Put Applicants' Skills To the Test - pre-employment testing

HR Magazine, Jan, 2000 by Kathryn Tyler

Pre-employment testing can help you identify candidates' strengths and weaknesses efficiently.

Like many retailers, Dress Barn, a women's apparel company headquartered in Suffern, N.Y., began using "honesty" tests about a decade ago to stave off losses due to theft and excessive absences. But, it soon became apparent that these tests were too narrow, David Montieth, vice president of human resources, explains. Now, "we give a 'customer service inventory' to sales associates and assistant managers, which tests for customer service attitude and aptitude, sales aptitude, service index, tenure, drug avoidance and honesty." Dress Barn conducts preemployment testing for all positions in all stores, except in Massachusetts, where it is not permitted by state law.

Dress Barn is not unique in its expanded use of preemployment testing. Sixty-two percent of companies test for specific job skills and 34 percent test for reading and math literacy, according to a survey by the Washington, D.C.-based American Management Association (AMA). The AMA found that 36 percent of job applicants tested in 1998 lacked sufficient reading and math skills to do the jobs they sought.

Job applicant testing has been most common in the retail, manufacturing and transportation sectors. However, service and health care industries are beginning to turn to pre-employment testing as well. But, "with unemployment at an all-time low, people have started to use the tests a little differently," says Rob Altmann, research psychologist for NCS, a test publisher for workforce development and clinical products in Minnetonka, Minn.

"Traditionally, tests were used to screen out," he explains. "Now they're being used to screen in. What I mean is, if somebody has average test results, the company can use the components from the test as a developmental tool." For example, "'it seems like this person's customer skills are good, but his math skills aren't where we want them to be.' Then the company can focus on training the individual in his weak areas."

William E. Brock, former U.S. labor secretary and chairman of Intellectual Development Systems Inc., a cognitive assessment company in Annapolis, Md., agrees: "Most businesses have to do a lot of training after they hire somebody. Training is an increasing imperative in America. What we're trying to determine is, can the applicants take the training? Will this class be facile or a struggle [for the applicants]?"

Brock notes that some tests also provide trainers with information about the applicant's preferred learning style, and that this information "dramatically cuts training time, increases the effectiveness of the training and improves retention."

The Benefits

"The main reason people use tests is to identify attitudes and skills related to the job that they cannot identify in an interview because the types of questions they would ask are too complex," says Altmann. Tests are a "much more efficient way of getting that type of information."

Charlie Wonderlic, president of Wonderlic Inc., an employee testing firm in Libertyville, Ill., agrees. "When designed and utilized properly, employment tests possess the unique ability to fairly, objectively and efficiently compare and contrast job candidates' qualifications."

Grant Parks, vice president of strategic relations at Skillscape Skills Management Services Ltd., a skills assessment company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, estimates that testing is two times faster than any other screening method. "When asked point-blank competency questions, you get faster, more accurate results." Thus, tests are not only time-efficient but also cost-efficient. "It can be extremely expensive to hire the wrong person," adds Parks.

The real benefit to test users is the increase in quality of the people they hire. That has been true at Cox Communications, a telecommunications company in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. "The survey tells us quite a lot about an applicant," says HR consultant Lisa M. Copp, who prefers to use the word "survey" as opposed to "test" to ease applicants' anxieties. "If an applicant scores low in certain areas, it shows in their work. On the other hand, if they score high in certain areas, that also shows. It has proven to be an effective part of our screening process." Cox has been using a program since 1996 and tests for honesty, safety, work values, drug avoidance, customer service skills and attitude toward supervision.

Another benefit of testing is its standardization of a sometimes subjective process. "People like the consistency of screening procedures. It gives you an objective piece to look at," says Altmann. "If people do interviews without anything else and then in three months are asked what the applicant said in the interview, they have trouble remembering. When you have the results of the test, you can put it in a file" to refer to later.

Test Typing

There are dozens of different types of pre-employment tests you can buy. Regardless of whether the test publisher calls them aptitude, achievement, ability or skills assessment tests, most tests measure either character traits or mental abilities.