example, a candidate for a job that re-quires
data entry should be proficient with
Microsoft Excel. Skills assessments take
the mystery out of the hiring process.
VALUES ASSESSMENT
It’s important to make sure employee
values are aligned with a prospective em-ployer’s.
A values assessment tool can give
a hiring manager insight into what em-ployees
value the most. It can reveal a
candidate’s interests and aptitude to de-termine
how well an employee will fit with
an organization. For example, data on
interests can indicate whether or not the
potential staffer shares interests with fu-ture
colleagues, and an aptitude test can
determine whether or not the desired oc-cupation
is suitable for the individual.
Both are important metrics for predicting
new hire success on the job.
CULTURAL TESTING
HR professionals are increasingly using
cultural testing to get a read on a can-didate’s
ability to fit into the workplace
environment. Cultural tests examine val-ues,
beliefs, outlook and behaviour in the
context of the company culture. Cultural
tests also frequently explore how candi-dates
view work situations and examine the
implications for cultural fit. For example, a
cultural test can indicate an employee’s ca-pacity
for teamwork, which is important
for workplaces that value collaboration.
A job candidate who shows a preference
for solo work might not be a good fit for
that particular company, whereas a person
who shows a strong preference for work-ing
with others might be a poor fit for a job
that requires extensive independent work
with little human contact.
These four tools can help businesses as-sess
potential new hires’ ability to succeed
in the role they are pursuing. Each type of
assessment tool offers a different view of
the candidate, providing insight on per-sonality,
skills, values and culture, so it
makes sense to use a combination of the
tools to generate a set of objective metrics.
Variations of these assessment solu-tions
are available online and on many
popular hiring platforms, so it’s now
possible for companies that currently
leave one of their most important busi-ness
decisions to potentially unreliable
methods to take a more data-driven ap-proach
instead. Metrics matter, which
is why companies are relying heavily on
data to drive decision-making across
business units. Now it’s time to hire by
the numbers, too. n
Tonya Lanthier is CEO of DentalPost.
THE INFORMATION GATHERED
CAN HELP EMPLOYERS GENERATE
DATA THAT ALLOWS THEM TO
HIRE WITH CONFIDENCE.
An integral part
of your team.
THe LaBOuR and empLOymenT Law expeRTS
Emond Harnden is trusted, not simply as advisors, but as an integrated member of
our clients’ HR departments and senior management teams. we are devoted exclusively
to advising management on labour relations and employment matters.
It’s a forward-thinking approach to labour law.
Glebe Chambers 707, rue Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 3V1 1.888.563.7660 www.ehlaw.ca
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38 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
