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The manufacturing industry is going through a period of transformation marked by a growing skills shortage and an urgent need to attract and retain skilled talent. The sector faces a number of challenges, including high staff turnover, under-representation of women and an ageing workforce. By optimising recruitment and skills development processes, it is possible not only to improve employee retention, but also to encourage innovation.

The insurance sector is facing major HR challenges, compounded by an ageing workforce and a perceived outdated image. With 400,000 professionals nearing retirement, attracting and retaining new talent is essential. Yet only 4% of Millennials are considering a career in the sector, exacerbating the skills shortage. To remain competitive, companies need to modernise their image, promote innovation and offer attractive benefits, while using tools such as psychometric testing to optimise their recruitment process.

The banking and finance sector is facing significant HR challenges due to the rapid evolution of the industry and the increasing adoption of AI. By 2024, 87% of banking executives expect major change, but more than half don't feel prepared for it. Furthermore, 65% of financial services employees believe their business will not survive a decade on its current trajectory. An HR approach focused on skills such as critical thinking and an agile organisational structure are essential to attract, recruit and retain the talent needed to adapt and grow in this changing sector.

In an ever-changing legal environment, companies need to adopt effective strategies to attract and retain the best talent. Recruiting and developing the skills of legal professionals is crucial to long-term competitiveness and success. This guide outlines five essential steps to mastering these processes, enabling legal businesses not only to recruit quality talent, but also to develop and retain them, while optimising their experience as candidates and employees.

According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), nearly three-quarters of manufacturing executives believe that attracting and retaining a quality workforce is their main challenge. The talent shortage affects many industrial groups, with 10 million jobs vacant in the sector worldwide.

Origins and Consequences of the Talent Shortage in the Manufacturing Industry

The talent shortage can be attributed to several factors:

• Aging Workforce: 51% of jobs in the manufacturing sector are held by employees aged 45 to 65 or older. Experienced workers are retiring, and few young talents are stepping in to replace them.
• Lack of Interest in Manufacturing Careers: The manufacturing industry suffers from a negative image associated with low-paying jobs and difficult working conditions. Only 14% of Generation Z members consider a career in the industrial sector for these reasons.
• Evolving Technologies and Required Skills: Automation and the adoption of advanced technologies (Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics) are changing the nature of work in manufacturing. Jobs are becoming more specialized, requiring advanced technical and general skills.
  
• Inadequate Education and Training: Training and education programs in the industrial sector are not always aligned with labor market needs, leading to a gap between available skills and those required by employers.
  
• Production Offshoring: The relocation of production to low-cost labor countries has reduced the number of manufacturing jobs in some developed countries and made the sector less attractive.

Consequences for Manufacturing Companies

 The talent shortage has significant repercussions for manufacturing companies:

• Decreased Productivity: With fewer skilled workers available, factories struggle to maintain their usual production levels, affecting production timelines, delivery schedules, and customer satisfaction.
  
• Recruitment and Retention Difficulties: Manufacturers find it hard to recruit and retain qualified workers, leading to prolonged vacancies, decreased productivity, and increased costs (loss of revenue, recruitment, and training expenses).
• Increased Labor Costs: To attract and retain skilled workers, wages and benefits are raised, increasing overall labor costs.
• Increased Dependence on Automation: Facing employee shortages, many manufacturers invest in automation, which requires significant capital investment and skilled human resources for proper deployment.
• Safety and Quality Risks: A lack of workers to perform critical tasks (equipment maintenance, quality control) increases the risk of safety incidents or product quality decline.

Strategies to Attract and Retain Talent in the Manufacturing Sector

 Manufacturers can use these strategies to attract and retain skilled workers:

• Offer Attractive Working Conditions: Provide fair and competitive salaries, appealing benefits, merit-based reward programs, and flexible work options.
• Provide Training and Personal Development Programs: Help employees acquire new skills and advance in their careers.
• Promote a Safe and Healthy Work Environment: Ensure the well-being and safety of employee.
• Foster a Positive Company Culture: Value, respect, and include employees to enhance their satisfaction and engagement.

