Assessments: What Recruiters and Hiring Managers need to know.
HR consulting specialists recognise the increasing importance of assessments and aspire to simplify this process for recruiters and hiring managers in the workplace. As part of their repertoire of HR solutions, assessment specialists are streamlined to add significant value to business practices through the professional evaluation of existing and new personnel for selection and developmental purposes.
'Assessing people is both an art and a science.'
What is Assessment?
Are you surprised when employees don't fit job criteria or fail to learn from training courses? Well, most people learn geology the morning after the earthquake. So, would it help to know that assessment interventions could help streamline your business where it really counts?
Assessment interventions are tests, exercises or questionnaires which measure cognitive, behavioural and personality constructs of an individual together with abilities, values, interests and preferences. Once these have emerged, informative decisions can be made regarding a person's compatibility to a position, career direction, the need for development, and how well the person will fit within a company and its culture. In the corporate world, assessments that are based on a framework of specific job-related competencies provide a context for understanding the individual in a holistic perspective.
Requirements for Assessment
What exactly do you require from an employee, from a job position, from a training outcome? How much do you spend on replacing, re-training or transferring employees who do not meet job requirements? Here's an assessment perspective: The assessment instrument is the path of the assessor to his or her work and it's not the length of assessment, but the depth of assessment that determines its value.
One of the first requirements for a successful assessment model is an innovative approach and sound methodology. Where instruments are designed and customised specifically for a certain industry, client or job, they clearly have a greater advantage for the end user. In the fast paced world of work tests need to be applicable, pragmatic and objective and instruments should be credible and administered by experienced professionals. The focus should be on valid applications, reliable results and culture-free modules that are fair and unbiased. To gain trust, aspects such as consistency and transparency should be built in all modules. Applications that are sophisticated yet uncomplicated, and reports which are inclusive yet easy to interpret will increase ease of use, buy-in and commitment with users.
Are you stuck on the same tests year in and year out and do assessment interventions make little or no difference to your selection, management and development processes? If so, consider using professionals who will develop assessment measures to meet specific needs in your organisation. And appoint experts who will administer a carefully selected battery of tests in alignment with detailed job profiles and customised competency blueprints. In the final analysis, you want meaningful information and results that make a difference.
Professional support and personal attention are key contributors to the assessment process. Assessment workshops should be managed by qualified practitioners who can facilitate individuals or groups, the latter being more time- and cost effective. Ensure that practitioners provide insight to clients and feedback to participants. On a final note, it's always a good idea when practitioners offer further development and capacity building after assessment interventions to ensure continued support and monitoring of assessed individuals.
Importance of Assessment
Various aspects in South African workplaces, varying from unemployment and equity issues to rapid change in organisational settings, have placed greater emphasis on effective selection and development of human resources. Nowadays, assessment interventions operate on a different plane and aim to contribute long-term value to your business, your people, and your occupational setting. Everything about business comes down to people. People are an integral part of business and need to be managed with wisdom. And if knowledge is the only elegance we can apply, it stands to reason that the dynamics of assessments need to be understood.
Assessment is seen as a fundamental feature in the hiring process for many progressive organisations as it offers a viable addition to the more traditional CV and interview methods of assessing and qualifying candidates. More than 70% of employers use some form of assessment in their hiring practices. From football teams to international banks are using assessments to hire candidates, conduct performance appraisals, identify training needs and develop existing personnel. Research from Price Waterhouse Coopers says that about 60% of South African companies are doing basic pre-screening tests on work candidates.
Recruiters and hiring managers in particular rely a great deal on the efficacy of assessment. Selection assessments have consistently been found to be the best predictor of a person's potential to perform and is a means of gathering information about a candidate's attributes under standardised conditions in line with a particular role. The aim of assessment is to ensure a good job-person fit with a candidate who is fully suited not only to the job, but also to the working environment. Clearly it is vital that a new employee fits in with the culture of the company, works well with other people, can handle stress and copes with the intellectual demands of the job. Assessment results, along with a candidate's experience, as a basis for decision-making, is more accurate than any other single or combined method of recruiting.
Professional recruiters admit that assessment is a valuable selection tool in almost all of the positions they fill, irrespective of industry Using this method also saves the employer a considerable amount of money, as the costs they would incur from hiring and re-training the wrong person will be much greater than if they were to hire a team of psychometrists.
Recruiters who make use of assessments in their selection procedures add considerable value to their hiring processes. Together with the initial screening and reference checks, assessment results provide the objective information needed to complete the picture on a candidate's suitability for the correct job-person fit. Recruiters who include assessments in their selection process, have a competitive advantage in that they are able to offer their clients professional results that add value to the employer, recruiter and candidate alike.
