In the second part of a series, today's piece talks of how companies are using psychometric tests to hire people with the right attitude
For retail store chain Croma (Infiniti Retail), quality products and knowledgeable sales staff are not enough to ensure that consumers buy their products. Equally important is how the staff treats a customer. To ensure a good shopping experience, Croma has a psychometric test as part of the selection process for all front-line and managerial roles.
Here, the test is customised for a particular role. It covers general aptitude and behavioral assessment questions on values and attitude. It also looks at whether the person is an extrovert and is passionate about selling. Apart from this, their basic Mathematics & English aptitude is also tested.
Shalini Vohra, Chief Human Resources Officer, Croma (Infiniti Retail) said based on consumer surveys, their expectations and needs were identified for the profiles needed at the stores.
“The customers look for personalized solutions. While the satisfaction of the transaction hinges on quality of the product and knowledge of the service executive, it is how the customer feels during the sales interaction that is the deal clincher,” added Vohra.
This testing, thus, has helped Croma to score better on the customer satisfaction index, which is crucial for any retail company.
What do psychometric tests mean?
Psychometric tests are a scientific method to assess mental and behavioural capabilities. Depending on a particular role and the requirements for it, these tests check if a candidate can handle the pressures of the role, his problem-solving capabilities and ability to handle crises.
These tests include testing numerical abilities, language skills as well as logical reasoning and judgment tests.
For example, one may be given a situation of an important client meeting and be informed at the last minute about some data required. The test will ask candidates as to how they would react to that situation.
Depending on their answers, there would be a team questioning them on why he/she chose a particular answer. All these are written tests and the responses are either recorded manually or digitally. Candidates are usually given one hour to complete the test, after which the HR manager has a detailed review and discussion of their answers.
Apart from the basic calculation-based questions for cash-management roles, team-building questions are also asked. For example, a common question asked is whether the person being hired for a team-leader’s role would continue to push his/her team even when their past performance has been poor.
The need for psychometric assessments
Psychometric tests usually are taken at the first stage of the recruitment process. After a formal meeting with the candidate, the human resource team conducts the psychometric assessment/test either in-house or through an external partner.
At Taj, the emphasis is on the ability to establish an emotional connect with guests.
P V Murthy, Senior Vice-President, HR, Indian Hotels Company (Taj Hotels) said the psychometric tests are not just for hiring talent from outside but also for aligning internal talent. It helps them get an insight into the personality and natural inclinations and preferences of a particular person. This can then be used to leverage their respective areas of expertise and boost efficiency.
Whether or not a person can cope with a particular job or role can be ascertained from these tests. A senior human resource official at a mid-size IT firm said they have had instances in the past where academically qualified candidates were found unfit for the roles they had applied for.
“In one case, the candidate had all the qualifications but the test results showed that he was not a team player based on an answer he gave to a question. It was an important factor to consider for us since he was to lead a team which had already seen multiple exits,” he added.
Rakesh Gupta, Chief Human Resource Officer, Royal Sundaram General Insurance, says behavioural attributes are important, considering that the staff will have to deal with different situations involving different stakeholders.
What do the tests look at?
Usually, freshers are evaluated on domain skills, cognitive skills, communication skills and personality, which help organisations know the competitiveness of the candidates and if their personality suits the culture of the organisation.
Candidates being hired for middle management could have similar tests with higher level of difficulty, coupled with the kind of job functions that they are being hired for. Devanahalli said while hiring for senior levels, it is important to assess managerial ability, leadership styles and retention profile, that measures the candidate’s intent to stay in the organisation and perform.
Ruhie Pande, Chief Human Resource Officer, Godrej Properties, said apart from interviews, they use psychometric tests to have a standardized and objective selection process. These tests serve as first-level inputs for competency-based interviews and throw up the competency/behavioural gaps that can be further evaluated in interview. Pande said they have adopted two types of psychometric tests — cognitive ability and personality test.
She added that cognitive ability tests help them predict job performance and potential across roles and levels. On the other hand, personality tests aid in understanding an individual’s likely behaviour or personality patterns aligned to their Godrej Capability Factors (GCFs), which are a set of expected behaviours across job levels.
Costs of a bad hire
Rather than hire a bad candidate who may not fit into the culture of the organisation, companies are willing to spend an additional amount to get the individual candidate assessed.
Gopal Devanahalli, CEO of skills assessment company MeritTrac, said for any organisation, it is extremely important to conduct these psychometric tests to avoid the costs involved in a bad hire, and this can happen across the organisation, be it entry level, middle level management or even at the leadership level.
“For freshers and middle level management, while some of the assessments used could be the same, the change would be in terms of the level of difficulty, domain, role or job function,” he added.
Now that succession planning is one of the key concerns for companies, these tests could also reveal the candidate’s potential for senior management posts in the future.
Prahalad Chandrasekharan, Senior Vice President - BCD (Business Concepts Development), Randstad India, said, “We hire for the future and psychometric tests can reveal if a candidate fits not just the current role description but all other roles available in the company in the future and if they can grow into those roles.”
He also added that now that companies have people working in virtual teams where individuals work from different locations across the world, it can also show if the person can be a fit for these processes and if they can contribute effectively for these roles.
Way forward
The principal reason for conducting psychometric tests, according to Anshul Prakash, Partner, Khaitan & Co., is to narrow down the applications by identifying at the preliminary stage, the applications which are unlikely to meet the requirements of the position in the organisation.
From a cost perspective too, it helps employers save costs especially when there have been a huge number of applications for limited posts. Going forward, assessment companies expect more companies to join the bandwagon and hold pre-hiring assessment tests to ensure that the candidate is appropriate.
Also, as more job opportunities open up, apart from having all the qualifications and the requisite work experiences for the role, the right behavioural attitudes could make the big different when it comes to grabbing the chair in the corner office.
This is the second part of a series looking at how recruitment has evolved. Tomorrow, the third part of the series will look at how corporates are using video interviews to review a candidate better.