IQ? EQ? 4-Q? What Every HR Professional Should Know About Hiring Assessments.
Ten years ago, researchers discovered something that should have opened eyes, raised red flags, and rocked the HR community at large—fewer than 50% of HR practitioners are aware of best practices and prevailing research in one of the linchpin functions of HR—the ability to effectively screen for and hire strong employees. In an economy where companies are trying to streamline and cut costs, HR has a tremendous opportunity to have a measurable financial impact on the bottom line and further secure their seat at the strategic table.
Of critical importance:
- If your hiring process relies primarily on interviews, reference checks, or personality tests, you are choosing to use methods that are significantly less effective than what is available to you.
- Integrity Tests, General Mental Ability Tests, and Multi-Measure assessments are among the tools with the highest predictive validity.
- 4-Quadrant “Personality” tools are well suited for many organizational applications, but have significant shortcomings when used for employee selection.
- It is critical to first identify what you are trying to accomplish. Whether it is job performance, turnover, customer satisfaction, sales volume, absenteeism, or theft, there are different assessment instruments specifically designed to address each of these (and many more) organizational challenges.
- Know what success looks like and how to measure the impact that an assessment tool is having. With this information, you can quantify the impact that your expertise in selecting a hiring tool has on the organization’s bottom line!
All assessment approaches are not created equal. Knowing which types of assessments will be most effective in accomplishing the specific objectives you have identified for your organization will enable you to select a tool with a quantifiable impact.
