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A Short Guide To Psychometric Assessments.

1st June 2023 Jim Bloomfield

What is a psychometric assessment?

The word psychometric comes from two Greek words, psyche and metric, which when translated literally means ‘measurement of the mind’. Psychometric assessments are a fair and objective way of measuring attributes such as cognitive ability, values, motivation, behavioural preferences and personality traits that are deemed to be relevant to job performance.

When can I use a psychometric assessment?

A robust psychometric assessment can be used in a wide range of contexts, including recruitment, selection and development. However, not all assessments (including some of the most well-known) are suitable for all occasions so you should check with the test publisher before use.

What should I look for when choosing a psychometric assessment?

There are 5 key things to consider when selecting which psychometric assessment to use:

Relevant: Does the assessment measure criteria that are relevant to the role for which it is being used?
Reliable: Does the tool provide an accurate and consistent measure of those criteria?
Valid: Does the assessment truly measure what it claims to?
Predictive: Does the tool provide an accurate prediction of future performance?
Objective: is the tool fair and unbiased in its assessment of candidates regardless of their background? Does it adversely impact upon different groups of people?

What are the benefits of a psychometric assessment?

The analytical insights generated by a psychometric enable organisations to demonstrate a positive impact upon their business in a number of ways:

High Performance: Validations studies can be used to demonstrate a clear link between assessment results and performance in role.
Reduce Risks: Because validation studies can show organisations what qualities to look for in a top performer, organisations can be more confident in their ability to select the best candidate when hiring or promoting.
Increase Engagement: Putting the right person in the right role where they can thrive has been shown to positively impact upon employee engagement and retention.
Identify Potential: Understanding the qualities that drive great performance allows organisations to search for these characteristics in individuals, and provide developmental support to them, before they are put in post.
Deep Dive: Selecting the right tool can enable organisations to measure specific aspects of motivation, attributes and behaviour which are difficult to measure via other methods.
Fair Selection: They provide a standardised measure of job-relevant criteria behaviour that reduces the risk of unconscious bias and supports fair and objective decision-making.

Bloojam Consulting offers a range of robust recruitment and development tools and interventions, including the Acuity for Strategic Sales suite of psychometric assessment and development tools.

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What Does The War For Talent Mean For Professional Services?

25th May 2022 Jim Bloomfield No Comments

The idea of a “war for talent” has been around for a long time and was itself based on the classic law of supply and demand popularised more than 200 years ago by the economist Adam Smith. It describes how, all else being equal, the price of goods or services tends to increase when the supply of that commodity decreases (making it rarer) or when the demand for it increases (making it more sought after) and vice versa. In the case of the talent war, the commodity is people.

Despite the pandemic, professional services has proven to be a growth industry. The MCA Industry Report 2021 suggests that the growth rate for management consulting in the UK was 4.5% in 2020. Total consulting income is estimated to be £12.5 billion. Some individual firms reported even more impressive results. Deloitte saw an increase in global revenue of 5.5%, while EY boosted revenue by 7.3% to $40 billion globally. Much of that growth has been centred around expansion into new service lines in particular those focusing on technology, data and ESG.

This drive for growth has led firms to fight it out for the top talent, which in turn has driven up salaries. Newly qualified lawyers can now expect a starting salary of £100k+, while partners in some Big 4 firms have seen their pay increase to in excess of £1million. In this febrile market employees have the advantage. They know that they are sought after and, in many cases, they are able to name their terms.

The risks to employers are many. In the race to recruit, there is a danger that corners are cut in order to be the first to make the candidate an offer. In Professional Services, experienced hires tend to be recruited with an expectation that they will contribute to the revenue growth of the firm. Given that they also need to exhibit deep subject matter expertise in their specialist area, and will often need to be effective people leaders, there is a requirement for individuals to draw upon a broad range of capabilities if they are to excel in their roles.

Recruiting the right talent

To prevent a severe case of buyer’s remorse, it is critical that firms maintain a rigorous approach to recruitment that is able to assess all aspects of a candidate’s performance and potential. It may be tempting to circumvent the process in order bring people in more quickly but consider the impact of getting it wrong. Direct costs are estimated by the US Department of Labour to be 30% of salary. But factor in the indirect costs such as loss of opportunities not converted, impact upon team morale and performance, and these costs quickly escalate.

To be able to accurately evaluate these different skillsets is challenging and requires a multi-faceted approach to recruitment. Robust psychometric tools used in conjunction with in-depth profiling / debrief sessions facilitated by an expert help to “lift the hood” and consider the capabilities and attributes that are not apparent from an interview alone.

