Page 342 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

13. HRM PRACTICES
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Mussio, 1975), perceived content validity (Rynes & Connerley, 1993), and
perceived job-relatedness (Smither, Reilly, Millsap, Pearlman, & Stoffey,
1993) may influence minority applicants' decisions to remain or withdraw
from the selection process.
In spite of higher unemployment rates for racial minorities, attempts to
target recruitment toward racial minorities have produced mixed results.
The research literature suggests that the recruitment of racial minorities is
affected by several perceptual factors including reactions to advertising,
affirmative action policies, and the fairness of selection methods and pro­
cesses (e.g., Ryan, Sacco, McFarland, & Kriska, 2000; Rynes & Connerley,
1993; Smither et al., 1993). Women applicants tend to be attracted to family-
friendly organizations that emphasize the availability of benefits such as
flexible work arrangements, eldercare (Poe, 1989), and childcare (Van den
Bergh, 1991). Also, women job seekers tend to respond more favorably
to equal employment opportunity policies than do men (Doverspike &
Arthur, 1995; Doverspike, Taylor, & Arthur, 2000). Finally, the job search
behavior of older workers is often shaped by their health, finances, and ed­
ucation. In addition to health care provisions and salary, the older worker
is particularly likely to be influenced by flexibility in work options and the
availability of retirement programs (Sterns & Miklos, 1995).

Altering the Behavior of Majority Croup Employees Through Recruit­
ment In theory, if one could identify the characteristics associated with
prodiversity attitudes or orientations in majority group employees, orga­
nizations could then attempt to target individuals with such characteristics
in their recruitment efforts. This approach does not change the behavior of
specific individuals but instead, the process of recruitment attracts people
who are already open, tolerant, and/or nonprejudiced with the end result
that at the organizational level, there is a preponderance of individuals
with prodiversity attitudes or orientations. So this approach requires that
one accurately identify such individuals and then develop methods for
targeting recruitment toward them. Although in theory such targeted re­
cruitment might work, through for example, the identification of colleges
or universities with uniquely cosmopolitan (Doverspike, Arthur, Struchul,
& Taylor, 2000) populations of students, it would seem that such an effort
would have to be based more on art than on any specific scientific basis
because the scientific evidence to support this approach is lacking.

Selection

Reducing the Negative Effects of Traditional Tests and Selection De­
vices As previously noted, although the selection process can be sepa­
rated from recruitment, in reality, the two are intertwined. However, from