Why do Employers insist on using Selection Assessments?
Employers know that assessment is one of the smartest investments they can make in their business as effective recruiting and selection methods supply them the extra edge to:
- Evaluate a candidate's talent and skill or the potential to acquire it.
- Ascertain a candidate's behavioural style to forecast possible inappropriate conduct. Employees usually are hired on skill, but fired on behaviour:
- Measure intellectual capacity for logical thinking and reasoning.
- Determine or confirm a candidate's competence for a particular job.
- Predict how well a candidate is likely to perform in certain aspects of the job.
- Objectively compare candidates' performance and attributes when deciding between
two or more equally suitable candidates. - Develop detailed job analysis to highlight relevant skills and attributes so candidates
are assessed only on related competencies. - Save time and money. The cost of re-hiring and training incompatible employees far
outweighs the initial cost of assessing those candidates.
Types of Assessment
Assessing human capital is both an art and a science and there are several ways to discover an individual's inherent worth. One end of the continuum consists of practical evaluations that take place in assessment centres. The other end of the continuum includes batteries of psychometric tests that build a picture of a person's personality, ability and interests. Competency-based profiling is a feasible person/job-related assessment method that lies somewhere in the middle of this spectrum and is gaining increased momentum in relevance and application value. All three types of assessment interventions deserve mentioning.
1. Psychometric Assessment
Psychometric testing provides employers with an insight into an applicant's psychology that could otherwise take years to uncover. In essence, test results disclose what the candidate is truly capable of. With the use of psychometric assessment, the employer can narrow down the scope of prospects through fair and objective measures and use the test results to help supplement the subjectiveness of conventional hiring mechanisms.
What is Psychometric Assessment?
Psychometric literally means 'measurement of the mind' and psychometric tests are intended to do just that. Such tests were originally developed at the beginning of the last century as part of research into social studies and the first intelligence test was introduced by Binet & Simon in 1905. Yet it was not until the 1970's that they were adapted for recruitment purposes and since then, many new forms of recruitment tests have been introduced.
Psychometric assessment refers to the scientific measurement of psychological attributes such as ability, interest, personality and intelligence. In particular it is a process aimed at gathering objective evidence to be able to make an informed decision regarding an individual, group or organisation.
What do Psychometric Assessments measure?
Psychometric tests aim to help the employer build an overall profile of a candidate and depict how this person will fit within the workplace. Psychometric tests come in a variety of forms, but largely break down into three distinct categories - ability, interest and personality.
• Ability
People's aptitude or ability to work with various concepts, such as words, information, systems. For example, a journalist needs to have a flair for words, a bookkeeper with numbers and an operations manager with systems. Ability rated in work settings include:
- General mental abilities - verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning.
- More specific job-related abilities - clerical, mechanical and spatial reasoning.
• Interest
People's specific style and approach to life - their level of motivation, the direction and strength of their interests together with their values, attitudes and opinions.
• Personality
People's typical way of behaving, thinking, feeling or perceiving in particular situations - the type of role they take up in teams, and the way they interact with their environment and with other people.
Why do Employers use Psychometric Assessments?
Psychometric Assessment has become widely accepted as a benchmarking tool to evaluate people's suitability for a job. It's easy to understand why - people don't behave naturally during interviews - after all, it's hardly a natural situation. This means that without a measurable, objective assessment method employers are at risk of selecting people who are good at interviews, but not necessarily proficient in the job.
Psychometric assessment is a dependable way of probing a candidate's true worth and used correctly, it benefits both employer and candidate. Honest responses to questions on the part of the candidate, together with intelligent interpretation of tests results by the employer, can deliver a close job-person match, which ultimately would be in everyone's best interest.
In organisational settings psychometric assessment is used mainly for selection purposes and many companies introduce the tests at an early stage in the recruiting process in order to quickly sift though the potentials and get to the candidates who have the right combination of personality and skills for the job.
Psychometric Assessments don't make the decision for you and they don't take the decision away from you. They inform your decision. When well administered and interpreted, they provide useful information about how successful a candidate might typically perform in a job. Most company owners, managing directors and chief executive officers acknowledge the fact that assessment benefits recruitment practices, and many hiring managers frequently admit that: 'I would not want to make a selection decision based solely on psychometric assessments, but I wouldn't want to make my decision without them either.'
