When the pandemic gained a footing at the beginning of the year, the world came to a standstill. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdowns disrupted businesses globally. The worldwide health crisis was like an avalanche, sweeping away jobs, forcing salary cuts and layoffs across industries. The sudden outbreak of the pandemic meant most businesses were caught off-guard and were ill-prepared. The focus swiftly shifted to survival, compelling decision-makers to pull the plug on hiring and laying off employees to stay afloat. 

After months of turbulence, various sectors are gradually recovering and showing green shoots in hiring. Organizations are remodelling their hiring processes quickly and creatively. Apart from shifting to virtual operations, they are now employing a scientific approach and redesigning the way they recruit talent.

A wrong hire versus the right one

Virtual hiring is now a go-to strategy and not just a pandemic-induced stop-gap solution. However, there continue to be a lot of uncertainties around its efficiency and the ability to choose the right candidate. No employer wants to hire the wrong candidate as it can prove very costly in more ways than just financial. A wrong hire can result in productivity loss, financial loss, loss of time, lower employee morale, and can harm the company’s reputation and its long-term prospects. On the other hand, the right hire will optimise their job responsibilities, increasing the outcomes and efficiency of the team. They would fit right into the work culture and become an invaluable addition to the company. Therefore, implementing technology-assisted scientifically designed assessments is imperative for companies to efficiently manage the hiring process.

Scientifically designed assessments help find the right hires

Scientifically designed assessments are beneficial to both the company and the candidate. An end-to-end online assessment platform tailormade for the recruitment process, enables businesses to execute competency-based assessments to hire the right talent. These online assessment tools enable organizations to evaluate the potential of an entry-level or experienced job seeker and help make an informed hiring decision. These assessments also eliminate bias or any form of human error. The results can be banked upon to anticipate future behaviour and achievement.

Cognitive assessments

Cognitive assessments help organizations assess a candidate’s ability to solve problems, learn quickly, understand new ideas, and achieve targets. They can accurately assess a candidate’s abilities and test their situational judgment and emotional intelligence. The final score can tell us how effectively a candidate will perform on a job and how well they will learn during their training. These assessments have progressed over the years becoming more precise in measuring how well a person fits into a particular job. It also determines the skills required to carry out the job effectively and maintain the desired productivity levels. These assessments are easy to administer with the ability to operate on any mobile device. Cognitive assessments improve job success ratio and are highly used in the education and employment sectors.

Behavioural assessments

A candidate’s technical skills might be perfect for the job, but that is not all an organization seeks. They should also fit into the company’s culture and succeed in the position they are hired for. Behavioural assessments comprise a series of scientifically designed questions and scenarios that help in understanding a candidate’s personality. They test an individual’s creativity, critical thinking, leadership ability, and behavioural traits such as extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism. These assessments differ from job-to-job. Behavioural assessments should ideally be highly customised depending on the nature of the role for which the candidate is being evaluated. As every job role demands a different set of skills and aptitude, candidates must be thoughtfully picked and be the best fit for the job. 

Technology has profoundly altered the way businesses operate. Organizations must leverage technology to make personnel decisions backed by data and have a competitive edge over others by hiring the best. With the most important asset of any business or organization being its people, decision makers must invest in technology to build a team that believes in the culture and can help realise the vision of the organization.