There are many organizational issues I faced as a human resource professional of the past sixteen years that were not met head on. Oh, we were pretty good with the band-aid solutions versus delving into the core of the problems. Others may also relate to the above statements. As I have become older and wiser, I began to understand what reliable and valid assessments can do for an organization when used in the appropriate application. It is clear to me now that I should have used assessments in the past. It would have made my life so much easier and in doing so helped my company be more successful.

Within any size organization many situations are worthy of consideration for using assessments. Below are my top 3 reasons to use assessments today.

1. To provide more consistency within the selection and hiring process. Also, to get more people involved in the process when appropriate.

There are reliable pre-employment assessments available that generate legal interview questions. So while I could free up more of my time to perform other tasks I could also rest easier knowing that as long as the assessments were used as designed they were perfectly legal. Assessments also help provide stability to the process by providing consistent information. An organization will get the same type of information and insight about all their applicants. Flexible and convenient administration not only improves your selection process but can also shorten your selection process. Valid and reliable assessments can be a valuable addition to your current selection process.

2. To enable an organization to make better hiring and promotional decisions.

Unfortunately I am very familiar with what I would call a hit and miss interview and selection process. Never knew who might be doing the interviewing, never knew what questions might be asked and was certainly not sure whether we had selected the best candidate. We also promoted our best hourly employees and made them our weakest supervisors. How can it be that in six short months we went from praising and promoting John to asking him to clear out his desk? How many times did we hire or promote someone that did not meet our expectations? While using assessments is not an exact science, it can significantly increase your chances of selecting the right person for the right job. Studies show that in using only an interview, your odds of selecting a good hire is only about 1 in 7. Using valid tools for benchmarking and job match along with other resources can increase your odds to 3 out of 4. Assessments that allow for the development of customized job match patterns enable an organization to hire or promote individuals who can better meet the mental demands of the job, and who also have the behaviors and motivations to perform the necessary tasks with greater success.

3. To move the business forward. To invest in the people and the organization.

Assessments work and they can also provide a good return on investment. Assessments can provide valuable information and insight. Assessments can help an organization reduce turnover, increase employee productivity and company sales, enhance customer service, enable managers to be more effective, improve morale and help facilitate personal growth and development. And you can track your current organizational performance measures after implementation to justify and monitor your investment. Assessments can help address some of those reoccurring internal issues.

One thing to remember is that not all assessments are alike. It is not like when you have seen one, you have seen them all. Find an assessment that was designed for your organizations intended or needed purpose, and one that has been recently validated for that application. Leaders in the assessment industry have all the information, sample reports, and technical manuals easily available so that an informed decision can be made. If you still are unsure, ask about an opportunity to demo the assessment before making a final decision. Would you buy your next car without a test drive? Remember assessments are not intended to actually make decisions, only to provide better and more complete information to the actual decision maker within the organization.

Employees will be happier and more engaged if they are matched to a job that allows them to capitalize on their strengths, skills and talents. Valid and reliable assessments can help make that happen. The impact will be reflected in the companys bottom line.