Roughly 18% of companies currently use personality tests in the
hiring process, according to a survey conducted by the Society for
Human Resource Management. This number is growing at a rate of
10-15% a year according to many industrial and organizational
psychologists.
When used correctly, cognitive and personality tests can
increase the chances that new employees will succeed. Since the
cost of a bad hire is widely estimated to be at least one year’s
pay, there are huge incentives for organizations to get hiring
right.
Tests of abilities are now a mainstay in the realm of
psychometric testing, covering the traditionally measured verbal,
numeric and logical areas, as well as specialized skills. There is
a growing emphasis on more in-depth assessment including tests of
personality, strengths, and emotional intelligence.
These may be useful in identifying work roles and environments
that optimally suit an individual, or provide insight for personal
growth, well-being and performance.
Gamification is gaining attention as an alternative means of
assessment. The potential for measuring areas such as risk taking,
decision making and cognitive abilities in an engaging and
interactive way holds great potential.
Advantages may include greater accuracy than that achieved
through self-report personality measures or typical ability tests.
This is because reaction times, or responses to presented stimuli
can be recorded with high precision, and over multiple trials
within one single game.
Also, candidates may have a positive and enjoyable assessment
experience, possibly influencing impressions of the organisation.
With gaming assessment applications now being developed, on-going
research into their validity and usefulness is set to
continue.