Written for human resource professionals, trainers, and managers, Using Individual Assessments in the Workplace is an easy-to-read and easy-to-apply manual for using assessment tools. Step by step this much-needed resource leads the reader through the often complex processes of job analysis, test selection, test administration and interpretation, and decision making. The authors—Leonard D. Goodstein and Erich P. Prien—are leading experts in the field of workplace assessment. In this book they present a comprehensive resource that offers an introduction to individual assessment, shows how to collect and analyze assessment data (including a five-step model for conducting this process), reveals how to perform psychological measurement, develop and integrate individual assessment data, and report individual assessment results.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by W. Warner Burke xi
Foreword by Adrian Furnham xv
1. Introduction 1
For Whom Did We Write This Book? 1
What Are Our Recommendations? 2
How Is This Book Organized? 3
2. The Practice of Individual Assessment 7
What Is Individual Assessment? 8
What Does an Assessor Need to Know? 8
The Three Levels of Assessor Competencies 9
The Individual Assessment Model 15
Information Technology and Individual Assessment 22
Summary 29
3. Psychological Measurement 31
The Normal Distribution Curve 31
Reliability 33
Validity 37
Norms 40
The Role of the Assessor 42
Classification of Psychological Tests 44
Interviewing 51
Summary 52
4. Collecting and Analyzing Assessment Data 53
Using the Five-Step Model of Individual Assessment 54
Hard and Soft Data 68
Assessment Procedures and Choices 71
Reporting and Follow-Up Choices 82
Summary 83
5. Developing and Integrating Individual Assessment Data 85
Choosing Measures 86
The Database 88
Processing the Database 96
Summary 104
6. Reporting Individual Assessment Results 107
The Focus of a Final Report 108
Content and Style 108
Drawing Conclusions and Making Recommendations 118
A Decision-Making Model 119
A Forty-Question Checklist 121
Computer-Generated Reports 121
Individual Assessment for Development 125
Future-Oriented Job Analysis 134
Summary 135
Appendix A: Recommended Readings 137
Appendix B: Sample Position Description 139
Appendix C: Introduction to Job Analysis 143
Appendix D: First-Line Management/Supervisory Level Competency Model 153
Appendix E: Senior Management/Executive Level Competency Model 159
Appendix F: Sample Individual Assessment Report on Applicant for Administrative
Assistant Position 167
Appendix G: Sample Assessment Report—Supervisor/First-Line Manager 171
Appendix H: Sample Individual Assessment Report—Management and Executive Level 179
Appendix I: Selected Tests and Publishers 189
References 199
About the Authors 203
Index 205
About the Author :
Leonard D. Goodstein, Ph.D., a consulting psychologist based in Washington, D.C., specializes in providing consultation in personality assessment, especially in the workplace—as well as executive development, including executive coaching. He is also a Principal with Professional Assessment Services and Solutions (PASS), Psichometrics International, LLC, and Forensic Sciences Medical Group, PC.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree with honors from the City College of New York, Dr. Goodstein went on to receive both an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University, both in psychology. A holder of the Diploma in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, Dr. Goodstein is a Distinguished Practitioner of the National Academy of Practice. He is a licensed psychologist in both California and the District of Columbia. Dr. Goodstein is listed in Who’s Who in America and American Men and Women in Science.
Since completing a three-year term as executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association, psychology’s national membership association, in 1988 he has been engaged in consulting, research, and writing. Prior to APA, Dr. Goodstein had a distinguished academic career, including professorships at the Universities of Iowa, Cincinnati, and Arizona State, where he served as chair of the Department of Psychology. In addition, he has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer (Professor) at the Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands. After leaving academia and prior to joining APA, he was president and later chairman of the board of University Associates, Inc., now Pfeiffer. Erich P. Prien, Ph.D., an industrial/organizational psychologist based in Memphis, Tennessee, specializes in the development, standardization, and application of psychological tests, especially in the workplace. He is also the founder and president of Performance Management Press (PMP), which has been the principal marketing arm for his tests.
Following receipt of his bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University, he received an MA from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve), both in industrial/organizational psychology. Dr. Prien has served as a research psychologist for the Standard Oil Company, as assistant director of the Psychological Research Service at Case Western University, as adviser to the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces, and as a faculty member at Greensboro College, University of Akron, Georgia Technical University, and the University of Memphis. After leaving the University of Memphis in 1987, Dr. Prien has devoted himself to his professional practice, his research, and his sustained interest in writing. Dr. Prien is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and holds the Diploma in Industrial Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. Among his many awards are the Distinguished Professional Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Author of the Year Award from The American Society of Training Directors and the Journal of Performance and Instruction, and he was the Creativity Research Award Winner from the American Society for Personnel Administration twice.
Review :
"Clearly written and well organized" (Personnel Psychology, 10/03/2007)
