by Donna Hamlin

Created on: June 30, 2007   Last Updated: February 28, 2009

Why Do Companies Assess Candidates for Jobs?
Is It Worth It To Employees to Bother?

The decision to hire a person for a key position has significant consequences for any organization. A great choice can help an organization in many ways: performance improves, work teams strengthen, fresh thinking enriches problem-solving, team dynamics mature and evolve. A weak choice can do the opposite: tensions build, performance suffers, conflicting values and methods bog down performance and turnover creates disruption and morale issues. And, turnover is expensive.

I interviewed managers to explore: 1) whether investing in the use of formal assessments - diagnostic tools to measure a combination of skills and competencies, behavior patterns, psychological attributes, cultural and position fit - are a valuable aid to making great hiring choices and 2)what their thoughts are relative to use of assessments.

Why Invest in Assessment?

Managers cite several reasons why they value assessments.

(1) I nterviews are not enough. You get so little information during a short interview. It's as sensible as getting married after a couple of dates. It doesn't make sense.
(2) Hiring and promoting people are manager's toughest challenges. Managers do not feel interviewing is done very effectively. Companies often fall in love with or reject a candidate too quickly. It's helpful to know as much as possible about a candidate so a manager can help an employee structure a long, successful career for an employee. (3) Turnover of employees is expensive. Assessments can help managers find the right role and fit for employees so they remain engaged and incented to develop their careers with a company for many years.
(4) Assessments help company managers to be objective about their candidate selection. Often, companies use an outside party to conduct the assessments. This provides an objective view that can be a check and balance to the sometimes subjective thinking of people in an organization. An outside agency can help a company look at the actual talents of the candidate and guide a prospective manager to shape clearer development plans and better choices for the candidate.
(5) Assessments help companies clarify what they want and need from a position. When several people have differing views about what they need from a particular role, assessments can help them align their thinking. This helps a candidate better understand the expectations for the job and determine if its the right fit for him or her.
(5) Using well-designed assessments helps improve the development planning process for employees in a company. High quality data enables a company to grow leaders - both in their current roles and to prepare them for the future. Assessments help company managers to put together more targeted development plans for the individual and pave the way for better career pathing and use of talented people over time. (6) Assessments help managers gain more meaningful understanding of the person and the fit of a candidate for a specific role. They suggest options that may be wiser for both the individual and the organization. This helps accelerate the growth of the employee and the organization.

While it is an extra cost to a company and requires time for both the individual and the employer, the value seems worth it. Ralph Adams, HR Manager for ePower Synergies, notes "Some colleagues say they can't afford the time or money to include assessments in their hiring process. I ask them how they can afford not to."

In these times of talent wars, it makes sense to help employees understand their strengths and work together to shape careers they will love for years to come.

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