Hiring talent - using psychometric tests to see behind the mask

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As most business leaders, recruitment and HR professionals know, hiring talent is not an inexpensive exercise. Not to mention the additional risk of hiring someone who doesn't perform, meet expectations or ends up being a complete cultural mismatch.

Determining whether a candidate has the appropriate natural abilities or personality to be successful in the role they are applying for by looking at their CV and conducting an interview surely cannot be sufficient to make an informed decision. Now add the additional dimension of a video interview - how many valuable cues are missed?

Enter psychometric assessments

A psychometric assessment is a scientifically developed test that measures the extent to which a candidate's ability and personality match those required to perform the given position. 'Ability' looks to assess a specific or general set of skills required to perform the role (numerical, verbal, abstract) and 'personality' explores behaviour, attitudes, preferences, motives and values.

When to use psychometrics

There are no hard and fast rules about when to assess, except to say that assessment results cannot be the only criteria for making a decision; they need to form part of an holistic process.

The majority of companies use psychometric assessments as part of the final hiring process, often as an objective way to size up the final shortlisted candidates.

How do psychometrics add value?

Making hiring decisions solely on CVs, reference checks and interviews is outdated. Today's business owners are looking beyond the hard skills. They are wanting to know "who" they are hiring, their soft skills, their interests, their personal story and most importantly how they "fit" the environment, culture, working conditions and values of the business.

• Remove all unconscious bias: As humans we have our own set of experiences, expectations, habits and beliefs which can cloud our view of candidates without us realising. Psychometric assessments are science-based and objectively assess a candidate's fit, weighing all people on the same scale.
  Acquire key additional data: Gain various additional insights that cannot be obtained in an interview. A candidates strengths and weaknesses, for example, can provide valuable filters.
  Get a better return on investment: Simply put, while a good fit candidate is an asset for your business, a bad hire can prove to be extremely costly and impact the productivity and morale of other employees. The advantages of psychometric tests are not limited to recruitment, but span the entire career cycle of an employee. More specifically, psychometric assessments are indicative of a candidate’s future potential, leadership orientation, and learning agility. Hence, test results can be a great tool to prepare for the candidate’s onboarding and career development, empowering HR professionals to make important decisions regarding workforce management.

There are many uncertainties facing business leaders today and traditional hiring methods have been compromised. Fortunately, using psychometric assessments, hiring great-fit talent is possible.