Dr Anna Luca Heimann

How leaders communicate with followers is a core element of leadership. However, research on leader communication techniques remains fragmented, limiting our understanding of their differential effects on follower cognition, affect, and behavior. To facilitate systematic research comparing the effects of different communication techniques, we propose a framework for leader communication techniques. We hypothesize that different communication techniques can be categorized into cognitive, affective, and behavioral leader communication techniques that influence cognitive, affective, and behavioral follower outcomes, respectively. To test this assumption, we developed and pre-tested video vignette material, which we then used in a between-subjects experiment in the military context. We assigned 368 military recruits to one of the three conditions (cognitive versus affective versus behavioral) to examine how these techniques relate to proximal and distal follower outcomes. We found few differences in the impact of cognitive, affective, and behavioral leader communication techniques on follower outcomes. The leader was perceived similarly, regardless of the communication techniques used. Only for specific affective follower outcomes (i.e., warmth and charisma of the leader), affective leader communication techniques were more effective than cognitive and behavioral techniques. We discuss implications for leader communication research, outline practical implications for leaders, and propose directions for future research.

Despite extensive investments in workplace learning, the failure to transfer the skills and knowledge acquired during training is common. To improve the transfer of training content to the workplace, scholars and practitioners have shown increased interest in setting up transfer interventions. However, there is limited understanding of how transfer interventions, as a form of self-regulated learning, affect training transfer. Using an experimental study design with leaders (N = 253) and their subordinates (N = 717), the present research examines the effectiveness of a transfer intervention, administered via a web-based app, which employs a goal-oriented microlearning approach to prompt leaders' self-regulation in the context of leadership training. The use of this app-based transfer intervention by an experimental group is then compared to a waiting control group. Furthermore, this study examines the effects of leaders' mindset (i.e. leadership self-efficacy and motivation to lead) on training transfer. Results from leader self-reports and subordinate ratings largely support the proposed impact of our app-based transfer intervention and leaders' mindset on strengthening training transfer.

Today's variety of interview formats raises the question of their interchangeability. For personality interviews, a crucial question is whether different formats are comparably robust against applicants' social desirability tendency (SDT) to ensure an accurate measurement. Using a within-subjects design in a simulated selection setting with 211 participants, this study examined how SDT affects personality scores in a face-to-face, asynchronous video, and written interview-all with similar interview questions designed to measure personality. Relationships between interview scores and SDT were weakest in the face-to-face format and strongest in the written format and differed depending on which personality trait was assessed. The findings highlight the suitedness of different interview formats for measuring personality with important implications for interview design and personality assessment.

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are low-fidelity simulations that are often used in personnel selection. Previous research has provided evidence that the ability to identify criteria (ATIC)-individuals' capability to detect underlying constructs in nontransparent personnel selection procedures-is relevant in simulations in personnel selection, such as assessment centers and situational interviews. Building on recent theorizing about response processes in SJTs as well as on previous empirical results, we posit that ATIC predicts SJT performance. We tested this hypothesis across two preregistered studies. In Study 1, a between-subjects planned-missingness design (N = 391 panelists) was employed and 55 selected items from five different SJTs were administered. Mixed-effects-modeling revealed a small effect for ATIC in predicting SJT responses. Results were replicated in Study 2 (N = 491 panelists), in which a complete teamwork SJT was administered with a high- or a low-stakes instruction and showed either no or a small correlation with ATIC, respectively. We compare these findings with other studies, discuss implications for our understanding of response processes in SJTs, and derive avenues for future research.

Employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) are important drivers of organizational effectiveness. Yet, there exist no established tools for selecting employees with a propensity to engage in OCB. Given that personality traits describe typical behavioral tendencies and are established OCB predictors, we propose that personality assessment is a useful approach for selecting employees who are likely to exhibit OCB. To test this proposition, we developed a structured job interview measuring the Big Five traits and then compared this interview to a personality self-report measure to determine which method of personality assessment works best for selecting organizational citizens. Employees (N = 223) from various occupations participated in the structured job interview and completed the personality self-report in a simulated selection setting. We then obtained supervisor ratings of employees’ OCB. Results supported the assumption that structured job interviews can be specifically designed to assess the Big Five personality traits and, most importantly, to predict OCB. Interview ratings of specific personality traits differentially predicted different types of OCB (i.e., OCB-compliance, OCB-helping, and OCB-initiative) and explained incremental variance in OCB over and above personality self-reports and verbal cognitive ability. Taken together, these findings expand our knowledge about dispositional predictors of OCBs, personality assessment in selection, and the design of job interviews.

Personality traits describe dispositions influencing individuals' behavior and performance at work. However, in the context of personnel selection, the use of personality measures has continuously been questioned. To date, research in selection settings has focused uniquely on predicting task performance, missing the opportunity to exploit the potential of personality traits to predict non-task performance. Further, personality is often measured with self-report inventories, which are susceptible to self-distortion. Addressing these gaps, the planned study seeks to design new personality measures to be used in the selection context to predict a wide range of performance criteria. Specifically, we will develop a situational judgment test and a behavior description interview, both assessing Big Five personality traits and Honesty-Humility to systematically compare these new measures with traditional self-report inventories regarding their criterion-related validity to predict four performance criteria: task performance, adaptive performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior. Data will be collected in a simulated selection procedure. Based on power analyses, we aim for 200 employed study participants, who will allow us to contact their supervisors to gather criterion data. The results of this study will shed light on the suitability of different personality measures (i.e., situational judgment tests and behavior description interviews) to predict an expanded range of performance criteria.

This study generates new insights on the role of initial impressions in assessment centers. Drawing from the "thin slices" of behavior paradigm in personality and social psychology, we investigate to what extent initial impressions of assessees-based on different slices of assessment center exercises (i.e., two minutes at the beginning, middle, and end of AC exercises)-are consistent across and within AC exercises, and are relevant for predicting assessment center performance and job performance. Employed individuals (N = 223) participated in three interactive assessment center exercises, while being observed and evaluated by trained assessors. Based upon video-recordings of all assessment center exercises, a different, untrained group of raters subsequently provided ratings of their general initial impressions of assessees for the beginning, middle, and end of each exercise. As criterion measure, supervisors rated assessees' job performance. Results show that initial impressions in assessment centers are (a) relatively stable, (b) consistently predict assessment center performance across different slices of behavior (i.e., across the three time points and exercises), and (c) mostly relate to job performance.

Lievens highlighted opportunities of employing situational judgment tests and assessment centre exercises for assessing personality-situation interplay. To broaden the range of possible approaches, we offer the patterned behaviour description interview as an additional selection instrument and outline why it might be particularly useful for studying the expression of personality in specific situations. In addition, we anticipate that diversifying methods for personality assessment will open up new research questions such as which methods are most suitable for studying which aspects of personality. Copyright (C) 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

To expand our knowledge of personality assessment, this study connects research and theory related to two common selection methods: assessment centers (ACs) and personality inventories. We examine the validity of personality-based AC ratings within a multi-method framework. Drawing from the self-other knowledge asymmetry model (Vazire, 2010), we propose that AC ratings are suited to capture personality traits that are observable in social interactions, whereas other methods (i.e., self-ratings) are useful to assess more internal traits. We obtained data from two personality-based ACs, self- and other-rated personality inventories, and supervisor ratings of job performance. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that personality-based AC ratings reflected the Big Five traits. Consistent with the self-other knowledge asymmetry model, AC ratings of more observable personality traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Intellect/Openness) were correlated with inventory-based measures of these traits. AC ratings demonstrated incremental validity in predicting job performance over inventory-based personality measures for some traits (including Agreeableness, and Intellect/Openness) but self-ratings also demonstrated incremental validity over AC ratings (for Conscientiousness). This implies that different personality measures capture unique information, thereby complementing each other. Yet, AC effect sizes were modest, suggesting that running personality-based ACs is advisable only under specific circumstances.

