Assessments

Candidate selection – whether pre-hire or post-hire - is one area of HR management that can be cost justified across all enterprises. Computerised selection criteria can be applied a) to reduce the number of applicants down to a strong, manageable residual field, and b) to the remaining candidates who need to be properly assessed so that the final remaining ‘short list’ set of candidates represent the best that applied and from whom any one of them could be chosen and who would, on a statistically unbiased basis, be predicted to be capable of making a success of the day to day operations and requirements of the post concerned.

The tools that are available to assist with this reduction of the least suitable candidates, and the pass-through of the most suitable and skilled, candidates lie in the science of assessments.

The Science

Most studies of successful people (defined here as those who do efficiently with the correct results in the shortest time what their management want them to do) indicate that there is a very strong statistical correlation with high scores in the applicable four ‘Cs’, namely Capacity, Capability, Commitment, and Culture where: -

Capacity = what one was born with [or, innate ability]

Capability = what one has learned in life along the way [or, acquired skills]

Commitment = the intent that one applies ones’ self with to achieving outputs

Culture = easy adaptation to the environment that one operates in [personal orientation]

Depending on the post being considered, the % contribution of the four “C”s, in terms of relative strengths to each other and to the success of an individual in post, will be different from post to post: not all posts require the same high scores in all four “C”s. The skill in using assessments in candidate selection comes about in recognising which of the four “C”s are important for the post in hand, and how to rank them in the order of importance for the post.

Earlier Workplace Studies for most types of Operatives

Workplace studies have shown the following key elements, in equal measures, are important in selecting those who are successful and will stay the course and who will do well over a number of years: -

Practical Intelligence (as measured by spatial intelligence)
Commitment to the job
Commitment to the firm
Diligence

Recent Surveys on Contributions to Success for office and knowledge workers

Recent non-assessment based workplace studies have shown a different break down of the key elements, and their weighting, that determine effectiveness in any Job. They are suggested as being: -