Job survey screens out questionable applicants
Test developed by an industrial psychologist
Ask private duty managers to name one of the biggest challenges to their businesses today, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear, "recruiting and retaining home health aides." Several firms offer recruitment assistance — one has developed a new test that screens applicants for nursing assistants and home health aides.The CurryScreen applicant screening survey can predict three criteria: attendance, job longevity, and job performance. The test is designed to supplement existing screening procedures such as background checks, reference checks, and interviews.
"When I did research concerning older workers in the workplace, I attended some gerontology meetings," explains Mike McDaniel, PhD, an industrial psychologist and principal of Curry Business Systems in Stow, OH. Curry Business Systems is a human resource consulting firm.
"There I found out the difficulty companies have recruiting and retaining nursing assistants and home health aides. I then researched the market and did not find any professionally developed standardized tests."
Running a pilot study
After creating an initial version of the test, McDaniel ran a pilot study, administering the test to 142 nursing assistants and home health aides working in three types of facilities: hospitals, nursing homes, and home health facilities. As compensation for their time, he offered the companies participating in the pilot study free use of the test for one year.The current staff completed the first version of the test, and McDaniel collected information on how long they had been in their current jobs. Supervisors also rated the staff’s job performances, including their attendance habits.
Then McDaniel performed item analyses on the test, which evaluated the test items on the test to see how well they work. He also did validity analyses, which indicate the extent to which the items on the test predict the three criteria.
On average, the scores in the pilot study were highest for the hospital employees and lowest for the home health employees. The nursing assistants in the study liked the idea of improved screening, McDaniel says, because they often get stuck with more work when their colleagues quit. The administrators were interested in the screening test because of their turnover problems.
The administration and technical manual summarizes the statistical results from the study and provides charts indicating the probability for a given test score that the applicants will have excellent attendance and job performance and will stay on the job for at least five years.
After analyzing the survey, McDaniel revised it to create a shorter form. "Now you get the maximum prediction for the least amount of time spent taking the test," he says
Money-back guarantee
The revised test takes about 45 minutes to complete and score, McDaniel says. The test yields two scores: one that predicts both attendance and longevity, and one that predicts job performance as rated by supervisors.The attendance and longevity questions ask about the applicant’s job history. The questions are of two types: The first set of questions lists several reasons why you might not go to work even though you are scheduled to do so. Applicants indicate whether it is acceptable to skip work for a given reason or whether they should go to work.
Some of the reasons are more acceptable than others. For example, it is probably acceptable to skip work if you have a back injury, and a doctor has told you to stay in bed for a day. However, it is less acceptable to skip work because you have out-of-town relatives coming to visit, and you need to clean your house.
Work history reviewed
The second set of questions concerns work history. The job performance section includes cognitive items, such as following directions and solving simple math problems. Minimum passing scores on the test are established by the agency’s human resource director. Guidance on setting passing scores is provided in the administration and technical manual.In his administrative and technical manual, McDaniel stresses that the test is a tool to improve the probability of selecting applicants who will become good employees. The test, though, cannot be expected to ensure agencies make perfect hiring decisions. Another factor to consider is tthat he test is a new product. Therefore, the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on unused materials if an agency is not pleased with the test.
Don’t consider test results only
Private duty managers need to remember to weigh test results in conjunction with other screening tools. Applicants, for example, may try to improve their scores by lying or by exaggerating their qualifications. One flag is an unusually large number of desirable qualities ("I have never told a lie.") and for applicants to state they would report to work despite extreme hardship. ("A relative you live with has died.") Although these applicants may end up being desirable employees, McDaniel suggests agencies put more weight on these applicants’ interviews and background information.Also, remember the nature of the business. Employees who plan on staying with your agency for only six months, for example, might score low on the longevity part of the test and not be hired. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be exemplary workers in the short-term.
"Some of my best employees were only with me for six months," one provider says. "The danger of testing is that you take the results so literally that you miss out on good opportunities."
[Editor’s note: For more information about the test to screen applications for nursing assistant and home health aide jobs, call Curry Business Systems at (330) 686-7912. The starter kit, which includes four tests plus an administration and technical manual, costs $100 plus shipping and handling. Additional tests can cost $12 and up depending on the number ordered.
Curry also offers free on-line employment interviewer training on its Web site, www.curryinc.com.]
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