Job Compatibility @• One of the largest theater exhibition companies in the US• 4,959 screens across the United States• approximately 200 million guests each year• employs approximately 20,000 full- and part-time associates

• Jobs among theater staff we studied included• ushers

• Clean and maintain the auditoriums, restrooms and lobbies while controlling access to the theatre and the auditoriums.

• concessionists• Prepare and serve concession items to guests, clean the concession area and

assist with other theatre functions• box office cashiers

• Sell movie tickets and AMC Gift Cards and inform guests about currently featured films, policies, and programs.

• Employees in these jobs were hired and cross-trained to perform each job.• Average employee age was 20 years.• Average starting pay is minimum wage.• Annual turnover rate was 168%.

Objectives Develop and validate a selection battery for motion picture theater personnel

that is valid for predicting job performance that is valid for predicting and mitigating turnover that provides utility to the firm

Towards this end, we found it useful to distinguish between skills that spoke to qualifications for job performance and personal preferences that addressed issues of person-job compatibility.

Applicant Qualifications

• abilities• skills• competencies• credentials

Applicant Compatibility

• needs• goals• preferences

The Turnover Problem• The jobs are part-time and minimum wage, no benefits, have discomforting features• The applicants are often desperate job-seekers meeting immediate needs• Ordering applicants based on skills provides little information about likely tenure

Applicant Qualifications

• abilities• skills• competencies• credentials

Applicant Compatibility

• needs• goals• preferences

Job Performance

Tenure

• Desperate job seekers also may distort their responses to promote their chances of being hired and after a short while, quit the job.

Job Analyses & Test DevelopmentReview of existing archives and job descriptionsInterviews with current employees & supervisorsDeveloped a Job Characteristics Questionnaire

200+ job features included on the JCQComforting and discomforting featuresValid and invalid features

Valid Job Characteristics Invalid Job Characteristics

ComfortingCharacteristics

1. Meeting different people.2. Having a secure job.3. Free admission to events.

4. Experiencing quick promotions.5. Having privacy in my work setting.6. Not working weekends.

DiscomfortingCharacteristics

7. Having to clean restrooms.8. Having to work weekends.9. Being courteous to people who

are not courteous to me.

10.Having to be around teenagers all day.11.Working a job that physically drains me.12.Having to sit in front of a computer all

day.

Forced-Choice Job Compatibility Questionnaire• We created tetrads with 2 valid and 2 invalid job characteristics of equal comfort or discomfort• Example discomfort tetrad item with instructions:

Choose two of the following statements that you would find most discomforting in a job:

A. Having to work weekends.B. Working a job that physically drains me.C. Having to sit in front of a computer all day.D. Having to clean restrooms.

• Each item was scored from 0 to +2, based on the number of valid job characteristics chosen by the applicant• Thus, higher scores indicated higher compatibility profiles for theater staff

jobs. That is, lower discomfort and higher comfort scores• Based on the job analyses, we also devised a verbal and math test to assess verbal and math fluency (skills) that should be predictive of job performance

Study Details & Results

Table 1. Correlation matrix of study variables.Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5

1. JCQ scores 43.28 7.58 -- .44 .29 .22 -.33

2. Math skill scores 12.80 2.28 -- .24 .26 -.28

3. Verbal skill scores 10.80 2.55 -- .33 -.10

4. Job Performance 89.05 7.53 -- -.15 5. Voluntary Termination .39 .49

p < .05 where r > |.15|, one-tailed test; voluntary termination at 6 months

• Math & Verbal scores better predict job performance• JCQ scores better predict Turnover

• Predictive validation study involving job applicants• 208 job applicants; 152 hired using original procedure

Test Fairnesso Test score differences for ethnic group membership

• All predictors had significant mean differences for ethnic groups• Differences for the JCQ scores were smallest• Mean differences for performance and tenure criteria duplicated

those found on the predictor scores• Because differences on criterion scores (performance &

turnover) mirrored those on the predictors, there is no evidence of differential validity

• Suggest some care needs to be exercised in aggressive use of the predictors for selection as there remains the potential for adverse impact• Because the mean score differences were smaller for JCQ

scores, their use in selection decisions with the ability test scores would mitigate the potential for disparate impact

Practicality Compositeo Management-based ultimate criterion composite

o Combining both tenure and job performance

• Ranged from 1 to 5• 1 = < 6 months employment & < .50 z-score of performance

• The lowest level of practical return on investment • 2 = < 6 months employment & between + or -.50 z-score • 3 = < 6 months employment & > .50 z-score • 3 = > 6 months employment & < .50 z-score • 4 = > 6 months employment & between + or -.50 z-score • 5 = > 6 months employment & > .50 z-score

• Verbal ability, numerical ability, and job compatibility scores correlated .26, .38, and .43 with PC scores, respectively

• In tandem, the three predictors accounted for 25% of PC score variance; JCQ scores added 50% to the accuracy of prediction

Dollar Estimation of Utilityo All terms in utility equation were pro-rated to reflect the 6-

month period of incumbency used in this study• # annual employee hires = 10,000 of approximately 33,000 applicants

• Yields a selection ratio of .30 and a mean z-score of 1.17• Number of new hires in 6-months is adjusted to 5,000• SDy was estimated to be approximately 40% of a 6-month

starting salary working 20 hours per week ($1,500.00)• Very conservative estimate as many customer service jobs

have SDy often ranging between 75-100% of salary• Currently, unstructured interview is used and meta-analyses

report typical validity to be approximately r=.14• Cost was estimated at $10 per test

• Yielding an estimate of utility of $1.75 million • Underestimates utility because:

• Doesn’t account for lower replacement cost• [$1000 x .39 x 5000] x .50 = $975,000• JCQ adds 30% to utility of the selection composite

Summary of Features High Turnover circumstance with minimum wage jobs Turnover cost was deemed significant to business success Predictive validation study Qualifications and Fit measures combined

Qualifications better predicted performance Fit better predicted voluntary turnover

Potential for adverse impact if aggressively applied But job relatedness defense is available

No evidence for differential validity Demonstrable utility using both estimation procedures

Managers’ estimation based on a practicality composite Dollar estimate based on operational cost and benefit