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  • Manufacturing industry - person studying orders at machine - Pearson TalentLens

    Manufacturing Industry: Succeed in Recruiting and Developing Your Talent

    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.

  • Insurance sector - colleagues discussing document - Pearson TalentLens

    HR Challenges in the Insurance Sector

    The insurance sector is facing major HR challenges, compounded by an ageing workforce and a perceived outdated image.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.

  • Meeting of colleagues in the office - Bank and Finance sector - Pearson Talentlens

    HR Challenges in the Banking and Financial Sector

    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.

  • Two workers discussing at work - Pearson TalentLens

    Master recruiting and developing legal talent: 5 essential steps

    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.

  • Insurance sector - woman talking and discussing document - Pearson TalentLens

    Major HR Challenge for Insurance Companies: Attracting Young Talent to Maintain Their Dynamism

    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.

  • Banking industry - colleagues in a meeting - Pearson TalentLens

    Boosting Talent Excellence in the Banking Sector: The Crucial Role of Critical Thinking

    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.

  • A woman handing out a file to a co-worker - Pearson TalentLens

    Why Integrate Psychometric Tests Into Your HR Processes?

    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 GenerationWatson-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.

  • Recruitment - man looking at laptop with headphones on - pearson TalentLens

    Pearson TalentLens Partners with HirePro to Deliver Online Proctoring Across Our Talent Assessment Library

    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 Certifiedensures 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.

  • Person typing on laptop - Pearson TalentLens - Remote Proctoring

    The Importance of Proctoring Online Talent Assessments

    In today’s remote-first world, online talent assessments have become a crucial part of the recruitment and hiring process. Companies often rely on these assessments to identify and select the most suitable candidates for open roles.

    With the increased scrutiny placed on online assessments due to the rise of automated language modeling and artificial intelligence, it’s now more important than ever for companies to ensure their assessment results are valid and lead to accurate data-driven hiring decisions.

    study conducted by HirePro, a trusted recruitment automation and proctoring solution provider, found that “30% to 50% of candidates cheat during entry-level job assessments.” While this figure drops to 10% to 25% for lateral job assessments, companies must be proactive in curving cheating in their talent assessments. This is where online remote proctoring provides the most value to talent acquisition professionals.

     

    What is online proctoring?

    Proctoring is the practice of monitoring candidates during an assessment. Its role during the testing process is to ensure the fairness and security of the assessment, prevent cheating, and ensure all test takers follow the given rules and guidelines. There are three main formats in which proctoring is utilized:

    • Live Proctoring: involves a real-time proctor monitoring candidates during the assessment process through a live video call.
    • Automated Proctoring: utilizes advancements in AI-driven algorithms to analyze the candidates’ behavior during the assessments (eye movements, background noise, etc.).
    • Recorded Proctoring: records the entire assessment session so that it can later be reviewed by the talent acquisition team.

     

    The Challenges of Proctoring Online Talent Assessments

    Online talent assessments offer numerous advantages, such as flexibility and accessibility, but they also pose specific challenges that can compromise the accuracy and validity of results. Some of the key challenges include:

    • Cheating: without proper supervision or proctoring, candidates can participate in cheating using unauthorized materials, online assistance, and help from others.
    • Impersonation: there is a risk of impersonation, where someone else takes the assessment on behalf of the candidate.
    • Technical Issues: disruptions can occur due to technical glitches on a candidate’s computer internet bandwidth constraints, causing disruptions and a frustrating assessment experience.

     

    The Role of Proctoring in Mitigating Challenges

    Online proctoring plays a pivotal role in addressing the challenges associated with talent assessment platforms. By incorporating online proctoring measures, companies can enhance the credibility of their candidate evaluation process. Here are some key benefits of proctoring:

    • Ensuring Assessment Integrity: proctoring solutions ensure that candidates follow all the rules and guidelines set by the assessment.
    • Verifying Candidate Identity: leading proctoring solutions offer identity verification, which matches the face on their webcam with a valid form of a picture ID provided by the candidate prior to the assessment.
    • Minimizing Technical Issues: proctoring solutions are often seamlessly integrated into the assessment process, reducing the amount of software the candidate needs to use.

