pre-employment testing

Reflections on 2020: How Hardships Led to HR and Hiring Innovations

January 25, 2021 by Michael Callen

It’s safe to say 2020 was unprecedented for all industries, and HR professionals are no exception. In modern history, only the 2008 financial crisis compares in terms of businesses being thrown into uncharted territory almost overnight.

Similar to the events of last year, the financial crisis created widespread uncertainty in the economy and caused an economic collapse. It forced us to be creative, hone our skills, and figure out how to be better once the storm had passed.

There are many similarities between these two cataclysmic events, but there are also important differences. The shock to the global economy due to the pandemic has been significantly more severe and come much faster; in 2008, the effects took years to play out. But the most significant difference relates to how and where we work.

When everyone but essential workers could no longer go into physical offices to work, companies had to shift suddenly from on-site to off-site working arrangements. This overnight change resulted in major HR challenges, but the outcomes have been incredibly positive.

Leaders have continued learning from these challenges and putting those lessons to good use. The pandemic forced businesses to look outside the box and sometimes take drastic steps to keep things afloat amid unanticipated conditions and uncharted territory. As a result of these challenges, these same companies are uniquely positioned to build on these experiences in the months and years ahead.

Positioned for the Years Ahead

These changes are already playing out in several sectors. In the banking industry, for example, risk management teams have had to work to keep up with credit risk and payment management. Some companies have taken notes from big finance and are developing automated underwriting services to help retailers and small business customers reduce their losses.

Similarly, the healthcare industry has seen some potential long-term benefits of being forced to innovate so quickly. Telehealth (i.e., connecting with a physician by audio and video) is on the rise due to COVID-19. The success and potential cost savings of this form of meeting with medical professionals have caused a reimagining of how healthcare will be offered in the future.

For HR professionals, the pandemic has created an undeniable need to invest in nontraditional HR tech tools and infrastructure that enable employees to work remotely. This necessary innovation and transformation have provided a catalyst for HR leaders to reevaluate how other HR services are administered. Ultimately, some of these incredible changes might not have happened for decades had it not been for the pandemic.

Innovations in Pre-Employment Testing in 2020

One of the biggest shifts and HR challenges of 2020 came in determining how to leverage technology in the hiring process. For instance, one of the key elements of the hiring process for many companies involves pre-employment testing. When the pandemic restricted in-person interactions, the HR world had to adjust how it approached testing.

The solution for many companies and HR professionals? Cloud-based pre-employment testing.

As an example, one of our clients had to transition to an online testing model to accommodate the increasing demand for office and clerical staff. This client needed remote pre-employment testing capabilities, and it’s now able to test remotely using our online platform. Because the company was agile and implemented this new way of doing things, it has been able to navigate the pandemic quite well — and set itself up to approach hiring differently in the future.

COVID-19 forced countless companies to reevaluate the way they conducted pre-employment testing in the blink of an eye. As 2021 sees ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic, there has never been more of a need for online testing tools in the hiring process.

Our platform, TestGenius Online, enables companies to conduct their pre-employment tests remotely in a way that is both safe and seamless. To learn more, reach out today.

How to Approach Pre-Employment Testing in 2021 (and Beyond)

January 12, 2021 by Michael Callen

HR professionals have used pre-employment testing for years, but the pandemic has pushed its popularity to the next level. As layoffs soared and people reentered the job market at an alarming rate, employers needed standardized “filters” to narrow talent pools. When they no longer had the option of in-house, proctored testing, companies decided to turn to online screening tools.

To be sure, this was just one of the many challenges faced by HR professionals in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic radically altered business operations and the lives of employees everywhere. People were suddenly forced to work from home, care for their kids, and overcome other hurdles in the “new normal” — and most had no road map for how to do that.

Further, because it was much easier for HR professionals to monitor employee morale in the workplace before the pandemic, remote work made that task much more difficult. As a result, HR departments had to find new methods to ensure that team members were equipped to handle their workloads from home and be successful.

The widespread shift to remote work also means companies will spend more on remote working tools in 2021. HR professionals will have to embrace pandemic-related changes for the foreseeable future, reevaluating screening tools, pre-employment testing, remote proctoring, and technology in the hiring process as a whole to meet the moment.

Pre-Employment Testing Changes in 2020

When the job market boomed in 2017, remote proctoring options and online screening tools became more popular and widely available. They narrowed the applicant pool and decreased employee turnover. The pandemic has made remote proctoring an essential part of technology in the hiring process; many candidates either don’t feel safe working in an office at the moment or would rather work remotely on a long-term basis.

