30 Lessons in 30 Days - To test, or not to test, that is the question...

Organisations are increasingly turning to psychometric tests as a source of unbiased, science-based predictions to determine which of their staff is the best fit for a position, team or particular business challenge.

To put it simply, psychometric testing refers to tools for 'mental measurement', and there are many different types in the market, measuring different aspects of an individual, such as personality, motivation, competencies, ability, aptitude and behaviour etc.

The usage of the word "test" can be intimidating for some people, as no one likes their future to be judged from their answers to several questions. As a result, you might observe different products in the market replacing the word "test" with others like questionnaire, inventory, tool, instrument, assessment.

For the purpose of being succinct in this article, I would discuss about these tools in the generic sense without making a distinction between the terms listed above. As a caveat, perhaps it is also timely to share my personal beliefs that instead of interpreting the results as being "about a person", it would also do Human Resource Practitioners much good to use the results "for a person". Context matters at the workplace, and it will be wise to work with a consultant with enough experience and expertise to not take the results at face value.

Benefits of using a good psychometric test within our Organisation

• Increase individual self awareness, and aid understanding between team members, enhancing their interaction and communication, while preventing potential conflicts.
• Identify applicants with the potential to fit job demands and become high performers (recruitment, selection and promotion) - reduce cost of mismatches occurring during recruitment and selection, and also increase retention rate of current employees by enjoying better job fit and design.
• Human resource optimisation - to identify our star performers, aid succession planning, and train the next generation of leaders.
• Improve morale and engagement of the our staff by understanding their motivations and unique drivers for their behaviour.
• Assist with training development interventions and individual coaching for performance
• Provide a quick way to align your strategy to your team's unique qualities after going through a major organisation change, for e.g. after a merger and acquisition, downsizing exercise, or expansion drive.

2 types of Psychometric Tests

Psychometric tests used at the workplace are classified into 2 main types:

1. Measures of maximum performance - tests of ability, aptitude or attainment,
2. Measures of typical performance - tests designed to assess personal qualities, such as personality, beliefs, social competence, values, and motivation.

Elements of a good psychometric test

1. Meeting International Standards

For the purpose of maintaining professional standards, a commonly used acid test is the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing published by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).

A central principle of professional test use is that individuals should use only those tests for which they have the appropriate training and expertise.

Distributors of such instruments typically classify their products into 3 different levels, according to their complexity, validity, and reliability. Access to these instruments are restricted according to 3 different levels:

• Qualification Level A - There are no special qualifications to purchase these products.
• Qualification Level B - In general, such tests can be administered by someone with a master's degree in psychology, education, speech language pathology, occupational therapy, social work, counseling, or in a field closely related to the intended use of the assessment, and formal training in the ethical administration, scoring, and interpretation of clinical assessments, among other requirements.
• Qualification Level C - Tests with a C qualification require a high level of expertise in test interpretation, and can be purchased by individuals with a doctorate degree in psychology, education, or a closely related field with formal training in the ethical administration, scoring, and interpretation of clinical assessments related to the intended use of the assessment, among other requirements.

2. Reliability and Validity

What this means for consumers is the need to look beyond the glossy covers of reports of the thousands of psychometric instruments out there, and focus on those with a robust body of research and history behind them, in order to narrow down on those that offer high reliability and validity.

• Has the test been performed on a large enough sample size (well over 500) for its results to be valid and representative?
• What is the test and retest reliability? Is there consistency when a respondent completes the test over different periods of time?

3. Fit for Function

Especially if we are using the instrument for recruitment purposes, are there detectors built in to check for signs of manipulation from the respondent? One of the main reason why psychometric instruments have received bad press over the years is because of wrong applications. When respondents can predict the type of "right' responses required to be considered for a particular role, it would not be hard to creatively "tweak" their responses to a 10 question instrument to achieve the desired outcome.

Best practices when using psychometric tests

1. Be upfront with the respondent

Respondents have a right to know the following:

• How the results will be used and interpreted. This prevents false assumptions.
• Who will have access to their results and the purpose.
• How will their personal data be stored. Beware of GDPR and PDPA

2. Do not make personnel decisions solely on the results of psychometric testing

Our work environment is becoming more complex by the day, and making a judgement based on just one facet of an individual is prone to error. Many factors come into play when influencing our behaviour at the workplace, including personality, motivation, sociability, emotional intelligence, past experience, and relationships between team members. That being said, the insights we receive from using an established psychometric tool far outweighs the potential risks.

Do not Hire or Fire our People by solely basing our decisions on the psychometric test results!

3. Pitfalls of Online testing

The proliferation of Internet usage has helped propel the popularity of online psychometric tests administration, and it is not difficult to understand why. Other than being less of an administrative headache (remember the days of bringing around a high carton of paper based questionaires?), we can enjoy a faster turnaround time (results can be automatically generated via an online system), at a lower cost (we save trees and customers save money. Its a win-win!)

However, the flexibility provided also brings with it certain pitfalls:

• Verification of identity can be important, especially when we are conducting ability tests, or personality tests that can influence our recruitment decisions. In such cases, we might want to minimise the risk by taking an extra step of verifying via videocam while the respondent is completing the test, or even arrange a proper venue for co-located centralised online testing (remember to adhere to social distancing measures!)
• Sometimes the ease of administering the test also means that we assume that the case is closed after the respondent receives the system generated report. This is a big NO NO. This is especially true for a comprehensive personality such as the Workplace Big 5. There is no such thing as a perfect profile, and it is important for a qualified personnel to provide a debrief to harness the depth and insights of the report, instead of letting a 10 page report do all the talking.
• Distractions can occur when respondents are completing the test at their own time. Interruptions from family (especially now that most of us are working from home), stress from the boss (Weixi, why haven't you completed the questionaire? The class is starting in half an hour!), multi-tasking can all influence the eventual results. So it will be a good habit for the test administrator to send an email with instructions with some guidelines on how to complete the test.

Conclusion

As organisations move towards streamlining the entire talent experience for recruiters, employees and management, psychometrics testing has become an essential component of every HR strategy. However, it is easy to get lost among the variety of choice available in the market. I hope that my introductory piece here can give you a headstart in choosing the right instrument for your needs. All the best!

Weixi Tan helps clients to implement impactful change initiatives by addressing the human side of change through the use of psychometrics such as Workplace Big 5 and Strength Deployment Inventory. He also facilitates sessions using award winning online simulations that highlights important principles of change management. All interventions can be conducted in a virtual instructor led environment. He can be contacted at [email protected].