Scenarios in Human Resource Development

Scenario 1: Biased Leadership Development Assessments

XYZ Corporation has introduced new hire assessments into their leadership development program. All new leaders must complete the assessment prior to participating in the second stage of the leadership program. No women or minorities have ever made it passing the first stage of the leadership development program because there are gender and culturally biased questions on the assessment. Linda has just been hired as HRD manager to oversee the leadership development program and upon discovering the bias in the assessment, it is her job to inform management, consisting of all white males, about the assessment bias.

Discussion Questions

How can Linda help eliminate assessment bias against women and minority leaders?

Is it the role of HRD professionals to determine assessment bias?

Supplemental Readings

Bersin, J., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2019). The case for hiring older workers. Harvard Business Review, 26, 2-5.

Boyer, E. P., & Webb, T. G. (1992). Ethics and diversity: A correlation enhanced through corporate communication. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 35(1), 38-43

Camara, W. J. (1997). Use and consequences of assessments in the USA: Professional, ethical and legal issues. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 13(2), 140-152

Johnson, L. E., & Potter, P. W. (1998). Information systems careers: The role of assessment centers. Career Development International, 3(4), 142-144.

Kim, S. (2003). Linking employee assessments to succession planning. Public Personnel Management, 32(4), 533-547.

Knight, R. (2017). 7 Practical ways to reduce bias in your hiring process. Harvard Business Review, 2-7.

Kuncel, N. R., & Hezlett, S. A. (2010). Fact and fiction in cognitive ability testing for admissions and hiring decisions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(6), 339-345.

McGrath, R. E., Mitchell, M., Kim, B. H., & Hough, L. (2010). Evidence for response bias as a source of error variance in applied assessment. Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 450-470.

McLagan, P. A. (1989). Models for HRD practice. Training & Development Journal, 43(9), 49-60.

Patton, W. D., & Pratt, C. (2002). Assessing the training needs of high-potential managers. Public Personnel Management, 31(4), 464-484