Article: Technology adding life to assessments

Technology

Technology adding life to assessments

Key technology based developments have spurred greater possibilities in streamlining recruitment
Technology adding life to assessments
 

While technology enables improvements in quality of assessments, it also helps in saving costs and time

 

Key technology based developments have spurred greater possibilities in streamlining recruitment

The hiring landscape has been transforming in the last few years and technology has played a major role in this transformation. The need to make hiring process agile, flexible and quick has fostered this transformation.
From modernising pen and paper examinations to computer based / online examinations to using game-based simulated assessments to assess ability, knowledge and personality, technology is adding a new dimension. This leverage of technology has resulted in improvements in quality of assessments at larger scale. Some of these developments have also resulted in huge savings in cost and time. A few valuable technology advancements we have noticed in the recent past are captured below.

Online assessments: With the objective of improving the quality, speed and consistency of recruitment, corporates are using online assessments. Results are generated faster and more accurately – important criteria in any assessment.
Simulation-based assessments: Games are transforming the recruitment landscape by assessing candidates on simulated work-like situations. Candidates are assessed while they perform prescribed tasks. These assessments are believed to be better predictors of candidates’ job success as it is assessed while the candidate is performing a task.

Automated spoken English assessments: The voice-based BPO industry in India needed large-scale spoken English evaluations. Automation of this assessment is the response to challenges of standardization of these assessment at large volumes. To make it meaningful to Indian corporates, it is important that the tool is tuned to assess non-native English speech.

Analytics: Big data-based solutions are the next generation of technology. Organizations are analysing recruitment data and making strategic and tactical recruitment decisions. Dynamic analytical solutions are changing the landscape and corporates are moving away from static data.

Video interview: In the global economy where geographies do not limit people and firms, the video interview is transforming candidate screening process. This technology has helped firms drastically reduce cost of interviews while offering great convenience to candidates and interviewers.

Tenets of assessment: While numerous developments have taken place with reference to technology in assessments, it is important that we appreciate the relevance of core tenets of assessment:
1.Science of testing: Assessment frameworks have to be created from first principles and adhere to internationally accepted signatures of validity & reliability
2.Process of testing: Processes followed in creating & administering assessments as well as results processing should withhold the sanctity that a test deserves. This includes ensuring every test is proctored by non-interested parties, ensuring that the question bank is sufficiently large, encrypted and accessible only by the test player in a live test
3.Principle of testing: Testing agency should not be involved in conflicting businesses like sourcing or sale of databases, failure of which could lead to assessment/candidate data being compromised marring the sanctity of assessment.

Rajeev Menon is General Manager, Innovations and New Products Development, MeritTrac 

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Topics: Technology, Strategic HR, #HRMetrics

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