Hiring a new employee is a huge investment. Countless hours may be spent reviewing applications and conducting interviews. Once the employee accepts the offer there is often weeks if not months of paying the salary of an employee who is not yet returning on that investment. From a financial perspective its imperative the right hiring choice is made with estimates the selection process can cost upwards of a full year’s salary per hire.
Accepting a new position is also a huge commitment from the candidate. They may feel secure where they are and leaving comes with the risk of not being right for the job and ending up with nothing.
Finally, if current employees see countless new employees come and go this can have a massive impact on morale, as they’re likely the ones having to find the time to help train up the new employees.
Nobody intends to hire a bad fit and we all do everything we can to ensure we get the right person for the job but if we like someone, or find them similar to ourselves, we tend to overestimate their suitability for the job. We don’t always ask all the right questions and if we’re desperate to fill a role we can miss vital information that may suggest our preferred candidate is not ideal.
Psychometric assessments take some of the subjectivity out of the selection process by providing information that has been objectively gathered and is reported consistently across candidates.
When deciding what psychometric assessments to use the information available can make it seem quite overwhelming. Assessments tend to fall into two categories – personality assessments and ability assessments. Personality assessments shed light on what the person is usually like. Are they outgoing or shy? Big picture or detail oriented? Carefree or cautious? There are no right or wrong personality types, but depending on the role you are hiring for there may be personality types that are better suited to the type of work they will be engaging in. Additionally, a good team should be comprised of a variety of complementary styles. A team full of results-oriented individuals often lacks the interpersonal touch and a team full of people great at teamwork may lack direction.
Ability assessments, on the other hand, look at how well a candidate can perform on a particular task. These range from simple typing tests to numerical, verbal or abstract reasoning, as well as specific job tests such as mechanical reasoning.
There are literally hundreds if not thousands of assessments available to choose from and before believing the spiel from the salesperson of one of these companies you should seek independent advice on the reliability and validity of any tool you are considering. Depending on budget, you should also ideally engage a psychologist to at the very least interpret the results or preferably recommend the assessments best suited to your needs, administer it on your behalf and discuss the results with you.
Not only can psychometric assessments help during the selection process, but they can often assist the manager in how to manage the successful applicant. Our reports include a section for Coaching Tips where the manager is provided with practical tips on how to help the candidate should they be successful.
Finally, it is important to note that psychometric assessments should be just one of the tools used in assessing the suitability of a candidate. Information gathered from the interview, referees and any other sources should be weighed up along with the assessment results before making a decision.
If you are interested in using psychometric assessments as part of a selection or development program please contact us for a no obligation discussion about what might be suitable for your needs.