2. Assessment Centres
Some employers, usually large organisations, prefer to submit potential candidates to assessment centres for further screening and assessment. Assessment centres are collections of tests and exercises designed to simulate an employer's business environment whilst generating objective, observable information about the candidate.
Common activities include work-typical exercises, group discussions, role-plays and in some instances psychometric testing. Assessment centre testing can last from half a day to three days and is usually held at the offices of the employer or recruitment company.
The objective of these assessments is to uncover the candidates who have the most suitable personal attributes, problem solving skills and general aptitude to equip them to excel within the organisation's structure and culture.
3. Competency-based Assessment
Greater demands have been placed on assessment in organisational settings regarding the need for responsible and equitable assessment. To this end, competency-based assessment with an innovative methodology can add considerable value to the assessment process and many recruiters and hiring managers recognise the growing need for such an approach.
What is Competency-based Assessment?
Competence-based assessment covers a broad range of concepts - it is the objective profiling and evaluation of an individual's talent, skills, knowledge, abilities, interests, attitudes, values and behaviours that underpin proficient performance in an occupational area. Competence-based assessment is not seen as a pass or fail measurement. Instead it is an instrument used to determine a person's strengths and challenges In fact, it is one of the most effective measures by which selection, management, and development of employees can be administered. Recruiters and hiring managers more than ever find this a powerful tool for assessing and selecting the right candidates for the right jobs.
In the world of work, competencies are measurable constructs of a person's attributes and refer to the skills, knowledge, abilities and behaviours essential for successful performance in a particular job, role, task or function. For instance, a managerial competency would include, inter alia, the traits of systems thinking and emotional intelligence as well as skills in influence and negotiation. Competencies are acquired through experience or training and are measured objectively against a specific job standard.
A core competency is the fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in a specific subject area or skill set. For example, an individual who becomes certified as a Microsoft Certified Software Engineer is said to have a core competency in certain Microsoft systems and networks. The core part of the term indicates that the individual has a strong basis from which to gain the additional competence to do a specific job.
Categories of Competencies
Competencies are occupation specific and industry related and range from foundational abilities to specialisation in a particular job. Competencies in most business settings include:
Personal Effectiveness Competencies
Competencies needed for a successful career or role in the workplace that are valued by employers and often referred to as 'soft skills.'
• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Initiative and Drive
• Interpersonal Skills
• Willingness to Learn
• Dependability and Reliability
Academic Competencies
Competencies such as cognitive functions and thinking styles primarily learned in an academic setting.
• Mathematics
• Reading and Writing
• Science and Technology
• Critical and Analytic Thinking
• Communication - Listening and Speaking
Workplace Competencies
Competencies represented by those skills and abilities that allow individuals to function in an organisational setting.
• Teamwork
• Customer Focus
• Creative Thinking
• Adaptability/Flexibility
• Business Fundamentals
• Planning and Organising
• Workplace Computer Applications
• Working with Tools and Technology
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Scheduling, Recording and Coordinating
Management Competencies
Competencies specific to supervisory and managerial occupations.
• Staffing
• Networking
• Entrepreneurship
• Strategic Planning/Action
• Delegating and Informing
• Developing and Mentoring
• Clarifying Roles and Objectives
• Motivating and Supporting Others
• Preparing and Evaluating Budgets
• Managing Conflict and Team Building
• Monitoring and Controlling Resources
Merit of Competency-based Assessment
It stands to reason that an innovative assessment methodology will add more value to the assessment process per se. This means that competency models that are customised to meet specific needs of a client, job and industry will have pertinent relevance. Such models typically include a set of competency blueprints, used as a matrix to measure job related performance on a qualitative as well as quantitative level. They can accurately pinpoint the candidate's level of competence and clearly differentiate between employees who look good on paper and those who will excel in the job. When we really want to determine the value of an individual, competency-based assessment is the measuring instrument that ascertains specifics - examining the intricate behaviours, skills and talent where it actually counts.
Whether screening selection candidates, appraising employee performance, assessing team functioning, examining behaviour or evaluating perceptions in the company, competency-based interventions are designed to capture fundamental human attributes such as:
• Business Persona
The inherent traits, styles of work and preferences of people as reflected in a social and business setting. The way in which a unique persona unveils through distinct attributes and characteristics as experienced in the environment and in relation to other people.
• Organisational Acumen
People's general business sense, insight and level of comprehension of business concepts, processes and work values in the organisation. The way in which they encounter challenges and bring about appropriate solutions to deal with these issues.
• Career Orientation
People's interests, values and activities in specific career dimensions relating to work, remuneration, promotion and recognition.
