New Ways to Test 

A lamp may have worked for Diogenes in his search for an honest man, but today's manager uses sophisticated integrity tests to ferret out potential thieves. Whether they call it "pilferage", "inventory shrinkage", or just plain old "stealing," American management loses as much as $50 billion a year to dishonest employees. And the problem appears to be growing.

Management's search for honest employees has spawned a $25 million integrity testing industry that is growing at 20 percent per year, say leading officials. Back in 1985, it was estimated that as many as 5,000 companies were using honesty tests, and five million persons were tested each year. Those numbers have inflated dramatically in the past six years, say industry veterans.

There are good reasons for the increased popularity of testing prospective employees, say advocates. One is the growing belief that tests, which eliminate prospective thieves, also uncover motivated workers with integrity, a high priority on any human resource wish list. Weeding out light-fingered applicants can save money--and increase productivity, say testing proponents.

Another reason for testing is "the decline in the value of references." Reference checks are almost futile today, say experts, because employers, fearing lawsuits, refuse to provide information beyond dates of employment. At the same time, suits filed by employees injured on the job by fellow workers argue that employers should know who they hire. It's a difficult job.

One recent study found 30 percent of the applicants in one rust belt city admitted committing criminal acts. Nineteen percent of the same pool admitted using drugs before or during working hours.

Screening for drug use is up sharply, says an American Management Association (AMA) survey. Six of ten U.S. companies test for drugs now, up from 50 percent just a year ago. More than half screen prospective employees and 95 percent nix anyone who tests positive.

Random testing of current employees has doubled in each of the last two years, says the New York City-based AMA, with 20 percent of the 1.636 corporations queried indicating they did so to meet government regulations. Companies report checking blood, urine, and even the breath of employees to detect drug use.

Management's fear for its personal safety adds interest to weeding out new hires before they become tomorrow's disgruntled employee. Bill Zalud, editor of Security Magazine, in Des Plaines, IL, says the number of conferences on security has doubled during the past five years. Not all of the attention is focused on terrorists, say security experts. Managers are nervously eyeing increased violence in the workplace, much from unhappy terminated workers.

Employment screening efforts focus more and more on "attitudes," as American industry commits to intensive training and increased financial investment in its workforce. Corporate trainers believe skills can be acquired or changed, but attitudes are forever. Special video-based simulations have been created to gauge the mindsets of applicants. Viewers respond to a series of typical workplace incidents, either answering questions of a personal interviewer or responding to a computer.

Most testing is done with the traditional paper and pencil although computer-based testing is gaining in favor. True-or-false or multiple-choice questions are easy to tabulate, but many HR executives still rely upon personal interviews to rate attitudes and integrity. The polygraph or lie detector has been eliminated because it was physically intimidating, influenced too much by the operator, and failure to pass the test stigmatized the applicant, says the American Psychological Association of Washington. DC Human. resource executives, under increased pressure to discover and develop the skills of present employees, chart career paths, and create individual learning goals, are turning to formal assessment centers. A well-designed assessment center, say users, can select good employees, eliminate bias and discrimination, uncover candidates for promotion and establish career development plans for all.

Testing periods at some centers stretch for days, combining written tests, computer simulations and personal interviews to assess employee abilities and potential. In follow-up inter-views, the employee helps to set up an individual career path to meet goals the employee helps establish. While most agree testing has much merit and, in many cases, is management's only option, charges of prejudice and built-in bias come from many critics. The industry is responding, evidenced when members recently founded the Association of Personnel Test Publishers (APTP) in Washington, DC "to ensure the effective, ethical and legal use of integrity testing." It has developed testing guidelines for its members.

An American Psychological Association task force has recently studied testing problems and standards. Its recommendations, expected to be adopted by both testing companies and their clients, include more accurate and complete information on test validity, better training for test administration, and the use of measures to safeguard "the confidentially, privacy and informed consent of all applicants". It is a worthy and achievable goal for the industry.