Antecedents of job competencies among Army medical department non-commissioned officers in leadership positions.

Abstract

The validity of aptitude measures for predicting training performance is well established, but they often fail to reliably predict job performance. This study compared an aptitude measure with selected personnel folder data as predictors of three aspects of job sample performance: leadership ability and knowledge; technical knowledge and skill; and career progression (promotion rate). The categories of predictors were: demographics, education and job experience, stress level, and aptitude. The central question was whether ordering variables in their naturally occurring sequence would affect their individual contributions to explained job sample variance, and specifically, the relative predictiveness of aptitude scores versus individual and combined demographic and experiential variables. A stratified r and om sample (N = 436) from seven medical specialities (MOS) was used. Instrumentation included the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), MOS-specific job knowledge and skill tests, a supervisory rating form, and a general supervisory knowledge test. Data were analyzed using a series of multiple regression models from which variables were removed in predetermined sequence congruent with the typical order of their availability. The total sample was divided into r and om halves for double cross-validation. Leadership ability was virtually unpredictable with the given predictors, and leadership knowledge demonstrated low (.2) to moderate (.3) cross-validated predictability. Technical knowledge showed moderate cross-validated prediction levels (.3 and .36) while technical skill demonstrated greater cross-validated predictability (.42 and .48). Promotion rate was the most predictable criterion, with cross validated R-squares of.49 and .52. For technical knowledge, technical skill, and promotion rate models, the significant (p =.05) variables were demographics, a composite of education and job experience, and the same composite moderated by MOS. Aptitude was not a significant predictor of any of the job sample criteria. The results suggest that an aptitude measure was easily displaced as a useful job sample performance predictor, but that the significant predictors lack the precision to identify specific attributes or experience as determinants. Implications for further research and journeyman level of selection were discussed.