Best Practices for Developing Manufacturing Team Skills

Here are some effective methods to develop employees' skills in the manufacturing industry:

• Mentorship and Apprenticeship Programs: Encourage skill transfer and create a collaborative working environment between experienced workers and new recruits.
• Innovative Training: Utilize online and on-demand learning platforms, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) tools for immersive, real-world scenario training.
• Certifications and Retraining Programs: Enable workers to develop new skills or specialize in manufacturing fields.
• Continuous Improvement and Innovation Projects: Include identifying and solving workplace issues, proposing, and implementing new ideas and technologies.
• Skills Analysis Tools: Evaluate employees' current technical and general skills, identify gaps, and develop personalized training plans to acquire necessary skills. Internationally recognized for over 60 years, the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test II (BMCT-II) is particularly recommended in the manufacturing industry to assess mechanical understanding. It evaluates the ability to understand and apply basic mechanical and physical concepts, and the key principles behind the operation, maintenance, and repair of machines. It is suitable for a wide range of professions in mechanics, production, and maintenance, helping to analyze a candidate's or employee's knowledge and logical abilities, and identify those with good spatial perception, mechanical reasoning skills, and an aptitude for learning mechanical processes and tasks.

The rapid pace of technological innovation in the manufacturing sector is widening the skills gap. More and more entry-level and intermediate jobs require technical and general skills. It is crucial to identify, evaluate, and develop these skills within the workforce to overcome the talent shortage.

The insurance sector holds significant weight in the financial industry. Its revenues are projected to reach $7.5 trillion globally by the end of 2025. However, it faces a major HR challenge linked to the aging workforce and the looming threat of an unprecedented labor shortage. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 50% of the current workforce in the insurance sector will retire in the coming years, leaving over 400,000 vacancies. Therefore, insurance companies must rejuvenate their workforce to remain innovative and competitive in the market. However, the sector does not appeal to the younger generation, who show little interest in pursuing a career in insurance. What strategies can insurance companies employ to attract, recruit, and retain young talent?

Obstacles to the attractiveness of youth in the insurance sector

Image problem

The insurance sector suffers from an unattractive image and reputation among Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and Generation Z (born from 2000 onwards). It is often perceived as a conventional, conservative, and uninventive professional field.

Unfamiliar occupations

According to a survey conducted by The Institutes, 8 out of 10 Millennials have limited knowledge of career opportunities in the insurance industry. Young people may not have subscribed to insurance policies yet, and they have minimal awareness and understanding of these products.

Insufficiently competitive salaries and benefits

Young people are attracted to competitive salaries and benefits, but the banking and financial sectors as well as Tech & IT appear more attractive.

Lack of flexibility

Young people seek a work-life balance offered by remote and hybrid work arrangements, but insurance companies do not always guarantee this flexibility.

Lack of investment in skills development

Another factor affecting the attractiveness of insurance companies is a gap in the understanding of skills their employees will need in the future. Young people are eager to learn and acquire new skills to remain employable in an ever-changing job market.

Strategies for insurance companies to attract, recruit, and retain young talent

Developing an attractive corporate culture

Valuing corporate culture, mission, purpose, and emphasizing collaboration, career progression, flexibility, and other benefits are important. Additionally, promoting commitment to sustainable development, which young people are highly attuned to, is a plus.

Promoting career options in insurance

The insurance sector offers a wide range of careers (agent, broker, claims adjuster, risk manager, data analyst, cybersecurity expert, etc.). It is important to promote these career options to young people, so they are aware of all the opportunities available.

Emphasizing technology

Insurance companies now offer most of their services through mobile applications (claim submissions, video downloads for claims assessment, inspection planning, claims process tracking, etc.) and utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline their processes. Promoting the use of technology in the industry can attract tech-savvy young talent.

Recruiting via social networks

Social media is important and relevant for the younger generation. Insurance companies can benefit in promoting their job offers, internships, and compelling content about insurance careers on social networks (LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram).

Taking care of onboarding

Once recruited, it is crucial to support and mentor new hires. Having mentors who will help new recruits network and advise them on progressing in the sector is a real asset.

Investing in training and professional development

It is essential to emphasize job stability in the sector and enable young people to acquire the skills they need to perform and adapt to market changes, offering them career advancement opportunities.

Millennials and Gen Z have begun to dominate the job market. These dynamic new talents seek the energy and flexibility that many industries offer. It is important for insurance companies to consider their expectations and capitalize on this pool of talent to address their deficits in human resources and skills that threaten their business.

