Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Improving Selection: Advances in the Belgian Defence Forces

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Military Psychology

Abstract

Any good selection procedure focuses on assigning the right man to the right place. Doing this in a consistent manner requires continuously scrutinizing all tools at hand, and is only possible through a well-functioning quality management system. Entrusted with this task, the R&D department within the selection service of the Belgian Defence constantly verifies the psychometric qualities of the selection procedure, and aims to optimize it through actions such as enhancing standardization, improving tests, and developing or purchasing new tests. Furthermore, the R&D department aims at ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates and guarantees that the selection procedure is in line with the applicable juridical and deontological rules. This chapter describes in more detail a part of these R&D activities, with a focus on personality assessment. We discuss a more theoretical view of how quality can be defined and measured, after which the results on the predictive validity are briefly highlighted. Next, a more practical view on the standardization process of the employment interview is elaborated. In the subsequent part, we discuss possible actions for increasing the quality of the personality assessment. We describe how a competency-based approach was introduced in the selection procedure to boost its quality. This approach pointed out the need for additional tests, such as a situational judgment test. The construction and validation of this test is discussed in more detail in the last part of this chapter. Finally, we conclude with the limitations of our research and with some recommendations for selection practices and future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    We have observed different tendencies regarding the two types of turnover across the personnel categories: Soldiers have a high rate of voluntary turnover and a low rate of involuntary turnover. The reverse is the case for OFF. This tendency is caused by the difficulty of the training.

References

  • American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banki, S., & Latham, G. P. (2010). The criterion-related validities and perceived fairness of the situational interview and the situational judgment test in an Iranian organisation. Applied Psychology-An International Review, 59, 124–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belgium Federal Government. (2010). Gestion des compétences au sein de l’Administration fédérale. Manuel. Retrieved from http://www.fedweb.belgium.be/sites/default/files/downloads/Manuel_CM_FR_edition_2.pdf

  • Chan, D., & Schmitt, N. (1997). Video-based versus paper-and-pencil method of assessment in situational judgment tests: Subgroup differences in test performance and face validity perceptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 143–159.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, D., & Schmitt, N. (2002). Situational judgment and job performance. Human Performance, 15(3), 233–254. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327043HUP1503_01

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christian, M. S., Edwards, B. D., & Bradley, J. C. (2010). Situational judgment tests: Constructs assessed and a meta-analysis of their criterion-related validities. Personnel Psychology, 63, 83–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clevenger, J., Pereira, G. M., Schmidt Harvey, V., Wiechmann, D., & Schmitt, N. (2001). Incremental validity of situational judgement tests. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 410–417. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.86.3.410

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1983). The cost of dichotomization. Applied Psychological Measurement, 7, 249–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, M. (2009). Personnel selection: Adding value through people (5th ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derycke, H. (2006). Het selectie-interview. Leuven, Belgium: Acco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drenth, P. J. D., & Sijtsma, K. (2006). Testtheorie. Inleiding in de theorie van de psychologische test en zijn toepassingen (Vierde, herziene druk ed.). Houten, The Netherlands: Bohn Staffleu van Loghum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edenborough, R. (2005). Assessment methods in recruitment, selection and performance. London: Kogan Page.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51, 327–358.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gatewood, D. R., Field, H. S., & Barrick, M. (2010). Human resource selection (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-western.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guion, R. M. (1997). Criterion measures and the criterion dilemma. In N. Anderson & P. Herriot (Eds.), International handbook of selection and assessment. West Sussex, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guion, R. M. (2002). Validity and reliability. In S. G. Rogelberg (Ed.), Handbook of research methods in industrial and organizational psychology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers Ltd..

    Google Scholar 

  • Ilgen, R. D., & Seely, W. (1974). Realistic expectations as an aid in reducing voluntary resignations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59, 452–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, F., & Highhouse, S. (2003). The relation of instrumental and symbolic attributes to a company’s attractiveness as an employer. Personnel Psychology, 56, 75–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, F., & Peeters, H. (2008). Impact of elaboration on responding to situational judgment test. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 16, 345–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, F., Peeters, H., & Schollaert, E. (2008). Situational judgement tests: A review of recent research. Personnel Review, 37, 426–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, F., & Sackett, P. R. (2006). Video-based versus written situational judgment tests: A comparison in terms of predictive validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 1181–1188.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, F., & Schollaert, E. (2008). Naar een nieuwe generatie assessment: Een open boek over situationele tests. Barneveld, The Netherlands: Nelissen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, F., Sackett, P. R., & Buyse, T. (2009). The effects of response instructions on situational judgment test performance and validity in a high-stakes context. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1095–1101. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014628

