I
THE PROBLEM OF SELECTION OF EMPLOYEES
Personnel selection. The 11 steps in research procedure in employment
psychology. Considerations in the choice of job or occupation to be studied.
THE right man in the right place is an age-old ideal of
industry, education, and government. Economic losses suf-
fered by industry from misfits in employment are matched
by the losses borne by the employees themselves, the dissatis-
factions of misplaced workers engaged day after day on tasks
that are too easy, too hard, or otherwise unrewarding, dis-
tasteful, or exasperating. Correct adjustment of workers
and their work is recognized as a prime responsibility of
management, an obligation to society no less than to the
stockholders and to the employees themselves.
It is a duty of science to help in effecting this adjustment
of workers and their work, in so far as scientific method can
be made to yield measures of abilities which are more relia-
ble than unaided judgment. To speed the perfecting of such
useful instruments for measuring abilities is the aim of this
manual.
THE PROBLEM OF PERSONNEL SELECTION
To select the best man for a particular opening admittedly
calls for an understanding of the requirements of the job,
coupled with the means of finding out which applicant most
closely meets these requirements. Usually the interviewer
or employment supervisor responsible for the preliminary
sifting of applicants has at hand brief but concise employ-
ment specifications based on job analyses. He also has some
acquaintance with the job in question through observation