for making predictions about a candidate’s potential job behaviors. Validity also is a legal requirement in many situations. When a selection test favors a protected subgroup disproportionally, even when the test is facially neutral (i.e., “adverse impact”), employers have a legal obligation under Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 to demonstrate the test is “job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity,” which is typically accomplished through validation. Title VII includes the principle of equal employment opportunity (EEO), which protects applicants and employees from discrimination and prohibits specific types of job discrimination in certain workplaces.