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lothe, B., Bertrand, F., & Hansez, I. (2012). Elaboration et validation de tests de jugement situationnel comme outil de sélection professionnelle: guide méthodologique. Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations, 18, 215–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for intelligence. American Psychologist, 28, 1–14.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDaniel, M. A., Hartman, N. S., Whetzel, D. H., & Grubb, W. L. (2007). Situational judgment tests, response, instructions and validity: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 60, 63–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDaniel, M. A., Morgeson, F. P., Finnegan, E. B., Campion, M. A., & Braverman, E. P. (2001). Predicting job performance using situational judgment tests: A clarification of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 730–740.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDaniel, M. A., & Nguyen, N. T. (2001). Situational judgment test research: A review of practice and constructs assessed. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 103–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motowidlo, S. J., Dunnette, M. D., & Carter, G. W. (1990). An alternative selection procedure: The low-fidelity simulation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 640–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motowidlo, S. J., Hooper, A. C., & Jackson, H. L. (2006). A theoretical basis for situational judgment tests. In J. A. Weekley & R. E. Ployhart (Eds.), Situational judgment tests. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell, M. S., Hartman, N. S., McDaniel, M. A., Grubb, W. L., & Lawrence, A. (2007). Incremental validity of situational judgment tests for task and contextual job performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2389.2007.00364.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, F., Ashworth, V., Zibarras, L., Coan, P., Kerrin, M., & O’Neill, P. (2012). Evaluations of situational judgement tests to assess non-academic attributes in selection. Medical Education, 46, 850–868. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2012.04336.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ployhart, R. E., & Ehrhart, M. G. (2003). Be careful what you ask for: Effect of response instructions on the construct validity and reliability of situational judgment tests. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roe, R. A. (2002). Competenties – Een sleutel tot integratie in theorie en praktijk van de A&O psychologie. Gedrag & Organisatie, 15, 203–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, F. L., Caplan, J. R., Bemis, S. E., Decuir, R., Dunn, L., & Antone, L. (1979). The behavioral consistency method of unassembled examining, TM-79-21. Washington, DC: U.S. Civil Service Commission, Personnel Research and Development Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorndike, R. L. (1949). Personnel selection: test and measurement techniques. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, G. C., & Gibbons, A. M. (2009). Validity of assessment centers for personnel selection. Human Resource Management Review, 19, 169–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weekley, J. A., & Jones, C. (1997). Video-based situational testing. Personnel Psychology, 50(1), 25–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1997.tb00899.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weekley, J. A., & Jones, C. (1999). Further studies of situational tests. Personnel Psychology, 52(3), 679–700. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1999.tb00176.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weekley, J. A., & Ployhart, R. E. (2006). An introduction to situational judgment testing. In J. A. Weekley & R. E. Ployhart (Eds.), Situational judgment tests. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weekley, J. A., Ployhart, R. E., & Holtz, B. C. (2006). On the development of situational judgment tests: Issues in item development, scaling, and scoring. In J. A. Weekley & R. E. Ployhart (Eds.), Situational judgment tests: Theory, measurement, and application (pp. 157–182). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whetzel, D. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2009). Situational judgment tests: An overview of current research. Human Resource Management Review, 19, 188–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Belgian Defence Recruitment Center, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Françoise Bertrand, Annemie Defranc, Wouter Huybens, Vicky De Nil, Kristof Van Landeghem & Veerle Tibax

  2. Howest University of Applied Sciences of Applied Psychology, Sint-Jorisstraat 71, 8000, Brugge, Belgium

    Helga Peeters

  3. Belgian Defense, Snoeistraat 12, 3945, Ham, Belgium

    Jacques Mylle

Authors
  1. Françoise Bertrand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Annemie Defranc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wouter Huybens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Vicky De Nil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kristof Van Landeghem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Veerle Tibax
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Helga Peeters
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Jacques Mylle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Françoise Bertrand .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for National Strategic Studies, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, Washington, DC, USA

    Stephen V. Bowles

  2. Institute for National Strategic Studies, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, Washington, DC, USA

    Paul T. Bartone

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Bertrand, F. et al. (2017). Improving Selection: Advances in the Belgian Defence Forces. In: Bowles, S., Bartone, P. (eds) Handbook of Military Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66192-6_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation