Important Lessons Learned

I really enjoyed this course as I was able to brush up on the concepts that I use in every day life as an HR Manager. It was important to me to gain more insight into recruiting and selection as my department serves a growing company that is continuously hiring due to its growth and internal promotion practices.

Compliance is a large part of the job; making sure that we adhere to fair hiring practices, as well as laws and regulations that apply to hiring is of the utmost importance. Managing risk and exposure to the organization will be more challenging if we are not up to date on existing and upcoming laws and regulations. Understanding the process of an EEOC complaint was definitely enlightening as I was unaware that the employee must notify the company within 45 days prior to the EEOC becoming involved. Reviewing the protected classes and revisiting the concept of BFOQ’s was helpful information to have during a recent hiring process, where I was asked if a physical abilities test for an active role within the Quality Assurance team was deemed appropriate. Having the class lecture information fresh on my mind I was able tor provide a recommendation to the hiring manager.

Being able to compare and contrast the criterion validity of employment tests was also particularly important. Knowing which tests may be perceived as having low job relatedness by candidates is also helpful. I had been thinking about incorporating an integrity test into our hiring process of higher level positions after a recent hire resulted in a separation due to unethical behavior. It was great to be able to know the pros and cons as well as the potential costs involved with the use of the different tests available. I will continue looking into options that make sense for the organization, so for me this is only the beginning. I am excited to incorporate what I have learned in class and continue researching integrity and personality testing more in depth to further support the hiring process that we currently have in place.

The biggest eye opener I had during the course, was the topic of bias as individuals and hiring managers. After taking one of the bias tests, I found out I am more inclined to favor gay males and in my mind I thought of myself as an impartial person. Being able to take a step back and realize some of these unconscious aspects may be helpful as we make hiring decisions.

The lessons learned will help me as a manager, as well as a candidate going through the hiring process.