An organization is only as good as the people that comprise it. It is critical to hire the right people for the job to ensure an agency’s success. But sometimes, the organizations themselves commit mistakes during the selection and hiring process thus affecting the entire institutions’ productivity and effectivity.

Michael Aamodt is the Principal Consultant of the DCI Consulting Group and is a professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the Redford University. His passion for research and expertise in the field of human resource and police psychology allowed him to publish books and research articles on the subject, as well as present in professional conferences.

This webinar will delve into hiring practices and studies that reveal the factors that predict individuals’ performance in the workplace. Mike will focus on these as it relates to the law enforcement field – some of the specifics he touched on are:

• What tests are and their limitations when it comes to predicting an individual’s future behavior and success.
• The recommended three-step process to effective testing that includes:
  • Conducting a job analysis to establish the required competencies in each role.
  • Making a list of what you want in a team member.
  • Identifying the best way to tap each competency.
• The three critical components of the selection process
  • The most basic screening of minimum qualifications like age and education.
  • Selecting in through physical, cognitive, and psychological tests and interviews.
  • Selecting out to rule out candidates that do not pass specific non-negotiables like drug use and criminal records.
• Methods to screen out through a pen and paper test, a clinical interview or a review of a candidate’s personal history.
• Qualities of an optimal employee selection systems that ensures its cost-effectiveness, reduces the likelihood for legal issues and is valid by complying with content and criterion validity.
• What structured and unstructured interviews are and examples of the questions for each type typically used in hiring.
• The reasons why structured interviews are preferred, and the goals that structured questions aim to address.
• The six types of structured questions where:
  • Clarifiers are the only ones that will differ among applicants which aims to clarify their responses or information provided in their resume.
  • Disqualifier questions that have a right and wrong answer from which a candidate may be disqualified from being selected.
  • Past-focused questions that tap to past experience and behavior.
  • Skill-level determiners that measure a candidate’s aptitude depending on the requirements of the role.
  • Future-focused questions that are situational or hypothetical.
  • Organization fit questions that examine a person’s likelihood to fit into an agency’s culture and work with its values and mission.
• A research that identifies what predicts work performance.
• The key factors predicting work performance as educational and cognitive ability, personality as well as background variables in law enforcement.
• Significant correlation of an individual’s Academy GPA to on-the-job performance.
• Some of the points the audience raised during the Q&A include:
  • HR retaining records/results of pre-employment testing
  • The study on the educational requirements for law enforcement agencies
  • Recommended personality assessment tests
  • The nuances between online versus in-person education or training
  • Spouse or family being a predictor
  • The differences in organizations’ conditions/cultures and how it affects job analysis
  • The adverse impact of a written paper and pencil test versus those administered through a video
  • Regular updating of job analysis
  • How to best control hiring for character

Resources Mentioned During Webinar:

• Research in Law Enforcement Selection: Michael Aamodt