More and more organisations today recognise the value of including psychometric assessment in their employee selection process. This is because psychometric measures of cognitive ability, personality and motivation provide a standardised method of evaluating individual capabilities and styles, and can result in more objective, better informed hiring decisions. 

That said, the data collected during the pre-employment assessment process can have enormous value beyond selection. Assessment results may also have application during the onboarding process and during development planning for the successful candidate.

Optimising results for onboarding

Onboarding is key to retaining and engaging talent. It is the process by which new hires become adjusted to the social, cultural and performance aspects of their jobs quickly and smoothly, and learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviours required to function effectively within the organisation. A study in the Academy of Management Journal¹ found that the first 90 days of employment is critical to building rapport with the organisation, management and colleagues. New hires had more positive attitudes about their job and worked harder when support levels were high from the team and leaders. Conversely, when support was not offered, new hires were unhappy and unproductive and didn’t stay much beyond four months.

Each year, almost 25% of the working population undergoes some type of career transition. Given how expensive turnover is to a company (e.g. recruitment costs, lost productivity, etc), it is important to support new employees with comprehensive onboarding to ensure their success. Benefits include:

• engaged and motivated employees who are aware of, and connected to, the company culture
• lower turnover and higher retention
• employee loyalty and satisfaction
• productive new hires
• increased revenue
• employees who feel valued and supported 

22% of staff turnover occurs within the first 45 days of employment². According to an Onboarding Benchmark Report published by the Aberdeen Group³, 90% of employees make their decision to stay at a company within the first six months of their employment. However, organisations with a standard on-boarding process experienced greater new hire productivity and 58% of employees were more likely to still be with the organisation after three years².

The data from the pre-employment assessment can be extremely valuable in the onboarding and development planning process to identify employee potential and/or development opportunities. For example, it can provide information pertaining to:

• how quickly the incumbent is likely to learn and come up to speed with new concepts
• what motivates them e.g. do they prefer autonomy or close supervision
• the areas in which they may require support
• how they are likely to respond to performance feedback
• how they like information to be communicated – for example, lots of details or broad concepts
• what their strengths are and how they can be leveraged
• the most appropriate intervention given the development need

In short, the value and usefulness of pre-employment assessment data reaches beyond the selection stage. It also has enormous value in onboarding and development planning for the successful candidate. As a hiring manager, it is critical that you do as much as you can to make the transition into a new organisation as smooth and efficient as possible for the new employee, their colleagues, and for yourself.

References

1. Kammeyer-Mueller J., Wanberg C., Rubenstein A., and Zhaoli S (2013.)  Support, Undermining, and Newcomer Socialization: Fitting in During the First 90 Days.  Academy of Management Journal, 56: 4, 1104-1124.
2. “SHRM Presentation” by The Wynhurst Group, April 2007
3. “Getting Onboard” by Madeline Tarquinio. HR Management. The research quoted is from Aberdeen’s Onboarding Benchmark Report, August, 2006. The data is derived from a survey conducted in partnership with the Human Capital Institute and interviews with senior executives in the human capital management community. For more information on the report visit Aberdeen’s research.