Practical guidelines for implementing preemployment integrity tests

Integrity tests have been well researched in recent decades and have consistently been found to be effective predictors of counterproductive behaviors in a variety of occupational settings. In practice, however, the unique nature of integrity tests and their constructs have made their integration into organizations' recruitment processes somewhat challenging. In light of this situation, the present article outlines a number of practical guidelines that organizations can follow to help ensure successful integrity testing procedures. These guidelines are based on best practice standards for preemployment testing and describe the fundamental need for carefully planned and well-communicated implementation stages, which may include an initial audit of the organization's counterproductive behaviors, setting realistic and measurable objectives for the test's use, choosing the appropriate test, correctly positioning the test within the recruitment process, training the organization's staff and piloting the test, making accurate hiring decisions and providing appropriate candidate feedback, and finally monitoring the test's performance and employees' behaviors over time.