Most hiring managers and recruiters most likely think about testing skills when they consider implementing talent assessments into the hiring process. While skills assessments are helpful in providing objective data to help evaluate a candidate, skills aren’t the only thing to consider.
Behavioral testing is used in the hiring process to gain a deeper understanding of a candidate’s personality, strengths, and behavioral patterns, giving hiring managers a data-driven approach to decision-making. By measuring critical traits—such as communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and leadership potential—these assessments help hiring managers predict how well a candidate will fit in with a company’s culture and perform in their role.
Behavioral testing doesn’t just benefit hiring managers—it also provides businesses with insight into current employees to help identify ways to support them. In turn, businesses can see boosts in productivity and retention.
Read on to learn about the benefits of behavioral testing for both the hiring process and retaining employees.
Behavioral assessments provide hiring managers with valuable insights into candidate personalities, work styles, and communication skills. Combined with traditional hiring methods, such as resumes and interviews, information from these assessments provides a more complete picture of a candidate’s potential and fit for the role.
Everyone has their biases, even unconscious biases. Behavioral assessments can help limit the influence of these biases by providing objective data about a candidate’s personality and work style. With this information, recruiters can rely on more than just resumes and interviews to make more data-driven and reliable hiring decisions.
With enough prep time, candidates can prepare answers for typical interview questions and even tailor their answers to align with company values. Although these answers can reveal insights into the candidate’s personality, behavioral assessments prompt honest answers through assessments that place the candidate in real-world scenarios. Hiring managers can better understand how candidates naturally approach tasks and challenges, offering a clear view of their potential fit.
In an ideal situation, your new hires will seamlessly integrate into your existing team, but gut reactions aren’t reliable enough to make this a reality.
Behavioral assessments can help predict how well a candidate will work with your current teams by gaining a better understanding of their communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and even leadership potential. This approach not only enhances team compatibility but also has the potential to reduce turnover by hiring individuals whose work styles align with team dynamics.
Behavioral assessments rely on situational testing to evaluate candidates. By placing candidates into likely scenarios they will experience on the job, it’s not only the company but also the candidates that benefit. Experiencing likely situations allows candidates to gain insight into their daily tasks, team dynamics, and company goals. This level of transparency helps candidates understand what to expect from their role, which can improve their engagement and ensure they’re prepared for the role.
Behavioral assessments are just important for the hiring process—they also play a role in employee retention. These assessments can help identify employees’ strengths, weaknesses, and communication styles. With this information, managers can find and offer training and create a more supportive, productive, cohesive work environment.
Behavioral assessments can uncover areas of growth and development for employees. By addressing these needs and offering opportunities for professional training, companies show that they care and employees find value in growing their careers.
Insights from behavioral assessments provide companies with the ability to maximize productivity by assigning employees tasks that align with their strengths. This benefits not only employers but also employees—when employees feel their work is meaningful and well-suited to their abilities, they’re more likely to be engaged and motivated in their work.
When employees feel satisfied with their work, they're more likely to stay in their roles long-term, leading to a reduction in turnover. Hiring takes a significant amount of time and expense to train new employees, so when companies are hiring less because their employees are staying with the company, they can save on costs and increase production.
Understanding how team members communicate and work together can lead to more productive collaboration, increased morale, and better job satisfaction.
These assessments can even identify areas of potential conflict based on personalities. From there, companies possess the information to either rearrange team dynamics or find solutions for existing problems between team members.
Behavioral assessments are just one step in your journey to better, more data-driven hiring and retention. Assessments that test skills, cognitive abilities, and areas for employee development have the potential to enhance your decision-making process, reduce turnover, and save on hiring costs.
Want to learn more about how to integrate assessments into your hiring and retention efforts? Check out our e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Integrating Assessments into Your Recruitment Process.