ADULTS
Why use psychometrics?
People make business work. Today’s business is constantly changing so work requires taking more risks. Some find risk a threat; others find it an opportunity. Nurturing and supporting your staff is a prerequisite to business success in the long term. But how are individuals to be understood when they are so complex? And how can they be developed unless they are understood? Learning Insights is the place for making sense for you.
How can we help you understand the needs of your staff and their impact on the organisation more broadly? By giving you insight into the commonalities, the differences, the strengths and the development needs of the people who make up your workforce. Using objective assessment procedures with individuals and groups is our starting point for a sound diagnosis. Psychometric tests and questionnaires have a place in helping your staff to gain insight and understanding of their preferences, motives, capabilities, competencies and interests: why they behave and respond as they do. Using these techniques, we can help you identify the brightest and the best and develop the potential of both people and the organisation. Psychometric tools can be useful in the service of selection decisions, the assessment of training needs, career development, succession planning and a host of other contexts.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no magic in psychometric testing. It is merely the application of concentrated and systematic question-asking, analysis and interpretation that would take many hours longer if it were done another way. Used appropriately by qualified practitioners, they can result in a significant improvement to decision making and planning at a much-reduced cost, while enhancing the self-perception and insight of the person being assessed.
Good advice on psychometric assessment is essential. The British Psychological Society has set standards of competence for practitioners which require them to be able to provide clients with impartial advice about best practice standards of testing and feedback, for a variety of different purposes. A good consultant should be able to advise you about the right tests and questionnaires to measure the qualities you consider important, without being limited to a single supplier or publisher. They should also be licensed to purchase, administer and interpret the tests that they recommend. Finally they should be skilled in adding value to a client’s decision-making about how to apply method and discipline to the art of good human resource management.
Learning Insights is comprised of highly qualified consultant psychologists with more than 10 years of experience working with blue-chip clients on three continents. We are recognised authorities in assessment for selection and development in the public transport, aviation, rail, financial services, health services, education and the service sector generally, manufacturing, utilities, and other sectors. We work as partners with our clients, helping them to establish in-house competence where required and providing ongoing support and evaluation, as well as developing our own bespoke psychometric tools for the assessment of special qualities.
Tests and personality measures are objective
Well-designed tests and personality measures are accurate and reliable. They
let you compare individuals against norms and so can guide your selection and
training decisions. Whether psychometrics are being used for selection or development
programmes, candidates are treated in a standardised manner. This ensures fairness.
Guiding you in your choice of appropriate measures further ensures fairness
and equality.
Tests and personality measures are valid
Research indicates that relevant tests are good predictors of job success, better
than interviews and many other alternative methods. Tests and personality questionnaires
together with well-structured interviews can result in reliable process, satisfying
to both selectors and candidates. Psychometric tools used appropriately can
provide powerful, constructive feedback against which personal growth and development
can be tracked.
Tests and personality measures improve efficiency and profitability
The costs of selection errors are hard to calculate. Often time, effort and
resources are invested in an individual or individuals before it becomes evident
that a poor selection has been made. The casualties of such a process are both
the organisation and the individuals. By reducing selection errors, the organisation
can reduce staff turnover, training costs, lost opportunities and stress to
individuals. A well-designed selection assessment can minimise the high cost
of poor selection, at the same time identifying development and training needs.
Sound assessment procedures help take the gamble out of selection, allowing
the candidate to better evaluate their appropriateness for the role, at the
same time allowing the organisation to identify the resources it will need to
maximise the potential of those candidates it selects. Identifying job holders’
learning needs through the use of psychometrics allows an organisation to be
proactive in removing hurdles to its development, and more cost-effective through
target-specific training.
Test and personality measures promote and improve opportunities
Research shows that interviewers are prone to stereotypic judgements thus reducing
the accuracy of their assessment of candidates. The use of tests and questionnaires
gives the selectors a more objective analysis of the candidates and thus can
challenge stereotypic judgements. These same stereotypes influence behaviour
at work. Training programmes incorporating feedback from psychometrics can be
powerful tools for providing insight into group dynamics, leadership, team-building,
customer care, learning styles and personal effectiveness. Equal opportunity
and diversity programmes are also well supported by the use of rigorous job
analysis and relevant psychometrics.
Test and personality measures promote your organization
Psychologists and their tools can bring fear and dread to many individuals.
The expectation of feeling judged when passing or failing tests can create a
stressful situation that inhibits good performance. Good selection procedures
foster confidence and the opportunity to give of your very best. After a successful
selection assessment, both the candidate and assessor feel satisfied. The candidate
leaves the process feeling well understood and confident in the knowledge that
an accurate and balanced assessment of how they match the post can be made.
Expertly delivered psychometrics as part of a rigorous selection procedure,
designed to bring out the best in people, creates a powerful impression.
This same quality of care and coherence is key to maximising the value of psychometrics used internally as part of the training and development activities described above.
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