How Employment Assessments Help Improve Hiring Outcomes

It is a challenging time for HR leaders in all industry sectors. They thought their problems were over as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. Then they found themselves dealing with a global talent shortage. Over four million people quit their jobs during the “Great Resignation” of 2021. As a result, HR professionals are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill critical job roles.

According to a Deloitte study, the U.S. economy has been moving toward a talent shortage for the past decade. Businesses worldwide adopted new technology and implemented digital transformation initiatives to maintain their competitive edge. Therefore, their needs changed, as did the required skillsets for many jobs.

This has caused a skills gap because applicants do not have the skills required for the available jobs. In short, job requirements and skills in demand have changed, but most employees’ skills have not.

The problem has become so acute that 71% of CEOs believe a skills shortage will be their most significant business challenge for the foreseeable future. Organizations such as Verizon, McDonald’s, Google, Wal-Mart, and Marriott International have invested billions in helping employees learn new skills, improve existing skills, and earn college degrees.

Changing needs and the recent upheaval in the hiring ecosystem have caused many organizations to rethink their talent acquisition strategies. Many have adopted employment assessment solutions such as the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM so they can quickly identify top candidates and improve hiring outcomes.

What is the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM?

The eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM is a comprehensive talent acquisition solution that allows HR teams to make hiring decisions based on quantifiable data instead of relying on possibly unreliable information candidates provide on resumes and applications.

 In a 2020 survey by Checkster, a reference-checking company, 78% of all applicants admitted to lying on their resumes or exaggerating their qualifications. In contrast, employment test results instantly show which applicants have the required skills and experience.

The eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM provides hiring teams with all the tools they need to recruit top candidates, including:

• Skills Tests: The eSkill Assessment Library includes hundreds of validated job- and subject-based employment tests that can be used as is or customized to meet specific job requirements.

• Behavioral Assessments: A candidate might have the right skills for a job but be a poor cultural fit. Using behavioral assessments along with employment tests helps HR teams determine which candidates best fit their company culture.

• Video Response Questions: Some attributes cannot be measured using a written assessment, such as verbal communication and foreign language skills. Video response questions make it possible to measure them.

• Team Scoring: HR professionals can allow an entire hiring team to score the same interview individually based on the criteria they designate. Once all reviewers have provided feedback, the HR team approves the scores, and they are automatically averaged.

When HR teams are asked why they like the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM, most cite these benefits:

• Speed Up the Candidate Screening Process: When a job is posted, an organization often receives hundreds or thousands of responses. By requiring applicants to complete employment assessments, HR professionals can sort the results by score and instantly identify top applicants. This helps them save hours they would have spent on manual resume review.

• Customizable Employment Tests: Standardized employment assessments do not work because organizations have different needs. With the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM, HR teams can add or remove questions from pre-prepared skills tests, build a test by selecting questions from several tests, or build skills tests using their own questions.

• Simulations Confirm Who Can Do a Job: Including simulations in employment tests is the best way to see which candidates can do a job. For example, if you are building a customer support team, the Chat and Multitasking simulations will show whether candidates can field several customer inquiries simultaneously.

• Video Response Questions Give a 360^o View of Candidates: Including video response questions in employment tests allows you to evaluate abilities that cannot be measured with a written assessment. For instance, if you are hiring technical support representatives who will deal with customers on the phone, using video response questions helps ensure they are articulate and easy to understand.

Employment Assessments Improve Hiring Outcomes

Organizations that want to find and retain good employees know that using employment tests is the best way to improve hiring outcomes. They also benefit by lowering hiring costs and decreasing time-to-hire. Businesses that use the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM have reduced recruiting expenses by 70% and expedited time-to-hire by 60%.

Do you want to learn how employment assessments can help you improve hiring outcomes? Contact us to request a demo.