ONLINE ASSESSMENT, FOR HR GRANDMASTERS
3 July 2020
As an HR professional or manager, you play chess on a three-dimensional chessboard. In the first dimension, the well-being of your employees comes into play. Job satisfaction, challenges, motivation, personal development. In the second dimension, the dynamics of the team come into play. Not everyone in your team needs to have the same skills or work style. And in the third dimension, you play for organizational results. These three dimensions are interconnected. An action in the first dimension can have an impact on the second and third.
Oh yes, and you're playing blind.
No wonder it's sometimes difficult to make the right choice. Or that you often can't foresee the consequences of a move. From candidate selection to improving results and maximizing performance, reducing attrition, and preventing team crises: how far ahead you can think depends on the insight you have.
A self-administered online assessment takes off the blindfold.
Making Moves with Selection
Almost everyone is familiar with online assessments as part of a job application process. That's what it is (also). The most well-known components include personality questionnaires and cognitive ability tests. The online assessment is not an end in itself. It provides insight into what drives people, what gives them energy, what drains their energy, and how candidates communicate. And: the alignment of individual, role, and team. It's about the fit; an online assessment is not something you can score or fail.
It gives managers and HR professionals the tools to identify and find the right qualities. Just like on that chessboard, you need mixed qualities. If everyone is a rook, you can never make a diagonal move.
Making Moves in Personal Development
You can use an assessment for employee development. It provides you with the means to address the unspeakable. People discover their motivations and challenges.
This way, you gain insight into strengths and development opportunities. And these insights almost always provide a new perspective on what employees can do, what they want, and what you can expect. Again, the assessment is never a measuring stick. If something is likely to be challenging for an employee, it doesn't mean they can't do it. However, it's good to know that they may need to put in more effort than average.
Optimizing Your Team
Managers gain a better understanding of their team's capabilities. How to utilize their team more effectively. This allows for more refined steering towards results, personal development, and employee well-being. It's a delicate balance that, with insight and tactful use of that knowledge, can be maximized.
In short, the assessment provides insight into what's happening on the 3D board. It offers the ability to think several moves ahead and accurately assess the consequences of a move on one board for the other. What if you split a team? How does that affect the people on the first board? What will the teams do? And what are the implications for the results? Online assessments give managers and HR professionals the necessary insight to make well-informed decisions. And to never again move pieces blindly on their three-dimensional chessboard.
-Carlijn Witvliet, Work and Organizational Psychologist