List the benefits of the following personnel selection tools: polygraph test, assessment center, interview and lateral entry. Also give criticisms of each

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The benefits and criticisms of these personnel selection tools are:

1) Polygraph tests may deter some unsavory candidate from police service and may reveal behavior that would disqualify a candidate from police service. Polygraph professionals need a minimum of 600 hours of training with updates and still may prove unreliable to spot some candidates with questionable backgrounds.

2) Assessment centers have been valuable because they try to replicate actual police situations. Assessment centers include written, verbal, situational testing and psychological screenings but are very expensive to administer. In many cases, a written test is given to identify potential candidates before the assessment center.

3) Interviews are very useful as long as you have experienced officers from middle management doing the interviews on this level. The candidate is not only judged on the response to real situations that police need to deal with but also on judgments, ethics and character. This can be a valuable approach to personnel selection.

4) Lateral entry issues are a departmental problem rather than just a hiring issue. Entering a department as a sergeant, lieutenant or even captain, means some officers will not be promoted which has a negative effect on the police department's sworn personnel. It often upsets seniority lists for assignments. However it also lets the department search for talent throughout the country and the region. These two issues have to be weighed when dealing with lateral entry.