Major Update Completed of IPMAAC Training and Experience (T&E) Rating Seminar
According to recent surveys, training and experience ratings are used by almost all public organizations to screen and categorize or rank-order candidates for employment or promotion. Many organizations, however, are not aware of recent innovations in use of these methods, and rely on traditional point methods. Traditional point methods differ little from assessment procedures first devised almost a century ago!
The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) has just completed a substantial revision to its Rating of Training and Experience (T&E) Rating Seminar. The three-day T&E seminar is designed to help assessment specialists introduce better T&E strategies in their organizations. The seminar includes examples of T&E methods, realistic hands on "projects" to develop methods, guidance on when to use the various methods, and tips for assuring successful implementation. Much practical advice has been added for practitioners based on recent experience in use of newer T&E methods.
Results of the IPMA/NASPE Benchmarking Report, and an IPMAAC survey on the topic of T&Es, are included as reference points. Many examples of T&E rating procedures, questionnaires and application supplements are included in the seminar Participant Manual. The examples are from many states (e.g., Alabama, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, Tennessee, New Mexico); local governments (e.g., Rochester, NY); and federal agencies (e.g., OPM). Many IPMAAC members contributed the best examples of their T&E work for use in this seminar.
The seminar is designed to be useful to assessment professionals at all levels. Basic concepts are reviewed at the outset, the most recent research evidence supporting use of T&Es is then described, followed by extensive coverage of minimum qualifications of education and experience. The T&E "point method" and the "improved point method" are reviewed, followed by in-depth coverage of grouping methods, self-report and self-rating methods, and behavioral consistency methods. The seminar is highly interactive, with discussion and feedback from the instructors and fellow participants.
Designed to provide a comprehensive reference for participants to use and apply on the job, the seminar Participant Manual provides over 300 pages of guidance, reference materials, and copies of all seminar slides. It includes an extensive bibliography. Procedural manuals are provided for some T&E methods. Examples of web-based T&E information collection procedures are included in the manual.
The topic of developing and using minimum qualifications requirements (MQs) is covered in the three-day seminar. Recent research and methodologies for establishing MQs based on job analysis data are presented. After instruction on MQs, participants outline an assessment plan based on situational information and job analysis data. Participants develop an MQ as a measurement method as part of the assessment plan.
Participants review the results of four job analysis studies during the seminar, and determine if selected T&E methods are or are not appropriate, based upon the job analysis data for each occupation and contextual information. For some T&E methods (e.g., behavioral consistency) participants carry out part of the T&E development process during workshops, or develop a T&E scoring plan.
Research evidence on validity and reliability of each T&E method is summarized. Information is presented on such topics as: how to develop and score a T&E of each type, the advantages and disadvantages of each method, when to use the method, when not to use the method, ease or difficulty for applicants, ease of development and scoring, type of questionnaire or application required, occupations or applicants for which each method is most appropriate, and how to improve upon the method.
The seminar concludes with a workshop on resource allocation strategies and determining when T&Es are appropriate. Participants are given situational information and job analysis data for two occupations in this workshop.
The seminar was initially developed by the three-person team of Nancy Abrams, PhD; James C. Johnson, PhD; and Ron Ash, PhD. James C. Johnson updated the seminar in 1991. Radford University students of Mike Aamodt, PhD prepared some of the updated course materials. Nancy Abrams, James C. Johnson, and Charles F. Sproule (who served as team leader) carried out the seminar update and revision in 2001, relying on their experiences leading the seminar, and experience developing, evaluating and sometimes defending various methods, and significant new research guiding use of the methods. They benefited from the contributions of dozens of colleagues from local, quasi-public, state, and federal organizations as well as public sector consultants
The new training materials were tried-out last year in Trenton, New Jersey and in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of a six-course training curriculum for Personnel Assessment Specialists. Seminar materials were refined and finalized based on feedback from three try-outs of the updated seminar materials.
In addition to the three-day seminar, a one-day training course is available. Because of time limitations, the one-day training program excludes the topic of minimum qualifications requirements and the workshop exercises, but includes all key instructional information and reference materials. A separate one-half day training module on minimum qualifications requirements is available, as well as modules on specific topics. The seminar is designed in "modules" to allow flexibility in meeting the needs of all organizations. For example, a small organization might want an in-depth program covering only minimum qualifications and self-report/self-rating methods. These topics, including hands-on projects, could be covered in one day. Others might benefit from the half-day module on the behavioral consistency method, which is now known to be among the best of assessment procedures for certain occupations.
Contact
For more information about training programs and costs, contact:
IPMA-HR
1617 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 549-7100
Fax: (703) 684-0948
Email: ipma@ipma-hr.org