• Skills Application
The preferences and interests people have for specific skill sets in the world of work, how much they enjoy carrying out various types of activities, and the aptitude with which they apply their expertise.
• Motivation
The energy with which people approach their work, and the different conditions that increase or decrease their level of motivation. Their understanding of motivational dynamics in a social as well as business environment and their experience of both intrinsic and extrinsic expressions of motivation.
• Interpersonal Skills
The way in which people think, feel and act in different interpersonal situations and the style they adopt to relate to others socially as well as at work.
• Management Style
People's executive style in a business environment and their competence in managing people and processes. How they deal with challenges on a daily basis and the behaviour and skill sets they apply in managerial and leadership positions.
• Leadership Style
The perceptions and proficiency with which leaders respond to people, issues and demanding situations and the level of skill and comprehension they display when involved in leadership and managerial initiatives.
• Team Roles
The specific roles team players adopt as integral members of a team and their proficiency in participating and contributing to project teams. The way in which they respond to challenges and their capacity to cope as team players in a group setting.
• Influencing Styles
People's influencing style in organisational settings and their proficiency in making an impact on the business and people they work with. Their fundamental ability and capacity for impacting diverse business scenarios and state of affairs.
• Emotional Intelligence
The way in which people interpret their own and others' emotions and behaviours in personal and professional relationships. Their ability to manage emotional situations, to develop greater self-awareness and to make their emotions work for them.
• Conflict Management
People's competence in identifying problem areas, managing interpersonal discord and resolving intricate conflicts in a business milieu. Their response to demanding work scenarios and the style of behaviour they adopt in divergent situations.
• Stress Management
People's capacity to manage stress on a physical and psychological level in diverse situations. Their patterns of coping with stress and their response to specific sources of stress that determine their ability to handle tough situations.
• Organisational Climate and Culture
Strategic issues that affect the day-to-day functioning of staff, such as business practice, work values and diversities. The opinions and perceptions of staff and their awareness and understanding of the climate and culture in the organisation.
Application Value of Assessments
Assessments, tests, and profiling do not end in the testing room, in fact, they generate long-term advantages. While assessments motivate candidates to express their competence, they enable assessors to make sound judgments in key business functions such as:
• Recruitment, Selection and Placement
Assessments assist in selecting the right person for the right job through objective measures as a way of verifying if the knowledge, competencies, potential and personality traits of a candidate are an optimal fit for a particular job. Whether candidates are placed externally or internally, selection assessments are effective in creating short-listed candidates, comparing assessment results, compiling interview questions and exploring key features of a job. By and large, assessment is a wise investment considering the cost of making a hiring error.
• Performance Appraisal
Assessments help organisations to attain their goals through its people and help manage and coordinate individuals and teams toward accomplishing those goals. Assessments detect people's strengths and challenges proportionate to specific skills, knowledge areas, abilities, and competence as well as performance behaviours.
• Training
Assessments identify training needs for personal and professional development. They make provision for supportive feedback and help employees attain the expected standard of performance through skills training. Assessment tools highlight strengths and challenges, pinpoint training needs and evaluate the success of training courses. In assisting with the training of employees, assessments align with the Skills Development Act (Number 97 of 1998) that stipulates the necessity to develop the skills of the South African workforce.
• Development
Assessments determine growth opportunities ranging from individual, to team, to organisational development. They create appropriate prospects for development to assist employees in acquiring and enhancing the required areas of competence and to coach employees struggling with aspects of their job. Assessments also assist in promotions, career counselling and succession planning. Specific team interventions help create high performance leadership and project teams with the aim of encouraging teams to work together skilfully and to enhance organisational growth in general.
• Behaviour Modification
Assessments help manage interpersonal relationships and resolve conflict of individuals and teams to promote a positive work environment conducive to innovation and growth. A healthy work milieu where staff feels valued, is one they are less likely to leave. Assessments assist in building capacity and conducting specific interventions that modify inappropriate behaviour. They address diversity and enhance synergy with a view to positively change and integrate both people and systems in the organisation.
• Change Management
Assessments assist in transitioning individuals and teams from a current state to a desired future state with the intention of integrating teams and managing human capital. Assessment questionnaires survey the perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of employees, teams and departments in the organisation with the purpose of translating diversities into synergy and compatibility.
Benefits of Assessment
Properly developed assessment tests and questionnaires, administered by competent and qualified professionals, can yield notable advantages to employer, recruiter and employee.
