How job-specific functional tests help improve hiring efficiency
The recruitment industry has successfully navigated the challenges ushered in by the pandemic. Over the past few years, it has evolved a lot to suit the changing dynamics and expectations of industry stakeholders. While organisations are willing to compensate quality talent adequately and offer flexibility, they expect more innovation, quality and loyalty.
The new talent economy, where recruiters have to woo quality talent, has given rise to novel trends. Candidates are more discerning and seek clarity on the roles, responsibilities and growth path. They also seek information about the organisational work culture, purpose, stand on social issues, etc. Talent acquisition professionals are walking a tightrope to balance the expectations of all stakeholders.
Gone are the days when organisations could afford to make wrong hires. Today, they have to ensure the right hire, whatever the function—HR, sales and marketing, finance or technical—because of the cost impact. A Zippia report titled, The Cost Of A Bad Hire [2022]: How Bad Hires Impact Business, pegs the average cost of a bad hire at 30 per cent of the hire’s annual salary. While a single bad hire costs companies an average of $14,900, it can go as high as $240,000. The report also states that companies take at least six months to break even on new hires. There is an added impact on the morale of the team.
Therefore, organisations need to ensure faster productivity, less time to break even, reduced turnover rates and better career planning through ensuring right hires. These factors directly impact branding. In the era of remote recruitment, talent acquisition teams rely on assessment tools to find the right hires. Job-specific functional tests play a significant role in this. Let’s see how organisations benefit from their use.
- Helps assess against set benchmarks
Right hires happen only when the candidates are evaluated against industry benchmarks to determine their actual calibre, especially in critical functions such as sales and finance. Job-specific tests also assist in determining appropriate compensation. For example, if job-specific functional tests bring you a good match, you can offer compensation at industry standards to avoid negotiations and dropouts in the future. This approach will also improve the new hire’s performance and loyalty, leading to increased employee retention.
- Ensures 360-degree suitability
Job-specific functional assessments allow organisations to evaluate a candidate against several parameters customised in a single test, instead of multiple generic tests that may not produce the right results. For example, you could assess a sales manager for domain knowledge and personality traits such as competitiveness and networking, which are essential to succeeding in that role. You could also assess the behavioural attributes through responses to real-life scenarios that elicit critical thinking and decision-making skills. Such tests simplify and speed up the process for candidates while reducing interview turnaround times and improving the right hire rate.
- Makes hiring decisions easier
One of the essential needs for an organisation to make the right hires is to weed out fakes. Statistics suggest that, from fake profiles to impersonation in online tests, cheating does happen. When organisations customise their tests to specific jobs or roles using tools like HirePro, which provide authenticity and test integrity through robust online proctoring, it is easier to filter out the fakes and impersonators. They cannot clear the customised tests without the requisite job knowledge or dodge the advanced AI proctoring. That makes hiring decisions easier for HR.
- Aids better placement of candidates within right teams/roles
When you assess a candidate using a wide range of customisable assessments for multiple domains and roles, it is easier to position them in the right teams. New hires perform well when placed properly as they are happy and convinced about their capabilities and the organisation’s expectations. It makes for some happy new hires with improved productivity; it also helps managers chart the right career paths.
- Helps candidates to self-assess and improve the ecosystem
Another positive impact of job-specific tests is that candidates know where they stand. Most job-specific functional tests have customised reports and insights with instant candidate feedback. This input helps candidates understand their capabilities, improvement areas and suitability for a particular role. The candidates may even analyse and chart different career paths to suit their competencies. For example, an MBA marketing candidate can opt for business analytics or digital marketing instead of a traditional marketing role. In the long run, more aware candidates will populate the talent pool and improve the hiring ecosystem. And there will be fewer role mismatches, making it easier for organisations to screen and improve their hiring efficiency.
Job-specific functional tests offer organisations an ideal option to make the right hire. It also benefits the candidates and the hiring ecosystem and it may become a must-have for success in 2023.
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