Recommended Assessments
How much can we learn about someone from a test? As it turns out, quite a bit! However, the process involves much more than simply asking a series of questions. There’s a science involved, and that’s where KeenHire comes in.
Right now, there are more than 1000 pre-employment psychometric assessment tools in the selection market. Many of them are the same test branded differently. So, if you want to make better hiring decisions starting today, the key to success with these tests is wisely choosing the right assessment tool.
Each evaluation serves a specific purpose. Some are a good “preview” into a candidate. They work well for sorting through massive amounts of applicants and narrowing the pool of potential interviewees. Yet these assessment tools are clearly not positioned to function as effective hiring and selection indicators.
Other psychometric assessments help give insight into a person’s work style and fundamental workplace preferences. These play a critical role in matching, coaching, and assigning new tasks. However, these assessments clearly state they are not to be used as OFCCP-compliant hiring tools.
What’s the Best Approach?
A good pre-employment psychometric assessment test has a purpose, accurately evaluates candidates, and improves hiring decisions. It supports a behavioral interviewing process to uncover a candidate’s values, motivations, habits, work styles, behaviors, and likely future performance in a well-defined role.
First, make sure it’s clear why an assessment tool is needed:
- Have you benchmarked a role with nine to eleven top performers?
- Are you creating a first-rate Top Grading program to attract and hire additional peak performers?
- Do you experience higher than expected turnover, or are hiring costs negatively impacting profitability?
- Is a role difficult to fill, or challenging to succeed at, where only a certain type of person with specific traits can succeed?
Next, find out what is most important to you in a psychometric assessment. Is it validation, distortion, or the 4/5ths rule, or is it cost, speed, and accessibility? Do you need an assessment to tell you if candidates pass or fail, or are you looking for an assessment that lets you learn about a potential employee and how they can develop to the next level? What will most help you make better hiring decisions?
At KeenHire, We Live This Stuff
KeenHire founder Margaret Graziano and her team have spent more than five years analyzing more than 100 top pre-employment psychometric assessment tools in the marketplace. We have chosen a group of assessment tests we are proud to recommend and endorse. Each quarter we review a new set of products and consider adopting those that fit our standards.
As a recruiter committed to improving your hiring practices starting today, you may choose to administer psychometric assessments yourself, or alternatively, you may choose to outsource that part of the hiring process to a KeenHire Consultant.
Get KeenCertified – We Train You How
We train KeenCertified Selection Consultants and Recruiters to understand the theory behind pre-employment psychometric assessments and tools. Our training digs deep into the psychometrics and brain activities that impact performance. If you choose to become a certified assessment provider, we’ll train you how to identify the fundamentals needed to select the top psychometric assessment for potential employees. Additionally, you will master interpreting evaluation results and making solid hiring recommendations.
In most cases, there is a particular set of top psychometric assessments that best fit a company. We train you to understand the employers you serve: their corporate goals and hiring objectives, their hiring process, and the role itself, before recommending top assessment tools.
As a KeenCertified Selection Consultant, you’ll then work side by side with an employer to train them on implementing these assessments into their hiring, selection, on-boarding, employee engagement, succession planning and employee development processes.
Just as skill testing and background checks have become commonplace, psychometric assessment tools will soon be the norm. Contact KeenHire to find out more about becoming KeenCertified or to discuss how KeenHire can deliver assessment solutions that help you make better hiring decisions starting today.
What They’re Saying
Margaret Graziano has proven to be one of the torchbearers of progressive Human Resource/Human Capital initiatives. Her insight to what Corporate America wants and needs in order to help their company grow and prosper is truly leading edge and spot on. She has wowed her contemporaries with her “Keen” insight to the marketplace and has produced products and services which will revolutionize our industry. If anyone has any questions about Margaret’s ability, just let me know. There is no one better equipped to assist you with Talent Acquisition and Talent Management issues for your firm. Do yourself a favor and get her involved with identifying and helping you solve these HR issues.- Jeff Wilson, CERS, CPC, Managing Partner/Owner, Key Corporate Services, LLC
Choose Your Assessments Wisely
KeenHire has tested and researched over 100 different assessment and has found some great resources, with multiple uses as well as some good, average and below average tools with limited viability as a hiring and retention tool.
When seeking an assessment, keep in mind the assessment company is there to sell the tool, the consulting company is there to show you many resources and educate you to choose wisely. Whether you are using an instrument to develop hiring protocols, benchmarks of A players, high performance teams, uncover competency gaps, build a training or succession plan, each tool brings a unique set of offerings. When we chose an assessment to represent our PhD`s, Organizational Development professionals and Recruitment leaders vet the tool for accuracy, validation, discrimination testing and distortion measurements.
When selecting the right assessment, KeenHire recommends that you ensure your assessment measures all three of the critical areas — competencies, values and behaviors.
All three must be reviewed and understood when making decisions in selection, coaching development, succession planning, strategic workforce planning, and personal career planning. Ideally, you will consider all three when designing a selection process. It is always best to start with a solid benchmarking process and make sure that your process is capturing all three of these components in order to closely meet various legal requirements for using assessments.
Competencies (Skills and Experience)
Assess Job Fit, the match between the competencies required for on-the-job success and the competencies of the various candidates, using assessment instruments such as the ones that KeenHire recommends. It is important to note that it takes 12-24 months for an average person to become unconsciously competent in a new skill or competency.
Values (Attitudes and Beliefs)
These are typically at the core of who someone is. If someone is not in tune with your company, service offerings and business model, and they are so far disengaged at their core, you can never get them to be a great productive employee. On the other hand, if you engage someone at their core, and who they are is a natural fit for what your company offers, peak performance is close at hand. Their passion, commitment and drive are naturally expressed in the role because it is a good fit.
Behaviors
These are the external expression of how we react to life, whether it be conflict, interaction or stress; as behaviors are developed in humans from the ages of 3-21 or so, this area is the most difficult to change. In actuality the only person who can truly changes one`s behavior is oneself.
Do your homework BEFORE you hire, and empower your team to CHOOSE WISELY.
Identify Your “Go To” People
Onboard, Develop, and Coach with Confidence — bring out the most in your people
Excellent Tool for Previewing Your Job Applicants
Identify and Develop Character-Based Leaders
People Do Things for Their Reasons, Not Yours — find out why they succeed
A Must for Difference Maker Hires — competencies, behaviors, motivations, and emotional intelligence in a one-hour powerhouse tool
Choose Assessments Wisely – Workshop
Workshop on Behavioral Interviewing and Assessments
Product Details…
Choosing Assessments Wisely – Article
Be a Recruiting Tour de Force
Product Details…
Follow KeenHire online