Psychometric Assessments in the Workplace

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Psychometric Assessments and Their Role in the Workplace

Using personal interviews when hiring or assessing existing staff is too subjective. More meaningful results can be obtained from psychometric assessments. The earliest attempt to develop psychometry as a science occurred in 1887 at the Cavendish Physics Laboratory of Boston’s Cambridge University. This initiative can be attributed to James McKeen Cattell, who, in the following year, became the first professor of psychology in the United States.

The American Psychological Association defines psychometrics as using standardised testing procedures to quantify abilities, knowledge, personal traits and attitudes. One of the first practical applications of this science was developed in 1905 by Albert Binet and Theodore Simon to measure intelligence. The Binet-Simons test rates intellectual functioning on a scale for which the average score is 100 and the peak of a standard distribution curve in which outliers indicate limited or exceptional intellect.

Since then, industrial and behavioural psychologists have developed a broad range of psychometric assessments that have valuable applications in business, education and many other aspects of modern life.

Typical applications of psychometric assessments

We have already discussed the value of psychometry for measuring intelligence, but this is just one example of its many possible uses. For example, many private schools and universities apply this form of testing to perform a preliminary screening of the many candidates applying for a limited number of places. Similar tests have proved invaluable in helping recruitment agencies and human resources managers identify job applicants that will best meet a company’s requirements.

However, personal interviews lack the objectivity needed for an unbiased insight into the character and potential of a job applicant or to appraise an existing employee. Instead, psychologists have developed tests to assist in the evaluation of the following key areas:

Aptitude: Tests of this type have long been used to assess practical skills like working with tools and machinery but are equally applicable as an effective means to evaluate verbal and numerical reasoning, spatial visualisation and similar qualities.

Personality: Departments and teams consist of individuals who must interact and cooperate to achieve a company’s objectives and goals. Employees can be the glue that holds these together or the lever that breaks them apart. Tests like the Work Personality Index (WPI), Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ23) and the Basic Traits Inventory (BTI) can distinguish between these personality traits and help companies build more productive teams.

Cognitive potential: These psychometric assessments are designed primarily to identify the skills required for problem-solving and include making on-the-spot judgements and choosing between strategic and operational solutions when situations demand. In addition to the Cognitive Processing Profile (CPI), other options are Ability, Processing of Information, and Learning (APIL) and Transfer, Automatisation and Memory (TRAM).

Integrity: The Work-Related Risk and Integrity Scale (WRISc), Giotto and IP200 provide a covert personality testing system to identify counterproductive trends within an organisation. These tests enable employers to apply whatever adjustments may prove necessary to overcome negative behaviour.

Emotional Intelligence: During the mid-‘70s, an American development psychologist named Howard Gardner suggested there was more to intelligence than intellectual skills. In 1990, two researchers first referred to emotional intelligence in an article in a journal entitled Imagination, Cognition and Personality. Today, psychometric assessments similar to IQ tests are used to measure EQ (Emotional Quotient). They focus on self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation and the ability to form and nurture relationships, qualities essential for a harmonious and productive team.

In addition to the specified objectives of the test procedures described above, psychometric assessments can be invaluable aids when determining an individual’s most suitable career path. Such tests are frequently performed on school leavers to help them make more informed choices when deciding on their future careers. However, they are also of value to a company’s existing personnel.

A team can only perform at its best when each member is assigned to the tasks for which they are best equipped, both emotionally and technically. Often, this is not the case. Testing can reveal such incompatibilities and indicate how best those affected can be redeployed. In addition, as with the school leavers, these insights can help companies devise the best career path for each staff member. This investment in human capital, a company’s most valuable resource, will inspire loyalty and reduce staff attrition.

Arranging psychometric assessments

Orgro boasts a team of industrial psychologists, psychometrists, and business experts devoted to people development through measurable parameters. Please get in touch to learn more about how we can help you optimise your company’s performance.