     

    Pearson TalentLens & HirePro Remote Proctoring

    Proctoring is an essential part of our talent assessment platform. Our goal is to ensure the fairness and reliability of your talent acquisition process. That’s why we have partnered with HirePro, a leading remote proctoring provider, to bring you automated proctoring solutions across our talent assessment portfolio.

    As technology continues to evolve, you can be sure we’re continuously improving our proctoring methods to safeguard the integrity of our assessment and strengthen the confidence in your candidate evaluation process.

    Learn more about how Pearson TalentLens uses proctoring to deliver valid results.

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    Employee’s Motivation: Internal Mobility Drive

    According to the authors of the Which Career For Me program, too many companies rely on skills as the only basis for internal mobility. Between job descriptions and skills repositories, the concept of motivation is still not included, yet it is central.

    Competences fade, motivations last

    In a job description, we generally find professional activities and technical skills, recently completed with some soft skills and personality elements. When it comes to internal mobility, the standard tool remains the intranet job board, which consists of posting job descriptions, their geographical characteristics, and the associated salary.

    However, skills are rapidly becoming obsolete in a world of constant change. The OECD has confirmed this: their lifespan used to be estimated at 20 years in the 1960s-1970s and will not exceed an average of one year in 2025. In a context of mobility, it is not necessarily those who have the skills for a job who are most motivated to get it. Today, employee motivation is key. The latest generations prioritize purpose in their jobs. People leave a company when motivation fades and they no longer relate to it.

    Becoming an active member of your own mobility

    Each person has his or her own motivating factors. This is why employees need to have tools that empower them to take ownership of their careers. Questioning themselves about their own professional interests or even their frustrations helps to regain this power. Many people undergo mobility as a result of reorganizations, for example.

    Nevertheless, even in this context, it is possible to involve employees by giving them the opportunity to identify positions that interest them. It is important to trust them. 

    Acquiring new skills using motivation

    Competence, which is transient, is ultimately not a barrier to mobility. Science has proven that brain plasticity allows for the development of skills in any field. Therefore, there is no such thing as being "good at math" and "bad at French". In reality, skill acquisition is primarily a matter of motivation. A person motivated by research and inquiry will likely have difficulty in building business skills.

    Psychologist Carol Dweck from Stanford University coined the concept of growth mindset. It reflects the fact that as long as a person believes that they can develop skills in a field, they will do so successfully. All it takes is the right training. Its opposite, the fixed mindset, could be summed up by the sentence, "I was never good at this, I will never get there." In reality, in a mobility context, technical skills are secondary. It is motivation that is the driving force behind success.

    Support Talent Development with Pearson TalentLens

    Learn how Pearson TalentLens can help empower your talent teams so you can start building a future-proof workforce today.

    Learn more about our Which Career For Me tool

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    Employability: Definition and Importance of Soft Skills

    Employability is a central issue in the workforce market. With soft skills a central component of this concept, the question of how to reliably measure these skills arises. Psychometric tools provide an appropriate method of reporting a skills profile, Guillaume Demery, Doctor of Psychology and Designer and Developer of Psychometric Tools at Pearson TalentLens, sheds some light on the subject.

     

    Employability: an HR issue placing the individual at the heart of the labour market

    A concept studied for several decades; employability has been the subject of several definitions. Thus, for Hillage and Pollard (1998): “In simple terms, employability consists of being able to obtain and keep a job. More generally, employability is the ability to move independently in the labour market to realise one's potential through sustainable employment”. This very general definition makes it possible to understand the importance of the concept as a possibility of adapting to a constantly changing labour market.

