Psychometric and ability testing

Psychometrics for hiring and development

The use of psychometrics in the hiring process as part of a holistic assessment battery offers several valuable benefits for both employers and candidates. At People Business, we support numerous clients with their assessment needs, whether this be at Exec level, or critical hires into functional teams.

Knowing whether to assess can sometimes be a tricky decision; after all, it isn’t cheap. However, with recruitment percentages hitting 30% of overall first-year remuneration in some cases, spending a little more at the outset can help you pick the right person.

We support our clients both with behavioural preference assessments, using profiling tools like Hogan and MBTI, as well as aptitude psychometric measurement using Saville SWIFT, amongst others.

Here are some of the key advantages:

The key advantages of using psychometric and ability testing

Ensures you are objective when assessing candidates, and mitigates unconscious biases

Psychometric tests provide a standardised and objective way to assess candidates, reducing biases that may occur in traditional interview processes, leading to more diverse and inclusive hiring outcomes. This ensures a fair evaluation based on measurable criteria. By design, psychometric tests are hard to ‘kid’; people can practice but most of the tools are clever enough to identify if someone is trying to play the system. When supported by robust debriefing, the use of psychometric assessment can therefore you the confidence that your process is fair and impartial.
Assists the individual with developing their self-awareness

Candidates who undergo psychometric testing often gain insights into their own abilities, personality traits, and areas for development. This can help them understand their fit for the role and the business better. For those already in role, the data from psychometric tests can inform the development and training needs of employees, helping to create personalised development plans that enhance individual and team performance.

Helps you to find the right people, with greater efficiency

By providing clear insights into candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, psychometric tests streamline the hiring process. They help identify candidates who are most likely to succeed in a given role based on their cognitive abilities, personality traits, and skills. Employers can quickly identify the most suitable candidates who fit the job requirements and the company culture, leading to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates whilst reducing the time and resources spent on extensive interview rounds.
Demonstrates your business’ desire to conduct fair, consistent and impartial processes that help you to find the best people

When used properly, psychometric tests can add to the legal defensibility of hiring decisions. They provide a documented, standardised method of evaluating candidates, which can be valuable if hiring decisions are ever questioned or challenged. It also ensures that larger companies have a consistent approach to hiring and developing people.

Why choose People Business for your psychometric and ability testing needs?

Specifically focusing on attraction, one of the things that differentiates People Business is our insistence that anyone completing a psychometric profile should have a debrief with us. Personality profiles in particular are very good at identifying our trends, but might not show up where we have coping mechanisms or mitigation strategies.

When working with our clients, we therefore insist upon a one-hour interview with candidates to question the themes that we identify in our assessment. We then feed back to our clients using not only the assessment report, but our gleanings and suggestions on what they might like to probe in further interview stages.

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