Introduction to Psychometrics
Psychometric tests drastically improve recruitment accuracy
In the current economic climate the pressure to make the right hire decision first time has never been higher. The wrong hire decision can cost organisations 30% to 176% of the annual salary of each vacant position.
In the last two decades the psychometric market has exploded with nearly two thirds of organisations now using them. But with so much choice and so many companies popping up on the market offering freebies, how do you know if you’ve picked the one that will give you the most bang for your buck?
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- recruitment and selection
- personal, team and leadership development
- career coaching and management
- Efficiency and confidentiality: secure collection of feedback on individuals
- Proven methodology: use of psychometrics to evaluate individuals against industry norms
- Low administrative burden: Getfeedback’s system produces all reporting data
- Low noise internally: your organisation’s time management is kept to minimum
- Ability/intellectual capability
- Personality
- Motivation
- How he/she likes to work?
- What motivates him/her to work?
- What types of goals does he/she like?
- Provide jargon free ‘independent’ advice – think of us as your friendly IFA in the world of psychometrics. We’ll help you weigh up which tool is right for your organisation
- Administration & reporting of psychometrics
- Offer one of the broadest ranges of online psychometric tests in the UK. The psychometrics we offer to clients have been selected by our highly qualified business psychologists as being, in our opinion, the best in the market.
- You can brand the psychometric tests with your company’s look and feel if require
- Our tools are easy to set up, easy to use and integrate seamlessly with your existing HR processes
- All our tests are available online with a very user friendly interface on a secure and robust web platform.
- You can use our tests whenever you want – no need to call us every time. We give you access to your own login allowing you to drive things yourself.
- We deliver on time, first time and with a second to none customer
- Training on psychometrics – our training packages range from 1 day Introduction to Psychometrics to more advanced training such as BPS Level A & B programmes
- Don’t be ripped off – the psychometrics market is saturated with hundreds of companies offering ‘the best psychometric yet’. With many companies selling psychometrics which have not been scientifically proven as valid and reliable, you may end up buying a tool that is no more a help than palm reading. Only take advice from a business psychologist.
- Psychometrics are most powerful when used in combination with each other. For example if you are using psychometrics for recruitment we would advise you use a psychometric to measure ability and also a personality and/or motivation tool. When you measure more than one aspect of an individual you increase the accuracy of your hire decision.
- Use psychometrics in tandem to other selection techniques such as structured business interviews, behavioural capability assessment and technical competency. Again, you will increase the accuracy of your hire decision significantly if you use psychometrics alongside at least one other selection tool.
- Interpreting the psychometric reports requires specialist knowledge. Only interpret the reports if you have the relevant qualifications to do so.
- Providing feedback to candidates taking psychometrics is one of the best ways to keep candidates engaged during a recruitment/selection process. If they know they will get a degree of feedback on their psychometrics then they are more likely to be positive about spending the time upfront in completing them.
- How reliable is the test and how consistent is it as a measure?
- How valid is the test and does it really identify the attributes or skills which the supplier claims?
- What evidence can suppliers provide that their tests do not unfairly disadvantage certain groups?
- Will the test seem appropriate to those taking it and what have previous reactions been to this test?
- Has the test been used effectively in similar circumstances
- Are the norms provided by the supplier for comparative purposes up to date and appropriate for the user's requirements? Do the norm results apply to a sufficiently representative mix of occupations, gender or ethnic groups to allow fair comparison with the user's group?
- Is the method of test evaluation and scoring appropriate to the purpose for which the test will be used?
What are psychometrics?
Why choose Getfeedback?
Key factors to consider when deciding which psychometrics to use
How can you use psychometrics in career management & to engage people better in management by objectives?
Which psychometric test should I use?
People who buy psychometrics from us are also asking us
Psychometrics are sophisticated tools designed to measure individual difference in a number of areas such as intelligence, ability, personality and motivation. When used in combination with other information sources they provide a powerful insight into why people make the decisions they make and why they behave in the way they do. Psychometrics also help predict a person’s future behaviour and performance and therefore are an instrumental tool in business planning.
They are used for a number of purposes including:
The use of psychometrics has been steadily increasing over the last 50 years but they have really taken off in the last 5-10 years. This means there is now a dazzling array of psychometrics to choose from. The majority of psychometric tests have been designed by occupational psychologists to ensure the tools have scientific reliability and normative information from which to compare the results against.
In times of cost efficiencies, greater cost control and reduced budgets, the use of psychometrics has never been higher. Psychometric profiling allows you to reduce your cost of hire, reduce time to hire and increases the accuracy of your hire decision.
Getfeedback’s online testing in particular has the following benefits:
Generally speaking there are 3 different types of psychometrics:
Ability or intellectual capability
This type of test measures an individual’s intellectual horsepower and are most commonly used in recruitment and selection. There are two types of ability tests – those which measure verbal reasoning and those which measure numerical reasoning.
Research has shown very strong links between the ability to make strategic decisions in business and the ability to deal with abstract concepts, logic and to reason verbally. In addition extensive research has also shown strong correlations between capability and management effectiveness.
Getfeedback offers a range of ability tests:
Personality
Personality psychometrics measure an individual’s character traits. These traits are the things that enable us to emphasise with others or predict how they might behave in certain circumstances. Understanding someone’s personality helps to understand how he/she works, what type of work they will excel in, how they will associate with their peers and manage their team.
Depending on the job role it would be desirable to understand the candidate’s attention to detail, their ability to work in a team or their ability to make tough decisions in a highly pressured environment. These aspects of personality are not easily obtained by even the best trained interviewer.
Getfeedback offers a range of Personality questionnaires:
Motivation
Motivation tools provide information about the type of environment, tasks and activities that an individual will be motivated to do. Thus motivation makes matching individuals to roles that will not clash with their work attitudes and that will meet their work style preferences possible.
Motivation quickly addresses simple but very important issues such as:
Getfeedback recommends Intrinsic™ as a motivation tool for clients
Getfeedback is celebrating 10 years of successfully offering online the best psychometric tests on the market to recruiters and the HR community. We are innovators and were one of the first in the UK to put paper tests online, even before the publishers themselves.
At Getfeedback we understand that not everyone is trained in choosing psychometric tests and interpreting results. That’s what we are here for. All you have to do is call us and tell us what type of person you are trying to recruit: from sales coordinator to senior executive, from project manager to finance director, we will be able to discuss the ideal profile and advise on which tests are best suited. We will then help you understand how the tests work and how to use the reports we provide.
Key factors to consider when deciding which psychometrics to use
Before selecting a particular psychometric test, you should cover off the below questions with your test provider: