1. Psychometric Testing

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

3. What are Psychometric Tests?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

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

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

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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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.

16. 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?

17. 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

18. Online Resources
Psychometric Test Practice (paid for)

19. Online Resources
Myers-Briggs (MBIT) Type A / B (linked to stress) Learning Styles Handouts – Belbin and Learning Styles Questionnaire

20. 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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