Pre-employment testing rapidly evolved with clients’ needs, and we have been proud to be part of that change. A major city in the western U.S. depends on a pre-employment testing system that allows it to create hundreds of custom tests for different positions. These tests are administered electronically to hundreds of thousands of job applicants. Before the pandemic, the city used Scantron tests or paper-and-pencil exams, but this was no longer viable due to concerns about virus spread. TestGenius’ online platform met the city’s needs with cloud-based screening tools and remote proctoring.

The Newest in Pre-Employment Screening Tools

While 2020 was unexpected in numerous ways, several trends are emerging for the future of pre-employment testing. Here three key developments in the world of screening tools and testing to keep an eye on in the coming year:

1. Hybrid proctoring models

When COVID-19 vaccines become more widespread and allow restrictions to loosen, hiring systems may rely on both online and in-person proctored tests to identify qualified candidates — a sort of hybrid model. TestGenius provides its clients with remote proctoring systems (AI and human) that allow them to verify an applicant’s identity online while documenting and upholding the integrity of the pre-employment testing process.

2. Custom content and remote delivery

With TestGenius, clients can create their own custom content and deliver it remotely throughout our online platform. In addition to more than 75 off-the-shelf tests, clients can build an infinite number of custom tests that are tailored to specific skills. Custom tests allow companies to hire the best candidate for a position by ensuring that the content of the test accurately measures each candidate’s ability to succeed on the job. Additionally, custom tests give employers a complete picture of candidates beyond their résumés or job interviews.

3. Data and item analysis

When evaluating online pre-employment testing options, clients prioritize accuracy and consistency. Put simply, they want proven results. Online screening tools offer extensive data and item analysis to help clients uncover the additional information they need to create custom tests. Better information yields better candidates over time, which means overall business success.

Companies face an incredible amount of uncertainty in 2021, and they can’t afford to lose employees perfectly suited for their teams. Even after the pandemic subsides, it will be important for HR professionals and employers to keep online pre-employment testing in mind. That way, both applicants and employers have multiple options for finding the right fit.

To schedule a demo today, click here.

Criterion Validity and Pre-Employment Testing

October 1, 2020 by Michael Callen

Skill and ability tests should accurately reflect a business’s needs and the critical duties required on the job. Ensuring that this is the case is known as test validation.

There are many reasons employers should make a point only to administer tests specifically validated for positions in their organization. Doing so ensures that candidate selection decisions are effective (utility), but it also provides a defense that employers have justified the specific testing in their hiring processes (defensibility).

The Differences Between Content and Criterion Validity

When developing hiring assessments, there are two main types of validity: content and criterion.

Content validity shows the connection between the test, the skills or abilities necessary to perform well on the test, and the duties required to succeed on the job. Essentially, it indicates whether candidates can perform essential job duties. While this is useful information, tests are capable of so much more.

Meanwhile, criterion validity goes beyond mere ability by statistically predicting success in certain job performance areas. In many ways, it takes content validity to the next level.

It’s important to note that criterion validity does not always exist — and it isn’t always necessary. Knowing that a person can type, for instance, is important when hiring a new member of your office administrative staff. That said, the ability to type is not necessarily predictive of overall success in that role.

Sometimes, though, one can use test scores to look into the future and predict how likely candidates are to be successful. Criteria such as job performance ratings, customer satisfaction, conflict management, training time, and even attendance can often be correlated to scores. In these cases, criterion validity is a worthwhile consideration when crafting a selection plan.

How to Establish Criterion Validity

Employers looking to improve their pre-employment testing and determine whether it’s capable of tracking criterion validity should consider auditing their current assessments and comparing them to known performance metrics. Fortunately, establishing this test validity only involves a few steps:

1. Identify key performance dimensions. Start by determining which key parameters and performance dimensions are essential to the job. Consider all critical, job-related aspects — especially those that differentiate great performers from the rest.

2. Ask current employees to take an assessment. Have incumbent employees who currently work in the role for which you are hiring complete the assessment you will use with potential hires. Use a broad range of performers (from underachievers to high-performers) to learn as much as you can from the analysis.

3. See what statistical relationships exist. Correlate test scores to different job performance areas using Excel or statistics software like SPSS. A correlation of 0.20 or greater — with a 95% or better certainty — is considered to be statistically significant.

If you can follow the above steps and find a correlation between your testing and job performance metrics, you have established criterion validity.

How TestGenius Can Help

The TestGenius platform is perfect for conducting pre-employment testing with incumbent employees (for establishing test validity) and job applicants.

TestGenius works with employers to develop more effective testing solutions to help them gain greater utility from their assessments. We are also currently seeking partners for ongoing validation studies in the retail and emergency services markets. If you’re interested in participating in a similar study in these markets, or if you would like to propose beginning a new study in your own space, please contact our team.