Identifying and Validating Selection Tools for Predicting Officer Performance and Retention

Abstract : The U.S. Army must commission officers who are likely to perform well as junior officers, fit into the Army's culture, demonstrate leadership potential for higher ranks, and be motivated to stay beyond their initial Active Duty Service Obligation (ADSO). To address this requirement, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) has undertaken a program of research to enhance officer selection, assignment, and retention. The primary purpose of this effort was to evaluate a number of predictor measures against officer performance and career intentions. The core activity was a concurrent, criterion-related validation project in which several predictor and criterion measures were administered to over 800 early- and mid-career officers. Results showed that a number of measures were useful predictors of officer performance and retention. The Rational Biodata Inventory (RBI), the Leader Knowledge Test (LKT), the Objective-Format Consequences Test, and College GPA were good predictors of technical, managerial, leadership, and effort/discipline performance dimensions.

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