Employers have found numerous benefits of employee skills testing. Reported advantages include lower turnover rate, less training, monetary savings and streamline the hiring process. Employment testing may involve rating a prospective employee’s skill level, personality, literacy, health and more.

Making the most of personnel skill assessment tools includes looking at what type of test that you should administer for the position. For example, it may be a good idea to give a health and physical test to a labor intensive job.

1. Determine the benefits of employment testing tools. The major benefits include finding a candidate that can fulfill the physical and mental demands of the job.

2. Purchase skills assessment software. With a software program, you can streamline testing and receive results instantly.

3. Get advice on how to best administer employment tests. You have to determine where to hold the test, workstations to use and time given to complete the exam.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Look at the advantages of employment testing

Incorporating employee assessment into your job hiring process has numerous benefits. Using a test to find an employee that meets your company's criterion can help ensure that you have high productivity while retaining employees for longer periods of time.

I recommend: The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology gives a comprehensive overview of employment tests as well as the advantages and disadvantages. Competency Management gives a breakdown of the obvious and the hidden benefits of using employee testing to screen job candidates.

Buy employment testing software

Instead of designing your own pre-employment testing tools, you can have the work done for you. You can find several skills assessment software packages on the market that can give an evaluation of a person's office skills, general knowledge, personality and more.

I recommend: Through Biddle Consulting Group, you can purchase OPAC, a type of software that can measure office skills, software knowledge and clerical abilities. Prior to purchasing, you can take a virtual tour of the program. On eSkill, you can find over 100 subjects that you can use to test potential employees, including Microsoft Office, data entry, typing speed and accuracy, software knowledge and more.

Administer employment testing tools in an effective manner

Making the most of employment tests also includes giving the exams in a way that will give the job candidate the best possibility of scoring well. You'll want to choose a quiet area that the employee can complete the tests without interruption. Additionally, you'll want a workstation that's easy to use and has all of the functions needed to complete the exam.

I recommend: The Resource section on the Previsor website provides information on how to administer employee skills testing as well as ways to implement safe and legal testing practices. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides a fact sheet on how to legally follow the guidelines of administering tests to potential employees.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  You'll have to decide whether or not to tell candidates about the employee assessment prior to the exam. For example, you should inform employees if you require a medical or physical exam.

For increasing numbers of small business owners, a "gut feeling" about a job candidate just isn't enough anymore. There are too many ways for a new hire to go wrong, and excessive job turnover is too expensive for a small operation to absorb. One way to check your "gut" is to put pre-employment testing to work for your small business.

Once the exclusive realm of big business HR departments, pre-employment testing now is available to smaller companies and affordable as well. And testing has won converts as an accurate predictor of actual job performance. In fact, testing companies claim a success rate four times higher than traditional job interviews alone. Testing is considered fair and appropriate because professionally-prepared tests are impartial and not subject to the preconceptions of a job interviewer. And testing gives all applicants an equal opportunity. Standard types of pre-employment testing include:

1. Aptitude testing
2. Online testing
3. Personality testing
4. Substance testing

Business.com's "What Works for Business" blog is a great way to keep up with the latest HR solutions, trends and strategies for small and medium business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Let outside experts do it for you

If the size of your business warrants, it might make sense to outsource your pre-employment testing needs to a specialty firm.

I recommend: Criteria Corp. offers a wide range of testing solutions that can help you hire more productive employees, reduce turnover and keep training costs undercontrol. InfiNet Assessment is a testing company with a range products and services geared to growing companies. Other options include: Wonderlic, Saterfiel and Associates, Brainbench, Employee Selection and Development Inc. and Personnel Insights.

Get do-it-yourself help from testing experts

Designing pre-employment tests is a job better left to experts. But there are great, affordable products that let you conduct the testing yourself, either in your place of business or online.

I recommend: G.Neil has specialized in providing small businesses with human resources solutions for many years.Their employment testing products and services offer affordable solutions for small business. Test for retails skills, clerical skills, reliability, supervisory potential and many other skill sets. Buy the materials or test online. ExpertRating and Hire Success also have affordable employment testing solutions.

Get the pre-employment testing FAQs

A bevy of federal rules govern pre-employment testing, including physicals. Get answers to the most common questions on pre-employment testing, including legal compliance issues.

I recommend: Fine your answers at InfiNet Assessment FAQ and Business and Legal Review (BLR).

Peruse sample test reports

See what test reports look like for different types of pre-employment testing, such as sales skills, work ethic and computer knowledge.

I recommend: Click your test selection at EmployeeSelect.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  To steer clear of problems under the ADA don't ask an applicant about his or her medical history and don't conduct any medical exam, including a drug test before you make a job offer. You can make a conditional offer, based on them successfully passing the tests.
• •  Sometimes multiple choice aptitude tests may be viewed as discriminatory because they reflect test-taking ability rather than actual job skills.
• •  Usually skill tests are legal, provided they test a skill that is deemed necessary for the performance of a job.
• •  Remember that not everyone is adept at test taking. You may not want to screen someone out because they don't perform well on the test, particularly if they have been otherwise impressive.

