When this happens, the results of the questionnaire may be unreliable or even misleading. Consciously or subconsciously they may recognise the types of behaviours that the organisation is looking for and their answers reflect that perception rather than their own personality. When candidates complete a recruitment questionnaire, their answers can be influenced by what is quaintly known as “motivational distortion”. For example, one of the most popular psychometric tests, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator has no faking scale. Research shows each of these implied assertions to be untrue in many cases. The implication from this excerpt is that psychometrics make it difficult for people to mask their true behaviour or personality, that they are unbiased because they are generally computer generated and predict an employee’s behaviour in a future role. Psychometrics enable you to predict the employee’s behavior within a different role before making the promotion decision. When selecting people for promotion, otherwise excellent employees have too often been miscast into roles they could not perform satisfactorily.

For Career/Promotion DecisionsEmployees who excel in one job will not necessarily perform adequately in another.

DevelopmentEmployees benefit from receiving objective feedback on their behavior, which they more readily accept as unbiased since reports are computer generated.

Psychometrics will allow you to understand your candidates’ behavioral patterns and make better selection decisions for optimum “job fit”. As a selection tool, psychometrics shed light on behavior, an element which is usually difficult to measure during interviews especially as candidates are keen to mask their true personality and to present themselves in a favorable light. SelectionHR professionals have realized that experience and professional qualifications are not sufficient as indicators of future performance.

” Psychometrics are used within the following contexts:.

Take this excerpt from an HR fraternity website (Note: bold emphasis is mine). What bothers me about psychometric tests is the way in which they are sometimes used. Used as a tool for provoking some introspection giving rise to greater self-awareness they provide a launching pad for improved emotional intelligence. They are fun, can be insightful and provide a starting point for discussing my relationships with others. This article craeted quite some interest and discussion.

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