How Skills Assessments Help You Avoid Hiring Mistakes

Organizations worldwide are struggling to find qualified candidates to fill critical job roles. In 2021, over four million people quit their jobs in what is referred to as the Great Resignation. This exacerbated a talent shortage problem that has been growing for the past decade.

According to a Deloitte study, HR leaders in the US have seen a shortage of in-demand skills for the past decade. Businesses implemented new technology and deployed digital transformation initiatives to maintain their competitive edge. As a result, the skillsets required for many jobs changed, but most employees’ skills did not keep pace. This has created a skills gap because applicants do not have the skills needed for available positions.

The problem has become so severe that 71% of CEOs predict a skills shortage will be their most significant business challenge during this decade.

The Impact of Hiring Mistakes

Hiring mistakes are every HR leader’s worst nightmare because they cost money, hurt productivity, and decrease staff morale.

According to research by LinkedIn, the average cost of a bad hire ranges from $17,000 to $240,000 when you factor in recruitment expenses, staff disruption, negative impact on customers, incomplete projects, and potential litigation. And CareerBuilder reports that 74% of companies that made bad hires lost an average of $14,900 on each mistake.

To minimize the risk of hiring mistakes, many organizations have implemented skills assessment testing solutions like the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM to quickly identify top candidates and avoid hiring unqualified candidates.

How Skills Assessments Minimize Hiring Mistakes

HR teams receive thousands of applications in response to a single job posting. So, they need an easy and efficient way to identify top candidates and weed out unqualified candidates.

Relying on the information applicants provide on resumes and applicants is not practical because it is often unreliable. A 2020 survey by Checkster, a reference-checking company, showed that 78% of all applicants lie on their resumes or exaggerate their qualifications.

Skills assessment results instantly show which applicants have the required skills and experience. So, recruiters can make hiring decisions based on quantifiable data instead of relying on (possibly) inaccurate information or “gut” feeling.

How Do Skills Assessments Work?

Organizations that use the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM have access to the eSkill Assessment Library, which contains hundreds of validated job- and subject-based skills tests. They can use pre-prepared skills assessment tests or create custom tests by selecting questions from multiple assessments.

For example, if you were hiring customer service representatives and needed to confirm that they had good Microsoft Word and basic math skills, you could choose customer service questions that pertained to the job and add questions from the MS Word and Basic Math Skills Tests.

Many businesses add their own questions to skills assessment tests. For instance, if you needed to test applicants on safety regulations unique to your company or were required to make testing content available in several different languages, you could upload the questions and create your own skills assessment tests.

Make Skills Assessments More Effective

Skills assessment tests help you confirm that applicants can perform a job. However, the results may not provide all the information you need about candidates. Therefore, organizations that use the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM take advantage of the following features to appraise candidates thoroughly.

• Behavioral Assessments: A candidate may have the right skills but be a poor fit for your company culture. Using behavioral assessments in conjunction with skills assessment tests helps you evaluate cultural compatibility alongside abilities and experience.

• Video Response Questions: Many attributes, such as verbal communication and foreign language skills, cannot be measured using a written assessment. Including video response questions allow you to measure these abilities accurately.

• Simulations: If you want absolute confirmation that an applicant can do a job, present them with an on-the-job scenario and evaluate their performance. For instance, if you are hiring customer service representatives who will manage several customer inquiries simultaneously, including Chat and Multitasking simulations in your skills assessment test will enable you to evaluate how quickly and accurately candidates can respond to customers.

Skills Assessments Improve Hiring Outcomes

Organizations that want to avoid hiring mistakes know that using skills assessment tests is the key to improving hiring outcomes. They also know they can lower hiring costs and decrease time-to-hire. Organizations that use the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM have seen a 70% reduction in recruiting costs and have reduced time-to-hire by 60%.

Do you want to learn how skills assessments can help you minimize hiring mistakes? Contact us to request a demo.