In the banking and finance sector, talent management plays a crucial role in maintaining competitiveness and innovation, and responding to shifts in the market. Here are 10 key points to ensure the long-term success of your talent in this field, from assessing skills (such as critical thinking, a crucial soft skill in banking) to well-being at work.

Possessing critical thinking skills is sought after and highly valued in the banking sector to adapt to changes, make decisions, address issues, and propose solutions.

Banking: A Sector Undergoing Rapid Transformation

In the banking sector, customer expectations are evolving rapidly: They demand user-friendly and intuitive interfaces for their online and mobile banking transactions, as well as a smooth and transparent experience across all communication channels with their bank. They are very open to adopting new technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and chatbots to facilitate their operations. They also expect efficient and responsive financial services tailored to their needs and preferences. Finally, they attach great importance to the protection and confidentiality of their personal data against fraud and cyber-attacks.

To meet these requirements, employees in the banking sector must master technical skills related to online banking operations, data management, cybersecurity, and the use of new technologies. Additionally, they increasingly require behavioral skills in:

• Communication to effectively interact with clients and respond to their needs clearly and concisely in person, by phone, email, or chat. 
• Negotiation to reach agreements, resolve conflicts, and achieve favorable conditions for both the bank and clients.
• Critical thinking to analyze complex situations, identify problems, and find solutions.
• Attention to detail as precision and thoroughness are essential for managing financial transactions and ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Adaptability and time management to quickly adapt to new technologies, processes, products, and services, and juggle multiple tasks while meeting deadlines. 

The banking sector employs many people but experiences high attrition and turnover rates. To remain competitive in a market marked by uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions, increased technological disruption, fierce competition between traditional banks and new, more innovative and agile players, banks must compete to attract and retain top talent. They must evolve their talent acquisition processes to improve efficiency and speed, and focus on assessing these skills, particularly critical thinking.

Critical Thinking: A Highly Coveted Power Skill in the Banking Sector 

According to a global study by PwC, while digital skills are considered important by 70%, 77% recognize that critical thinking skills, such as emotional intelligence and judgment, are crucial in banking professions. Isabelle Jenkins, Head of Financial Services at PwC UK, adds: "Being adaptable, collaborative, and demonstrating critical thinking skills is important. If we truly want to leverage technological advances, we will need the right people with the appropriate skills so that we can truly solve problems, drive productivity, and create growth. Investment in technology is essential to achieve all these goals. But it must be guided by human ingenuity, expertise, and understanding."

Carole Fortier Bidan, Senior Product Developer at Pearson TalentLens, and Christelle Cadoret, Psychologist and HR consultant, authors of the book "Embracing Change and Making Informed Decisions - Critical Thinking & Adaptability" (Pearson, Human Skills collection), define critical thinking as a mindset aimed at logically analyzing situations for a specific purpose, such as problem-solving, explaining a viewpoint, interpreting, or justifying a decision. It involves searching for facts, evidence, understanding and analyzing different perspectives, and personal qualities such as listening, humility, curiosity, open-mindedness, and taking a step back. It requires self-awareness regarding one's own biases, beliefs, stereotypes, and cognitive biases to limit their impact on decision-making and positioning. It is practiced through constructive effort that involves and promotes a collaborative spirit in the service of collective intelligence.

It is qualified as a power skill because reasoning and decision-making are the least automated tasks in the workplace. 

Providing the Means to Assess Critical Thinking 

Laure Bogeat, current Director of HR Development and former Head of Recruitment, Career, and Employment Services at BPCE Infogérance et Technologies, the IT GIE of the BPCE group, the second largest French banking group, testifies to the importance of critical thinking in the banking sector: "Our environment is complex, systemic, and evolving rapidly. In the context of recruitment challenges, it is a tight market at the heart of new technologies and the digital transformation of the group, we wanted in our recruitment processes to ensure a level of analysis, an understanding of our challenges, and intellectual flexibility allowing our new recruits to thrive in our structure. The Watson-Glaser™ III Critical Thinking Assessment naturally emerged. It informs us of the intellectual approach of the candidate to solve a problem and make a decision, but also on the understanding of their environment, their interpretation of factual data, and synthesis capacity, all relevant elements in our selection criteria."

