Most HR leaders understand the value of cognitive assessment tests for jobs and how they help their teams improve hiring outcomes. However, some are suspicious of job skill assessment tests and hesitate to use them because they fear legal ramifications.
Their concern is warranted because 79% of HR leaders agree that bias frequently compromises recruitment and succession planning decisions. Unconscious bias can lead to irrational and unfair hiring decisions and lower employee morale and productivity. According to a Deloitte study, 68% of U.S. employees agree that workplace bias hurts productivity, and 84% said it is detrimental to their mental health.
Bias can be either overt or unconscious. An example of overt bias would be refusing to hire someone because of who they are or are not—like refusing to hire a Hispanic woman to fill a COO position simply because of her race and gender, even though she is the best candidate. Unconscious bias occurs when a hiring team member favors a candidate because they share common experiences, such as growing up in the same area or enjoying the same hobbies.
While HR leaders’ concerns about bias are justified, assessments are not part of the problem. When job skill assessment tests are used correctly, they minimize unconscious bias. So, they are part of the solution. Using them correctly means performing a job analysis and verifying that cognitive assessment tests for jobs are valid and reliable.
Why Job Analyses Are Essential
A job analysis is a process where a job is broken down and examined to define the tasks and activities that are performed by an employee or a machine and whether they are done individually or as part of a team.
Job analyses are important because they show HR teams and hiring managers what abilities and attributes they should look for in candidates. A thorough job analysis shows you the amount of time required to do a job, the number of people, machines, and materials needed, and the total production costs.
Job analyses show if there are employees who are not contributing enough and if some are doing too much. They also show which parts of the process are working and which are not, often revealing ways a job could be done more efficiently.
The Importance of Job Skills Assessment Test Validation
Cognitive assessment tests for jobs cannot be effective unless they are valid and reliable. This means that if they are used appropriately, they accurately measure what they are supposed to and produce consistent results over time.
From a legal standpoint, a job skill assessment test is valid if an employer can prove that a position’s requirements are relevant for the job and consistent with the organization’s business needs. For instance, if you are recruiting a financial analyst and your company uses MS Excel, QuickBooks, and Sage Peachtree, a valid cognitive assessment test for jobs could include beginning, intermediate, or advanced questions about those applications, depending on the position’s requirements.
To confirm a job skill assessment test is valid and reliable, you must administer it to a diverse sample of employees who currently perform the job and compare the results with their performance ratings. If high-performing employees do well, you have validated the assessment and proven that it is reliable.
How Companies Use Cognitive Assessment Tests for Jobs
Validated and reliable job skill assessment tests are your go-to solution for identifying and hiring top employees, as TaskUs did.
TaskUs provides digital and customer experience services for eCommerce, healthcare, financial, entertainment/gaming travel, and social media companies. Some of its clients include Facebook, Doordash, Netflix, Zoom, AutoDesk, and Uber.
Like many call center companies, TaskUs had an ongoing problem with high turnover. Since many new hires did not make it through training, management decided the problem was the type of people they were hiring. So, they implemented a program that included job analyses, validation, and skills testing.
They met with leaders at each client company and arranged to shadow employees to better understand the type of candidate they needed to recruit for each. With this information, they designed job skill assessment tests for each job role and included behavioral assessment questions in each. This helped them identify candidates who had a good chance of succeeding in the job and a high probability of staying with the company.
The final step was to establish a benchmark for each client by asking current employees to complete the assessment. They tested the validity of the assessment by correlating it with employees’ performance appraisal ratings. If top-performing employees got high scores, they knew the assessment was valid.
TaskUs was extremely pleased with the outcome. Before implementation, 78% of new hires graduated from its new-hire training programs. After implementation, its graduation rate increased to 98% and has remained above 90%.
Get Started with Job Skills Assessment Tests
Business and HR leaders want to ensure their hiring process is fair and impartial and helps them hire top employees. Implementing a leading skills testing solution and using cognitive assessment tests for jobs is the first step to achieving this.
Do you want to see how job skill assessment tests minimize bias in hiring and help you hire the best candidates? Contact eSkill to request a demo.