S.a.a.S: What to look for in talent assessment tools and companies?
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“The future of IT is changing in real time out of the recognition that SaaS is a
quicker and cheaper way to acquire software while consuming less internal
resources. At the same time, SaaS has proven to be more scalable, reliable
and functional as on-premise software. SaaS allows large companies to
leverage leading edge business applications immediately, without
complicated upgrade processes and the IT infrastructure demanded by
traditional software applications.
The birth of IT in most companies was due to the realization that there was
new technology that could be taken advantage of to improve business
processes and the broader competitive advantage. Today, IT organizations
are again being challenged to take advantage of new technology and apply it
to improve business processes. Leading edge IT organizations are realizing
that their role is shifting away from infrastructure management and
maintenance, toward more business process improvement demands. SaaS
has proven to be a powerful new business solution that allows IT to re-focus energy and resources to play a more crucial role within their company.” from a whitepaper by THINKstrategies.
Personality assessments on it’s own, and even better when integrated into an ATS or an HRMIS, can help you hire effectively, manage employees better and implement better organizational development strategies.
The following steps need to be taken care of when selecting a pre-employment assessment company:
Rating scales:
The assessment company providing the tests needs to address the number and type of ratings scales they are using. The more rating scales, the clearer the picture.
The Encyclopedia of Psychology mentions various rating scales and methodologies.
One common form of rating scale presents the rater with a spectrum of potential responses, another form of rating scale presents the rater with a list of characteristics or attributes from which the rater is expected to select those which the rater believes apply to the subject in question. Where there is no objective answer for certain qualities, a rating scale instrument must be used (“Rating Scale.” Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2nd ed. Ed. Bonnie R. Strickland. Gale Group, Inc., 2001. note’s.com. 2006)
Time
Amount of time it takes to take the test. How long?
It all depends on the what is (are) being assessed –
• Team assessments: 30-60 questions. 10-15 minutes (up to 5 scales)
• Pre-screening assessments: 60-120 questions. 20-35 minutes (up to eight scales)
• In-depth pre-employment/screening assessments: Above at least 164 questions. 35 to 90 minutes (up to 12-16 scales)
Qualified Test Interpreter
It is about human behavior – it’s complex.
A professional with comprehensive knowledge and experience of psychological training, preferably certified by a recognized body. If that is not possible, then some one with an in-depth experience of managing teams and and their grievances and motivations [e.g: employee relations, labor relations, work psychology exposure, team manager (at least 5 years of practical team-management experience)] should be able to properly interpret the pre- and post-assessment data.
Organizations will need to be extra focused toward this aspect, as any misinterpretation or misrepresentation of data could be costly.
Job Survey
Link everything: from profile data to resume and job description.
Singular view of a candidate’s personality could misguide. It is important to analyze a candidate’s past performance to the future expected job profile expectancy at the company.
Distortion
An in-depth assessment allows you to understand if someone is trying to “beat the system”. The assessment will have enough variations to sort between “smart impressions” and honest replies.
Career Development
Personality tests also help gain important information on a candidate’s inclination toward a particular field.
A personality test can give you an indication of which jobs match the candidate’s personality type and which careers they may have an aptitude for. You do need to remember that the test results are only an indicator and should not be relied on as an absolute assessment of which career is best for the person.
8. Strengths and weaknesses summary. Personality testing is a proven and effective way to create highly functional teams. This starts with a summary of each person’s strengths and weaknesses. Once you know which personality types work best together, you can mix and match your people so that you get the most out of each of them. For every strength a person possesses there is a corresponding weakness. Being assertive is a strength. However, a person can be too assertive and off putting for some people or in some situations.
9. Detailed interview questions. The assessment company you choose should help you create tailored interview questions based on the candidate’s specific personality. The purpose is to probe facets of the personality you need more details on. Many employers are now doing “behavioral interviews”. Rather than focusing on resume and accomplishments alone, use the personality test as a jumping off point to ask open-ended questions that will cause the job candidate to describe real circumstances and their responses to them.
Ask them to describe in detail a particular event, project, or experience and how they dealt with the situation, and what the outcome was. This type of interviewing is the most accurate predictor of future performance.