Enriching Human Capital with Innovation, Suave Technologies and Industry Knowledge

Building a high performance enterprise is the objective of most corporate leadership. Achieving this objective involves strategic planning, recruiting & maintaining highly motivated employees and establishing an environment that is conducive for high performance. The first step in this effort is to attract and recruit highly skilled professionals who fit the organization and job. Large organizations have employed skill assessments to ascertain a candidates ability to perform in a job. But today’s market place and job environment demands more than just skills from an employee. Employees at all levels are expected to interact with team members and customers who might come from differing backgrounds to get things done. They have to be able to work in highly dynamic job environment as well. The right kind of personality that fits the organization culture and the job demands is what will help them succeed in today’s professional world. Every employee is a leader and has the potential to influence the success and failure of the company. Traditionally, many organizations have resorted to personality assessments before recruiting / promotion candidates to leadership positions. They use assessment centers and suite of personality assessments that provide detailed inputs on various aspects of the individual. These are considered as reliable and vital inputs that are used to decide on selection and rejection. Such assessments, while considered invaluable, are not used in fresher hiring. The common reasons are as below:

1. These assessments are costly
2. Organization will have to get the help of experts to interpret the results
3. They are time consuming

The organization that hires in large numbers would want to understand the personality traits of candidates to make better hiring and allotment decisions provided they get assessments that are viable and suitable for the purpose. Tests to this nature are available and using personality assessments are quickly becoming a norm in hiring at the entry levels. What are the characteristics that organizations should consider while using personality assessments to hire fresh professionals

1. These assessments should be built scientifically and should have all relevant scientific properties
2. The tests should be easy to administer and interpret
3. The tests should be contextualized for Indian test taker
4. They should be relevant for the specific use (for example tests to assess sales quotient for specific industry, Customer Service orientation etc. )

MeritTrac, in partnership with People Matters organized a webinar to discuss the importance of assessing personality for mass hiring and the critical aspects that must be considered in the process.