Finding the right talent is one of the most essential factors of success for any organisation. But how can organisations make sure that they are hiring people that can do their best and help their companies in the growth years down the line? The answer lies in aptitude assessments.
Aptitude assessments give an the idea about skills and abilities of an individual. In this article, we will discuss the importance of aptitude assessments in identifying high-potential employees. We will also discuss how it has changed the recruitment process.
Understanding Aptitude Assessments
Aptitude assessments are evaluatory tests that help assess a candidate’s cognitive skills which typically include problem-solving, logical reasoning, verbal, and numerical ability. Unlike personality assessments that determine the traits and behavioural patterns of an individual, aptitude assessments measure one’s cognitive abilities and critical thinking as well as the temperament to new stimuli.
Benefits of Using Aptitude Assessments
Aptitude tests provide an objective data point that one can reasonably depend on and trust to assess a hire candidate’s effectiveness and future potential for the job role. When companies assess key parameters of an individual’s inherent learning capability, they can effectively bag talent that possesses learning agility and situation adaptability. In an ever-changing business landscape, corporates are expected to be on their toes and come up with constant disruptive ideas & solutions. The willingness to learn and adapt on the job directly affects employee performance.
Further, aptitude assessments empower organisations to overcome biases in hiring by concentrating more on the key and more quantifiable capabilities in place of trusting gut feelings. The objective assessments enable organisations to evaluate all candidates, irrespective of their gender, colour, and age, reaching optimal hiring results.
Identifying High-Potential Employees
But how can aptitude assessments help identify high-potential employees, you say? The assessments help in identifying employees who show a higher problem-solving ability and cognitive skills to succeed in their roles. Let’s take two candidates, for example, who have almost the same education and work history.
Both of these candidates seem to be qualified for the position. But what if one of the candidates has more analytical skills or logical reasoning than another? This can only be determined through the evaluation.
Aptitude assessments can also help determine who can multi-task and think on their feet when faced with a situation. High-potential employees have above-average analytical abilities, creative approaches to problems, and rational decision-making when faced with uncertainty.
All of these oh-so-important factors can be assessed to find the candidates who are likely to contribute towards more innovative changes and take on leadership roles in the future.
Implementing Aptitude Assessments in the Hiring Process
The best assessments have some empirical research backing them to show that they genuinely measure the skills that they claim to measure. They need to be easily integrated into the process.
Assessments can come at various stages of the process, from pre-screening to the final selection. But, hiring managers also need to be trained in how to interpret these results and what to do with them.
This is the difference between hiring those who fit the role and those who don’t. For example, if the candidate aces their logical reasoning and gets an average result for their verbal reasoning, a hiring manager will not hire them for a verbal reasoning-intensive role. Instead, it is a role that involves analytical thinking but does not require verbal reasoning abilities.
Impact on Organisational Success
Assessment of the right potential employees through aptitude testing has much larger benefits to the organisation. These types of employees are usually growth-oriented, bringing innovation and competitiveness to the mix.
Identifying them and putting them into roles fitting their aptitude will benefit the organisation and can help to nurture their skills and maximise their contribution to the organisation.
Apart from this, high-potential employees are more engaged with their work. When their skills are valued, they will also correspondingly engage with the organisation; bringing success to the organisation. This is beneficial for organisations in terms of retention and inclusion of a learning culture.
Finding And Retaining High-Potential Employees Using Aptitude Assessments
Aptitude tests help organisations to tell apart high-potential candidates and normal candidates. By identifying candidates with advance cognitive ability, aptitude tests help the organisation to judge the candidates in a more effective and unbiased way.
