PSYCHOMETRIC TOOLS IN COMPETENCY BASED RECRUITMENT

Priti Mudgal

Methods of Competency Based Recruitment

Competency Based Interview Psychometric Testing Group Discussions Role Plays Work simulation tests Group exercises Presentations Assessment Centers

“Organizations tend to recruit people for their technical skills, but fire them for their personalities”

Interview as the sole method

What is a psychometric assessment?

Tests, exercises or questionnaires, designed by psychologists, which measure cognitive, behavioral and personality constructs of an individual

The types of psychometric assessment

Psychometric Assessment

Ability Tests Aptitude Tests Personality Tests

Ability Testing…

Measures a persons potential Focus is on potential Ability tests composes of numerical,

verbal, and spatial ability scales brought together

Numerical reasoning, numerical analysis, numerical estimation, verbal reasoning, verbal analysis, verbal application, verbal evaluation, data interpretation, verbal comprehension, visual estimation

Aptitude Testing…

Aptitude refers to specific ability Aptitude tests tend to be job related

Personality Testing…

Personality can be defined as those relatively stable and enduring aspects of an individual which distinguishes them from other people, making them unique, but which at the same time permit a comparison between individuals

PURPOSE

Recruitment & Selection

Personal Development

Team Building

Succession planning

Organisational change

Questions asked in Personality Testing

How you relate to other people

Your work style

Your ability to deal with emotions

Your motivation, determination, & general outlook

Your ability to handle stressful situations

Personality tests used in recruitment

16PF

Leadership Opinion Questionnaire

DISC Test

EQ Test

16PF Test

Thousands of traits were condensed down to 16 primary traits using factor analysis

Warmth Reasoning Emotional stability

Dominance Liveliness Rule Consciousness

Social Boldness Sensitivity VigilanceSelf-Reliance Privateness

PerfectionismAbstractedness Apprehensi- TensionOpenness to venesschange

Global Factors

FACTOR DESCRIPTORS Extraversion Introverted, Extroverted,

socially inhibtd socially participative Anxiety Low anxiety, Easily worried, tense unpertubed Tough-mindedness Open minded,

Resolute&determined receptive 2 ideas Independence accomodating & Independent &

selfless selfless Self-control free thinking,impulsive structured,

inhibited

Key features of 16 PF

Easy to administer, requires only 35-50 mins to complete

Five distinct report options

Relationship between the test items and traits measured by the 16PF instrument is not obvious

Paper and pen, or computer administration

DISC Test

A four quadrant behavior model based on the work of William Moulton Marston

Assessments classify four aspects of behavior by testing a person’s preferences in word associations

Dominance-relating to control, power, assertiveness

Influence-relating to social situations & communication

Steadiness-patience, persistence, thoughtfulness

Conscientiousness-relating to structure & organization

D&I=Extrovert D&C=Task focusedC&S=Introvert S&I = Social Aspects

Key features of DISC

Each DISC consists of 24 questions with four options

Takes very little time to complete-10 to 20 mins

Information thus collected is collated and 3 final graphs are made-Internal profile, External profile, and summary profile

Leadership Opinion Questionnaire A self assessment tool for managers that

provides insight into how they relate to their supervisees on two dimensions-considerations & structure

Percentile scores are reported for each of the dimensions

Emotional Quotient Test

Self-awareness Emotional resilience Motivation Interpersonal sensitivity Influence & persuasion Decisiveness Conscientiousness & integrity

Necessities of a psychometric test objective

Standardized

Reliable

Predictive

Non-discriminatory

Why use psychometric tests? Cost of a bad hire

Failure of traditional techniques

Saves time, effort, and money

Objective and fair practice

Better hiring decisions

Hire the best

Benefits

Candidate gets insight into work style and strengths

Adds to fairness of selection process

Candidates can utilize feedback for development purpose

Great deal of accuracy about suitability

However not a fool proof or altogether objective method-subjective to human error in case of interpretation

Best method-mix of competency based interview with psychometric test

Still…

Expensive

Difficult to understand

Difficult to interpret & easy to misinterpret

A Summary

Come out with the competencies required for the job

Use the psychometric tests on the existing employees to check its validity

The psychometric test scores of candidates can be compared with the ideal scores

Selected candidates can be interviewed

Assessment Centers

Most effective tool used for assessing individuals in both individual and group based environments for selection or development

Assessment Center actually refers to an approach

Involves participants completing a range of exercises which simulate the activities carried out in the target job

Assessment Centers…

Have a pass/fail criteria Are geared towards filling a job vacancy Address an immediate organisational

need Have fewer assessors and more

participants Focus on what the candidate can do now Place emphasis on selection with little or

no development feedback and follow up Tend to be used with external candidates

Thank You!