What can biographical data tell a manager about their employees?

Question

What can a manager do to get a compatible ability-job fit? Provide some examples.

Where can a manager find biographical data about an employee?

Answer 1

It can tell the employee that the manager is probably employing illegal methods to asses the candidate's ability to perform the job, that's what. Biographical data such as age, gender, race, ethnic heritage, sexual preference, # of children, relatives, weight, etc. is irrelevant in determining fitness for duty. It is also not legal to ask an applicant about any of those things, or an employee about most of them.

What the manager CAN do is to use behavioral interview techniques that focus on what experiences the candidate has had that would be relevant to the job under consideration. The manager can also develop strong job descriptions which specify the BFOQs (bona-fide occupational qualifications) which the employee must possess in order to perform the essential functions of the job.

Biographical data, indeed.....