5 Reasons why you should psychometric test your candidates
When it comes to building a successful team, we all know how crucial hiring the right candidate is. One way to build confidence in your hiring process is by using psychometric assessments as a tool or suite of tools alongside traditional interviewing methods.
This type of testing can provide valuable insights into a candidate’s personality, skills, and work style, which you can cross reference in interview, and help you make more informed hiring decisions.
Here are our 5 reasons why businesses should psychometrically assess candidates:
- Builds confidence in the hiring process for both employer and candidate
Employers who use psychometric assessments as tools to support recruitment are demonstrating they take recruitment seriously. Whilst some may see this as an extra hoop to jump through, others recognise the value in investing time at this stage in the selection process to ensure the fit is right for both candidate and employer.
By including psychometric tests within a package of selection methods such as the traditional interview, recruiters can look for themes between what is said in interview and what is revealed in the assessments. Where there is consistency between the two, then confidence can be built that the hire decision is backed by multiple data and information sources.
It is good practice to share the psychometric assessment with your candidates to give them the opportunity to respond at interview. This can also help facilitate meaningful conversations at interview stage and help both sides decide if the fit is right. Those providing the feedback should also be appropriately trained and/or qualified in doing so.
2. Identifying the right fit
Psychometric testing can help identify candidates who are the right fit for your company’s culture, values, and work environment. Good psychometric products include reliability scores which indicate how consistently the questions have been answered and reduce the opportunity of people ‘second guessing’ the responses. This means each party can have more confidence in the reliability and accuracy of the outcome, i.e. how good the fit is between employee and employee.
3. Reducing turnover
Hiring people is a huge responsibility and a cost to all parties. Cutting corners at selection stage which result in a poor hiring decision increase staff turnover. This is not only costly to your organisation, but also disruptive to your team and disappointing for all parties.
Adding in psychometric assessments can increase the likelihood of identifying candidates who will be a good fit for your team, and who will thrive at your organisation.
4. Building diverse teams
Psychometric evaluations can also help build diverse teams by showcasing personality traits, values, and work style and how those of your new recruits complement existing members in your team. By identifying candidates who have different backgrounds, skills, and perspectives at the recruitment stage, you can create a team with diverse perspectives and ideas. This can lead to more creative and innovative solutions, as team members are able to draw on a range of experiences and perspectives.
5. Promoting teamwork, collaboration, and emotional intelligence
By understanding each other’s personalities, work styles, and values, team members can work together more effectively, sharing ideas and collaborating to achieve common goals. This can lead to a more positive and productive work environment in which all members feel valued and supported.
Individuals will also get insight into their own behaviours and traits from psychometrics, helping to develop their emotional intelligence and personal growth.
Top tip: why not share the results of all team members with one another? This can help build understanding within the team. Note –first seek permission from all involved before sharing this information.
Conclusion:
Hiring someone new to your team is a huge decision for both the company and for the candidate. Psychometric assessments are tools designed to aid the process, and only suitably qualified and/or experienced individuals should conduct them.
Psychometric assessments – or even, a suite of psychometric assessments – can be valuable in building great teams by identifying candidates who are a good fit for your organisation and your vacancy, reducing turnover, building diverse teams, and promoting teamwork and collaboration. By using psychometric evaluations as part of your hiring process, you can make more informed decisions, recruit responsibly, and build a more successful team.
