Should We Do Pre-Hiring Assessments?
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There are hundreds of personality and behavior assessments on the market all promising to help improve the hiring process. To narrow the field these are some questions you might ask the vendor.
What research does the assessment draw on? If the vendor is more excited by an assessment’s tech features than the science behind it that’s a red flag.
How will the results be interpreted? If they are super easy to understand you’re probably getting as much value as you would from my horoscope. Assessments are complex and interpreting the results should come from someone who has spent many hours becoming certified to deliver those results.
How are the results validated? Comparing results to another assessment is not acceptable. You need to ensure adverse impact studies or studies making sure that minorities are not discriminated against by the assessment have been completed.
Make sure the assessment covers more than just one discipline. For example, we look at behaviors, driving forces, soft skills and intelligence.
Remember if you are doing assessments, they should account for no more than one-third of your decision. Another third should be the accomplishments they have made in the past and the final third is your assessment during the interview as to how they are going to fit into the company culture.