The Utility of Employment Testing for Clerical/Administrative Trades in the Canadian Military

Abstract

This study examines the utility of employment testing for a major trade group (clerical/ administrative) in the Canadian Forces. Utility analyses based on archival data, combined with a validity generalization procedure, demonstrate that use of an ability test composite for this trade group yields net returns of $51,395,7 60 for a single year of testing. Other utility indices are presented and demonstrate correspondingly high returns to employment testing. These results show that the employment testing currently conducted in the military produces very large productivity gains for society. Utility analysis is recommended as an important tool for communicating the benefits of personnel interventions, better allocating human resources and improving organizational productivity. Résumé Cette étude examine l'utilité d'examens d'aptitudes pour un large groupe d'employés (employés de bureau et employés administratifs) au sein des forces armées canadiennes. L'analyse de leur utilité, basée sur des données d'archives, combinées à un procédé de généralisation de validité, démontre que l'utilisqtion d'un test d'aptitudes pour ce groupe a produit des profits nets de 51 395 760 $ pour une seule année de tests. D'autres indices d'utilité sont présentés et démontrent le rendement élevé de ces tests. Ces résultats prouvent que les tests qui sont présentement utilisés dans les Forces armées permettent une augmentation importante de la productivité pour la société. L'analyse de l'utilitép est recommandée à titre d'outil important pour expliquer les bienfaits de l'intervention auprès du prsonnel, d'une meilleure allocation des ressources et l'amélioration de la productivité.

Transnational Validity Generalization of Employment Tests from the United States to Canada

“…The first reason is that employment tests improve organizational productivity if they are valid predictors of outcomes such as job performance and training success. Utility analyses conducted in Canadian organizations, for example, have demonstrated that valid employment testing can indeed produce large improvements in organizational productivity (Cronshaw, 1986a(Cronshaw, , 1986bJanz, 1986).…”

“…The business implications of our work center around three issues: utility, cost, and Comparability. Wilh respect to utility, researchers have established that properly validated employment tests can produce large productivity gains for employers (for an example in the Canadian context, see Cronshaw, 1986b). Given the increasing need for Canadian businesses to be globally competitive (e.g., the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S.), such utility gains are of some importance to Canadianorganizations.…”