Saturday, February 20, 2010

Recruitment v. Assessment, Round 1: Fight!


I'm sure some of you are avid readers of ERE (Electronic Recruiters Exchange), but for those of you that aren't (and don't receive my shared items), there's a lively discussion going on over there regarding the practical value of recruitment versus assessment practices.

It started with Wendell Williams' first post on how to identify a bad test (the second part is also worth reading). The comments begin relatively benignly, debating the strength of various predictors of performance (e.g., P-O fit versus behavioral interviews), but turns into, let's say, a lively debate that includes a discussion of the Gallup 12, the limitation of assessments, the Uniform Guidelines, and a lot more. The most heated exchange occurs between Wendell and Lou Adler, where accusations and sarcasm fly.

Speaking of Lou, he continues to advocate his perspective with his next post on whether increasing interview accuracy increases quality of hire (yes, he's suggesting that's an open question). While the comments following are fewer in number, the debate continues regarding the value of assessment and the evidence used to support it (e.g., Schmidt & Hunter's 1998 piece).

Who said HR is boring?

No comments: