“What the tests do is reveal people for who they really are,” says Myrna Penny, Managing Director for Printlink. “On a resume and in interviews, most job seekers try to appear perfect. For example, to succeed in sales requires the ability to keep bouncing back from rejection, and finding out if someone actually has this type of ego-strength is very hard to do in an interview.”
Psychological testing helps to evaluate whether a promising candidates is suitable for hire or promotion. The tests can also be used to help benchmark employees who excel at their jobs, enabling a company to hire more people like their top performers. They are also useful in finding new employees whose abilities and personalities compliment those of existing staff. By pointing out employees’ strengths and weaknesses, they can assist in redefining job descriptions to capitalize on employee strengths, or give management insights on training and coaching to develop staff potential and improve team effectiveness.
The financial outlay for a reputable test and a qualified person to interpret the results is more than recovered in saving the time and money in hiring and developing staff as well as protecting the future of the business.
The test can be completed over the Internet or on paper and faxed to one of the testing company’s experts for interpretation. I recently completed a profile test that involved two hours of answering short, diverse questions. Besides a written assessment, the final report quantified my results by percentages and graphs. As an alternative, some systems simplify their results into point ratings. Interestingly, most tests include subtle built-in counterbalances to get around candidates who think they can outwit the evaluation. One system by Profiles International Inc. even provides a Distortion Scale, quantifying how candid and frank the respondent was in taking the assessment.
My test results were a source of revelation about my professional prospects. They amazed me for their degree of insight in pinpointing aspects of my personality that fit the requirements of my prospective new job. Penny explained that one of her reasons for selecting the particular system she uses is that the assessor who does the interpreting in Canada has researched the printing industry thoroughly; so he can interpret the data in a highly specific and useful way.
“The right test provides a psychological tool to help people understand themselves and the culture and nature of their work environment,” says leadership consultant Peter Noble of Peter Noble and Associates. “It also lets you look at your business versus the natural tendencies of the people you have as managers. For instance, a born planner may need to make adjustments to work effectively with someone who likes to try something and then see from experience how well it works.”
Noble says that in order to assist with appropriate personnel decisions, tests must be based on research studies that prove their accuracy and effectiveness. “Two terms apply to good testing systems in the psychometric field. Reliability, or consistency in giving you the same message every time, and validity, meaning the test gives you what it says it’s giving you. The test must be appropriate for your culture and business.”
The advantages of profile testing in hiring or staff development make it a valuable tool for business.