Psychometric Testing

Structure What are psychometric tests ? Psychometric tests in recruitment Team building and Belbin types Psychometric test and your own development

What are Psychometric Tests?

What are Psychometric Tests? Psycho = mind (Greek: psyche) Metric = measurement Psychometrics - systematic testing, measurement and assessment of intelligence, aptitudes and personality. Aim to determine differences between people using scientific statistical methods

What can be measured? Ability Aptitude – IQ Numerical Reasoning Verbal Reasoning Diagrammatic Reasoning – linked to logical thinking IT Skills, In tray exercises, group exercises, role play, presentations Aptitude – IQ Personality and preferences – MBIT / Belbin Motivation / interests / attitudes - Maslow Emotional Intelligence Critical thinking / situational reasoning

When to use Psychometric Tests? Most common = recruitment selection processes Used in over 70% of larger organisations (CIPD, 2007a) Use continues to increase Ability tests most popular Traditionally – Graduate or Senior Management recruitment Increasingly used for a wide range of roles Other… During the promotion of staff – internal recruitment Selecting staff for redundancy

When to use Psychometric Tests? Training & Development Use to identify an individual’s development requirements Enhance self-knowledge Career Development Team Building Forming a new team Developing a team Dealing with team issues

Psychometric Testing & Recruitment Process needs to be fair & Consistent Advertise Collect Applications / CVs Select Candidates for Interview Interview Hire High number of applications meet essential criteria High influx of applications Legislation Cost

Psychometric Testing & Recruitment Psychometric testing is: Consistent Objective Efficient Equal/fair Cost saving – compared to using traditional methods Used at any point of process Can determine future performance – Graduate & Management recruitment

Psychometric Testing & Recruitment Not the “Silver Bullet” – used to support decision making, not replace it Damaging results if used to make the hiring decision

Psychometric Testing & Recruitment Top Tips ! Practice makes perfect Do not Lie Ask for feedback Do some homework And finally….don’t stress !

Psychometric Tests & Team Building Belbin Team Inventory (1981) Based on observation of business games Effective teams = Key 9 roles Popular with business & management training

Psychometric Tests & Team Building Plant: The Ideas person – creative & imaginative Resource Investigator: The networker - gets the team what it needs Co-ordinator: Concern with fairness and equity among team members - everyone has a say Shaper: A driving force - dynamic team member who loves a challenge and thrives on pressure

Psychometric Tests & Team Building Monitor-Evaluator: Assess and monitor progress to prevent mistakes Team Worker: is concerned to ensure that interpersonal relationships within the team are maintained Implementer: The practical thinker - creates systems and processes Completer Finisher: The details person & get the job done! Specialist: brings 'specialist' knowledge to the team

Paper Tower Challenge The object of the game is to build the highest tower with the materials you have within the time frame. Additional points will be awarded for any interesting design features you may wish to add. The team with the highest score wins! Rules – Your tower must be able to stand on its own, it cannot be attached to anything such as the ceiling, table or a person! Each team will have the following: • 1 x newspaper • Masking / Sellotape You have 15 mins!! Scoring – 1pt for each centimetre of height, 10 bonus points for each interesting design feature, 10 bonus points awarded for the tallest structure.

Belbin Roles Do you think you might have taken on one or more of the roles?   Do you think there were any key roles missing from your team? Do you consider any of the roles more important compared to the other roles? Would you do anything different as a team if you had to do a similar task again?

Psychometric Tests & Your own development Beneficial to assessing own skills and development needs Used to determine career paths / areas of job satisfaction Used as a tool in Career Coaching Free versions online Learning Style, Myers-Briggs (MBIT), Belbin, Emotional Intelligence, Type A/Type B persons, etc… Used as part of CPD

Online Resources Psychometric Test Practice www.practiceaptitudetests.com www.jobtestprep.co.uk www.psychometric-success.com www.testpartnership.com (paid for) www.psychometricinstitute.com.au

Online Resources Myers-Briggs (MBIT) www.humanmetrics.com www.16personalities.com Type A / B (linked to stress) www.psych.uncc.edu/pagoolka/TypeA-B-intro.html Learning Styles http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/ Handouts – Belbin and Learning Styles Questionnaire

Summary Psychometric tests are popular in recruitment, but used for a range of other activities Can be beneficial for assessing your own development needs Get to know your strengths and areas of development Psychometric Tests = Don’t panic, practice, enjoy and ask for feedback!

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