For decades, companies have used talent assessments as part of their hiring process. However, this type of testing has evolved over the years. It has transitioned from strictly testing skills of potential employees, to gaging creativity, leadership, integrity, and the ability to handle stress.
Companies can now obtain real time results about their candidate pool and even require potential candidates to take pre-screening assessments before even starting the hiring process. This has allowed companies to manage their hiring costs more closely, and has increased the percentage of suitable hires. New employees are a better fit, which leads to happier employees, which leads to increased productivity. A win-win for all involved.
You may be thinking, this is only for larger companies only. Maybe at one time, talent assessments were utilized by larger companies, however, now that these assessments are more effective and mobile, it is more cost effective and perfect for any size company. The benefits of talent assessments are great. Here are just a few benefits your company may see:
- Using talent assessments allows for a greater diversity of employees. You can tailor your assessment to meet specific needs for specific positions. When you take human emotion out of assessing, it allows for other traits to be measured, such as work ethic and leadership skills. These are hard to assess in an interview. Diversity in your workforce is very valuable, as it creates a more balanced and creative workforce.
- Over the years, the hiring process has been drawn out for a number of reasons. This equals a more costly hiring process and more time that your positions go unfilled, costing you money. When you utilize pre-screening assessments, it can weed out candidates that are not qualified. This will save time and money, as only qualified candidates go through the hiring process.
- Every company has a culture. It can be hard to find employees that fit that culture. Often times, high turnover rates are contributed to employees not fitting within the company culture. Talent assessments can help you find employees that are a natural fit culturally, as well as talent wise. This will reduce employee turnover, build morale and instill loyalty early in the hiring process.
As you can see, talent assessments have come a long way from the skills tests used years ago. They can be used for both internal and external recruitment, as well as help detect leaders within your company. More than 40% of businesses today are using some sort of talent assessment as part of their hiring process. They are realizing some of the benefits mentioned above, but more importantly, they are able to know recruit, keep, and promote top talent!