Critical thinking skills are crucial within the banking sector and the ability of HR professionals to assess this ability can make a difference to the long-term talent acquisition process. Helping to identify and develop new candidates into roles and spot potential high-performers for training and leadership roles in the future.

Overall, exercising critical thinking ability has a crucial role in the banking sector for making informed decisions, identifying and evaluating potential risks in financial operations, proposing creative and innovative solutions to clients, in compliance with established regulations and standards, and with a focus on confidentiality and data protection. It is an essential skill to assess and develop in candidates and existing employees.

Recruit talented employees & eliminate the cost of hiring the wrong candidates.

According to research conducted by CareerBuilder in 2016, the average cost of hiring the wrong employee amounts to $17,000. However, based on a study from the U.S. Department of Labor in 2021, this figure can escalate to as high as $240,000, depending on the company and role.

On average, the total costs to lay-off an unsuccessful hire and recruit a new hire is 30% of the annual salary. Consequently, making the correct hiring decision becomes imperative. But how can HR and hiring managers ensure they select the right candidates? Below are strategies to avoid making poor recruitment choices and avoid the financial ramifications of an unsuccessful hire.

Preventing Unsuccessful Hires

Traditional recruitment processes often involve a straight forward formula where people apply on a vague or generic job description. Afterwards, several applicants are chosen for interviews, and one candidate is selected soon after. However, what may have initially appeared to be a suitable fit can swiftly turn into a hiring mistake. It can turn out that the new employee doesn’t possess critical skills that he or she claimed to possess. Or their personality, values and behaviour turned out not to match with that of their colleagues.

The primary challenge in a recruitment process is subjectivity. Quite often, HR and hiring managers ask questions like 'What are your main weak points?' and receive responses such as 'I work too much’ or ‘I’m a perfectionist’. This reveals nothing about the actual skills required for the job." If you realise that nearly 60% of unsuccessful hires fail due to an employee's inability to meet the expected level of performance, it becomes crucial to have a clear understanding of the required skills right from the start to avoid hiring disasters. To tackle this, you can consider the following:

1. Clearly define prerequisite and trainable skills 

Prerequisite skills are essential for the role which candidates should demonstrate during the interview as they won't be trained after hiring. They can range from general qualifications like prior experience in a specific field to specific expertise in a particular software program. On the other hand, trainable skills are those that employees will learn on the job, requiring some level of proficiency but not necessarily prior experience.

2. Avoid open-ended interview questions that provide little insight

Ask questions that will make candidates showcase their prerequisite skills instead of open-ended questions that provide little insight. For example, a question like “What experience do you have with working with this CRM software?” will provide you more valuable insights than “What do you do when you have a conflict with a colleague?”. Once the skills have been demonstrated, you can delve into other questions if necessary. However, there is no point in asking them with candidates who cannot prove their ability to perform the required work.

3. Transform subjective 'soft skills' into objective criteria.

When it comes to qualities like "cultural fit" and being a "team player," the interpretation typically vary across companies. To make these soft skills more objective, you can break them down into specific components. So clearly define the qualities you seek in a team player or cultural fit and assess whether your candidates possess these concrete traits. Structure interview questions that allow you to evaluate these components in your candidates as well.

4. Make use of psychometric tests

Psychometric tests for recruitment can be used to objectively measure a range of crucial skills, such as:

• Numerical skills: the ability to carry out arithmetic computation and reason with numerical data.
• Verbal skills: the ability to reason with concepts framed in written and spoken words.
• Abstract skills: the ability to solve unfamiliar problems and learn new things quickly.
  
• Critical thinking: the ability to separate facts from assumptions, to evaluate these and to draw the right conclusions.
• Personality traits and values: measures whether personality traits (such as dominance, responsibility and recognition) and values (such as achievement, orderliness and goal orientation) of a candidate will likely match with the values and culture of the company. Personality tests that are very useful for recruiting. 

Psychometric testing enables the HR and hiring manager to see if ability and personality are closely aligned with the environment, company, and role. Insights into aptitude, skills, personality, and motivation are essential to select the very best candidates and to develop and guide your workforce throughout their career at your organisation.

