"Psychometric tests are powerful measures of human characteristics. Their results can alter the course of people’s lives.”
- Mike Smith with Pam Smith
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Psychometric Assessment & Testing refers to the assessment of personality, ability, attitude, motivation, interest, needs, emotional intelligence, among others. When assessing a person’s suitability for a given position, relying on their CV or interview alone can lead to costly errors of judgement. Assessing personality gives an objective indication of a person’s workplace behaviour, ability to adapt, and their potential to achieve success in a role. Psychometric assessment is a common part of the job interview process at many companies across the world.
Testing aims to assess how the abilities of a candidate are suitable for the functions of a role.
Psychometric tests are used to assess the suitability of potential employees. The most common recruitment psychometric tests of today are designed to reveal details about behavioural traits and personality which don’t come to light during the interview process. The other types of test are aptitude or ability assessment devised to measure reasoning or cognitive ability.
There are different types of psychometric tests but, the following two types are popular in the
Aptitude test identifies the potential to grasp new skills; they measure one’s natural ability to perform tasks where no prior specialist knowledge or skills are needed. The most popularly used ability tests in the recruitment process are numerical and verbal reasoning tests. However, one may also encounter abstract, diagrammatic and spatial reasoning tests depending on the type of job one is applying for.
Verbal reasoning – ability to understand and use words – concerned with spelling, grammar and sentence completion.
Numerical reasoning – the ability to reason with numbers and analyse data and graphs.
Strict time limits are set and the tests are taken under exam conditions. Online aptitude tests help recruiters filter and screen candidates on the basis of their cognitive skills. Online aptitude tests also help in understanding fitment into various jobs in sectors such as IT, Engineering, Banking and Finance which needs a high level of precision and reasoning. There is a right and wrong answer and the questions are usually multiple-choice.
Personality questionnaires are designed to explore the candidate’s preferred way of behaving; how one would relate to other people and the ability to deal with one’s own and other people’s emotions and the way one would handle and solve problems. Personality questions are based on either Trait theory or Type theory of personality. The relevance of a particular personality questionnaire depends on the objective of the assessment.
There is no right or wrong answer and usually no time restrictions. The modern corporate sector uses behavioural assessment or skill assessment rather than personality questionnaires. Behavioural assessment or skill assessment help better in the assessment of a candidate into a particular role.
Reliability
Validity
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The results that are obtained in this method are more accurate and appropriate in comparison to the results of only interviews or other methods such as reference checks. These results are sturdy, reliable and unbiased which apparently turns out to be the major merit of this method.
Also, the cost incurred by the company as losses due to the non-performance of staff, high turnover rates, and underrated recruitment are far more than the cost that is tagged with the psychometric assessment.
The method is totally unbiased, and no kind of favouritism is involved. It takes care of many errors in interviewing methods such as subjectivity, halo effect, recency effect, etc.
As psychometric assessments are rolled out to candidates in groups, it saves a lot of time and money for the organisations. Online psychometric tests can be administered on laptops, tablets, desktops, and mobile phones. High-end automation helps in the quick screening of candidates and thus expediting the recruitment process.
Besides assessing others for recruitment processes or for learning and development, psychometric assessment could be extensively used for self-awareness. Analysis of one’s strengths and areas of development can help individuals excel at work and in life.
Psychometric tests are ones that assist the employers to pick individuals who possess personal working styles, abilities, and motivation. Through these tests, the best fit among a pool of candidates can be done efficiently.
A psychometric test helps the employer understand the candidates. The performance of the candidates is likely known when he starts working. Their capabilities such as stress management, adaptability, customer orientation, etc can be understood using psychometric assessment and could be considered for upskilling.
Good psychometric tests and assessments offer more information; they show what an individual’s motives are and the way the employees would like to educate themselves.
By this way incentive schemes, development programs and training, helps the employers get the best out of each employee.
With the help of the psychometric test, applicants can find the right job which suits their skill sets. These tests avoid them from getting into jobs which are not in line with their strengths. This would curtail absenteeism and burn out at work.
The recruitment process is found to be improved with the help of psychometric testing. This is because only relevant and appropriate candidates are chosen through this test. This saves money as well as time being spent on unsuitable candidates.
Psychometric testing can be utilized at any stage of the application process. Depending on the size of the company they can be followed at the beginning of the process and at the end of the process. By this way, they can ensure that the candidate is the best fit for the organisation as per its skills and culture.
Psychometric tests at work are used in a spread of settings and have various applications.
Alongside other assessment methods, psychometric testing is often used as part of the recruitment and selection process, to explore the match between the candidate and therefore the role.
Coaches use psychometric instruments to assist individuals to understand their strengths and development areas in order to facilitate personal learning and growth.
A variety of psychometric tests, such as interests and values inventories, can be used to help an individual consider their preferences for future career decisions.
Psychometric tests can be used in team training and development to enhance self-awareness, understanding and team communication.
Psychometric tests can be used as part of the assessment and development of future talent and leadership potential.
With the business competitiveness on an increase, HR professionals need to leverage the benefits provided by nuanced assessment methods like psychometric assessments to holistically map talent demands to improve business productivity. Psychometrics can play a pivotal role in holistic talent development. A recent report by Willis Towers Watson on ‘Reimagining Employee Engagement in India’, notes that “Companies are increasingly interested in identifying the fit between an employee’s personality, and the culture and values of the company. If we can reasonably assume that the greater such a fit, the more likely one is to be engaged, we therefore have an extremely powerful factor to add to our selection criteria. It would be really valuable to hire only those employees likely to be engaged at a company, given its unique culture and/or the ideal culture it is trying to build to help execute its strategic goals”. In such cases psychometrics become a valuable asset with HR professionals to plug employees into roles which suit them more comfortably and as per their skill sets. By having multi-dimensional assessment parameters, psychometric assessment becomes an important tool for HR professionals. A holistic approach to psychometrics might turn out to be a cost-effective way for companies to create a high performing and engaged workforce. And, it is for the HR to drive the adoption of psychometrics across an employee lifecycle, it is important for HR to build its capability. Assessment requirements at the time of hiring are very different from assessment requirements for development needs analysis or high-potential identification. By understanding the advantages that different assessments provide, HR professionals can map talent demands in a better manner, and therefore lead its organisation to higher productivity and profits.
