How online assessments take HR closer to recruiting the best
People are the biggest asset of any organisation and they play a big part in its success. Therefore, most challenges faced by organisations are also people-centric. The most critical challenges are attracting and retaining the right talent. Retention can be managed in-house to a great extent with some competent, employee-friendly policies. However, the biggest challenge that most hiring managers face is attracting the right talent at the right time. Time is money and this aspect affects an organisation’s branding, culture, and, more importantly revenue.
Hiring processes are a candidate’s first branding experience with an organisation. Hence, care should be taken to ensure it is smooth. Often, organisations lose good talent because of bad hiring practices. People can get put off by HR behaviour, delayed hiring processes and more. One of the new-age ways to overcome this is to bring online assessment tools into the picture.
Online tests and assessments are conducted with the help of a system and the Internet, enabled by multiple technologies. These could be done live or offline. They could be simple Multiple Choice Questions(MCQ) tests or complex programming problems. As opposed to fully people-based hiring processes, online assessments offer multiple benefits. They reduce people’s involvement and free them up for other core work, with much less scope for error. Additionally, these tests can be easily conducted across geographies and time zones, enabling immense scaling. This enables access to a wider talent pool and is, hence, best suited for high-volume hiring like campus recruitment. During Covid-19, many organisations resorted to fully online hiring strategies. Perhaps, now it’s a necessity as well.
The advantages
When it comes to hiring, the advantages that machine-based, online assessments offer far outweigh the traditional methods. A complete and comprehensive test can be prepared by various people involved in hiring for a role. These tests can cover a wide range like with Hirepro functional assessments, cultural fitment tests and logical and technical assessments. Also, more importantly, they are impartial and may be conducted faster than when done in the traditional way. The results are instant and help the HR team work faster.
Additionally, with the help of AI, multiple insights can be incorporated to assess the results to find the best fit for a role. For example, the test results can even suggest what the gaps and training needs are. Compare the cost of a hiring team travelling to multiple geographies to conduct walk-ins and the cost of scheduling it with the help of a few clicks. That’s the ease and convenience that organisations seek and need to overcome the tough challenge of attracting the best talent.
It is competitive out there and one needs to stay ahead, perhaps, by using the best hiring assessment tool. These tools are environment-friendly as you can avoid mounds of physical files and cupboards. The quality is assured as the tests are designed with the latest technologies to prevent any form of fraud or cheating. Accessibility is another important aspect — candidates without the means to travel or with disabilities and needing special considerations can also take the online assessments easily.
The abundance of choices
Almost all varieties of tests can be administered as online assessments. Standard tests constitute aptitude, logical reasoning, mathematical, psychometric, behavioural or personality assessment etc. Specific domain-based and technical tests to suit the needs of every organisation also exist. Additionally, assessments for different skills of different roles at various levels can be incorporated into the online assessments. Whether for fresh candidates or lateral hiring, you can easily schedule online assessments. They are best suited for scale, like in campus hiring, especially during the pandemic times.
Credible online assessment providers like Hirepro help you customise and design your tests. When a candidate is evaluated impartially, you are more likely to get the best from a wide talent pool, probably in a much more cost-effective way and in a shorter timeframe. The chances of missing out on something important is very less here. More importantly, it is easier to adapt and change the online assessments as time progresses.
Conclusion
Some minor disadvantages of online assessments could include organisations not getting their tests/questions right or technical issues like Internet or power disruption. These may be easily handled with some good planning and timely human involvement. Every organisation needs to do a hiring cost evaluation for online assessments as it does involve some cost. However, in the post-pandemic world with remote and hybrid work, online assessments may just be the way forward. This is why there is rapid adoption of online assessments by companies of all sizes. Considering the current war for talent, no organisation can afford to look the other way. Also, easier candidate acceptance for online assessments makes it attractive. With the push for a digital economy in the country, sooner or later, we need to go fully online, hiring included.
