“Psychometric assessment implementation” –see why we didn’t put that in the title? I hope we haven’t already lost you, because this science isn’t as complicated as it sounds, and it can have some pretty powerful affects on your workforce.
Psychometrics are used to measure things like skills, knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits and educational achievements. Do you remember all of those yearly tests that you took in school, and you didn’t know why you were taking them? Those were crafted with psychometrics as a tool to gauge the progress of your education in an objective and scientific way.
Psychometrics in HR
Not surprisingly, we see many of these psychometricians (yup, that’s a real word) working in the Human Resources field. The knowledge gathered by psychometric testing and surveys can help in the hiring process, team building and even succession planning. These once very subjective matters in human resources, can now be looked at and measured in a much more effective way.
- Hires once made on a gut feeling, can now be made with solid data.
- Teams no longer have to be thrown together, but instead thoughtfully crafted with this science.
- Succession planning is no longer a matter of favoritism or convenience, but rather finding the right person for the position.
Fierce.com conducted a study over 1,400 executives, employees and educators, and asked them to name the specific kinds of collaboration problems that plague their workforces. 97% of respondents believe a lack of alignment within a team directly impacts the outcome of a task or project. These are the major issues that psychometric assessment implementation (there’s that term again) can help to alleviate.
Should I Be Using This as a Workforce Science?
Today over 80% of Fortune 500 companies in the US use psychometric testing, and over 75% of the Time “Top 100 Companies in the UK” use it. So the answer is, yes, you should be using this science in your workforce.
There is one small problem; many of the tests out there that claim to use psychometrics, or, are presumed to have been created with psychometrics, have simply been built on a “Buzzfeed” type of test structure. You know those tests, “What Disney Character are You?” or “What 90s Pop Song Would You Be?” Well some of the so-called workforce science testing out there is created with a little more validity than these playful time-wasters.
So You’re Saying I Need a Department of Psychometricians?
No, unless you have a budget that makes Google look like a mom and pop shop, that’s not the way to go. Thanks to decades of study and the wonderment that is the internet, these psychometrics tests are available from real experts, online. Your workforce can take these assessments anywhere, anytime and then the data procured can be used to create the optimal work environment for teams.
What to Look For
Like any software or platform decision, it is always best to look for case studies, customer reviews, and testimonials. You should also always take a demo, tour or trial of the product before signing on the dotted line. If you answered 15 simple questions in a survey that took less than 4 minutes, this isn’t a product that actually works. If it were that easy, you wouldn’t need a provider in the first place. Also look for the assurance that these tests or surveys were in fact created by experts in the psychometrics field; anyone can slap a survey together.
As attraction, retention and engagement are all rising to the top of every employer’s concerns, this workforce science is becoming far more of a necessity. That, coupled with the increasing access to and effectiveness of these tools, has created a solid part of recruiting, team building and career planning. Even for a small business, assembling effective and successful teams is a struggle, but as organizations grow, the thoughtful crafting of these teams falls farther down on the to-do list.
(About the Author: Ryan Mead is the CEO and Founder of Vitru Inc., a world class platform for designing teams and creating better collaboration. Ryan is a husband, dad to three great kids, crazy about saddling up a horse, wide open spaces and helping organizations become places where people can do great work. Follow Ryan on Twitter or Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn.
Vitru helps managers, recruiters, HR professionals, entrepreneurs and co-workers create their own personal dream team for a one-time project or for long-term success. Learn more about this creatively led, strategically driven, scientifically powered, people centered solution by visiting the Vitru website at www.govitru.com.)
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