Dive Brief:
- Looking to fairly and objectively identify high-quality talent from a diverse applicant pool — and at the same time avoiding the cost of making a bad hire — more employers are moving to psychometric assessments, according to new research study by cut-e, an international assessment specialist.
- The United States Assessment Barometer survey found that that 54% of American employers are now using assessment tests to select, onboard and develop their workforce.
- Assessments, increasingly used to recruit blue-collar workers, white-collar workers, graduates, junior managers and senior managers, are also being used to to optimize the ROI from learning. The survey found that 66% of U.S. assessment users are now integrating their assessment data with their recruitment or information systems to obtain "talent analytics" that can improve retention, drive sales and further enhance their productivity.
Dive Insight:
HR and recruiting executives are under constant pressure to deliver on their recruiting spending, and the rise of assessments makes sense with that as a context. Tools such as ability tests, personality questionnaires and values and motivation tests are all widely used, according to the study. And new tests — such as situational judgment questionnaires and realistic job previews — also are growing in popularity as employers increasingly want to educate potential applicants about the role and the organization before they apply for a job.
Another goal is to remove unconscious bias from their recruitment processes, and at the same time provide an engaging candidate experience and guard against litigation resulting from poor recruiting strategies and techniques. There is also a growing trend of using so-called "immersive" assessments in the recruiting process, and HR decision-makers might want to look into that alternative as part of the overall recruiting strategy.