I
have heard that testing is not legal. Is that true? That is clearly not true. In fact, proper use
of good assessments can provide the most effective
documentation of objective and nondiscriminatory hiring
practices. In general, 4th,
5th, and 6th Generation instruments are well validated
for business applications. Most legal issues occur
when those instruments are used inconsistently or
improperly. It is important to consult with individuals
who are knowledgeable in such applications. Too often
companies have failed to gain the benefits of new
assessment technology because of conservative but
uninformed advice. In today's competitive world, businesses
can no longer afford not to explore every possible
competitive advantage.(Legal
Issues with Assessments)
Won't
some people be offended by being asked to complete
a test? Certainly,
but if some people are offended by a company's sincere
and professional efforts to ensure the success of
their employees through effective job matching, it
is a small price to pay for the overall benefits to
all employees in the company.
Aren't
there some people who just don't do well on tests?
The inherent concept in the newest assessment technology
is that all people are good at something, but no one
is good at everything. That includes testing. In general,
most people are anxious about taking any kind of assessment.
This reaction has been conditioned by years in school,
where passing or failing a test determined an individual's
class standing. Other tests such as driving tests
or medical tests also contributed to this attitude.
This is why it is important to explain the purpose
of any test or assessment to all candidates before
it is given. Many of the latest instruments provide
preliminary messages that do exactly that and put
the candidate at ease, whether the instrument is delivered
on the Internet or on paper.
It
is important to recognize that people with poor skills
will seldom be enthusiastic when asked to take a test
to measure those skills. People with performance problems
will not be enthusiastic about completing an assessment
to see how their abilities match a particular job.
That is exactly why assessments are a vital part of
today's business world. Effective assessment instruments
can identify the critical areas that people do not
want to reveal, but that the business must know in
order to make the best decision.
Our
selection process is rather long now. How can we find
time to fit in any tests?
The use of good assessments tends to collapse the
time needed for selection decisions, not make it longer.
Using a 10 minute instrument such as HermanCheckStart enables
an employer to effectively screen out unsuitable candidates
before spending substantial amounts of interviewing
time with them. By focusing the selection efforts
on those candidates that are most likely to succeed,
employers can not only make faster decisions but more
accurate decisions. By accelerating the hiring decision,
employers also become more competitive at capturing
talent in their job market.(A
Suggested Model for a Selection Process)
We
use recruiters for our key positions. Finding good
people is their job. Why should we use testing?
Professional recruiters can offer significant advantages
in seeking candidates for many positions, but it is
important to remember these caveats:
- Recruiters get paid for filling positions.
- Recruiters do not get paid for screening out candidates.
- The worst recruiter using good assessments will
make fewer mistakes than the best recruiter who does
not use assessments.
By
incorporating good assessments into the recruiting
process, you gain the benefits of recruiting professionals
and at the same time, gain insurance against them
making a mistake that costs you money.
We
use a customized interview system that seems to be
effective. Do we also need testing?
Customized
interview systems, behavioral event-based interviewing,
targeted interviewing, and competency-based interviewing
are all sound methods for identifying potentially
successful job candidates. Several systems use bio-data
surveys to profile successful employees and then attempt
to match interviewees to that profile. These programs
can be an effective part of an employer's hiring process,
however, they lack the objective measurement of current
assessments. As more people become involved with the
interviewing, the system becomes more vulnerable to
the subjective differences of each individual interviewer.
The process also requires a substantial amount of
interviewing time to accomplish the screening that
newer instruments such as HermanCheckStart can do in a matter
of minutes. These instruments even provide behavioral
interview questions based on the individual characteristics
of the candidates. By screening candidates before
in-depth interviews, the process is made much more
efficient. HermanCheckStart can actually be adapted to incorporate
your own interview questions into the HermanCheckStart system,
and then you can have the best of both worlds.
We
use an industrial psychologist. Why should we consider
assessments?
Industrial
psychologists play an important role by supplying
a professional psychological opinion as a supplement
to many decision-making processes. This can be quite
expensive however. It often makes sense to use an
inexpensive assessment tool, such as CheckStart, to
screen out unsuitable candidates before incurring
the expense of the psychologist.
Several things must also be clear about the role of
the psychologist:
- The use of an industrial psychologist to supply
information used for a hiring
or placement decision in no way limits the exposure
of the client company to federal and state regulations
(e.g. If that information can be shown to be discriminatory,
the decision can be shown to be discriminatory.).
- The psychologist's summary information is only as
good as the assessments used
to obtain the initial data. (i.e. A psychologist using
First or Second Generation tools cannot provide Fifth
or Sixth Generation quality information.).
I
want to use assessments to help us hire better people.
What is the best way to do that?
The best answer to that question depends upon many
factors, such as the nature of the employer, the population
of job candidates, the current market conditions,
and many more. Having said that, the Resource Center
contains a suggested
selection system that will work for almost any
position in any business, large or small.
Can
we use assessments with our current employees?
Of course, you can use assessments in many ways with
existing employees. Good assessment information can
help solve performance problems and improve working
relationships dramatically. You may also use them
selectively; it is not necessary to test as comprehensively
as in a hiring situation. A more detailed explanation
of using
assessments with current employees can be found
in the Resource Center.
