Selecting employees in the 21st century: Predicting the contribution of I-O psychology to Canada

The changes that will occur in the workplace as Canada enters the 21^st century are contrasted with those that occurred when this country entered the 20^th century in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required of employees, and the contribution of psychologists to predicting them. The present emphasis on job analysis, validity, reliability, freedom from bias and practicality will continue in the 21^st century. There will be a shift in emphasis from predicting organizational commitment to commitment to one's profession. Issues regarding validity generalization will be called into question as the concept of KSAs is broadened to include the ability to adapt to various cultures. Concerns regarding workforce diversity on the basis of race, sex, and age will be replaced by those due to cultural differences among three distinct civilizations, namely Western, Islamic, and Confucian. There will be a shift in emphasis from criterion-related validity of selection procedures to finding evidence of construct and content validity.