Do Hiring Assessments Hinder Staffing Efforts?

Cover Photo by Tim Hüfner on Unsplash

Are hiring assessments a roadblock or a necessity in attracting top talent? Dive into the pros and cons of using assessments in your recruitment strategy.

The Purpose of Hiring Assessments: A Double-Edged Sword?

Hiring assessments should not be a double-edged sword. While we, professionals in fields embedded in people, culture, talent, and organizational psychology, are 'infamous' for our use of "it depends," I can deliver a steadfast answer here. Assessments do not mandate an aversive experience candidates must suffer through to maintain legal defensibility, accuracy in hiring, and the efficiency gains we're seeking.

Let's look at it from the candidate's perspective. Think about a job or opportunity you sincerely wanted the opportunity to earn. With the early stages of recruitment, we're often limited to a couple of boilerplate methods to communicate our strength and potential: the job application (highly structured and limits on what/how we can share), our resume (which we can personalize but can't make it too long), and perhaps a cover letter. Of course, we don't know how, or if, this content will be reviewed and judged, and recruiters and managers struggle with evaluating free-form content like resumes fairly and consistently.

Assessments provide a meaningful experience for candidates to demonstrate their potential, values and how they would support success in clear job-related ways.

The degree to which employers enable candidates to show their job-relevant skills, knowledge, and experience during the application process is directly related to key outcomes. Specifically:

• Candidates who had the opportunity to complete job-related situational assessments were 60% more likely to increase their relationship with the employer than those who didn’t.  
• Candidates who experience a job-related assessment have a 25% higher satisfaction rate than those who do not. 

Why not start with the facts in hand? Using your applicant tracking system, or any hiring platform you use (like Indeed), determine the percentage of applicants who stopped short of finishing the job application. Then look at the percentage that left the process before finishing the assessment.

It's necessary to look at both abandonment rates separately to have a complete picture of the candidate experience, which includes both the assessment and the application that comes before it. A high abandonment rate at the application step tells us we should look at the candidate experience at that step — not the assessment.  This might seem simple, but it's easy to look at the percent of the total number of candidates starting the process, and a disappointing completion rate, and make a fast conclusion about the assessment when we should be looking at what comes before it.

How important is assessment time to complete?

Now, when you think of the drawbacks to assessments, we often immediately jump to the time they take to complete. How long is too long? (More on that in the video below.)

But why not start with what we want candidates to experience instead. Our team likes to think of three goals for assessments.

We want candidates to —

1. Believe they were evaluated fairly.
2. Feel engaged and excited about your organization.
3. Know they had the opportunity to perform and demonstrate their potential.

What does an engaging candidate experience mean in practice when using assessments?

1. Deliver a candidate-friendly experience by communicating the purpose and why behind the assessment.
2. Make sure a transition from the application to the assessment is seamless and well-communicated.
3. Consider what the experience is like on a mobile device.  Is it mobile-friendly? Verify that both your employment application and assessment are optimized for mobile devices.  The majority of applicants begin the hiring process on a mobile device, and many complete the entire process online.
4. Does the experience give the candidate a feeling of control? For example, is there a progress bar or a clear indicator of how far they have progressed compared to how far they have yet to go?  Can they save and exit? 
5. Along the lines of control and confidence, is it clear to candidates how to reach out to the assessment provider with questions? How to reach out if they need accommodation?
   
   Take a look at our comprehensive guide to building a remarkable candidate experience.

During the application process, candidates face considerable uncertainty. They're attempting to picture what their future with your team might entail and are eager to relate their experiences to what being part of your team could be like. A negative initial encounter with your application can lead some applicants to withdraw and leave a poor first impression on those who continue.

Striking the Right Balance: Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

Both the application and the online steps that follow, like the assessment, are the applicant's first investment in the hiring process. You have the most people at this step, so any friction causing them to leave has a greater impact than anything else. 

