Next-Gen Psychometrics

More than 75% of Fortune 500 companies use psychometric testing in recruitment, but more significantly, the percentage of users is growing at a rate of 10-15% per year.​  Among mature organizations usage has been propelled by assessment at the executive level where getting it wrong sinks share prices. But as the article in the NYTimes points out, assessments have become a part of corporate life where many employees will have likely encountered these tools for the first time during their recruitment. ​

Assessments are still used primarily in recruitment to ensure processes are defensible and backed with objective data. But even in recruitment, assessments offer other benefits beyond ensuring fit such as mitigating bias and increasing managers’ self-awareness, ensuring more reliable and less risky hiring decisions.​ 

The very best tools afford companies the ability to develop comprehensive position profiles using stakeholder input, to define not just what is required in the role but how it needs to be delivered. Matching individuals to the profile – whether it be a search or an internal promotion – is a first screen, but insights gleaned from the individual’s data, both strengths and weaknesses, allow those recruiting to delve deeper into potential risk and success factors. While this is useful for all hires, it’s paramount for senior hires where it’s often difficult to get beneath the veneer of a charismatic personality with high function. Assessments also offer up intelligence on an individual’s future performance, affording opportunities to customize onboarding and development, and creating a basis to begin that conversation.​

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But what sets next-gen assessments apart and what should organizations be looking for in choosing the right tools? ​

As the saying goes, it’s not your daddy’s personality test anymore. In just a few decades, psychometric testing has expanded beyond behaviours and aptitude and can measure both natural and adapted style and sources of stress. Next-gen assessment are sophisticated analytic and predictive tools with the best ones zeroing in on the real drivers of performance – personal motivation, acumen and emotional quotient.​

Assessments are not just for search and selection. Assessments can be used for retention, onboarding, coaching, training, leadership development, succession planning, team development, engagement, sales training, organizational change and job benchmarking. Choose the right tool for the right job.​

A common criticism is that, having become so familiar with these tests, people are able to tailor their responses and thereby their scores. Today it’s not as simple as that. New best in class assessments draw on ​the expertise of interdisciplinary data science and  psychometrics teams. More sophisticated tools steer away from cognitive-based, right-wrong questions and have computerised algorithms inside to identify unrealistic response patterns and response times to ensure reliability. Sure if a person has spent most of their working life in the corporate arena, they will have likely done a Myers-Briggs, but even those in the know about ENTJ can’t game the system. ​

Psychometric solutions should not collect personal identifiable information (PIIs) and should be compliant with hiring laws and regulations .​

Cultural norms and customisations – Psychometric scores are generally measured against a referenced norm base which should match the target sample.  If your organization operates internationally, customization is an important factor to consider.​

Fairness and adverse impact – Is your test non-biased against protected demographic groups? A test should not cause adverse impact on the decisioning process.​

Reputation and experience – Your assessments should come from reliable vendor and be professionally designed and authored by experienced psychometricians.​

The war for talent is not just an HR priority, it is generally reported to be the number one issue keeping CEOs awake at night.  Next-gen psychometrics assessments, grounded in applied psychological science and backed by solid theoretical models and algorithms are clearly not the personality tests of a few decades ago.  These powerful tools are fast becoming a part of the modern workplace, addressing a whole range of strategic initiatives pertaining to talent, not only individual selection but also talent development and succession planning, leadership alignment, workforce capability assessment, and, employee engagement and culture.  ​