Gedrag & Organisatie - Volume 24, Issue 1, 2011

Recruitment & Selection: Back from never been gone

The Netherlands and Flanders are well known for their long and profound tradition in research and development on recruitment and selection practices. During the past decade, however, considerably less attention has been paid towards recruitment and selection topics, both within the Dutch/Flemish academic literature as well as at Dutch/Flemish universities (e.g., in terms of the number of specialized courses). This remarkable observation runs counter to the call for scientifically trained recruiting/selection experts as instigated by several new developments within the professional field of recruitment and assessment. This article presents six developments/trends in recruitment and selection. We further illustrate the scientific-practitioner gap as well as several perspectives on recruitment and selection to address some of the recent developments.

Instruments for Personnel Selection in the 21st Century: Research and Practice

This article presents an evidence-based overview of innovative selection techniques that were developed in the last years to provide an answer to key questions concerning the contemporary practice of selection. In addition, we aim to point out gaps in the current knowledge about these novel techniques to guide future research. The article shows that innovative selection instruments such as conditional reasoning tests, integrity tests, and implicit association tests might offer opportunities to measure value-based competencies, and maladaptive traits. Furthermore, contextualized personality questionnaires, business-related intelligence tests, situational judgment tests, and so-called serious games enable organizations to improve their image, which creates branding opportunities to promote the company as an attractive employer. Finally, we conclude by stating that practitioners and researchers face numerous selection challenges. Examples are the selection of a diverse as well as competent workforce and the reliable and valid implementation of unproctored Internet testing.

Workaholism

Work addiction or workaholism is defined as the uncontrollable need to work excessively hard. Based on this definition, the DUWAS (Dutch Workaholism Scale) is introduced, a brief two-dimensional self-report instrument that includes two correlated subscales of five items each: Working Excessively (WE) and Working Compulsively (WC). Using a national Dutch database (n = 11.060) cut-off scores were computed that allow a classification of levels of workaholism. Analyses (n = 1.166) reveal that particularly the combination of high scores on both WE and CW is unfavorable. It is concluded that the DUWAS is a reliable and valid inventory that can, for instance, be used as a screening tool to identify workaholic employees.

Perceived Job Challenge: Development of a measure

A measure of perceived challenge was developed, and its psychometric qualities were investigated in two studies. Perceived challenge consisted of three factors: positive stimulation, competence testing, and uncertainty. These factors were found to be reliable and showed good convergent validity. The non-significant correlations between perceived challenge and the Big Five personality traits agreeableness and neuroticism indicated good discriminant validity. The criterium validity of this measure was good as well. The positive stimulation dimension in particular showed to correlate high with employees’ work attitudes. This measure of perceived challenge seems useful for research and practice.

Bespreking van M. Pen (2009), Prestatiemeting van wetenschappelijk onderzoek: Een empirische studie naar de doorwerking van universitaire prestatiemeetsystemen (academisch proefschrift Technische Universiteit Delft). Den Haag: Lemma Uitgeverij. 211 pagina’s, prijs € 36,50, ISBN 978-90-5931-527-3 (paperback).

De redactie bedankt de onderstaande reviewers hartelijk voor het beoordelen van manuscripten in 2010.

Baas, Matthijs, Carsten K.W. De Dreu en Bernard A. Nijstad, Stemming, motivationele oriëntatie, fit en creativiteit: De rol van mentale activering 73