Predictive Validity: Good Science, Good Law... a Base Camp Practice

Using a competency system of critical workplace behaviors to manage and develop organizational talent is quickly moving from a best practice to a standard practice in human capital management. (See, Harvard Business Review, December 2003, “Developing Your Leadership Pipeline.”) As a practical matter, any group of experienced managers can create a workable, behavior-based competency profile. Many have done so based on day-to-day experience, such as looking for the six “I’s” in executive selection: Intelligence (analytical capability), Intuition (judgment), Intestines (courage), Intensity (stress management), Industry (hard work) and Integrity (ethics).

While do-it-yourself competency profiles can be simple and catchy, they lack specific scientific support and, depending on how used, legal legitimacy. As such, their use cannot be considered an acceptable management practice.

Why might a DIY competency list be unacceptable and even illegal? In 1978, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) created guidelines to ensure that knowledge gained from testing and other selection procedures is applied with impartiality to protect minority applicants from discriminatory employment procedures. These guidelines apply to practices which are used as a basis for any employment decision. Employment decisions include but are not limited to hiring, promotion, demotion, referral, retention, and licensing and certification. Other selection decisions, such as selection for training or transfer, may also be considered employment decisions if they lead to any of the decisions listed above.

How does an organization ensure that its competency system is legal? To satisfy these guidelines, organizations may rely upon—what social scientists call—criterion validity studies, content validity studies or construct validity studies, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the technical standards of the EEOC guidelines. In short, it must be statistically provable that a competency system used in employment decisions predicts what it purports to predict. That is, individuals shown to possess the competencies must turn out to be good performers.

Are validated, behavior-based competency systems available off-the-shelf? An excellent competency system is used in the Devine Inventory. The Devine Inventory Version 9 is a highly-validated, on-line tool for hourly and management employee behavioral assessment. It consists of 12 organizational Competencies created from 33 workplace Behaviors.

STARway Service uses on the Devine Inventory System as part of its Performance Maps; Self, Supervisor, and Multi-Point Assessments; and Interview Guides. In addition, the Devine Inventory Report can be customized to individual employees’ Performance Maps, using the Devine Inventory System of Competencies and Behaviors.

To find out more, please send an e-mail to contact@starwayservice.com.