92% of the 200 plus recruiters surveyed find psychometric testing to be either “useful” or “very useful”. This, the report claims, is down to the suggestion that academic qualifications give little indication of how graduates will perform in the workplace especially in “soft skills” areas such as communication skills.
I for one am very very sceptical about using psychometric tests for recruitment. For one, even "well-known" tests like MBTI are advised not to be used for recruitment purposes. It presupposes that the firm has achieved to understand that only certain "types" of people will do well in certain roles. What they forget to remember is that psychometrics is not an infallible science. It mostly points a direction to a person's preferred sets of behaviors. Using it for selection and recruitment is not very different from using astrology to recruit people.
Selection must always be on the basis of a candidates' past record of achievements in similar or related roles. Tests or simulations that give a result on a job-related skill would not technically be a psychometric test.
Hi Gautam,
ReplyDeleteCan you list some resources that can be used to set up a basic level psychometric test of new recruits for IT industry and a process to evaluate them.
I want to implement this system. However I do not want to go overboard and make it too complicated to start off.
Abhishek
Well said, Gautam! I have always had this discomfort with all tests based in behavioral science. I have problems when they are taken as infallible Holy Grails. I do not know whether it is laziness or going thru the motions that makes HR depend on these tests.From personal experience and from what others have told me, what one is feeling at the time of taking the test, how one interprets the words, linkages from one's past history etc., may significantly contaminate the results.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the scepticism. What I do like, however, is that these tools make people think about thier preferances and (critically) the preferences of others. The key in business relationsips being to treat others as they would wish to be treated.
ReplyDeleteI guess "psychometric testing" does have a nice ring to it, but it would be incorrect to place 100% faith in the results obtained using such tools.
ReplyDeleteFor one, I have been observing a recent tendency among candidates to give what they perceive are the "right" answers for all types of tests, or to be seen as being of a "desirable" personality type, which could be contrary to their actual nature. This happens inspite of the fact that most tests often ask similar questions in differnt ways, and sometimes do trip a candidate who is seeking to control the result.
The other problem, to my mind, lies in correctly interpreting the results.
Inconsistencies in a) the answers given, and b) interpretation of those answers, could well have uncomfortable consequences, for the company as well as the candidate.
Agreed - past behaviour is a strong predictor of future behaviour and psychometric testing (done well from an established provider)enables you to measure this potential in a fair, objective way and effcient way.
ReplyDeleteUsed as part of a recruitment process that includes past achievements and eligibility, it is the single biggest predictor of future performance.
At SHL we have hundreds of real examples of how using assessment has help organisations improve quality of hire, reduce attrition and deliver business results through unlocking talent across their existing employees.
Abhishek - I would be delighted to talk to you about how assessment can be used to evaluate fit for IT roles.
Teresa
Teresa,
ReplyDeleteCould you please contact me at m[at]voicetap[dot]in?
thanks,
Mrigank