• Increased efficiency
Suitable candidates can be identified successfully by way of objective standardised tests that measure job-person related attributes fairly and equally in all individuals.
• Time Savings
Considerable time is saved by selecting suitable candidates early in the recruitment process thereby reducing time and money spent on unsuitable candidates. It also reduces the time senior executives spend interviewing candidates.
• Informed Decisions
Assessments provide accurate information on all dimensions of a candidate that allows for better selection and hiring decisions. They also improve managerial decisions related to performance appraisals, retentions and promotions, and assist in the development of training and mentoring programs.
• Cost Savings
Direct and indirect costs are saved in recruiting the right people for the right jobs. Interviewing only short-listed candidates saves administration costs and traveling expenses. The direct cost of re-hiring and training unsuited employees far exceeds the initial cost of assessing candidates. The cost of a poor hire can add up to three times the job salary. Hidden costs include high staff turnover, under-performance, deployment of staff, negative effect on co-workers, and lost customers and sales. Assessments are cost effective and easy to run compared to other approaches, and considering how long it would take to obtain the same information about a person.
• Validation of Information
Tests have high levels of validity, reliability and predictive validity. Reference and the interview process can also be used to validate information gained from assessments.
• Proven results
Research confirms that assessment is the most resourceful way to match the right person to the right job, to measure potential, and to predict behaviour accurately. With valid and reliable results, especially in aptitude testing, candidates can be benchmarked against each other to distinguish between good and poor performers.
• Increased Objectivity
Assessments are characterised by unbiased and impartial evaluations of candidates under controlled conditions, using standardised tests to generate objective information.
• Improved Credibility
Assessment tends to improve the credibility and professionalism of the recruiting process. The organisation recognises that the Human Resources department is taking a more scientific approach and candidates realise that the role, and the person in it, are valued. Investors and customers may also be impressed.
• Return on Investment
Testing can prove the effectiveness of a hiring strategy. Scoring helps to pin down something ephemeral, and the scores can assist employers in making a fairly clear return on investment calculation of the success of assessment. They can especially do this when they hire a lot of staff, can distinguish clearly between good, average and poor performers, and when good performers produce significantly more value for the company than average or poor performers.
• Detailed Job Profiles
Where testing is administered, Human Resources departments are compelled to think more clearly about job roles, what attributes those roles require, and what those attributes really mean. Companies avoid the trap of hiring people similar to existing staff and also sidestep candidates who are good at interviews but not necessarily in the job.
• Comprehensive Analysis
Besides measuring an individual's cognitive capacity, emotional abilities, job skill sets as well as academic knowledge, assessments evaluate a wide range of competencies and attributes that render an in-depth analysis with valid and reliable results.
• Reduced Legal Risks
Equitable assessments lower the risk of labour disputes or employers being sued by candidates claiming they were rejected for reasons of unfair recruiting practices.
• Attracts Motivated Staff
Assessment is as much about liberation as it is about putting people into boxes. Used well, it helps individuals become more self-aware, and this psychological well-being is motivational for existing staff, and attractive to potential staff.
• Increased Self-Awareness
Assessments help employees discover their potential, strengths and challenges and in so doing, increases self-knowledge and self-awareness.
• Enhanced Team Building
Presenting people with an issue and different ways of approaching it can have a real impact on interactions in the workplace. Assessments allow individuals to discover their own strengths and challenges, and also those of the people working with them. This promotes more effective working relationships and improves team performance.
• Improved Management and Development
Training and management in some organisations often focus on less talented staff. In contrast, assessments can enable an organisation to use its training and management budget more efficiently by focusing on the staff with the most potential. At the very least, it provides a clear and objective basis for a conversation about individual development. Likewise, with the aid of assessments managers are likely to communicate better and have a clearer understanding of the needs of employees.
In the final analysis, everything about business comes down to people. Where in business can we escape the impact of human care, human creativity, human commitment, human frustration, and human despair? There is no reason for anything in business to exist if it does not serve the needs of people.
'Every person has his own vocation - and talent is the call.'
Written by Erica Myburgh
Human Resources Practitioner
http://proform-hr-assessment.yolasite.com
About the author:
Erica Myburgh & Associates HR practitioners specialise in the professional assessment of individuals and teams for selection and development purposes in various job industries. Qualified specialists are proficient in designing and implementing assessments and customising interventions for individual requirements. Assessments Models are competency-based, specifically tailored to meet the client's needs, and strategically developed for the multi-cultural market in South African. Personal attention and professionalism is key to the business and the impetus for delivering value and results to recruiters and hiring managers.
