Identifying a suitable candidate for a job can be challenging, and conventional recruitment techniques are frequently undependable. According to the United States Department of Labor, a bad hire can cost an employer up to 30% of the employee’s salary in their first year. Thus, pre-employment assessments can present a remedy by offering impartial information to assist in determining the most suitable candidates for a specific position.
What are pre-employment assessments?
Pre-employment assessments are assessments that follow a standardised format, aiming to evaluate particular skills, traits, abilities, and characteristics that hold significance in a professional environment. The outcomes of these evaluations are utilised to guide decisions regarding employee selection, thereby enhancing the hiring process quality and/or lessening the workload on HR teams.
What are some key areas being evaluated by the pre-employment assessments?
Aptitude/Cognitive ability:
Cognitive ability refers to the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. One of the assessment tools that evaluate cognitive ability is the MindmetriQ™ assessment. It is a gamified aptitude assessment that explores verbal, numerical, and logical reasoning while simultaneously maintaining the candidates’ engagement. By assessing an individual’s aptitude in verbal reasoning, you gain insight into their capacity to analyse text information. Furthermore, the evaluation of numerical reasoning offers a glimpse into their proficiency in crunching numbers and engaging in mathematical operations. Lastly, logical reasoning test serves as an invaluable tool for quantifying one’s capacity for logical thinking and problem-solving.
According to Schmidt and Hunter (1998) and Schmidt, Oh, and Shaffer (2016), general cognitive ability, which is assessed through various ability tests like verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning tests, is the most reliable indicator of performance. Therefore, the MindmetriQ™ assessment could be a powerful pre-employment assessment to look into the candidate’s cognitive ability and potential performance, in addition to creating an engaging candidate experience.
Behavioural/Personality:
The areas of behaviour and personality look into how individuals respond to specific situations or stimuli based on their styles and preferences. One of the relevant tools that cover this area is Work Style Lens™ and it is implemented to directly measure the important traits related to job performance, engagement, and culture fit. The Work Style Lens™ measures 16 work styles and categorises the findings into four broad and easily understandable performance themes: interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, work approach, and thinking styles. One of the great features of this assessment is that the work styles are mapped directly to over 900 occupations listed in the O*NET, which is the largest database that provides up-to-date information of different unique job roles. As a recruiter, you will be able to compare the candidate’s Work Style Lens™ report against the listed work styles required for the job position to understand the suitability of the candidate to the job role, or it could also be for further development.
Hence, it is imperative for organisations to incorporate pre-employment assessments into the hiring process as they serve the dual purpose of identifying the most suitable candidate and optimising efficiency, productivity, and financial resources. By equipping your HR team with these essential tools, you empower them to make informed and strategic decisions when it comes to talent recruitment.
