Psychometric Testing

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Psychometric Testing – Making the right hiring decisions

Recruiting and selecting the right staff is essential for all organisations. It is estimated that the cost of hiring the wrong person can be up to three times salary. This makes it difficult to explain why many organisations invest little time and effort in their recruitment processes. Typically organisations rely on unstructured interviews carried out by untrained interviewers and a couple of bland references. This process has the success rate similar to flipping a coin. Larger organisations realise that this process does not work with 80% of the organisations listed on the FTSE 100 use some kind of psychometric evaluation. The research findings are conclusive. The combination of competency based interview and objective assessment techniques is the best way of predicting an individual’s suitability for a job. This is according to Schmidt & Hunter after reviewing 85 years of research on the validity of various selection methods.

The cost of a bad hire

The cost of a bad hire can go far beyond the recruitment agency fee or advertising costs. Unfortunately many hiring managers bury their head in the sand choosing to accept the true costs of poor recruitment. Larger organisations can absorb hiring mistakes but for smaller organisation poor recruitment decisions can spell disaster. When considering the cost of a wrong hire there are the obvious costs like the recruitment agency fee, the time recruiting, advertising costs, training the employee and salary and benefits for employee. There are also hidden costs to consider like managing poor performance, the negative effect on co-worker productivity and morale, lost custom and sales, severance payment, recruiting a replacement and training a replacement.

What is Psychometric Testing?

Psychometrics is concerned with the measurement of "psychological" aspects of a person such as skills, knowledge, abilities, or personality. The testing used by organisations will vary depending on the role and the company in question. Below are some of the more popular tests used:

Personality Questionnaires – Personality questionnaires provide an indication of an individual’s preferred behavioural style at work, information on how a candidate will fit in certain work environments, how they will work with other people and how they will cope with different job requirements.

Ability Testing - They measure a candidate’s current ability and future potential. There are a wide range of work related ability tests but the most common are numerical and verbal reasoning tests.

Benefits of Psychometric Testing

Save Money & Time – Psychometric Testing will help reduce the possibility of hiring the wrong person. Testing can save the cost of a wrong hire as outlined above. Testing can also save time helping you identify suitable and unsuitable applicants quicker.

Objectivity & Fair Recruitment – Recruitment is becoming a legal minefield. The use of psychometrics is a fair and objective way to recruit and helps eliminate subjectivity.

Better hiring decisions – Hiring the right person can reduce staff turnover and improve staff performance.

This article was provided by Measurability a leading Psychometric Testing service provider in Ireland. Measurability offers a wide range of psychometric tests to organisations across Ireland.