The value of psychometric testing and identifying

The value of psychometric testing and
identifying the successful candidate
The value of psychometric testing and identifying the successful candidate
While the financial services industry has seen a marked improvement in recruitment
terms in 2010, candidates still swarm for every precious vacancy and recruiters face
a monumental task to sift multiple applications to find the right person for any job.
Along
with
traditional
face-to-face
interviews
and
candidate
presentations,
psychometric assessments have become a valuable and commonplace method of
indentifying the individuals most likely to succeed in a role. But how effective are
these controversial tests in truth and can their use particularly help recruiters make
the right choice in the current economic climate?
Types of psychometric assessment and their growing popularity
Psychological pre-employment screening tends to be most commonly used for
managerial, graduate and professional vacancies, according to a recent study by
employment law information service XpertHR, with most tests focusing on
personality, attitudes and behaviour.
While there is an abundance of psychometric tests available, Professor John Rust,
director of Cambridge University’s Psychometrics Centre, insists that all assessments
should operate in the same way for all participants, be free from bias, have the
capability to be standardised and, crucially, measure what they claim to measure. At
the most basic level, Rust believes that psychometrics offer a degree of objectivity in
selection that hopefully avoids interviewers recruiting in their own image.
‘We all have our biases, which can make interviewing candidates very subjective.
This is one way to inject more objectivity. We need to get around the tendency to
recruit people like ourselves. If you want a good team you need a diversity of
personalities,’ Rust said.
Some estimates suggest that eight out of ten FTSE 100 companies now employ
psychometric assessments when choosing new talent. In the wider business
eFinancialCareers is the leading global online job board for recruiters
and hiring managers who need to source high quality finance professionals.
environment, about half of firms use specific skills tests when recruiting, according to
research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The CIPD has
also found that in 2010 almost ten per cent more companies (44 per cent) opted for
personality, attitude or psychometric questionnaires when selecting new staff than
did the year before.
The ability to analyse numerical and financial data is clearly of vital importance in
many financial services roles and numerical reasoning tests are very common as part
of a psychometric assessment suite. Deloitte and JP Morgan are just two firms which
employ both numerical and verbal reasoning elements in their psychometric
assessments.
Leading test developer SHL Group is one of Deloitte’s favoured test providers. Nick
Hallwood, director of product management at SHL, said: ‘When an organisation
understands the characteristics required to do a specific job well, and an assessment
provider offers a proven means of measuring individuals against these in a practical,
efficient and reliable way, the value of psychometric assessment is indisputable.’
Paul Fox, head of recruitment firm Argyll Scott and founding partner of Redgrave
Partners, said: ‘A key purpose of psychometric testing is to take more risk out of the
decision making process. Given what happened in financial services in recent years
there are many firms which are keen to limit the risk of hiring someone who may be
maverick or likely to behave irresponsibly. A personality based test may reveal some
of that tendency towards risk taking.’
Choosing the right test
With hundreds of test models on the market, one of the major challenges a recruiter
faces is deciding which version may be most appropriate to the business they are
handling and, specifically, the role under consideration.
eFinancialCareers is the leading global online job board for recruiters
and hiring managers who need to source high quality finance professionals.
Geoff Booth, managing director of HR consultancy Freedom Consulting, was
formerly head of employee services for Lloyds TSB. He points out that some test
developers are simply better at promoting their system than others. He said: ‘Some
of the most high profile tests are extremely well packaged and seductively marketed,
but that does not mean that they are the best route to finding the right candidate for a
particular job. It is still vital for the recruiter to think about the complete selection
process and the other, more traditional approaches available, and how any
psychometric assessment may compliment them.’
Ken Rowe, managing director and founder of popular test provider YSC, agrees that
psychometrics should not be used as the sole source of information about a
candidate.
‘There are some clear principles that should be followed in using tests to form views
about people,’ Rowe said. ‘As a minimum, the tests should be used as one source of
data. They are typically best used to generate some hypotheses to explore. In
looking at tests it is best to have a small number that you become very familiar with.
This allows you to become quite skilful in looking at patterns of contradictions in the
data.’
The CIPD recommends that recruiters quiz test suppliers about the reliability of their
assessment method and how consistent it is as a measure. What evidence can
providers supply to demonstrate that the test does not unfairly disadvantage certain
groups? Will the test seem appropriate to those taking it and what have reactions
been to it in the past? Also, are the norms provided by the supplier for comparative
purposes up-to-date and appropriate for the current user’s requirements? Vitally, has
the test been used effectively in similar circumstances to the one the recruiter faces?
eFinancialCareers is the leading global online job board for recruiters
and hiring managers who need to source high quality finance professionals.
Determining the success of a test – and when not to use psychometrics
While Booth believes that psychometric tests can be a very effective recruitment tool,
he also insists that without detailed analysis of subsequent staff performance it is
impossible to determine which tests have proved their worth. He added: ‘It’s all well
and good sitting in the HR ivory tower and finding the candidate who fits into a nice,
neat profile, but how disciplined are we in following up and assessing how those new
recruits then fare in the business and then relate that back to the selection tools and
adjust them accordingly? Unfortunately, some test providers have offered little in the
way of an understanding of the practical and commercial imperatives human
resources face on a daily basis.’
Charles Sutton, an academic and organisational psychologist, also believes that
there is a danger that HR professionals are swayed by psychometric testing without
genuinely evaluating its commercial benefit to a business. ‘The commercialisation of
psychological principles through the provision of mass market testing products has
been one of the greatest mistakes made by the profession over the last 20 years,’
Sutton said. ‘They offer little in the way of real-life validated evidence of success and
mask the real requirements employers have in making a critical selection decision.’
However, Argyll Scott’s Fox reinforces the point that tests are just one weapon in the
recruiter’s arsenal and can add a beneficial layer of complexity to the selection
process. He concluded: ‘These tests are not just about making decisions, they
involve gathering information that can be used at a later stage of the assessment. As
a result of psychometrics, the recruiter may have a clearer idea of aspects of the
candidate that are worthwhile investigating later on and that can be invaluable.’
Fox also believes that more complex analysis is still often most appropriate at a
senior level.
eFinancialCareers is the leading global online job board for recruiters
and hiring managers who need to source high quality finance professionals.
‘Now that many tests can be conducted online it has made this type of analysis more
cost effective and readily available and the psychometrics industry has grown
accordingly,’ Fox added. ‘But many of the most meaningful assessments will still
involve a face-to-face meeting and are expensive, costing anything up to £6,000 a
day. It really is dependent on the level at which a business is recruiting. When you
are looking to fill a leadership role, achieving a chemistry fit with the team and the
rest of the board is essential. For middle management and some lower ranking
positions that will be filled by larger numbers of people you have to ask how relevant
is personality testing? Standard numerical and competence tests may suffice.’
eFinancialCareers is the leading global online job board for recruiters
and hiring managers who need to source high quality finance professionals.