SELECTION

Pre-Employment Selection | Special Duty Selection

All three kinds of assessment (entry screening, special duty and fitness for duty) represent efforts to describe and understand emotional fitness by linking psychological results with actual job performance. The key to success in all three processes is the identification of performance-based criteria. The questions raised by psychological screening are:

In answering these questions there should be a high degree of concordance; assessments should ideally validate to the same standard. Theoretically this is true, but the most concerning reliability issues contain a liability risk too great to directly test. It would be "good" validation research to hire unstable people (as indicated by the evaluation process) to test/prove/show if they have difficulties in their work, but the consequences could be too great; the liabilities would be unacceptable.

The reality is that psychological assessment of public safety applicants seeks to screen out those who exhibit risky psychological features to prevent liability to the public and/or the employee. Examples of such risk are clinical features associated with poor judgment, freezing or over-reacting under stress, or becoming emotionally impaired from work pressures. However, the absence of psychopathology by itself does not predict how well a candidate will perform, only that psychological impediments for a specific job are not present.

A second level of screening is that by which an employee is selected for specialty assignment within the agency. This assumes that he or she has already passed through the first phase and is at least nominally eligible for a more specialized assignment based on a record of suitable performance. This process must combine the results of both psychological assessment (relevant to the new duties) and evaluation of the officer's behavior on the job. Selection also addresses the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) required for the special assignment. As with entry selection, the decision for specialized duty should be based on psychological as well as other relevant factors. Considering that many KSA's are not suitably measured by pencil and paper tests, the Department's overall evaluation of work performance, training and other demonstrated qualities are critical to effective special duty selection. Psychological suitability is just one component.