Predicting Objective Measures of Performance

Abstract

In todays competitive job market, many organizations use various selection procedures in order to hire the best possible employees. Most selection tools such as structured interviews, mental ability tests, and personality inventories have been shown to predict employee performance in terms of subjective measures (i.e., supervisory ratings). However, organizations are more interested in predicting objective measures of performance (e.g., sales). The purpose of this study was to determine whether biodata, situational judgment, and role-play could be effective in predicting objective measures of performance. Four objective measures (i.e., sales amount, number of orders, debt, and the number of active staff members) were collected from 189 District Sales Managers employed by an international company selling beauty and related products. The results indicated that none of the objective measures are related to the predictors. Several plausible explanations of these results are discussed.