5. Review candidate’s digital credentials

Digital credentials – often in the shape of a digital badge – provide proof of someone’s learning achievement. These are issued by an educational organisation following a learning experience, such as the completion of a (digital) course or the successful passing of an exam. Such credentials are valuable as they can support or question the skills a candidate claims to possess.

6. Don’t rush!

Approach the hiring process gradually instead of hastily filling an open position. Although your team may be stretched thin with one or more employees short, remember that an unsuccessful hire won't solve the problem. Opting for a quick hire might provide temporary relief but will ultimately bring you back to square one. It's crucial to prioritize quality over speed, so take the necessary time to find the right candidate and sidestep the expenses associated with a poor hiring decision.

7. Withhold subjectivity until the end

Despite the various ways to make an objective hiring decision, you may have two candidates possessing pretty much the same skills, values, and personality traits. In such situations it can be inevitable to make a final decision that is based on subjective grounds like representation or shared personal interests. It is important that such decisions are made only at the end of a recruitment process, so it is certain that the selected candidate possess the required skills and has the desired personality and values.

It's never too late to improve your recruiting process. Follow these 8 tips and best practices to improve your recruitment and hiring decisions. 

The methods and means used for recruitment differ from one company to another. However, most HR professionals agree that mistakes in the recruitment and hiring process can have serious negative effects on the organization. Recruitment issues should therefore not be underestimated in terms of work climate, motivation, productivity and financial impact. To help you limit the risks and find the right candidate, let's define bad recruiting practices and explore our top tips for successful recruitment.

What is bad recruiting?

For various reasons, recruiters sometimes make recruitment errors: incomplete job description, imprecise missions in the job offer, etc. Sometimes it's the candidate's profile that does not correspond to expectations: lack of skills, or conversely, too qualified. Another scenario is recruiting an employee without having formally assessed their soft skills: here, the recruiter relies on their intuition and somehow skips the different stages.

What are the consequences for the company?

The consequences of bad recruiting are sometimes not felt until a couple months after a hire has been made. An employee who does not share the values ​​of the company can become a disruptive element in a team and be a source of demotivation over time. Moreover, their lack of involvement can negatively impact the productivity of the team and organizaiton.

The direct consequences of poor recruitment are also an increase in turnover, or even an increase in work stoppages. In the long term, the cost for the company is significant: cost of another recruitment process for the same role, cost of possible replacement and training of the new employee, drop in productivity, consequences on the rest of the team if certain tasks are to be distributed, etc.

8 Tips for an Effective Recruitment Process

It's never too late to improve your talent acquisition and recruitment processes. Here are a few tips:

1. Create an Accurate Job Description

One of the reasons for poor recruitment is the lack of clarity about the responsibilties and the skills required for a position. As you write the job description for an open role, be sure it includes the precise responsibilities, the environment and the working relations within the team and organization, the candidate profile sought (level of training, experience, background, skills, etc.), and the relevant success metrics for the role. An accurate job description defines the ideal candidate profile for both hiring managers and recruiters, simplifying sourcing and improving communication between the entire hiring team.

2. Write a Transparent Job Post

Now that you've written an accurate job description, it's time to post and promote the open position. In addition to the responsibilities, skills, and experience required, it's best practice to also include work location (in-person, hybrid, fully remote), type of employment contract (part-time, full-time, contractor), and the expected salary range for the position. To further improve the candidates experience, you can also include detailed information about the stages of the recruitment and hiring process at your organization. Once you have all that information, promote the job internally on your company's intranet, as well as externally on popular job boards such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor.

3. Don't Overlook the Importance of Your Employer Brand

Now more than ever, emplyees want to work at organization that share similar values as them. To help attrach the right profile of candidates, companies should promote their values and culture across the various channels that make up the candidate lifecycle, including the careers website and social media. Portraying corporate/social values, business projects, team outings, employee testimonials showcases the attractiveness of your employer brand and contributes to a positive candidate experience.

4. Prepare for Job Interviews

Besides the interviewer not showing up, nothing is more frustrating for a candidate than facing redundant questions from different interviewers. Interview preparation ensures a shared understanding of the ideal candidate profile. A well-prepared interview team builds trust and encourages candidates to share their experiences and motivations. To implement this best practice, develop interview guides that specify the attributes or skills each interviewer should assess, include useful questions, and incorporate a standardized scoring rubric.