    However, it is interesting to know and understand the existing levers that allow access to this employability. A definition from Hinchcliffe (2001) states: “Employability is defined as having a set of skills, knowledge, and personal attributes that make a person more likely to be secure and successful in their chosen occupation”. Thanks to this definition, we understand that the individual is at the heart of employability, whether through his knowledge, the skills he has acquired and certain attributes that are specific to him, such as motivation or interests (Fenouillet, 2016).

     

    Soft skills: essential skills to remain employable

    It is possible to model the factors influencing employability. Thus, Pool and Sewell (2007) consider that experience, levels of knowledge, soft skills, emotional intelligence as well as development and training throughout the career are key factors, working together to improve employability.

    As a result, it is an important issue both for new graduates entering the job market and for professionals in transition and looking either for retraining or career development within their company. (Harvey, 2001; Guilbert et al., 2016). While experience and training within a company are factors that favour professionals over young graduates, soft skills are essential and useful skills upon graduation (Andrew & Higson, 2008).

    The essential soft skills to boost your employability

    Behavioural skills can be generalised to most trades offered on the labour market and are essential for good employability. Beyond hard skills, namely business skills, we understand that employability is essentially based on the ability of individuals to be able to integrate and adapt to a rapidly changing labour market.

    A non-exhaustive list of expected soft skills:

    • Professionalism
    • Reliability
    • Ability to cope with uncertainty
    • Ability to work under pressure
    • Ability to plan and think strategically
    • Ability to communicate and interact with others, either in a team or through networking
    • Skills in written and oral communication
    • Skills in information and communication technologies
    • Creativity and self-confidence
    • Good self-management and time management skills
    • A willingness to learn and take responsibility (Elias & Purcell, 2004).

    Motivation: another factor to consider

    Motivation referred to as “the reasons underlying behavior” (Guay et al., 2010, p. 712), and the “the attribute that moves us to do or not to do something” (Gredler, Broussard and Garrison., 2004, p. 106) is a non-negligible factor of employability, allowing, beyond the capacities of the individual, to understand the probability that he adheres and puts in place the appropriate behaviours to remain effective in his profession. It is therefore advisable to know the motivations and interests (Schiefele, 1991).

     

    How to measure soft skills in order to support employability for individuals and companies?

    Knowing the importance of employability in the labour market, it is necessary that reliable measures are put in place to help individuals, whether they are new graduates seeking to enter the labour market, professionals looking for retraining or development within their organisations, or companies looking for the best employability profiles in order to have long-term prospects with new recruits.

    The advantage of psychometric tests

    The evaluation of soft skills requires statistically valid and reliable tools, capable of measuring concepts that are sometimes difficult to observe (for example, the individual's ability to work under pressure). Psychometrics, which is concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of psychological measurement (Chadha, 2009), is at this stage the most advanced discipline in the creation of such measures.

    Several types of tools exist to measure these skills. For example, assessment tests are specifically constructed to measure work styles, those aspects of personality most important to success. Work styles can be thought of as an individual's typical patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaviour that can positively influence success in the world of work, and therefore employability, according to database studies. These working styles are organised around four major themes:

    • The relationship to people, such as cooperation or leadership
    • Managing emotions, such as stress tolerance or self-control
    • Approach to work, such as initiative or reliability
    • Thinking style, such as innovative or analytical thinking.

    Aptitude tests for a good measure of adaptability

    Aptitude tests also make it possible to understand the adaptability of the individual in the world of work, to measure essential skills such as the ability to solve problems, verbal comprehension, the ability to correctly interpret data in order to place entrepreneurial strategies, or the ability to evaluate arguments and issue unbiased conclusions.

    These psychometric tests based either on the classical test theory or, thanks to the digital evolution of these solutions, on the item response theory based on a probabilistic reasoning of the calculation of the level of aptitude (Edelen & Reeve, 2007), make it possible to have statistically valid and reliable measurements of these soft skills, or even of the motivations and interests of the individual.

    Thanks to these methods, it is possible to establish an employability profile of the individual, so that they understand their levers on the labour market while recognising the skills that they can improve, guaranteeing the establishment of a training circuit adapted to the needs of the user.

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