In a day and age where business’s move at the speed of lightning, employee training is often playing catch up. It’s not enough anymore to just give employees access to a large library of training and expect them to take the time to, well, Train Up.
We have to put the right tools and the right content in their hands at the time they need them.
So could skills testing help a company align the right training? Absolutely! TrainUp.com strategically uses skill based testing to identify learning needs, highlight areas of strength and expose areas of growth both before and after employment.
For a pharmaceutical client’s sales teams we leveraged a partner skill assessment to identify where the current level of skills for each sales person was in the areas of management, communication, service and other sales intangibles. The outcome was two courses that would help each sales person “Step Up” and continue their internal growth journey. After consuming this very targeted training and putting those skills into practice, they would repeat the assessment until they reached a level of knowledge and sales results where they are eligible for advancement.
For a tech products client looking to reduce their typical three-week onboarding training process for seasonal employees, TrainUp.com suggested leveraging a series of skills based assessments that mirrored several of the core training modules of the three-week program to help identify the level of skill applicants had before being hired. This allowed the company to create a tailored training program ranging from 7 to 12 days, therefore reducing the training time by as much as 50% without sacrificing skill!
This isn’t to say that skill assessments are appropriate for every training needs. Sometimes learning leaders know where they want to drive the organization in line with their company mission and everyone should be involved in those development programs. What we are saying is that HR leaders responsible for training should heavily consider partnering with companies like eSkill to help identify applicant skill level in strategic areas or to align employees skill level to training programs. Hence the reason TrainUp.com firmly believes skills assessment and training go hand and hand.
Skills testing saves time and money. It allows you to better focus your time and efforts while training employees.
More and more HR departments are using this tool during the hiring process. Companies all over the world are experiencing the benefits of integrating job skills assessments. You too can use skills testing to cut down on time spent training employees and to ensure that you are being smart with your company resources and budget.
For help sourcing any training or leadership need for your organization, feel free to reach out to TrainUp.com, your career training marketplace.
Some hiring managers hesitate about implementing skills testing into their hiring process because they’re not sure what to look for in a test provider. Our comprehensive buyer’s guide will take out the unknowns so you can make an informed decision on which skills assessment solution to choose.
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3 Comments
I liked your article. I think the most important step is to pinpoint why you want to test job candidates. Are you trying to determine how much training they’ll need once they’re on the job? Do you want to hire them?
Great article. Definitely, pre-hire skills testing saves on cost and time with employee training.
Especially in the training phase of your employees, skills assessments should not have a “one size fits all” approach. In fact, every employee should be given a customized assessment based on his or her preferences and way of learning.