What Should You Look for in a Pre-Hire
Skills Test Provider
Bad hires cost companies thousands of dollars every year. According to a survey by Robert Half
International, 39% of chief financial officers said bad hires caused lower productivity, and 11% said hiring
mistakes negatively impacted sales. They also said managers spend an average of 17% of their time-about one day per week, managing poor performers.
It costs a company around $240,000 to recruit, onboard, and train a new employee. If the new hire is
terminated or leaves voluntarily, the business loses its invested money and must incur additional costs to
replace the worker.
Considering how much money is at stake and the time it takes to fill a critical position, it is no surprise
that more and more organizations are adopting pre-hire assessment testing solutions.
How to Evaluate Pre-Hire Skills Testing Providers
As a business leader, you may be wondering what you should look for when evaluating pre-hire skills
testing solutions. Each company has specific requirements. So, it depends on the types of positions you
need to fill and the skills you want to test.
Your solution should allow you to evaluate “hard” and “soft” skills. Hard skills are abilities that
candidates need to perform a job. Soft skills refer to behavioral attributes and work style and determine
whether applicants are a good fit for your corporate culture.
These are features to look for while evaluating pre-hire assessment testing solution providers.
●
Pre-Hire Assessment Library: The company should provide access to a library of validated skills
tests you can use to evaluate job candidates. The eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM includes
hundreds of validated job- and subject-based skills tests. For example, if you are hiring web
developers, you can use skills tests for applications such as JavaScript, WordPress, and MS .NET
Framework and cognitive tests such as Logical Thinking and Attention to Detail.
●
Customization Flexibility: You need the ability to customize pre-hire assessment tests and tailor
them to perfectly match your job roles. With the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM, you can
use the provided skills tests “as is,” choose any standard job- or subject-based pre-hire skills tests
and add or delete questions, or build your own skills tests by selecting questions from multiple
assessments and add your own questions.
●
Include Video Questions: Some abilities, such as verbal communication and language skills are
difficult to measure with written pre-hire skills tests. So, ask each provider whether their
solution allows you to include video response questions in assessments. With the eSkill Talent
Assessment PlatformTM, you can record questions and invite candidates to reply with their
responses.
●
Team Scoring: HR professionals often ask managers and subject matter experts from various
areas to interview and rate candidates. The eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM enables hiring
team members to review and score candidates’ responses and add their comments based on
specified criteria. Hiring team members do not have direct contact with the candidates, which
reduces the possibility of subjective bias influencing their ratings. Once all reviewers have
provided feedback, you approve the scores, and they are automatically averaged.
●
Realistic Job Simulations: If you want to be certain applicants can do a job, ask them to
complete tasks they would do if they were hired. The eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM
includes simulations such as MS Office® that you can include in pre-hire assessment tests to
evaluate Word® and Excel® proficiency and Digital Literacy to assess basic computer knowledge.
●
Behavioral Assessments
Skills tests show which applicants can do a job but do not tell you which ones are a good fit for
the job and your corporate culture. Around 89% of hiring failures are due to poor job fit, and
high turnover is a leading cause of reduced productivity. This is why you should ask each
provider whether their solution includes behavioral assessments that help you verify that
candidates’ work styles are compatible with your company culture. The eSkill Talent Assessment
PlatformTM allows you to create behavioral assessments to evaluate candidates for cultural fit.
Pre-Hire Assessment Tests Help Improve Productivity Company-Wide
Organizations function at maximum efficiency when they have the right people in the right jobs.
According to a McKinsey study, hiring a top performer over an average performer can increase
productivity and profits by up to 67%. On the other hand, a bad hire hurts overall productivity and also
affects the performance of other team members.
Businesses know the key to productivity is hiring and retaining top employees and that using pre-hire
assessment tests can help them improve hiring outcomes. They also know they will lower hiring costs
and decrease time-to-hire. Businesses that use the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM have reduced
recruiting expenses by 70% and expedited time-to-hire by 60%.
Do you want to see how pre-hire assessment tests help you find and hire the best candidates and
minimize the risk of hiring mistakes? Contact us to request a demo.