Pre-Employment Behavioral Assessments: Redefine Your Hiring Process

Companies often face significant challenges in hiring the best fit candidates. Carrying out accurate hiring assessments is no mean feat, given the difficulties many hiring managers face in undertaking the process. Finding highly skilled talent requires a strategic approach rather than impulsive decision making. Considering that snap judgment will mislead hiring managers to make biased decisions, behavioral testing should be a routine part of hiring practices. Pre-employment behavioral assessments eliminate guesswork from the hiring process and provide insights into a candidate’s character traits revealing relevant aspects of his or her personality.

Often interviewers form opinions about candidates within the first few seconds of interaction. However, these instantaneous judgments are laced with beliefs and biases, and do not provide a clear picture. Pre-employment behavioral assessments can help assess if a candidate is a good fit for the role. Unlike gut instincts, assessing behavioral competencies will help managers predict employee behavior in the workplace with the utmost ease. There is no denying that bad hires are like daunting nightmares for hiring managers. They can severely impact the progress of a company, spreading negativity in the workplace and prompting headwinds in generating turnover. 

Many companies are using behavioral assessments for hiring to obtain an unbiased opinion about a candidate’s behavioral tendencies. Such assessments vouch for the merits of the candidate. With an in-depth report in place, the employer or project manager can focus on building a strong team. Candidate’s behavioral competencies, which include, but are not limited to his/her interests, temperament, and active and latent skills, are pivotal in building and guiding a team of like-minded professionals. The downside of hiring the wrong candidate is, of course, hard to quantify because companies are disproportionately affected by bad hiring decisions. Taking cues from pre employment behavioral assessment results, companies can make the right hiring decision backed by an insights-driven approach.

Behavioral tests for employment return important results that help in selecting qualified candidates. Every employer wants to develop a core team of high performers who are service-oriented, self-motivated, and progressive in thoughts and behavior. Not only does this assessment help attract the right talent, but the in-depth test report also enables identifying loopholes, thereby increasing the employee’s job satisfaction and accountability. 

Employers use behavioral assessments for hiring because it has proven to be an effective and reliable method to screen and select deserving talent and simplify the hiring process. By implementing these assessments carefully, organizations can address the skills shortage and build a highly-skilled workforce. Similarly, candidates will be able to find and join employers who understand them.

Pre-employment behavioral assessments assess competencies that are needed for a particular job. Behavior tests for job openings are designed based on the specific competencies required by the role and level. Results from these tests provide a basis of comparison between individuals to measure behavior attributes like flexibility, work ethic, teamwork, multi-tasking, compassion, leadership skills, and the willingness to learn.

Behavioral assessments hold great value for today’s organizations when it comes to hiring people who are suitable for a specific role. These tests also help employers deep-dive into the potential of existing candidates who may assume leadership roles in the future. Fostering teamwork in the workplace is achievable only if new employees can see themselves as an integral part of the team. That’s where behavioral assessments come in handy, helping recruiters assess whether a candidate ranks high or low on the core competencies. Thus, it’s no secret that large corporations and small businesses are adopting these assessment practices to make better talent decisions.

Fostering a holistic and employee-centric work culture is becoming a priority, especially amongst top companies that are putting particular emphasis on employee well-being and work-life balance. The wide-ranging application of using pre-employment behavioral assessments can be ascribed to the recent technological advancements and changing employment dynamics, including fast-paced globalization, streamlined recruitment process, and a plethora of other factors too. 

Here’s a brief rundown on the specific advantages of using behavioral assessments for hiring purposes:

The inclusion of simulations and role-playing exercises, especially when using behavioral assessments for hiring, will redefine the quality of talent you hire and how employers devise talent acquisition and retention strategies in the long run. 

The incorporation of behavioral sciences in the mainstream hiring practices is immensely beneficial for enhancing the efficacy of recruitment, training and development, leadership development, and performance management.  

You may also like to read our complete guide on behavioral assessments: https://blog.mettl.com/guide/behavioral-assessment-test/