Do you have a large number of applicants for a job? Do you need a fair means of selecting those to invite for interview?
	Whether the applicant is external of an existing member of staff how can you be sure who is the best fit for the job?
	Do you have key member of your staff who you want to help with their career development?
	Is there friction between two individuals in a team? Do you want to keep papering over the cracks or identify what the issues are and find a solution?
	Is an existing team not working 100%, are deadlines missed, are there negative tensions?
	Why did that last project take so long to get off the ground, or why was the target date not hit?
	When putting a new team together wouldn't be great to know the personalities that will best complement each other?

All the above are challenges that managers, teams and individuals face every day. Wouldn't it be fantastic if there were some proven scientifically based tools that could help you?

What are psychometric tests?

Essentially, they are structured tasks or instruments that are used to find out about people's abilities, aptitudes, attainments, personalities or interests. They can also indicate someone's capability, preference or willingness to behave in a particular way. Some are used in clinical settings but here we are interested in how they can be used in a work place environment.

Modern psychometric instruments assess people's specific attributes or qualities. They give valuable information to help make decisions when it comes to recruitment, promotion, succession planning, career development, career counselling and training and development

Psychometric tests are tools for measuring the mind ('metric' = measure; 'psycho' = mind). There are two types of psychometric tests: Aptitude tests: which assess abilities. Personality questionnaires: which help to build up a profile of how someone may behave in work situations and how they prefer to work.

Ability Tests

Also known as cognitive, aptitude or intelligence tests, these do not examine someone's general knowledge but test their critical reasoning skills under strictly timed conditions. There are many different types of tests depending on the type and level of job that needs to be filled. However, a typical test might have three different sections each testing a different ability e.g. verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and diagrammatic or spatial reasoning. Typically, the test would allow 30 minutes for 30 or more questions.

An individual's score on these tests is compared to a 'norm group' which can be the general population or distinct groups i.e. managers and graduates. Employers can set their own standard in terms of how well applicants have to do in comparison with the 'norm group' in order to continue with the selection process.

Personality Questionnaires

Someone's success in a job, their ability to become one of the team doesn't depend on intelligence but rather personality and characteristics. Personality questionnaires focus on aspects of personality such as:

	How someone relates to other people
	Someone's work style
	An individual's ability to deal with emotions (their own and other people's)
	Someone's motivation, determination and general outlook
	An individual's ability to handle stressful situations

Unlike ability tests, there are no right and wrong answers.

With these questionnaires it is important for the individual to be themselves. It is in no one's interest for a person to try and second guess the answers that are wanted. Very often there are checks within questionnaires to detect whether someone is trying to give a false impression

Examples of these profiles include Myers Briggs (MBTI), 16PF, Belbin, Insights & Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ).

Which tool?

It's horses for courses, really. There are literally hundreds of tests and questionnaires available. You need professional, unbiased guidance on the tool that will best deliver the information you are looking for. Psychometric instruments should be run, scored and interpreted by trained personnel to ensure consistency. Producers of these tools should only make them available to qualified practioners.

Investment

Costs vary considerably. An Ability test, either completed on-line or with paper and pencil, could only cost a few pounds. One-to-one executive coaching or running a team-building event will require the services of a qualified consultant. However, these costs are minimal compared with the cost of doing nothing. If you were to look again at the questions posed at the beginning of this article you will quickly identify the costs that could be saved, and the potential released, which would more than pay for the cost of any psychometric assessment and connected counselling and training.

 

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