NOVA’s Four Reasons to use Psychometric Testing

Internal Human Resources (HR) and Recruitment Departments often get the brunt of the organisational leaders frustration, when candidates are placed that aren’t 100% ideal for the position required. Why? It costs the company in precious resources such as productivity, time and financial investment. So if there was a way to ensure that you were hiring the best possible candidate, wouldn’t you try it?

The good news is that you can.

Psychometric tests are a series of assessments that allow the company to gain insight into a candidate’s behaviour and personality – information that would not necessarily be revealed during an interview. Make no mistake, the CV and interview components of traditional recruitment are still critical to the process. Psychometric tests simply help to fill in some of the gaps.

Here are four good reasons to use psychometric testing for recruitment:

1. A better overall evaluation: Psychometric testing can provide an overview of a candidate’s character, strengths, weaknesses and working style. It helps to flesh out the candidate’s application and gives the recruiter a better overall idea of how he or she will interact with others and whether or not it will be a good fit for the company culture.
2. Gives insight into the future: For employers, psychometric tests give a better indication of how the candidate will perform in the company in the future, enabling more successful hiring decisions. Based on the individual’s results, the employer can see how the candidate will deal with pressure and the demands of a role that will increase with difficulty as time goes on.
3. It is objective: An interview can be somewhat subjective as it involves real people with their own ideas, feelings and bias. Although it should be about assessing the candidate’s experience and skills, a lot is usually determined by a gut feeling. The candidate could be the most qualified applicant, but what if he or she happens to rub the interviewer up the wrong way? How objective will the process really be?
   Psychometric tests measure intelligence, reasoning, and aptitude, providing an overall view of the applicant’s suitability, thereby ensuring that the recruitment process is fair and standardised. Essentially, it levels the playing field for applicants from potentially diverse backgrounds.
4. It saves resources: Screening candidates by means of psychometric testing allows the employer to eliminate several candidates at once (and save hours spent interviewing unsuitable applicants). It not only reduces the HR department’s workload but it reveals the applicants that are more likely to flourish in later stages of the recruitment and interview process.In the modern recruitment environment, psychometric testing levels the playing field and enables companies to save precious resources. Assessing a candidate’s skillset and personality will help to ensure the best fit for the company culture.