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by Ronald Waln, Ph.D
Excerpts reprinted with permission of the Kansas City Business Journal
Employment tests can greatly improve an organization's ability to hire productive employees. Extensive research has proven that good testing systems identify bright and conscientious people who do quality work and help increase profits.
Too often, however, employers are sold substandard testing products and services. Purchasing inferior assessment services can be worse than just a waste of money; bad tests can lead a company to hire poor performers and reject good applicants who then go to work for the competition. Also, as employment attorneys point out, improper testing can result in legal jeopardy.
The easiest and safest way to benefit from this proven technology is to work with a properly trained professional. Rigorous quality standards have been established for employment testing products and services. Qualified professionals know the standards, and know how to offer organizations the right tools and techniques at reasonable prices.
Kinds of Tests
The most frequently used employment tests can be divided into three general categories:
• Ability Tests include measures of general intelligence and language and math basic skills. They provide information on how well a person solves problems and "figures things out".
Ability tests were extensively used by the military during the World Wars when it was necessary to quickly evaluate and place large numbers of personnel. Today, the military continues to use ability tests, as do civilian organizations of all kinds. Because ability tests have been found to predict performance in virtually all jobs, they are widely used as hiring tools.
• Work Samples require the participant to actually do the kinds of tasks that the job requires. A typing test is a simple example. For management positions, in-basket exercises or other simulations can be used to evaluate a candidate's business expertise in handling management problems.
Simulations were first used in the U.S. during World War II by the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of today's CIA, to quickly select and train intelligence agents. After the war, AT&T adapted these methods and developed "assessment centers" to assist in selecting managers. Today, simulated work samples are widely used in hiring a variety of personnel.
• Personality Inventories measure characteristics such as assertiveness, warmth, mental toughness, and independence. They can tell us much about a person's work habits, service orientation, reliability, leadership ability, and many job-related attributes.
Modern personality inventories were developed during World War II, and were used extensively for hiring in the 1950's and 1960's. Regrettably, personality tests were often misused in business during those years, and by 1965 researchers had begun to doubt their validity as hiring tools.
Since the 1980's, however, improved test development and research techniques have produced personality measures that accurately predict job performance.
One important body of research has shown that measures of conscientiousness predict performance in most kinds of jobs, while measures of extraversion and emotional stability are associated with success in sales and management positions. These and other personality characteristics are now referred to by some authors as "Emotional Intelligence".
Qualified assessment experts have access to the best tests in all categories. A properly trained professional will carefully analyze the jobs to be filled, and will select or develop the right combination of tests for an organization's specific needs.
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Appropriate Tests
Some consultants use clinical or mental health related personality tests that are usually not appropriate for personnel assessment. These tests may be excellent for other purposes, but they can include some very personal questions that business employers should not ask, and they measure characteristics that may not be relevant to job performance.
The best personnel tests have been specifically developed for employment use. Testing professionals know how to select the proper tests, and they are trained to treat job applicants with courtesy and with respect for their rights.
Accurate Tests
Validation is vital to determining whether a test is suitable for employment use. The term "validity", when used in testing, refers to whether a test actually measures the characteristic it is meant to measure, and whether the test is relevant to job performance.
Test validation is a highly technical procedure. Considerable research is required to establish that a test actually does what it is intended to do. Reputable test developers publish their research in test manuals, and they allow other researchers to independently evaluate and review their tests.
The best-researched employment tests have also been subjected to thousands of studies conducted by practicing professionals, college professors, graduate students, government and trade organizations, and other independent investigators. These studies and reviews are published in professional journals and technical reference books.
Competent testing consultants use these publications to evaluate the research on which a test developer's claims are based. The studies offer trained professionals reliable information on what a test can and can not do. Testing experts easily recognize inadequate or phony research, and will not recommend a test for which the proper research reports are not available.
Quality Standards
The field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology sets the standards for personnel testing products and services. The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is the professional organization for "I/O" practitioners. To qualify for SIOP membership, a person must have earned a doctoral degree in psychology. SIOP members are required to adhere to the strict standards of the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
SIOP publishes the Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures and Guidelines for Education and Training at the Doctoral Level in I/O Psychology. Those publications describe professional standards for employment testing practice and the extensive training a person must have to be a fully qualified I/O practitioner.
Although no organization can guarantee the competence of all of its members, the most reliable source of expert advice in employment testing is a fully qualified I/O practitioner who specializes in personnel assessment.
A Competitive Advantage
I/O professionals understand both the strengths and limitations of employment tests, and are uniquely qualified to help organizations hire employees who out-perform the competition.
In business, as in sports, the team with the best players wins!
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