The present-day companies strive to hire entry-level professionals with consideration of their future contributions to the business, and Tyson Foods is no exception to the rule. This challenging task is addressed through their orientation on the internship provided for prospective young staff. However, in order to reveal the mechanism of its work, it is vital to assess the psychological underpinning of the matter. This aspect is usually reflected in the method a company hires personnel with the focus on the acquisition of skills allowing to increase employees’ performance in the future (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide a clear picture of how the psychology of personnel interacts with selection methods of Tyson Foods.
One of the latest positions within the Tyson Foods Company is finance and accounting intern. It is a part-time job allowing a young specialist to participate in all principal activities of the business related to this field, such as reporting, forecasting, monthly closing, annual budgets, and many others (“Finance and accounting intern,” 2020). In the job description, special attention is paid to the necessity to work in a team while being an independent decision-maker bearing a great share of responsibility (“Finance and accounting intern,” 2020). Moreover, a potential worker should be good at cooperating not only with colleagues but also with the company’s partners (“Finance and accounting intern,” 2020). In this way, the provided information indicates the needs of Tyson Foods regarding their interns.
The proper choice of the enterprise’s future employees is made on the basis of specific selection methods that allow them to ensure their correspondence to the business’ needs. They correlate the theoretical notion of the interdependence of hiring methods with predictive validity in workers’ performance (“Finance and accounting intern,” 2020). The first approach Tyson Foods managers use is unstructured employment interviews with the candidates for the position (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). It is complemented by applications that allow receiving more information about potential interns. This method makes interviews more efficient since it provides comprehensive details regarding one’s personal data, education, and employment history. Moreover, the company uses integrity testing and biographical data measures as a part of the procedure (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). In this way, they manage to receive extensive data on candidates.
The specified selection methods of Tyson Foods seem to be optimal, but there are particular techniques that will allow making it more efficient in terms of the suitability of interns. The first possible initiative is the use of general mental ability tests that proved to be beneficial for medium complexity jobs such as the position in finance and accounting (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). It would help the company’s managers to check a candidate’s potential in acquiring new skills and knowledge. Another proposed intervention is the introduction of work sample tests, and it will be necessary for defining one’s qualification at the moment (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Hence, the suggestion is to add two more tests to the well-set mechanism of employment.
To sum up, Tyson Foods Company successfully addresses the business’ needs while selecting interns in finance and accounting. They explicitly present their expectations from candidates in the position’s description and make an ultimate decision on the basis of particular methods. They include employment interviews, additional applications, integrity tests, and biographical data measures. However, in order to increase the efficiency of the system, the psychological aspect of the matter should include general mental ability tests. Together with work samples testing, they will significantly improve the procedure.
References
Finance and accounting intern – Year round. (2020). Web.
Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274.