Before hiring a new employee, you will possibly want to use employment tests to measure their capabilities. Employment testing may involve rating a prospective employee’s skill level, personality, literacy, health and more.

To make an employee assessment, you can give a written or verbal exam. At the completion of the office skill testing, you can gauge the candidate’s answers to determine whether he would be a good fit for your company.

1. Know the legal issues. When using pre-employment testing on candidates, you must remain non-invasive and not violate their rights.

2. Research the different types of employment tests that you can administer. The type of position that you’re looking to fill will likely determine the employee assessment tools that you use.

3. Purchase skills assessment software. With a software program, you can streamline testing and receive results instantly.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Read up on the legality of employee skills assessment

In order to keep your company protected from lawsuits, you'll want to read up on the legal issues involved with administering tests to potential employees. You may want to consult with a lawyer as well prior to giving out any tests. As a general rule, employee assessment tools can not discriminate or violate the rights of the job candidate.

I recommend: Saterfiel and Associates has an informative page that discusses both sides of skills testing and how to ensure that you stay within legal limits when administering the exam. On Vault, you can find numerous recommendations in order to keep your personnel skill assessment tools legal.

Decide on the type of employment testing tools to use

You'll probably only choose a couple of tests to give an employee prior to completing the hiring process. For example, if you're looking to hire a typist, you may only need to give a knowledge and literacy test instead of a medical and physical exam. Choose tests that suit the position.

I recommend: The Texas Workforce website gives an overview of the most common types of employment tests given by a company. Tests include knowledge, literacy, personality, integrity, physical skills, aptitude, medical, drug and background check. The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology gives a comprehensive overview of employment tests as well as the advantages and disadvantages.

Buy employment testing software

Once you familiarize yourself with employment tests basics, you can set out to purchase software to help with your evaluation. You can find several skills assessment software packages on the market that can give an evaluation of a person's office skills, general knowledge, personality and more.

I recommend: Through Biddle Consulting Group, you can purchase OPAC, a type of software that can measure office skills, software knowledge and clerical abilities. Prior to purchasing, you can take a virtual tour of the program. Criteria has several web based software programs that employers can use to evaluate employees.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Employers have found numerous benefits of employee skills testing. Reported advantages include lower turnover rate, less training, monetary savings and streamline the hiring process.

Employment tests and the key terms used to describe them are vital to know in order to hire the best possible candidates for any organization. Employees come with recommendations and resumes, but these documents are not always valid or factual. Human resources personnel hire people who will continually work with others using equipment and facilities. Although a candidate might fudge a resume or present a false recommendation, human resources managers personally supervise all candidates under controlled conditions when administering employment tests. These tests provide a level playing field for evaluation of all candidates.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Defensibility

Each candidate wants a fair shot at each and every job opportunity, and laws support their quest for consideration free of discrimination. Although the hiring process will surely include some subjectivity, employee testing provides defensibility of fair choices. Candidate challenges to assessment tools and processes will find the assessment's defensibility better when designed with legal factors considered at every step.

I recommend: Criteria Corp specializes in employee testing, and its website focuses on the important questions for planning and staging employment tests.

In-basket exam

Hiring new workers is a delicate business, and one tool used by the experts to simulate real conditions is the in-basket test. Examiners present the candidates with contents of an in-basket. They then judge the candidate on their actions during this realistic simulation.

I recommend: Arizona Department of Corrections uses the in-basket exam to screen candidates, and here you will find details regarding the exam used to hire personnel.

Pre-employment assessment, psychological testing

Human resources experts strive to find the best possible employees to contribute to the success of an organization and avoid bringing in employees with psychological or emotional problems. The professionals work to provide a pre-employment assessment that will eliminate hiring people whose actions might result in lawsuits and injuries. Good pre-employment assessment instruments provide evidence of efforts to find any possible problems before hire.

I recommend: Saterfiel and Associates provides research and education on pre-employment assessments and other employment testing procedures. Infinet Assessment provides leadership in the field of employment and psychological testing.

Task similarity

Personnel departments, determined to streamline their activities, search for testing instruments for task similarity. In other words, they would like to use testing instruments to screen candidates for more than one job category. Testing similarity must be carefully determined in order to avoid costly hiring decisions.

I recommend: Human Performance Systems (PDF) provides consultation and guidance for human resources professionals tasked with screening candidates for major corporations.

Culture fair, culture free

In order to avoid any accusations of discrimination, all employee testing materials must be culture fair. Human resource officials must find and use materials free of anything that would be strange or foreign to individuals from diverse cultures. The Ravens Matrices, for example, are nonverbal and culture-fair IQ testing materials that provide a valid measure of an applicant's intelligence.

I recommend: Psychology Encyclopedia gives more detail information about culture- fair (or culture-free) testing. Mindware Forum leads the way to find testing instruments that are culture-fair.

Adverse impact

Professionals in charge of hiring use assessment tools with care in order to avoid adverse impact and lose good candidates. Assessment tools that do not target important skills or present baseless items could eliminate great candidates without rationale. Human resources personnel might eliminate a good candidate because of test anxiety rather than performance potential and the adverse impact of the assessment tool could be responsible.

I recommend: Previsor employs experts in employment assessment and the website is an excellent source of information on this topic.