|
When
psychometric testing as a concept was introduced in India, it was
hailed as a “major help/utility” in a company’s recruitment
process for finding the right individual with the right of frame
of mind—a necessity in an IT company. But today, a few years
down the line, the trend has not yet caught up with the industry,
and many companies are not even aware of its real benefits. Whatever
usage is evident is either in top companies (TCS, Escosoft Technologies,
TVA Infotech, UB, Bharati and LG), or the MNC groups, where this
practice would have trickled down from their parent companies. Besides,
many ITES players have also started using these tests for their
recruitment process.
The
reason for the lack of initiative in this segment is the kind of
negative perception that has been woven around psychometric tests,
besides the time and effort which needs to be initially invested
from an organisation’s point of view. Considering that there
is no immediate return on investment (RoI), most companies prefer
to judge a candidate on technical knowledge rather than invest in
these tests.
What
are psychometric tests?
 Psychometrics
is that part of psychology which is concerned with the measurement
and interpretation of psychological variables such as aptitude for
different kinds of jobs. A psychometric instrument is designed to
produce a quantitative assessment of one or more psychological attributes
like reasoning ability, interests, aptitude, temperament, etc. The
tools help employers understand how the candidate would behave,
relate to others, approach and solve problems. Basically, psychometric
tools evaluate the individual’s behaviour through questionnaires.
The results are mapped on a graph, which analyses this pattern and
accordingly profiles it with the company’s work culture. Says
M L Taneja, the vice-president of human resource development at
HCL Infosystems, “Psychometric tests are tools to help understand
the personality of the prospective employee at the selection stage,
and subsequently to train and develop him to fit in the culture
of the organisation, and to exploit his latent qualities to his
and the organisation’s advantage.”
While
this definition may differ from company to company depending on
its usage, the basic purpose of a psychometric test is to help screen
candidates at the initial stage of recruitment. Says Chandra Sekaran,
the senior vice-president of Cognizant Technology Solutions, “Psychometric
tests help in understanding the personality, the non-intellectual
dimensions of a person. The resulting psychological profile represents
an individual’s score or relative position on various personality
dimensions.” Sundara Rajan, the managing partner of TVPS (Thomas
International), explains that these tests assess aspects like verbal
ability or the ability to comprehend information in a written passage.
Besides this, they are also used to explore personal attributes
like personality or temperament, career or employment interests,
values, attitude and motivation.
Growing
importance
 Considering
the kind of global scenario in which most companies operate, they
are in constant need of individuals who fit job requirements very
precisely, not just in terms of knowledge, skills and background,
but also in terms of personal attributes. As the decision to recruit
is important for both the employee and the employer, a psychometric
test can help an HR manager predict the probable success of an individual
who intends to join the organisation. Says Sekaran of Cognizant,
“Psychometric tests are becoming increasingly important in
today’s business scenario. This is because organisations around
the world are realising that non-IQ related skills such as the ability
to innovate, think independently, lead and network are becoming
crucial to individual and organisational success. In a collaborative
and empowered industry like information technology, lack of these
skills becomes glaringly obvious.”
Yasho
Verma, the vice-president of HR & MS at LG India adds, “The
need for these tests is growing as every organisation has its own
culture, and every person joining the organisation needs to adapt
to the culture. This adaptability can be best achieved if people
with a similar mindset are selected so that acceptability becomes
easier. In this competitive environment, selection of the right
person for the right job cannot be left to chance.”
The
pointers
Based
on the answers to the psychometric tests, a description of the candidate—whether
he is a team worker, observer, or analyst—is inferred. The
typical features of each description are then assessed. There is
also an overview of the positive and negative qualities of the candidate,
and qualities that can be worked on. The feedback is immediate and
saves the selection committee’s time.
Besides
this, there are also advantages in terms of reduced time and cost
of hiring as the tests help in segregating the grain from the husk
at the initial stage itself. Paul Traffinder of Accenture points
out that in a traditional interview, managers typically decide on
a candidate in the first two minutes and spend the rest of the interview
convincing themselves that this snap judgment is correct. Kelvin
Murphy, former head of the Society for Industrial and Organisational
Psychologists, estimates that such interviews are only
65
percent accurate in judging an
applicant’s
potential strengths and leadership style. Adding testing or other
psychological tools can raise the accuracy to 85 percent.
Some
of the companies which swear by the benefits of psychometric tests
are PCS, L&T Infotech, Touchtel, i-Seva, ESS and TCS. Citing
his own experience, Rajan says, “Personally speaking, I head
two ventures, and I use Thomas Systems in both the companies for
selection and development of people. Whenever I have ignored the
warning signs flashed by the system about certain people we have
ended up in trouble.”
Considering
the kind of opportunity which lies in this field, there has been
an increase in solution (read software products) providers, with
the major players being Thomas International, Saville & Holsworth,
and Predictive Index and Insight. While traditional tests like the
Myer Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and PF16 are of longer duration,
Thomas profiling tools like human job analysis, personal profile
analysis and team analysis are considerably quicker. However, the
preference is more for a suite of products instead of a single product.
The
standards
According
to experts, some of the tools that enjoy popularity with Indian
corporates are MBTI, 16PF, FIRO-B, Thomas PPA, OPQ, Picture test
and Ink Blot test, with the key selection parameters being speed
of administration and analysis, user friendliness (not requiring
an external team to come in all the time), price, popularity (in
terms of usage in India and abroad) and continuous application development
reflecting trends across the world.
Considering
the sensitivity of these tests, most companies use them for their
middle and senior level management recruitments. However, there
are some cautious ones who are targeting even freshers as they don’t
want to hire any liabilities. According to Sanjay Aggarwal, the
managing director of HR Minds Consulting, “At the entry-level
most companies feel that they can mould the person, and hence the
perception is that the cost of a wrong hire or wrong attitude is
not very high and quite easily correctable. However, at the middle
and top level, a right hire positively impacts morale, motivation,
sense of belongingness, loyalty, determination, etc. Thus it is
first administered to the top management personnel.”
Ajit
Isaac, the director and chief executive officer of PeopleOne Consulting,
agrees that psychometric tests can be administered to any individual
regardless of the level of entry into an organisation. The most
critical aspect of such testing remains the quality of the tests
and the person who conducts it. Says Akhilesh Mohan, the vice-president
of human resources at HFCL, “The test and the analysis is required
to be done by trained clinical psychiatrists so that there is proper
interpretation. However in India some organisations have tied up
with western vendors and obtained standard software packages which
administer and provide standard analysis to the tests, while others
have insiders (mostly HR personnel in the company) who interpret
and communicate. The quality of each analysis is vital as each person
is unique.”
Most
IT companies have however not opted for such solutions as these
tests fail to impress the top management. Another deterrent is that
that they give preference to technical knowledge of an individual
rather than the psychological criteria.
A
trained person should always be used to analyse the test results
and judge the candidates. This results in high set-up costs for
the testing of candidates. The initial purchase of re-usable materials
and the training of test administrators are usually expensive. In
addition to this, organisations in the IT field have kept small,
low-cost HR departments, mainly for recruitment purposes and maintenance
functions. There is not much confidence in the accuracy of their
testing tools.
Experts
point out that in the long run per usage costs will be extremely
low, and that the tests can be used on a large number of individuals.
Considering the immense opportunities which can be exploited through
these tests, what is needed is proper education of the market. Vendors
also need to stop plugging them as just recruitment tools, and point
out that they can also be used for the development of employees.
|
