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Beyond the Resume:- Psychological Assessments in the Workplace

dishabhatia1800

Dearest psychology enthusiasts,

We wish you a very Happy New Year!! With this fresh start, we are back to bringing you new topics that can elevate your understanding of psychology in the workplace. This month, we are discussing assessments.


Understanding Psychometric Assessments

Psychometric assessments are scientific, standardized tests measuring affective, behavioural and cognitive abilities, personality and perceptions. Various tests have been created to assess an individual on each of the above dimensions and more, some common types of psychometric assessments are:

Information Source:- (Gov.UK, 2024)
Information Source:- (Gov.UK, 2024)

While these tests are commonly taken online through MCQs, click-throughs, interviews and via pen and paper, there are other sources for obtaining this information. These include observations, interviews with next of kin and other relevant persons, records from educational and professional institutions, medical history, legal profile or psychological evaluations. While these "other" sources of information help provide contextual and holistic data, they cannot be classified as psychometrics due to their lack of quantifiability, scientific reliability and validity.


Because of their name, psychometric assessments are often associated with clinical testing and mental health diagnoses. However, their use extends beyond the clinical world into sports, corporate, law, national security, commerce etc… This blog will focus on assessments as a part of workplaces.



The Unbreakable Connect of Psychometric Assessments and Workplace Goals
The Unbreakable Connect of Psychometric Assessments and Workplace Goals

As may be seen from the chart, psychometric assessments serve a purpose in various workplace departments. Despite the role these assessments can play in managing the organization and its people, under 20% of companies use psychological tests. The lack of use, as speculated, comes from the limiting perception that these assessments are time-consuming, do not fit the organizational needs, require experts, and are not readily available (Sartori et al., 2020). While psychometric testing may or may not be costly in terms of the time and expertise it requires, its benefits deem any costs as mere investments.


Benefits of Psychometric Assessments

  • They can provide the most straightforward answers to organizational gaps.

  • They are good filters for unsuitable organizational elements like people, practices, policies, roles, etc.

  • Tests, especially cognitive ones, can have predictive validity for job performance.

  • They are valuable and valid sources of information when determining costly organizational decisions like staff development.

  • The tests allow the exercising of fair selections due to the equal opportunities legislation.

  • Tests allow companies to be deemed more professional due to their ability to standardize selection procedures.

  • Using tests elevates organizational effectiveness since it helps minimize issues around unsuitable hiring, mismatched role placement, turnover, engagement.


Having a scientific basis to support important organizational elements allows stakeholders to leverage the full potential available around them.


The Right Tool

A good psychometric test is one that:-


  • Fulfils Objectives- it can answer the why’s and how’s that underlie the test usage.

  • Is Reliable- if taken multiple times, the test is able to produce consistent results for the same individual.

  • Is Valid- the test measures what it claims to measure.

  • Is empirical- it has been well-researched and is supported by published papers that provide clear instructions on administration, scoring and normative calculations.


While the responsibility to determine whether a tool suits the organizational need lies on the stakeholders, information around reliability, validity, and empirical basis are often readily available online and attached to the said tools. However, this cost in time is present when we assume organizations are unsupported in their testing journeys. Most assessments, however, require a trained professional to conduct them and report the findings. Fortunately, organizations now operate in environments where it is not rare to outsource a trained administrator, even so, invest in getting one or a few of their employees trained in particular tools.


Why Training Matters

People trained in tools often learn and understand the statistical and theoretical knowledge attached to the tool. They gain a deep understanding of the strengths the tool can offer and are aware of the situations wherein the tool can provide limited benefits. Often, some trainings require candidates to be test takers before they train so that they can study their results and learn how the tool operates. Such in-depth experience with handling and understanding a tool allows the confidence that judgements made about the organization’s test-takers will be reliable and unbiased.


Training allows one to become a psychometrist- someone who puts the tests into action (this differs from being a psychometrician who has the educational background to build these tests). Psychometrists standardize the environment in which the assessment is conducted, thus controlling for any factors that could negatively or differentially impact a candidate’s test performance. They assess the quality of responses received and offer insights into those responses. Based on the nature of the tool and training, the psychometrist may also be able to develop reports to offer key stakeholders.


It is important to note that someone not trained in effective interpretation and de-briefing can do more harm to the organizational outcomes and test-takers’ fates than benefit them.


Here at Resilient Workforce, we offer practitioner training and administration of a positive psychology based tool known as TalentPredix.


TalentPredix

TalentPredix is a tool used to measure talents, values, and career drivers at an individual and group level. A practitioner is trained to administer and interpret the tool, followed by learning the know-how to debrief the test takers. It is the coming of age strengths assessment that shapes individuals and enhances business impact.




If the premise of TalentPredix interests you, and you would like to learn more about it, reach out to us via:


Instagram: resilientworkforce

LinkedIn: Resilient Workforce

Alternatively, you may also visit their official website: https://talentpredix.com


Key Considerations

When working with psychometric tests especially in today’s globalized multicultural world, here are some things that must be considered:-


  • Some tests can have an inherent cultural and language bias based on the language it is created in or the content it expresses. This may be a disadvantageous situation for those who do not share those characteristics. While most creators replicate tests in various languages, there may be a possibility of losing essence in translation or not having a particular language covered.


  • For test-takers for whom psychometric assessing is not normalized, they may have skepticism or a sense of discomfort when answering the items. This may lead them to portray answering biases where they respond in socially desirable ways, agree to items irrespective of personal opinion, respond in extremes, respond neutrally, misremember experiences or misunderstand the questions. These situations lead to potentially inaccurate responses, thus making it imperative that the candidate is comfortable, relaxed and reassured before the test. And, to not solely rely on one input to make big decisions.


  • Even if the recruitment situations warrant personal information from the candidate, the organization and its trained administrators have the ethical responsibility to be transparent with the candidate, obtain informed consent, and clearly communicate the goals and desired outcomes. Furthermore, irrespective of the organizational outcome, the privacy of the candidate’s personal information must be maintained and not gossiped or shared around.



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