The hiring environment has become very challenging during the past few years. According to a National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) survey, 65% of business leaders say attracting and retaining qualified employees is one of their toughest business challenges. Another NAM study forecasts that by 2030, 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will not be filled due to a lack of qualified talent.
Since the hiring landscape is so competitive, many companies use a leading employment testing solution to recruit qualified technical employees and build a talent pipeline.
What Are Mechanical Comprehension Tests?
Mechanical comprehension tests show whether candidates understand mechanical and technical concepts and processes, such as production management, assembly line best practices, basic safety procedures, blueprint reading, and basic industrial math.
Examples of specialized mechanical comprehension assessments include tests such as eSkill’s Industrial Production Manager, Manufacturing Engineer, Maintenance Technician, and Automotive Mechanic assessments. There are also skills tests to evaluate management and leadership skills, such as eSkill’s Team Management, Project Management, and Change Management assessments.
Mechanical comprehension tests can be used as-is, but some platforms allow you to build customized assessments by selecting questions from various skills tests. For instance, if you were hiring a production operations manager, you could create an assessment using questions from the eSkill Industrial Production Manager and Operations Management skills tests and also choose questions from eSkill’s Leadership and Management Skills assessments.
Why You Need Mechanical Comprehension Tests
Hiring top talent can mean the difference between success and failure for your business. According to a McKinsey study, one employee who performs in the top 1% is equal to 12 performing in the bottom 1%. In technical fields such as manufacturing, engineering, and information technology, high performers are often 800% more productive than average performers, which means it’s important to recruit highly qualified technical candidates. These are some ways mechanical comprehension tests help you improve hiring outcomes:
- Identify Rising Stars: Because you invest significant resources in technical staff, it’s important to leverage their knowledge. Mechanical comprehension tests that assess manufacturing management, information technology, and engineering knowledge help you identify candidates and current employees with the skills you need now and will need in the future.
- Minimize Hiring Risk: Hiring mistakes are expensive and can seriously disrupt productivity—especially if the employee is a manager or higher. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, hiring a bad manager can cost a company thousands of dollars in recruiting expenses, incomplete projects, staff disruption, and loss of customer goodwill. Mechanical comprehension tests minimize the risk of making bad hiring decisions because test results clearly show which candidates have the skills and abilities you need.
- Lower Turnover: U.S. businesses lose $1 trillion annually due to voluntary turnover, and 30% of employees leave during the first 90 days on the job. This is a critical problem for companies because replacing an employee can cost one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. Mechanical comprehension tests help you avoid costly turnover expenses by helping you hire the right person the first time.
- Streamline Onboarding: Onboarding is an employee’s first experience with your company, but only 12% of employees think their organization does a great job with onboarding. Organizations with engaging onboarding programs retain 91% of new hires during their first year of work. Mechanical comprehension tests help you streamline onboarding by showing you which skills new hires already know so you can focus training on areas where they need help.
How Businesses Use Mechanical Comprehension Tests to Improve Hiring
Companies in virtually every industry use mechanical comprehension tests to improve hiring outcomes and monitor workforce performance. These are examples of organizations that have used them to simplify recruiting:
- Solutions by Design: Solutions by Design markets to small and medium-sized businesses and provides computer sales and repair, network and server design, and technical support. It decreased candidate screening time by 50% and improved quality of hire when it began using technical assessments like mechanical comprehension tests.
- GE Renewable Energy: GE Renewable Energy added many new technicians to its team and wanted to get them working out in the field as soon as possible. It significantly reduced time-to-hire once its HR team started using mechanical comprehension assessments because recruiters could easily identify top candidates.
- Conservice: Conservice, a large utility management and billing company, started using technical skills assessments such as mechanical comprehension tests and reduced time-to-hire by 25% and turnover by 20%.
- JV Industrial Companies: JV Industrial Companies administers around 7,500 mechanical comprehension tests monthly and customizes around 90% of them to match jobs. As a result, they have earned a reputation for safety, quality, professionalism, and exceeding industry standards.
- ELIA Transmission Belgium: ELIA, a Belgian company, operates high-voltage electrical distribution sites, and its technicians and crew members must undergo safety training. Implementing technical skills assessments like mechanical comprehension tests helped it increase its daily testing rates by 25%.
Get Started with Mechanical Comprehension Tests
Many companies use mechanical comprehension tests to identify candidates with the technical skills required for critical jobs companywide. Implementing a top assessment solution like the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM enables you to identify and hire top candidates and monitor workforce performance.
Do you want to learn how mechanical comprehension tests can help you recruit top technical talent? Contact eSkill to request a demo.