• Identify Key Competencies: Start by pinpointing the essential skills and qualifications required for the role. This includes technical abilities, cultural and interpersonal qualities (often called 'soft skills'), and experience necessary for day one. Consider how the application and assessment can 

• Use Specific and Targeted Questions in the Application: Avoid generic questions that could apply to any job or put extra mental load on the candidate to determine what information you need. Instead, ask questions that are unique to the role. For example, for a software developer, inquire about specific programming languages and project experiences.

• Determine Screen-Out Questions: With your key stakeholders, determine which qualities are core requirements. What's a 'deal-breaker?' We can't overemphasize the value of shared commitment to core requirements. Questions that screen candidates in or out of the hiring process make sure you're good stewards of the candidate experience by only sharing the assessment with minimally qualified candidates. Ideally, these questions are automated, making the criteria for who receives the assessment consistent.
  

   

Keep applications short and ask only for the critical information you need to decide on an applicant at this step. When applicant abandonment is a real challenge, the application is usually at the root of the problem, but fortunately, one of the easiest to fix. What information must be gathered? If you can, it may be helpful to look at where candidates are opting out of the job application. If it's a required question, perhaps around work experience, maybe they can be redesigned, or a reminder can be sent to candidates to encourage them to return, perhaps acknowledging that you were asking for some specific information that might have taken some time, and you appreciate their effort.

These are questions to answer to select or tailor an assessment that maximizes efficiency and effectiveness.

Educate and Engage: Realistic Job Previews + Interviewing

Realistic job previews offer real-time feedback while educating candidates on essential, but not often considered, aspects of the job. They offer candidates a genuine glimpse into the day-to-day responsibilities and challenges of the position and your organization. This approach not only helps candidates make informed decisions about their fit for the position but also sets clear expectations from the outset.  The RJP can come before the job application or with the assessment.

RJPs, like the assessment, can be connected to your structured interview process. Hiring managers and recruiters can ask questions, and reinforce what was covered during the RJP, reinforcing information about your organization.

Connecting the online, early, and relatively automated steps of the hiring process to your interviews delivers greater consistency, objectivity, and connection to the specific competencies required for the job. Furthermore, by selecting an assessment that measures the core competencies required on day one, the investment continues to provide value during training and the initial months of the employees' tenure.

Unfortunately, it's often overlooked, but assessments identify areas for development and support for new hires in their transition, ultimately leading to higher job satisfaction and retention. These evidence-based solutions, when integrated thoughtfully, can significantly streamline the hiring process, making it more efficient and effective in attracting and retaining top talent.  The short video below shares how elements of the assessment report provide support for screening, interviewing, and supporting the candidate in their training and first months on the job.

Real-World Examples: Companies That Got It Right

Our case studies provide context for the many factors that go into bringing pre-hire assessments to life in your hiring process. 

• Increased Hiring Efficiency: Corvirtus assessments helped a retailer reduce time-to-hire by 30%, streamlining the selection process and ensuring candidates met role-specific competencies.
• Enhanced Employee Retention: A hospitality company saw a 25% decrease in turnover by using Corvirtus assessments to align candidate values with organizational culture.
• Improved Performance Metrics: A healthcare provider reported a 20% increase in patient satisfaction scores after implementing assessments to hire staff with strong interpersonal skills.
• Diverse Talent Acquisition: An airline improved dependability in new crewmembers by nearly 40% through unbiased, data-driven assessments, fostering innovation and inclusivity.

While assessments are at risk for becoming a double-edged sword, intentional implementation can make them a powerful tool not just for screening at early stages of the hiring process, but for building retention and performance long-term. Our focus, as we shared through the case examples earlier, is on precisely measuring how candidates meet core job requirements. Your workflow and talent acquisition process is an ecosystem. Success depends on how all elements connect and work together. The job application must set candidates (and your team) up for success by gathering the precise information you need and leaving candidates informed, engaged, and excited about the opportunity you've placed before them.

Curious about what assessments can do for your success? Or how you could rework existing assessment solutions? Select a free sample below.