By Lauren Mackelden, Features Editor, Onrec
Confidence in online psychometrics continues to grow and is widening its horizons to embrace innovative new assessment methods and candidate feedback . All this for less money than paper tests- what's not to like?
While estimates are varied, the market of online psychometric tests annually moves about 5 trillion in the States, is growing by 15 to 25% annually and promises to grow even more in the next decade, suggests Nicolas Stocker, co-founder and director of PDA Consulting Solutions at PDA International. By growth, this is not only in terms of the number of users, but Stocker also believes that it will continue to grow in quality and quantity of content and new online solutions, integrated in a dynamic way to psychometric tests. Stocker foresees more investment in "on line-ing" than developing new tests, as there are many very good and effective psychometric tests that are still only available in pen and paper.
Looking ahead, PDA sees a strong tendency to use these tools in Development of People, and Talent Development. In fact, they are seeing a strong shift, as just ten years ago only 15% of the individuals accessed their reports, whereas today over 80% request and receive the results of their evaluations. The information no longer remains solely in the HR department, and now much of this information comes to the line and even more to the person tested.
Indeed, today there are psychometric tests available and developed for jobseekers, inviting them to get to know themselves, to 'look in the mirror' before appearing for an interview, declares Stocker. "Many of these tests are found on the web and many others are offered by online job boards, such as OCC World leader in Latin America, with over 2,000,000 candidates to date." These tests offer Personal Development Analysis (PDA) so candidates get to know their skills profile, their motivators and behavioral style in general. The results are also available to the employers, who can focus their efforts, time and resources to the candidates that conform the most to the requirements of the positions that need to be filled.
PDA has certainly seen an enormous sea change in confidence online. They reflect that just a couple of years ago, the resistance towards these online tools was tremendous, whereas today they are used almost daily and more than accepted. PDA looks forward to new tech generations and IT natives further enhancing this trend and making the test and the information they deliver even more dynamic, more interactive and more shared. Stocker enthuses, "Young people are used to 'share' all their information through social networks and they will also share much of the info they get from these tests. Moreover, with the help of technology, the cloud and online applications, psychometric tests will stop being a 'photo' of the person, but they will go on to have a more proactive role." For example, Stocker says online applications such as 'e-coaching', are based on an online self-assessment test, and propose a list of 'areas for development'. These applications then accompany people throughout a process that takes months, including emails of support, suggestions, videos, reading materials, including self-assessments and evaluations 360, and then integrate all the information and thus facilitate and enable people to manage, independently and online their own processes of self development.
Gabby Parry, managing director of Saville Consulting reflects on current trends in psychometrics for Onrec: Streamlined combination assessments - Shorter but valid assessments which assess large applicant numbers across different roles are increasingly being used at the front end of recruitment campaigns. The efficiency of assessing candidates against more than one role and building talent pools provides both time and cost savings. e.g. Heathrow Express utilising the Saville Consulting Customer Strengths questionnaire (10 mins.) early in their customer service selection process.
Employer branding – The opportunity to present the employer brand coupled with the desire to positively engage candidates is spearheading some key changes to how psychometric assessment is used by recruiters. We are seeing a growing use of more interactive and tailored assessments such as Situational Judgement Tests. The challenge here is to build real validity into an engaging experience, which both samples the desired behaviours and gives a realistic job preview.
Combination tests – These tests are best sellers, particularly in the graduate market. They provide a contemporary rounded assessment, breadth of measurement and positive candidate experience all under one candidate log in. The Saville Consulting tests provide employers and candidates with shorter tests offering various combinations of verbal, numerical, diagrammatic, abstract, spatial, mechanical and error checking aptitudes.
Strengths based behavioural assessment - Only 30% of graduate recruiters currently use a personality questionnaire in their selection. Psychometric assessments that are focused on identifying behavioural strengths over and above technical skills are cited by many recruiters to deliver a better match and a more engaging candidate interaction. Recruiting “graduates with potential” is a mission for many. Our research in this area highlights the importance of intellectual capability, identifying leadership capability and those with high personal drive and initiative. This area will develop further as the competition for the best graduates intensifies.
Line manager recruiters - We see more devolvement of recruitment and development to line managers. As a consequence, psychometric data and versions of reports are now less technical and designed for a range of users. In the same way, global organisations are leading the way in talent management, consistently telling us that they want user friendly assessments which provide an objective and standardised measurement of candidates across different geographies, cultures and languages.
Currently there is excitement and curiosity around online gaming and its application to selection and assessment, reports Alasdair Scott, business analyst at The Chemistry Group. "Right now these are bubbles under the surface, which are bound to explode within 2013," predicts Scott. He explains these games can take the form of job simulation exercises, situational judgment exercises and games that measure an individual’s motivations and personality. Many organisations are developing their own gaming solutions to selection, putting their own stamp on proceedings by including their branding and culture within the tool. This allows them to create a unique candidate experience that enables the organisation to position their brand and desired culture from the offset.
The data captured on employee behaviours, personality, capabilities and skills at the recruitment stage is tremendously valuable, according to Dr. Ken Lahti, vice president of product development & innovation at SHL. He recommends that organisations should make better use of this insight to help make decisions at every stage of an employee’s career - from on-boarding criteria, to staff career development plans. "As assessment becomes increasingly interactive, applicants get a better understanding of what the job involves and can also make informed decisions about whether or not the role is suitable or in line with their expectations. Assessment is as much about finding the best role for a candidate as it is for an employer finding the right people to support the business. Using assessments and multimedia simulations will also help companies save thousands of pounds by dramatically reducing the number of applicants and HR interviewer time and bringing fewer but better-qualified candidates through to the assessment centre stage."
Another leap forward is that in-depth job analyses are no longer reserved for large organisations that can afford or resource them. Dr Lahti explains that new tools enable HR professionals, line managers and mid-sized companies to match a candidate’s performance potential quickly and effectively to essential job-specific requirements and competencies. SHL has a new automated and easy-to-use online tool that helps HR professionals and line managers accurately define the job profile of any role that needs to be filled. It selects the appropriate assessments and evaluates each candidate’s suitability for the position – matching it against an extensive database of profiles.
Dr Lahti also knows that quality people intelligence will help show whether you have the right people capability to deliver on the organisational strategy. He believes many companies are not using the workforce data enough, concluding: "HR professionals need to use assessment data to advise the organisation on how to bridge the gap between today’s talent reality and tomorrow’s business vision and goals. This will re-shape the way companies hire people, allowing specialist areas of the business to get involved in recruitment at an early stage."