How Talent Assessments Can Improve Your Hiring Process

There are several benefits to using talent assessments in your hiring process. The main advantage is that they provide a more holistic view of a candidate compared to traditional methods like resumes and interviews. Combined with hiring software, assessments can speed up the hiring process by offering a more objective and efficient way to evaluate candidates.

But first, let's define what talent assessments are exactly.

What is a talent assessment?

There are several types of talent assessments, but essentially, they are tools that employers use to evaluate candidates' skills, abilities, and behaviors during the recruitment management process to ensure the right job fit. Talent assessments offer insights into candidates' hard skills, such as technical expertise, and soft skills, including personal traits, cognitive abilities, and motivational factors.

Now that you know what talent assessments are, let's look at some ways talent assessments can help your company hire better employees.

Look beyond the resume

Previous experience and educational background can only paint an incomplete picture of the candidate. Talent assessments help capture aspects of a person that you can't get from a resume.

Resumes are also a significant source of bias. Information on a resume such as name, gender, picture and ethnic background can lead to unconscious bias (and unfortunately, sometimes outright discrimination) when deciding who to send to the next stage of the hiring process.

Make informed hiring decisions

Talent assessments such as personality questionnaires and ability tests predict future job performance and provide a data-driven method of evaluating candidates. Assessment data combined with a structured interview will help you make informed hiring decisions and significantly reduce the risk of a bad hire. Better hiring decisions also help improve employee engagement and retention in the long term.

Improve diversity and inclusion

Diversity and inclusion have been a hot topic in the workplace in recent years, and rightly so. Employers are investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which is not only good news for candidates, but also sets companies up for long-term success. A diverse workforce brings new perspectives, ideas, and creativity, leading to more innovation and improved problem-solving.

So how can talent assessments help improve diversity and inclusion? Talent assessments provide objective data about candidates and help reduce unconscious bias in the hiring process, giving employers a wider pool of candidates to tap into, including talent that may be missed through traditional screening methods. By identifying potential candidates from diverse backgrounds and a range of skills and experiences, companies can build more inclusive teams and improve their performance.

Streamline the hiring process

When it comes to hiring, time is money. When you have a position open, you want to fill it quickly. Every extra day a position remains open is lost productivity, often leading to rushed hiring decisions and poor outcomes. Talent assessments help speed up the hiring process while ensuring quality by identifying the most qualified candidates quickly and efficiently. Screening large numbers of applicants is resource intensive and assessments help reduce the effort. By quickly identifying the most qualified applicants, you can narrow down the candidate pool and move only the most promising forward to the next round.

By creating useful reports for the entire employee lifecycle, every step of the hiring process is streamlined. IceHrm's Interview Report provides guidance and tailored interview questions for each candidate based on their personality profile. The Onboarding Report helps you get the most out of your new hires once you've found the right fit for the role. The report provides managers with tailored information about each new hire and offers advice on how to maximize their potential and help them hit the ground running.

And what about the candidates?

Above, we looked at some of the benefits talent assessments offer employers, but are there benefits for candidates too? There definitely are. A great candidate experience is more important than ever in today's candidate-focused market. Engaging assessments that provide value and feedback to candidates ensure a top-notch candidate experience.

When using psychometric testing in hiring, all candidate responses are compared to a large group of peers (a norm group) who have already taken the same test to see how their scores compare to others. This standardized method ensures that all candidates are treated equally. Candidates respond positively to the validity and fairness of the assessments, which also contributes to a positive brand image. All candidates who take part in a IceHrm assessment receive a personalized feedback report, which is a great tool for self-development and career planning and adds value to every candidate, even if they are not selected.

Incorporating talent assessments into your hiring process provides a comprehensive view of candidates, reduces bias, and speeds up decision-making. This leads to better hiring outcomes, improved employee engagement, and greater diversity. IceHrm's tailored assessment tools and reports can help you achieve these benefits and ensure a positive candidate experience.