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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
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I was checking out http://www.hatefiring.com
(I was lured in by their funny, irreverent office ads) and I'm considering using online pre-employment assessments to evaluate new hires. Has anyone had
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/16/2008 4:50 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 8/16/2008 Last: 8/16/2008 |
I have used them before and actually implemented them in one office and I love them. They are great, but for more than just the hiring process. In my experience, they have been very useful when there are communication problems going on between a MGR and the EE. AS an HR professional I have been able to resolve a couple of problems that at one point might have resulted in an EE leaving the company. I was able to talk to the MGR using the EE's profile and the MGR's profile and helped the MGR understand the differences in the way they communicated. The MGR changed his approach and we saw a complete positive turnaround in the EE's performance.
There are a lot of them out there though, so do your research and be careful because by law they do have be created by someone with a PhD. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/18/2008 4:46 AM EDT
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Posts: 410
First: 1/26/2006 Last: 11/15/2010 |
Hi:
There is no law that mandates that any hiring tool used by employers be developed by a Ph.D. As an aside, just like interviews, there are good and bad assessments, so employers should certainly be diligent in the process of adopting any selection tool. I trust this is helpful. Dave Arnold, Ph.D., J.D. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/18/2008 5:14 AM EDT
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Posts: 118
First: 2/28/2008 Last: 7/29/2011 |
We use an assessment...and I see the pros and the cons.
We've recently come to the realization that we use the test to confirm the positive traits for a candidate but we often fail to see the glaring red flags that the assessment show... Then after the person has been here a while and we are having problems, we look back over the results and say "we should have known..." I am happy with the assessment we use and if you email me, I can share the information. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/18/2008 9:28 AM EDT
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Posts: 237
First: 7/10/2007 Last: 8/31/2011 |
Dave can probably tells us what it is that the courts will be looking for if youre challenged to defend using a particular instrument as a selection tool. As pf indicates, some managers tend to lean on the evaluation results instead of using common sense and good selection criteria for hiring purposes.
I have had a lot of fun using M-B and other such tools in a professional development or team building setting, Im just cautious about recommending them for making hiring decisions. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/19/2008 5:16 AM EDT
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Posts: 410
First: 1/26/2006 Last: 11/15/2010 |
Hi:
According to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures as adopted by the EEOC, tests are not treated differently than any other hiring tool (e.g., interviews, job simulations, background checks) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. If a hiring tool has a disparate impact on a protected subgroup (most tests do not), then the employer must show that its use of the tool is job related and consistent with business necessity. As an aside, the notion that tests are a lightning rod for litigation is rather misguided. Over the course of the last 10 years the EEOC has typically received around 85,000 discrimination complaints per year--of these generally 200 to 300 were challenges to testing. Additionally, a well developed test is often viewed as somewhat of a safe harbor insofar as it is perceived by applicants, agencies and courts as a consistent and objective hiring tool. Finally, there is nothing problematic about using a test as an exclusive determinant of a decision not to hire. In fact, this is a very common approach utilized by companies to narrow and refine their applicant pools--they frequently utilize an online application that focuses on minimum qualifications along with an assessment. I trust this information is helpful. Dave Arnold, Ph.D., J.D. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/20/2008 3:36 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 8/20/2008 Last: 8/20/2008 |
We find personality questionnaires helpful to find out whether a candidate would be the sort of person who would fit in the company. You cannot use questionnaires on their own, but as part of the recruitment process as a whole. You can use the information gathered to explore particular areas at interview eg are they a team player, do they get stressed under pressure?
There are lots of personality tools available, Myers Briggs is more helpful for development purposes rather than the pre-interview. We have found "Identity" useful and easy to use. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/20/2008 5:10 AM EDT
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Posts: 410
First: 1/26/2006 Last: 11/15/2010 |
Hi:
The prior comment: "You cannot use questionnaires on their own, but as part of the recruitment process as a whole" is unequivocally incorrect. Also, as indicated by Consulting Psychologists Press, the publisher of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator ("MBTI"), the MBTI should never be used as a selection tool. I trust this information is helpful. Dave Arnold, Ph.D., J.D. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/20/2008 5:23 AM EDT
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Posts: 159
First: 1/31/2008 Last: 9/17/2008 |
Dave I do not disagree with you, but..... The person you are responding to is from the UK. Perhaps their rules are different. I do not personally know the answer to that question but it may be possible. |
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Are pre-employment assessments / personality tests effective?
posted at 8/20/2008 8:59 AM EDT
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Posts: 410
First: 1/26/2006 Last: 11/15/2010 |
Hi:
Thank you for the insight regarding the poster being from the UK. While my position had an exclusive US focus, I'm unaware of any such restrictions in the UK either. In fact, many of the organisations I've worked with use tests as a specific hurdle in the hiring process. Dave Arnold, Ph.D., J.D. |
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