Measuring job performance is fundamental to validating selection procedures. However, job performance is multi-dimensional, and common measurement practices vary across its dimensions. While task performance is typically measured by supervisor ratings, counterproductive work behaviors are often measured by employee self-ratings, and there is no standard measurement practice for measuring organizational citizenship behaviors. Drawing from research on multi-rater models, this study proposes that the unique perspectives of supervisors and employees can both provide insights into employees' job performance and sets out to understand for which performance dimensions their combination is most valuable when validating selection procedures. Using latent models, it examines the extent to which supervisor and self-ratings contain shared and unique information about job performance dimensions, and how two common selection predictors (conscientiousness and general mental ability) predict this shared and unique information. Results show that consensus between supervisor ratings and employee self-ratings is modest across performance dimensions and that conscientiousness shows stronger relations with unique employee perspectives, whereas general mental ability is more strongly related to unique supervisor perspectives. The present findings have implications for the measurement of performance and the interpretation of criterion-related validities of selection procedures.

Job interviews are among the most popular selection methods. Previous research suggests that interviewees who are perceived as being authentic are evaluated more favorably in job interviews. However, little is known about which behavioral cues elicit perceptions of authenticity in others and whether interviewees who exhibit such authenticity cues are more likely to perform better in the job interview and on their actual job. Drawing from person perception theories, the purpose of this study is to introduce the concept of authenticity cues to interview research and to examine the extent to which authenticity cues are related to (a) raters' perceptions of interviewee authenticity, (b) interviewer ratings of interview performance, and (c) supervisor ratings of job performance. We used video recordings from 181 employed individuals participating in a mock interview to observe and rate interviewees' authenticity cues. Results indicate that observers can distinguish between verbal and para/nonverbal authenticity cues and that both verbal and para/nonverbal cues influence the extent to which interviewees are perceived as authentic by independent raters. Moreover, we found that interviewees' para/nonverbal authenticity cues were particularly relevant to predicting interview performance, whereas only verbal authenticity cues were related to job performance. In our analyses, we further considered the role of first impressions in the interview, interviewees' verbal cognitive ability, and interviewees' extraversion. Implications for theories of person perception, authenticity research, and interview practice are discussed.

In today’s employment market, it is important to use selection instruments that resonate positively with applicants. To advance the theoretical understanding of why applicants react differently to different selection instruments, this study examines how the satisfaction of basic psychological needs influences applicant reactions, specifically perceived interpersonal warmth and opportunity to perform. Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, this study systematically manipulated two method factors, namely, the stimulus format (written vs. interactive) and the response format (open-ended vs. close-ended) of selection instruments that were designed to measure the same personality traits. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study proposes and tests the satisfaction of the needs for relatedness, autonomy, and competence as a mechanism to explain the relationships between specific method factors and applicant reactions. Regarding the stimulus format, results indicated no effect on need satisfaction, but a positive effect of an interactive stimulus format on interpersonal warmth, when combined with an open-ended response format. Regarding the response format, results indicated that an open-ended response format increased perceptions of opportunity to perform, mediated by greater satisfaction of the need for autonomy. Practical implications for the design of selection instruments are presented.

It is widely recognized that leadership behaviors drive leaders' success. But despite the importance of assessing leadership behavior for selection and development, current measurement practices are limited. This study contributes to the literature by examining the structured interview method as a potential approach to assess leadership behavior. To this end, we developed a structured interview measuring constructs from Yukl's (2012) leadership taxonomy. Supervisors in diverse positions participated in the interview as part of a leadership assessment program. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the assumption that leadership constructs could be assessed as distinct interview dimensions. Results further showed that interview ratings predicted a variety of leadership outcomes (supervisors' annual income, ratings of situational leader effectiveness, subordinates' wellbeing and affective organizational commitment) beyond other relevant predictors. Findings offer implications on how to identify leaders who have a positive impact on their subordinates, and they inform us about conceptual differences between leadership measures.