It is very important for an organisation to understand and evaluate a candidate thoroughly during the recruiting process as they make up for the core system of the company and determine growth and development of that particular organisation.
The process of recruitment is extensive because it doesn’t just concentrate on the candidate’s qualifications or experiences, but it digs deeper into the individual’s personality traits, behavioural patterns, values, beliefs systems, motivational level, coping mechanisms, stress management and any other history to help understand if the candidate is the right fit to become an employee in the organisation he. She has applied in. It is much more valuable and valid than mere aptitude tests or intelligence tests.
How to gain an overall understanding of an employee/candidate?
To understand human behaviour, there have been certain standardised tests that have been developed over the years by psychologists and experts from the field which helps the organisation in determining various skills and behavioural traits of an individual. These can be used on candidates, employees and employers in order to understand one’s role in an organisation. These tests are in the form of psychometric assessments, which is administered by the HR department during placements and other recruitment process. It can really help improve the efficiency of selection process and can provide a clear picture and understanding of the candidate in terms of effectiveness, suitability and efficiency.
These tests are logical, and standard. They gauge a person’s suitability to a certain role based on personality, skills and other abilities. They are combined with other methods such as interviews, and group discussions to gain a more holistic understanding.
Types of Psychometric tests:
Psychometric tests are divided into two broad categories:
- Aptitude tests which measure the abilities displayed by the individual in terms of cognitive capacity. These tests also measure intelligence, both fluid and crystallised. These tests can vary in nature depending on the nature of the job. They can be designed for teachers, designers, etc.
- Personality tests which determine the traits, behaviour and other qualities that is personal to a particular individual. They are usually determined by the big 5 personality model. These tests generally give an understanding as to whether the candidate will be able to work in a team, have leadership qualities, be motivated, motivate others, and will be able to take constructive criticism among other qualities.
Over the past decade, there has been wide use of these tests in every organisation as it is a fair and united way of understanding the apt use of a particular candidate for that organisation. It is important to know and understand these processes as it is used by many in various sectors of the growing industry. Psychological measurement is as important as physical or intellectual measurement. Each person is different and they will have their own personality type. It is up to the organisation to understand these individual differences and see what fits and what doesn’t using methods like psychometric tests, and other various processes.
Things to remember when conducting psychometric assessments
Are you thinking about conducting a psychometric test as a part of your employee hiring drive? Well this is a very common test that a lot of people are including in their employee hiring curriculum these days which is known as a psychometric test and a lot of companies are opting for it. Not only is it cost effective but it also saves a lot of time.
Well, getting a Psychometric assessment done of candidates before they are hired is not exactly very easy. There are a lot of things that you will have to keep in mind if you want to make sure that you get the proper results out of a psychometric test. Here are some of the pointers that you always ought to remember:
- The first thing that you will have to do is hire a team of experts who will create the test for you. It is not exactly a piece of cake to prepare for a psychometric test and hence it is a job that is best done by the professionals. If you are thinking about getting some psychometric test done, then you should a team who will create the test for you and will also evaluate the results. So the first thing that you will have to do is look for the right team of professionals.
- Do not go into any elaborate process of setting up a space where the candidates can come in and actually sit for a psychometric test. Send these tests online to the potential candidates so that they can complete it in a time bound manner from the comforts of their own home and send back the results in a stipulated time. This will help you to save cost and of course a lot of time.
- After this comes the very important thing that you will have to talk to about with the professionals that you will be hiring to create the test is that, what kind of key aspects your company generally looks for in an employee. In order to understand whether or not the candidate is well suited for your company you will have to ask the right questions in the psychometric test and hence it is important to have a carefully laid out set of questions that the candidates will have to answer.
- Then you will have to make sure that you conduct the psychometric test at a very basic level. Allow a lot of candidates to take the test so that from a sea of candidates you can pick out the ones which are most suitable for your company with ease and more effectively.
- And then finally when you conduct the test make sure that tally the results with the recommendations and the bio that has been provided with the candidate. This will give you a more wholesome and complete understanding of the profile of the candidate which will work as a boon for your hiring process.
So, these are some of the most important pointers that you need to keep in mind when it comes to hiring for your company through psychometric assessment.