What we see time and again when working with Professional Services firms is a tendency to focus on technical and leadership capability alone. If a new hire has a sales / growth target it is also critical to assess B2B sales capability. Research tells us that in order to make the best recruitment decisions we should:

Clearly identify the criteria associated with success in the role
Use trained and skilled interviewers
Use structured interviews and objective assessment tools

Cutting corners introduces bias and poor decisions, in turn bringing too much risk for firms.

Retaining Talent: What Does The Evidence Tell Us?

So, what can managers within professional services firms do to retain their existing talent to support their goals around sustainable growth?

Robust research from pre-pandemic times suggests the following recommendations:

Ensure that you offer employees autonomy and involvement in decision-making
Deliver on your promises and treat people fairly
Create a positive team atmosphere
Provide clarity of expectations
Provide feedback
Seek to offer rewards beyond just pay: benefits, training and career growth are all important.

Considering how to support and retain more diverse groups of employees is also key to the sustainable success of the business.

In summary, now is the time to review and reinforce people practices, to ensure that the right new hires are selected and that precious internal talent is nurtured.

Sarah Clapperton is a Director at Bloojam Consulting and a Chartered Business Psychologist, with 20 years’ experience working in selection and development. She specialises in working with leaders and senior salespeople.

Bloojam Consulting offers a range of robust recruitment and development tools and interventions, including its unique Acuity for Strategic Sales suite of psychometric assessment and development tools.

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Six Ways To Win The War For Diverse Talent When Hiring

7th October 2021 Jim Bloomfield No Comments

We are hearing from more of our clients about their drive to increase diversity in their teams. Currently, this is also in the context of a highly competitive employment market. Anecdotally we are seeing salaries rising to help firms win the war on diverse talent. But if you are serious about enhancing the diversity of your team, what more can you do as a leader? Below are six recommendations from Chartered Psychologist, Sarah Clapperton:

Look beyond your network. It is tempting to take the most direct route, using your own existing connections to recruit. But consider the diversity of your network – it is unlikely to adequately reflect the range of demographic groups you need to attract. Look wider. Talk to HR or reputable recruitment firms about advertising in different publications and in different ways to ensure your search reaches a variety of groups.
Beware of recruiting for team or culture-fit. Selecting people who are a good ‘fit’ for our team or culture is potentially a way to recruit people who are very similar to us, who do things in the “way they are done around here”. Recruiting in our own image is a sure-fire way to reduce diversity and create an echo chamber of ideas. Rigorously define the behaviours, attributes and values that are needed for success in the role, and recruit against these, but allow for (and indeed seek out) flexibility in style and thinking.
Use structured interviews. Research shows that using structured interviews, where all candidates receive the same job-related questions and are rated against the same criteria, are a much better predicter of performance in the role. It creates a level playing field, allowing each candidate equal opportunity to show their potential. Use structured rating guides that include clearly defined behavioural rating scales. Psychometric tools can add objective value to the interview process, but these should be incorporated by a trained and accredited user. The tool itself must be rigorously developed and validated, and relate to the tightly defined job criteria.
Use trained assessors and interviewers. We are ALL subject to unconscious bias, hard-wired through learning and experience. If we can all agree that we are inherently biased, then we have a starting point for action. Train your interviewers in gold standard approaches in objective assessment, to provide them with the tools and methods that minimise the risk of unconscious biases creeping into their assessments of candidates. If possible, use pairs/panels of assessors or interviewers (preferably representing a variety of protected groups), who have equal voice in the process.
Walk the talk. As a leader, ensure that you articulate, demand and role model the behaviours that support diversity and inclusion. Explain your D&I mission to your team. Call out and address situations where people fall short of these expectations. Create an environment where everyone’s ideas are sought, listened to and respected. Ask for and respond to feedback. Then you will be able to genuinely demonstrate to new hires the value that is placed on diversity within your team and the steps you take to ensure everyone is included and respected.
Creating career paths. Offering career opportunities can support retention of your talent. Ensure that your assessment of internal talent is objective. Promotion opportunities should be clearly advertised and the skills / experience required should be defined and articulated. Encourage managers to have open and honest conversations with their team members about career goals, and ensure that employees with the right skills are encouraged to apply for internal opportunities. Consider creating mentorship networks to provide greater diversity of role models.

Bloojam are business psychologists who take an evidence-based approach to selecting and developing salespeople, leaders and sales leaders. To learn more about our approach and how we can support you take a look at our website.

Sarah is a Chartered Psychologist with 20 years’ experience of working in selection and development. She is a Director of Bloojam Consulting Ltd.