Hiring Ethical People

Topic Three

Hiring Ethical People

⚫ Describe the process for screening candidates for ethics

⚫ Outline which job candidate factors are illegal to consider when hiring

⚫ Explain how to obtain accurate behavior information from resumes, reference checks, background checks, and integrity tests

⚫ Identify personality test scales that measure ethics

⚫ Develop interview questions that address ethical issues

Learning Objectives

Importance of an Ethics Screen

• Typical hiring process: reviewing resumes and job application forms for knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the job task

• Ethics often assumed or overlooked

Maximizing ethical work behaviors begins with the hiring

process

One bad hire can make the daily life of many employees miserable

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

• Inform potential applicants about organization’s ethics job screen

Step 1: ethics screen notice

This step acts as a signal to potential job applicants.

People who behave unethically are not likely to apply for jobs with organizations that advertise the strength of their ethics job-screening process

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

• Gather and use information in way that does not violate law

Step 2: legal ground rules

Federal and state laws govern the types of information an employer can gather on job candidates and the reasons an employer can invoke for selecting one candidate over another

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Civil rights law that governs hiring – most state civil rights laws are based

on it

It is unlawful for any employer to “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of

employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex,

or national origin.”

This is a lot of text. But it’s simpler if you take it clause by clause.

It is unlawful for any employer to “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of

employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex,

or national origin.”

This is the action that is unlawful.

It is unlawful for any employer to “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of

employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex,

or national origin.” This makes it clear that the law covers the entire

employment relationship.

It is unlawful for any employer to “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of

employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex,

or national origin.” These categories are called protected classes. Any discrimination lawsuit first

requires that the plaintiff is part of a protected class.

One exception to the law is if the discrimination is a Bona Fide

Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)

Another example: Can men be Hooters Girls?

Discrimination can be justified (in limited situations) if the characteristic used to discriminate is necessary to be able to

perform the job functions.

A sushi restaurant only hires Japanese chefs and cooks. This is discrimination based on national

origin. Can they argue BFOQ because it is a business necessity to

hire people who can prepare truly authentic Japanese fare?

So what is Hooters’ primary function?

Plaintiffs characterized Hooters’ primary function as providing food.

Hooters characterized its primary function as providing ‘vicarious sexual entertainment.’

What happened?

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/01/us/hooters-settles-suit-by-men-denied-jobs.html
The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 3: behavioral information Four recruiting tools provide

useful information about candidate’s ethics:

• Resumes • Reference checks • Background checks • Integrity tests

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Behavioral Information (cont.)

• Resumes – Best predictor of future performance is past

performance – Previous accomplishments encapsulated in

document

Pro tip: Resumes should only be used as an initial screening tool.

Information should be taken with a grain of salt. More than one in five

resumes contains lies.

Exhibit 3.3 College Students Job Application Lies

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Behavioral Information (cont.)

• Reference Checks – Candidates usually list references predisposed to

sharing favorable information

– But, previous supervisor’s perspective of candidate’s strengths/weaknesses probably most relevant information source

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

• Background Checks – To verify academic accomplishments, prior work

responsibilities, other work-related issues

– Other checks could include criminal records, credit checks, Facebook

Behavioral Information (cont.)

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

• Integrity Tests – Gather information about behaviors and attitudes

toward unethical workplace activities

Behavioral Information (cont.)

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 4: personality traits and related characteristics

Conscientiousness: measures reliability, attention to detail, desire to be quality employee – best predictor of ethics and job performance

Organizational Citizenship Behavior: measures the extent to which someone is likely to go above and beyond normal job duties

Social Dominance Orientation: measures extent to which individual inherently feels superior to others

Exhibit 3.4: How do these traits relate to ethical behavior?

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 5: Interview Questions

• Previous Ethical Dilemmas

• Hypothetical Ethical Dilemmas

Let’s Practice!

• Imagine you are hiring a new employee at your current job (or a previous job).

• Develop a hypothetical ethical dilemma to present during a job interview. – Dilemma should not have clear answer

– Goal is to understand applicant’s logic/thought process when presented with difficult situation

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 5 (cont.)

Present finalists with realistic job preview (RJP).

Let’s Practice!

• Imagine you are talking to a potential CSUEB student.

• How would you present a realistic “job” preview of life as a student here? – Remember, RJP is meant to help determine fit.

The goal is not to bash or heavily praise the organization, but to be realistic.

The Six-Step Ethics Job Screen Process

Step 6: Post-Interview Tests

• Drug Testing

• Polygraphs – For jobs dealing with national security issues

Where is the line?

How much information is too much information?