How to Get Real Payback from Behavioral Assessment

Are you using some sort of testing to assess candidate or employee behaviors? Recent studies indicate that between 20 and 33 percent of employers now use behavioral tests and diagnostics, so it’s worthwhile to ask, as Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that working for you?”

For more than 40 years we have been observing how companies use tests and assessments, and it’s our belief that most organizations really don’t know how well their assessment tools are working. Of course, this is true for a lot of what goes on in HR, because a lot of what goes on is, in fact, difficult to isolate and measure in it’s own right.

But measuring the operational and financial impact of testing is essentially just keeping score. What really matters more is how organizations implement and manage the assessments they use. In a series of subsequent articles, I will uncover for you what we believe are the six most critical reasons why behavioral testing fails to deliver and fails to meet what should be reasonable expectations in any organization. Address these, and testing can work for you!

Where are we going to go with this series? We’ll take a look at:

• The importance of interpreting the validity and reliability of data
• How test proliferation and commoditization lowers user expectations
• Why a poor understanding and use of job analysis guts the assessment process
• What both HR and operational managers need to know about workplace behavior
• What test users should be able to do with technology and data analysis
• How weak command and control can cause unnecessary problems and undermine the potential value of assessment

Stay with us and let us know your experiences.

__________________________________________________________________________For more than forty years, Frank Gump has been helping corporations become more productive and profitable by helping management teams identify and hire top performers and manage them most effectively. Developed and refined through extensive experience in more than 1200 organizations in the United States, Canada, England, and Australia, ADGI’s Organizational Management System (OMS) is a finely calibrated, technologically advanced decision-making process offering the potential for enormous payback. Contact ADGI for more insight and connect with Frank on LinkedIn. Follow ADGI on Twitter @ADGIGroup. Like ADGI on Facebook and follow us on Google+.