5. Assess All Skills

Before making a hiring decision, it's essential to assess all their skills. This includes soft skills, hard skills, as well as attributes like personality and learning style preferences that impact individual and team culture and productivity. To do this, use tools like psychometric assessments to measure cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal skills. You can use separate assessments to measure each area.

6. Make Objective Hiring Decisions

Your recruitment process and the tools you employ throughout the candidate journey should improve decision-making for hiring managers by gathering objective data. By using precise job descriptions, pre-employment and psychometric tests, well-informed interviews, and standardized candidate scoring criteria, you can identify the candidate who aligns best with the role and the organization. Additionally, this approach helps reduce biases that may emerge when making judgments based on intuition or interview interactions.

7. Reply to All Applicants

HR should promptly inform all candidates of their application status. Failing to respond, even to candidates who were not selected for interviews, can damage the company's image and employer reputation. Encourage interested applicants to consider future roles within the company and wish them luck in their job search. For candidates who were interviewed but not selected, consider providing constructive feedback that could benefit them in their future interviews.

8. Refine Your Onboarding Process

The initial days and weeks within the organization can significantly impact the employee's overall experience. Effective onboarding should encompass various activities and topics to ensure a seamless transition into the new role. These elements include orientation, introduction to the company history and culture, access to essential resources, familiarity with policies and procedures, clear role definition, mentorship and buddy systems, open feedback and communication, performance expectations, and focused training. A well-structured onboarding process not only helps new hires feel appreciated and engaged but also equips them for success in their roles, benefiting both the individual and the organization. It lays the groundwork for a positive and productive working relationship.

Optimize Your Recruitment Process with Pearson TalentLens

Learn how Pearson TalentLens pre-employment and psychometric assessments can help empower your recruiting and hiring teams with the right talent insights.   

Improve HR strategy with psychometric assessments to select top talent.

Personality questionnaires, logic tests, evaluation of intelligence quotient, multiple choice questions (MCQ) of general knowledge, the psychometric test comes in different forms, all with the aim of providing greater insight and/or evaluating the aptitudes of candidates. Thus, at a time when soft skills prevail, more and more companies are asking their candidates to carry out tests during the recruitment process, and also their employees. But how should organisations use these tests? What are the advantages? Here are some good reasons to integrate them into your HR processes.

Defining Psychometric Testing

Used for professional selection and orientation, the psychometric test is used to measure an individual's logical, verbal and numerical skills, as well as personality, motivations and professional behaviour.

Test Categories

In occupational psychology, the aptitude test sits alongside personality tests, intelligence tests and situational tests or projective tests. Among the different types of tests, we publish the personality inventory (SOSIE), intellectual aptitude tests (DAT™  Next Generation, Watson-Glaser™ lll), and the motivations and professional interests (Which Career For Me).

What Situations Are Psychometric Tests Used In?

Psychometric tests are used in various situations of personal and professional life, in particular for a skills assessment or as part of a recruitment process.

For career guidance: Career Counsellors in guidance centres and skills assessment centres commonly use psychometric tests to support their clients in their professional development. Doing a personality test, or evaluating an individuals motivations and professional interests, makes it possible to identify the main elements of an individual's profile and inform the types of roles that may appeal or be suitable for them. For example, tests can highlight their interests, values, predispositions for manual or intellectual trades, creative or analytical temperament, as well as their ability to work alone or in a team, etc.

For certain competitive roles: A number of professions use psychometric tests as part of their pre-employment assessment process. The Watson Glaser-lll for example is most commonly used as a screening tool for recruitment in the legal sector, whilst the NHS employs the use of a number of psychometric assessments to sift and select candidates. Many sites offer free psychometric practice tests in order to help candidates prepare and train for the skills required.

For access to certain professions: The application process for specific professionals such as training to become a train driver or pilot also sees candidates required to undertake technical tests and targeted psychological assessments. Aptitude tests measure in particular the ability to concentrate, resistance to stress and even cognitive abilities. For example, Air France’s selection process, one of the most demanding, includes difficult psychological tests, with a series of logical consequences, as well as group and individual interviews, all over two days!

