Psychometric Testing - an introduction

Psychometric tests are used all over the world, often playing an integral part in recruitment and selection process of job applicants and also for personal or professional development. But what are they?

There are two main types of psychometric tests:

1. a personality test will assess personality and behavioural traits

2. aptitude tests focus on cognitive ability

These tests allow employers access to more extra information than simply a CV or an interview, allowing them to distinguish between candidates more easily. Some psychometrics tests to help predict how a candidate or an employee will perform in the longer term. Some tests will predict an individual’s career path, how they respond differently in a work environment to a home environment, or their typical response under pressure. There are plenty of options out there.

What makes a good psychometric test?

Any psychometric test should be:

• Objective – the score must not be affected by the testers’ beliefs, values or biases.
• Standardised – it should be administered under controlled conditions, bringing as much consistency as possible for the results to be accurate.
• Reliable – the test must minimize and quantify any intrinsic errors, and so give the same results repeatedly.
• Predictive – it must make an accurate prediction of performance / aptitude / behaviour (although studies have shown there is no way for tests to ever be 100% reliable).
• Non-Discriminatory – the test should not disadvantage any group on the basis of gender, culture, ethnicity, etc. It should account for people who have different cultural backgrounds or language barriers to avoid difficulties understanding the questions causing incorrect answers; impacting results.
• Valid – whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure.

If you are choosing a psychometric test, data on each of the above should be available for you you review.

How do you use them?

As with any tool in your toolkit, you need to choose the right tool for the job and you need to use it correctly, often in conjunction with other tools. Psychometric tests are no different. They should be used as a part of a structured, fair and documented process, whether that is recruitment, team building or professional development.

We’ve listed some options at the bottom of this article. We advise that any psychometric testing used as part of your recruitment process takes place after an initial screening (after all there is a cost associated and you needn’t put every single applicant through the process). Once you have the test results, these should inform a further conversation (likely an interview) after which the interviewer’s judgement, any any other relevant information, should still play a key role when selecting candidates to take forwards.

Psychometric testing used for professional development is just the same. The results should inform a conversation (likely a coaching conversation) and be used to raise the awareness of the individual on areas for development – and creating change in their approach. Continuity is also key here – sticking the psychometric report at the bottom of a drawer and forgetting about the results is likely to mean that any learnings are lost and change / development doesn’t take place. So we’d advise regular development conversations around the results of the psychometric tests to ensure new understandings and behaviours become fully embedded in the individual’s approach.

Which psychometric tests to use

We currently have access to a range of tried and tested psychometric tools for use in recruitment, team and leadership development:

• Thomas International: The Behaviour assessment – to provide a rapid and deep insights into a person’s behavioural preferences and communication style. A great tool for recruitment and selection purposes.
• Personality assessment – this is grounded in the ‘Big 5’ model, assessing traits that predict job success and risk for derailment. Great tor recruitment and professional development.
• The Aptitude assessment – this measures an individual’s aptitude in 5 key areas; Reasoning, Perceptual Speed, Number Speed & Accuracy, Word Meaning and Spatial Visualisation.
• The Emotional Intelligence assessment – this measures 15 emotional traits concerning Well-Being, Self-Control, Emotionality and Sociability. A great tool for leadership development.
• Barret Values Centre: Cultural Assessment – to understand which factors get in the way of people and teams doing their jobs, and prevent customers from experiencing the full potential of your products and services. A great tool for team development.

To find out more about the services offered by Redway HR, register or log in and view their market place listing here.