The Multicheck’s suitability in hiring processes for apprentices in Swiss insurance companies

Using cognitive ability tests to screen candidates in hiring processes is a widely used practice to increase the quality of hiring decisions and find the best fitting employees for a particular job. The practice also receives support from research in human resource management, as long as the tests meet certain quality requirements, such as a sufficiently high predictive Validity. An example of such a widely used cognitive ability test is the Multicheck, which is often used in hiring processes for apprentices in Switzerland. Its quality, however, has not yet been thoroughly examined. Therefore, the paper aims at investigating the current hiring processes of Swiss insurance companies and the predictive Validity of the Multicheck, compared to lower-secondary school grades. HR professionals were interviewed to investigate current hiring processes and the practitioner’s evaluation of the Multicheck. Additionally, former apprentices were asked to provide their school grades and Multicheck results to investigate the Multicheck’s validity further. Among others, the correlation between Multicheck results and lower- secondary school grades and future performance was statistically tested. The findings of this paper showed that Swiss insurance companies take hiring apprentices seriously and apply well-thought-out processes. However, the extensive use of the Multicheck could not be justified by the results. Multicheck results showed a weak non-significant negative correlation with all variables used to determine future performance, while lower- secondary school grades showed a strong significant positive correlation. Based on these findings, Swiss insurance companies can be advised to critically question the use of the Multicheck in their hiring processes. Keywords: Human Resource Management, Hiring Processes, Apprenticeship, Predictive Validity, Multicheck

Author dc:creator

• Andri Kömeter 1991-

Contributors dc:contributor

• Háskólinn í Reykjavík

• Meistaraprófsritgerðir
• Mannauðsstjórnun
• Starfsþjálfun
• Starfsráðningar
• Mannauðsstjórnun og vinnusálfræði
• Human resource management and organizational psychology
• Human resource management
• Employee selection
• Employees -- Training of

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1946/39927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:skemman.is:1946/39927