The Advantages of Psychometric Assessments

Scientific Reliability

Psychometric tests make it possible to evaluate an individual, based on an objective statistical approach. As part of its scientific validation, the psychometric assessment must be calibrated to situate a person in relation to a representative sample of the population, with criteria such as age, gender, level of study etc.

The effectiveness of these tools is guaranteed by three criteria: reliability (similar results and scores if the test is taken several times by the same person), validity (the usefulness and specific performance of the test), and sensitivity (the discriminating power that distinguishes individuals from each other). It is strongly recommended to complete the tests with a feedback interview, conducted by a psychologist or a person trained in the tools.

Improved Candidate Experience

Completing tests allows a candidate to check that their profile is suitable for the position offered and that they do not waste their time applying for it. Taking a personality test allows them to identify or confirm their character traits. Similarly, candidates can test their know-how and appetite for a position, with a practical simulation test. Passing tests therefore allows you to get to know yourself better, to identify both your strengths and your points of vigilance, and to assess your ability for which you are applying.  From the employer’s perspective, by collecting complete information on the candidate, the employer can best support them in the onboarding phase, a crucial period for retaining talent.

Secure & Objective Decision-Making

For certain technical positions or management functions, candidates must pass a battery of tests before the job interview. These tools indeed help to objectify recruitment, thanks to the concrete and reliable information they deliver, which is not always communicated via a CV and cover letter. In addition, they make it possible to avoid cognitive biases and discrimination, even unconscious.

In order simplify the recruitment process, it is possible to give a test only to applicants on the short list, for example to decide between two applicants of the same level. The SOSIE, for example, provides the recruiter with details of the personality traits of the prospective candidate and their values. In fact, the results of a test, scientifically proven, support the recruiter in his decision-making, whatever the outcome. However, to evaluate the candidates in an optimal way, it is recommended to cross all sources of information (CV, letter, tests, recruitment interview).

Greater Candidate Insights

Completing assessments allows the recruiter to ensure the suitability of a candidate to occupy a specific position; by verifying that his profile meets the expectations of the role, both in terms of know-how (hard skills) and behavioural skills (soft skills). Among the tests used by companies is the Watson-Glaser™ III , which assesses the critical thinking ability of candidates called upon to manage and make decisions. Salespeople can also be tested in a targeted manner on their behaviour in a professional situation (relationship with the customer, conflict management, etc.).

In addition, psychometric tools can help to predict candidate success, helping to reduce turnover and the costs associated with recruitment errors. As a recruiter, you can assess the candidate's ability to perform in the role and, in part, their professional development. How will this person fit into the existing team? How are they likely to evolve in the company? Are they capable of innovating? Knowing a candidate's potential also helps shape and inform HR teams long-term strategic skills management.

Pearson TalentLens has partnered with HirePro, a leading online proctoring provider, to offer secure and automated proctoring across our talent assessment library. This partnership ensures all clients of our globally recognized suite of psychometric assessments continue to drive a fair and data-driven talent acquisition and development process.

As part of the partnership, HirePro’s automated online proctoring will be fully integrated with Pearson TalentLens standalone talent assessments. Bringing decades of experience in recruitment automation, HirePro delivers a secure platform that is:

• ISO 27001 Certified: ensures the platform follows the world’s best-known standards for information security
• GDPR Compliant: meets the requirements for properly and securely handling personally identifiable candidate and employee data.
• Proven Success Rate: boasts video and image proctoring success rates of over 99%.

Automated Proctoring Features Now Available

Talent and human resource professionals using Pearson TalentLens assessments can now benefit from the following automated proctoring features:

• Video & Audio Monitoring: auto-detect suspicious activities in a test taker’s video or audio during the session, including a change in the person taking the test or too many human voices in writing test.
• Image Monitoring: auto-detect suspicious activity in images, such as a face mismatch flagged due to a missing face or obstruction of the webcam.
• Browser Monitoring: auto-detect suspicious browser activities like camera view and tab change warnings.
• Complete Recording: video recordings are available for the complete assessment session and can be accessed anytime for audits and reviews.

HirePro records the entire session and provides recommendations generated by AI to highlight possible infractions. Even with these recommendations, the final decision on test takers will needs to be taken by the client and/or talent acquistion team. The session recording and recommendations are for helping with the review.