Psychological tests are measuring instruments; they are often referred to as psychometric
tests. ‘Psychometric’ means the mental measurement. Psychometric tests are
designed to assess intelligence or personality. They use standardized,
systematic procedures to measure differences in individual characteristics.
These enable selectors to gain a greater understanding of candidates to help in
predicting to which extent they will be successful in a job (Armstrong
and Taylor 2014).
Psychometric
tests have been developed to measure an extremely broad range of intrinsic
mental characteristics of a person including aptitudes, competencies, personality
traits, mood states, attitudes, motives and self-concept (Glynis, Sean,
Fife-Schaw, Smith, 2006).
Businesses
in the UK have been using psychometric tests more frequently as part of the
hiring process since the 1980s. The tests make an effort to gauge the
applicants being considered for particular positions' competencies, qualities,
personality traits, and various skills. The main benefit of using these tests
to gauge skill requirements in the UK economy is that employers must pay money
in order to use the tests. The costs of training their staff to use and
administer the tests plus whatever it may cost to buy in the test from a
commercial test publisher, or the costs of hiring external consultants to
administer the tests (Jenkins et al 2001).
It
is typical for applicants to seem like a good fit for a position based on their
skills, but even the greatest hiring managers will learn from experience that
skills and industry expertise aren't always a good fit or the thing that
matters. How well-suited a person is to a job role and organization depends on
a variety of factors, including personality attributes, work style, and
communication abilities. A psychometric test can disclose a candidate's logical
reasoning, aptitude for problem-solving, and capacity to understand and analyze
a variety of facts in addition to helping to expose their personality qualities
(Brown et al 2008).
Due
to the fierce competition on the labour market, firms may find it difficult to
fill open positions. It can be costly and time-consuming for businesses to hire
someone who seems like a safe pick but struggles to fit in or, worse still,
upsets the team. Although seasoned recruiters are confident in their capacity
to judge whether a candidate will fit well with their team, a more objective
and quantifiable strategy is required to guarantee that the hiring procedure is
trustworthy and equitable. Recruiters can utilize psychometric testing to
better evaluate each candidate and gain a clearer understanding of how they
could perform and behave at work, advancing the selection process (Turner et al
2021).
Psychometric
tests are made to evaluate a candidate's behavioral traits in addition to their
academic aptitude. A data-driven decision for your hiring needs can be taken
based on a variety of psychometric tests that are readily available online.
Although psychometric tests are common in recruitment and hiring, they were
initially created for educational psychology and have been around since the
early 20th century. (Cripps and Spry, 2008)
Aptitude
Tests:
Aptitude
or ability tests measure a candidate’s ability to grasp knowledge and
information and the time taken to process the same. The main goal of aptitude
tests is to understand the cognitive abilities of the candidate. Generally
candidates are evaluated for their Numeric reasoning, Verbal reasoning, Abstract
reasoning, and General aptitude test to test their verbal, logical and
numerical abilities.
Intelligence
Tests:
These
measure a candidate’s level of knowledge based on their formal education,
training, and instructions. The candidate’s grasp on a specific knowledge
background is tested and measured as per the industry standards.
Attitude
Tests:
Attitude
is the way a person reacts to a situation and tries to reach at a conclusion.
It varies from person to person. However, when hiring someone attitude test
gives the recruiter an idea of the thoughts of the respective candidate and the
way they approach or react to a situation or a person.
The psychometric tests are used in the level of intervening/
Process variables of the recruitment process as an assessment method. According
to Bartram, 2004 assessments are vital as they facilitates the organizations to
perform deliberately and strategically to enhance their efficiency.
Any organization's ultimate purpose is to increase its
effectiveness and performance, which is possible through people. Enterprises
compete to hire qualified and highly skilled workers because human resource
management (HRM) is a critical part of employee recruitment and selection
inside organizations (Gul and Ghazal, et al 2022).
Psychometric tests are only beneficial if human resource managers are
aware of the requirements of their organizations. Every organization should
have set metrics for measuring work performance that may be used to determine
whether a potential applicant possesses the skills required for a certain position
(Bratton & Gold 2012).
References
Bartram, D.
(2004). Assessment in organizations. Applied
Psychology.
Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2012), Human resource management: theory and practice, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke
Breakwell, M. Glynis. , Hammond, Sean. , Fife-Schaw, Chris. , Smith, Jonathan A. (2006). Research Methods in Psychology (3rd edition)
Brown, M. (2008), "Assessment Methods in Recruitment, Selection and Performance: A Manager's Guide to Psychometric Testing, Interviews and Assessment Centres"
Cripps,
Dr. Barry. Spry, Dorothy. (2008) Psychometric Testing Pocketbook
Gul,
Sherin. and Ghazal, Dr. Saima. (2022). Need of Psychometrics for Recruitment
and Selection in Organizations: A Qualitative Perspective from a Developing
Country
Jenkins, Andrew. (2001) Companies’ Use of
Psychometric Testing and the Changing Demand for Skills:A Review of the
Literature
Turner, Melissa. (2021) Why Psychometric
Testing In Recruiting Is Getting More Important.
Interesting topic and to add further, selection tests are used to provide valid and reliable evidence of levels of abilities, intelligence, personality characteristics, aptitudes and attainments. Psychological tests are measuring instruments, which is why they are often referred to as psychometric tests: ‘psychometric’ means mental measurement. Psychometric tests assess intelligence or personality. They use systematic and standardized procedures to measure differences in individual characteristics, thus enabling selectors to gain a greater understanding of candidates to help in predicting the extent to which they will be successful in a job (Armstrong 2009).
ReplyDeleteAgree with your addition to the blog post. Further, in a short amount of time, psychometric exams can reveal a lot about an applicant. The requirement to quickly narrow down a shortlist from a vast pool of applicants makes these tests an useful investment for mass recruitment drives like graduate assessments (Thomas et al 2022).
DeleteGood article Dulakshi.Further,A person's talents, personality traits, abilities, and expertise in a particular role can be evaluated through psychometric testing. Early 1990s research provides evidence that an individual's personality can predict their future job performance (Morgeson et al, 2007).
ReplyDeleteThank you and further addition for your citation; Costa & McCrae (2013) provided one of the most recent studies on the application of psychometric testing, which measured the validity and reliability of psychometric testing in people selection. The study supported the notion that, while psychometric tests are unquestionably trustworthy and helpful for firms in staff selection, they shouldn't be used as the main factor in recruiting decisions. Their research revealed that the psychometric test findings shouldn't be limited to just recruitment.
DeleteThis is a good imagining content for the Psychometric Tests in Recruitment and Selection. As for the content that you said the most crucial component is thought to be an organization's human capital(Memon et al., 2018). In actuality, a company's greatest asset is its workforce, and how well it manages its human resources determines how successful the company is(Memon et al., 2018). There is no denying that an employee's experience, skills, educational background, attitudes, behaviors, and personality play a significant role in helping an organization achieve its success goals(Memon et al., 2018).
ReplyDeleteThank you Shamalka and agree with you. Further, in the context of a company, psychological evaluation is essential to human resource management (HRM), including staff selection, talent management, training, and coaching (Dunlop et al., 2011). (Constantini and Sartori, 2018). In other words, psychological testing is a crucial part of HRM that can be utilized to help with decisions involving employees, from recruiting through retirement (Sartori et al., 2018).
Delete