Preemployment Honesty Testing: Current Research and Future Directions

STEVEN H. WERNER AND DENNIS S. JOY

Most companies use several selection methods when assessing the suitability of job applicants because no single screening procedure alone can perfectly determine overall employability potential and because each method has its particular benefits and limitations. Nevertheless, although a selection method is shown to have sufficient levels of reliability, validity, and utility, this does not guarantee that it will be an optimally effective screening instrument. For a selection tool to work effectively, the instrument also needs to be properly integrated into the company's overall hiring procedure. Lack of sufficient integration can cause a psychometrically sound selection device to be less than optimally effective at screening in the most desirable job applicants.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a summary of recommendations that should be considered in order to facilitate the process of integrating an integrity testing system, like the London House Personnel Selection Inventory (PSI) (London House, 1988), into a company's total personnel selection program. It focuses on some procedures that should be followed in order to integrate the testing program successfully into the corporate policy regarding personnel selection and discusses those items that should be avoided if the program is to be integrated. In all, we strive to combine these lists of do's and don'ts into a basic prescription that will help to provide for an effective and efficient personnel selection program with the PSI as one of the major subcomponents in the process. London House psychologists are available to help companies integrate an integrity testing system into their overall hiring process.

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