PSYCHOMETRICS

Measuring attributes like height, weight, and strength is reasonably simple. These are all physical and observable traits that you can assess objectively. But what about factors that aren't so easy to measure?

Traits such as personality, intelligence, attitude, and beliefs are important characteristics to measure and assess. Whether you're hiring people, helping team members understand themselves and their relationships with others, or trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, it's useful to assess these types of "hidden," less obvious attributes.

One way to gather this information is through psychometric tests. Psychometric tests include personality profiles, reasoning tests, motivation questionnaires, and ability assessments. These tests try to provide objective data for otherwise subjective measurements. For example, if you want to determine someone's attitude, you can ask the person directly, observe the person in action, or even gather observations about the person from other people. However, all of these methods can be affected by personal bias and perspective. By using a psychometric test, you make a more objective and impartial judgment.

Personality: how people are typically likely to act. This covers a huge range of aspects from people's motivations and values to how they characteristically react to authority and their honesty or integrity. Behavioural and personality models are widely used in organisations. Used appropriately, psychometrics and personality tests can be hugely beneficial in improving knowledge of self and other people – it is also the key to unlocking elusive human qualities, for example leadership, motivation, empathy, strengths, weaknesses, preferred thinking and working styles. Different people have different strengths and needs. Understanding personality is also the key to unlocking elusive human qualities.

Our aim is to help clients understand a person’s core personality, attainment, ability and potential which can then be used to assess their fit within the group as well a team and organisational dynamics and potential.

What are often known as 'softer' factors are increasingly seen as important in success, for instance: how well you understand and get on with people; your ability to lead; how far you follow rules or come up with your own unique solutions; your ability to cope with stress. Testing is as much about these as about being a 'know-it-all'.

People are truly any organisation's most important resource - whether it's a multi-million pound corporate or a voluntary club.  They're also an organisation's biggest cost and single most complex aspect of organisational success and failure.

What are psychometric tests used for?

Tests are used to recruit new staff; identify people with the potential to be promoted and developed; counsel staff who are under-performing; put teams together; coaching, identify stress factors in an organisation; decide on the best organisational structure; create incentive programmes that really motivate - any decision about people individually or people in groups.

You should never use them on their own because tests can only provide part of the picture; interviews, for instance, provide information tests can't reach.
What are the organisational benefits of testing?

What are the organisational benefits of testing?

Psychometric tests can form part of making hard -headed business decisions. They will increase your bottom line, they will decrease staff turnover, identify talent and create a more efficient organisation.

Psychometric tests sometimes look expensive. A good test might cost you £50 to administer and interpret. But since it may cost you £10,000 in direct costs if you recruit the wrong senior manager (and a lot more in indirect costs) this doesn't seem too high a price.

Tests will also help companies defend against legal challenges to HR decisions, which might end up in expensive tribunals and court cases. It's illegal to discriminate on grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation, age or religious belief. Test results are defensible evidence in court, whereas interviews are open to all sorts of challenges. And, of course, using them will ensure that you are being objective, building a successful, effective, motivated organisation.

Good recruitment and development practice are part of a company's marketing and brand development. Even a rejected candidate will speak well of a company that's taken the time to create a professional recruitment process which gives valuable feedback: tests provide that.

We ensure that we design our solutions to meet our clients’ requirements and, as such, assessments can be carried out online, in-house or at a location to suit.  These programmes are often combined with structured interviews and appraisals that enable clients to gain greater clarity around their individual, team and organisational capabilities. (For types of tests used - click here)

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