What to consider when choosing psychometrics Part 1: Why use them in the first place?
25/08/2011, Author: Maria Gardner
For the next three weeks I thought I would pick psychometrics as my topic of choice to blog about. As a publisher of ability tests, personality questionnaires, and bespoke situational judgement tests (SJTs), Criterion Partnership receives a lot of enquires on this topic. So taking these FAQ’s, pooled with the collective knowledge of the Criterion office, I’m going to take you through the benefits, things to consider when choosing psychometrics, and what questions to ask when buying an online assessment system.
If you’ve never used psychometrics before journeying into this particular form of the ‘unknown’ can be a little daunting. If you are the point of seriously considering using them, and you are reading this blog, then the chances are you are already convinced of the benefits and just need to find the right ones. It may be that the task has been delegated to you (one way or another!) and you’re not too sure where to start. If this is the case, don’t worry my friend, I will talk you through the basics.
However, it maybe that you are already using some form of ability test or personality questionnaire, but still feel it is worthwhile reviewing your tools and providers every so often. If that is the case, then this series of blogs is for you too.
What are the benefits?
When referring to psychometrics, I’m primarily talking about tools that will enable you to measure a person’s ability or personality, and the first step in using them as part of your selection or development activities is being convinced of the benefits of using them in the first place. If not, the chances are they will never be fully integrated with these activities in a meaningful way. So here is a quick reminder of why use psychometrics:
• They are fair and objective – administration, content and output is standardised
• Cost effective – cheaper than running an assessment centre or running an interview panel
• Can improve the effectiveness of selection decisions – easy to compare candidates and provides a rich source of information regarding their suitability
• They can predict job performance – research shows they are more effective at doing this than interviews
• Communicate positive messages about the organisation – showing that you are prepared to invest in the process. For example, the majority of graduates now expect to complete psychometrics
• Effective as a sifting tool for high volume recruitment – meaning more time can be spent on the candidates with the greatest fit
What are the concerns?
“They aren’t fair”
As so much of the content, administration and interpretation of psychometrics is standardised they are often much fairer than many other forms of assessments, such as CV sift or even interviews. This is primarily because the possibility of human error is minimised as much as possible and everyone is guaranteed the same experience. In addition, the majority of psychometrics require no prior knowledge or training, meaning that everyone has an equal chance of performing well (this is particularly the case with ability tests). It also makes them a fairer measure of someone’s suitability than attainment measures, such as the traditional educational qualifications – where their score/degree classification will have been influenced by the quality of teaching, the support available, the choice of examination methods, etc.
“You can’t stop people cheating”
Whilst it would be impossible to stop all people cheating all of the time, psychometrics have many checks and deterrents built into them to minimise this. These include:
• The use of randomised items in online tests – so cheat sheets won’t work
• Honesty clauses – to create a psychological obligation to not cheat
• Deterrents such as advising candidates that they may be retested at a later stage
• Re-test materials, such as Verify tests and paper and pencil equivalents
In reality, concerns about cheating only really apply to using psychometrics in a selection context and is relevant to any tool used for this purpose, including assessment centre exercises and interviews. Furthermore research has shown that only a very small percentage (approximately 5%) of candidates are seriously motivated to cheat anyway – meaning that up to 95% will complete all assessments truthfully and honestly.
“They don’t really measure someone’s ability to do a job”
Whilst an ability test or personality questionnaire or even a SJT cannot predict 100% of a person’s potential future performance, neither can any other selection tool! What research has shown though (see Schmidt & Hunter, 1998) is that psychometrics are one of the best predicators of job performance - nearly double that of interviews (structured or unstructured). This is primarily because psychometrics, such as ability tests, measure people’s ability to acquire job knowledge and it is this knowledge that causes their performance to be higher (Hunter, 1986). They are therefore a better predictor than gathering information via an interview about when they have performed similar tasks before.
Ultimately though, getting away from any name calling, the best way of predicting job performance is to use several selection tools together and not rely on any one method in isolation. For that reason, whilst psychometrics are a very useful source of information, hiring decisions should never be based on this information alone.
“They are expensive”
Whilst the thought of adding yet another cost into your already expensive selection or development process might make you break out into a cold sweat, in comparison to many other tools psychometrics are very affordable, I could even go so far as to say ‘cheap’! They cost significantly less than putting together an interview panel or running an assessment centre – on both the time and money front. This is magnified further the earlier in the process you use them, i.e. utilising psychometrics as a sifting tool enables you to filter in those who show the greatest potential and filter out those with the least.
“You’ve got to be good at tests to be able to pass them”
One of the fundamental principles that underlie the construction of psychometrics such as ability tests, personality questionnaires and SJTs is that they require no prior knowledge or training. This does not mean however an element of acclimatisation wont help reduce a person’s nerves, making the assessment a more comfortable experience – which in turn can improve their performance. Good test publishers will always make practice materials and example questions available for this reason.
So there are some of the benefits of using psychometrics, as well as responses to a few of the concerns we often hear raised. Part Two of this blog will move onto looking at what questions should you be asking yourself and any potential supplier when purchasing psychometrics.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about what psychometrics would be right for you, or would like to discuss your concerns please don’t hesitate to contact the Criterion team on 01273 734000.
Consultant Occupational Psychologist
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