Project:
Expanding the Concept of Quality in Personnel (ECQUIP)
Client:
Defense Supply Service, Washington, D.C.
The Army wished to investigate the usefulness of various types of tests for improving job performance prediction for senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Of particular interest was the development of methods for assessing factors that are not traditionally examined to predict job performance. These factors included leadership, decision-making, and interpersonal abilities.
Approach
AIR reviewed relevant literature and analyzed and defined job performance
dimensions for NCOs. We obtained input from recognized experts
and developed recommendations about the feasibility and potential
utility of developing and trying out new predictors.
We then developed and pilot-tested predictor and criterion measures. Finally, we conducted a concurrent validation study, analyzing the incremental predictive capabilities of the new tests versus the traditional tests already in use.
The predictor measures included:
- Marker tests for verbal, quantitative, and spatial ability
- Newly developed tests of leader tacit knowledge
- Problem prioritization
- Three measures of leadership self-efficacy
The criterion measures included:
- Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) for NCOs' supervisors
- A structured interview (and behaviorally anchored scales) conducted with NCOs
-
A self-report form of personnel file background information
Results
The
leader tacit knowledge and self-efficacy tests predicted variance
in performance above and beyond the traditional tests of cognitive
ability.
