Looking at a candidate's CV to learn about their experience and qualifications is always necessary; it gives you an idea of their suitability for a job role and allows you to screen applicants effectively. However, it’s no secret that applicants frequently lie on their CVs. Research has found that 1 in 12 Brits admit to lying on their CVs, with men being more likely to lie than women.
Often, these lies are identified in the interview stage, which helps you further assess whether a candidate has the right attributes to fit with the team. However, interviews are still far from sufficient to get the whole picture. How do you know if a candidate is all that they seem and is really right for a position after spending just an hour with them?
If you get it wrong, it’s likely that you’ll have to start the hiring process anew soon, leading to wasted time and resources. Gambling on the wrong candidate can be costly, disrupt team morale, and it can take a while for you to realise they're not the right fit. Thankfully, there is a way for you to further examine their potential before hiring them. Yes, we’re talking about skills tests and personality tests.
Skills tests examine the candidate's natural aptitude for certain positions. Personality assessments can also be beneficial. With studies showing that as much as 89% of turnovers can be attributed to the attitude of the new hire, personality tests can be key in the recruitment process to ensure a candidate’s character meshes with the rest of the team and that they’re in it for the long term.
So, let's take a closer look at the most common causes of high employee turnover and how skills tests can address these issues to improve retention levels.
Common Causes for High Employee Turnover
The only way a business will reduce high employee turnover is by understanding the root causes of it.
Many factors go into why someone might leave a position, and in many cases, the employer is not at fault. However, taking a look at the most common reasons that companies suffer from a high turnover rate allows necessary changes to be made.
- Hiring Practices: Taking the time to assess candidates is essential to getting the right person for the job. Rushing the hiring process can lead to oversights. If a staff member is not a good fit, it will be frustrating for all involved and can lead to increased turnover rates.
- Poor Management: Management is much more than just telling employees what to do. Providing support and addressing concerns can make a significant difference in employee satisfaction. There’s some truth to that saying ‘people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers’ after all!
- Poor Employee Engagement: If employees do not feel engaged by and fulfilled in their work, they may look elsewhere. Keeping employees engaged with new projects is important. You should also provide ongoing training and advancement options.
- Low Pay: If an employee's annual salary doesn't match their skillset and workload, they will look at alternatives. Performance-related pay and bonus schemes can often make a difference in this.
- Work/Life Balance: A poor work/life balance without adequate time for families, friends, and recreation, can lead to poor mental health and fatigue, which causes team members to want to leave.
Of course, employee turnover also includes involuntary turnover, where the employee’s contract is terminated for reasons such as poor performance or attitude to their work. This is why it’s important to identify potential employees who are a good culture fit for your workplace and display a great work ethic.
How Skills Tests Address the Root Causes of Employee Turnover
Skills tests, as the name suggests, measure the skill set of the candidate. This can help to identify the best people for specific roles, ensuring that the new hires have the right skills and are therefore more likely to be engaged and happy in their roles.
Ensuring the candidate is equipped to perform at the level required should be an essential part of the hiring process. The interview should then determine other factors and make sure they will fit in with your team.
Here's why talent assessment skills tests are beneficial to improving employee retention and reducing turnover:
Hire the right person for the job
Using customised skills tests to ensure the candidate has the key skills and attention to detail required for the role should be a priority. Pre-employment testing is a great way to determine whether the skills stated on their CV are legitimate. It could also be the case that the experience a candidate has is outdated or not relevant to the specific role.
Skills testing can cover a range of specialities from mathematics to software knowledge such as Microsoft Office.
It is essential that any pre-employment tests that are carried out are specific to the role. This will help to narrow down the most qualified candidates and ensure the hiring managers get the most suitable person.
Can identify potential
Another great benefit of pre-employment testing is being able to evaluate the potential of candidates. Interviews, CVs, and references will only tell you so much about interviewees.
A pre-employment assessment will provide employers with quantitative data. This can be used alongside their experience and interviewing skills to determine their suitability.
Having a clear idea of the candidate's skills will narrow down the number of suitable candidates for a role. Having as much information as possible will significantly minimise the risk of employing the wrong person.
Can identify skill gaps
In some cases, pre-employment assessments can identify weaknesses in otherwise strong candidates. But this doesn't mean that they should be automatically ruled out.
Without skills testing, weaknesses in a new employee's knowledge could be missed. This can result in poor performance, unnecessary stress, and a desire for that person to move on quickly.
Having the data to hand will allow you to implement the necessary training to aid professional development. This can help reduce turnover and could even lead to career advancement down the line.
Highlighting the employees that deserve promotion
Skills testing is not just for potential new employees. Current employees can also benefit from talent assessment skills tests.
A strong team should always be willing to learn, and skills testing can identify the areas that current employees can benefit from.
It will allow employees to learn the new skills required to improve and progress. Internal hiring can also benefit from tests to determine whether existing staff members would suit a particular role.
Having a company culture that promotes development will help to reduce turnover. Development opportunities and opportunities for progression can be great motivational tools that stop staff from looking for new jobs.
Final Thoughts
Finding the top talent with the right skills for a role can be challenging. If a candidate appears to have the experience and interviews well, it can lead to rushed hiring decisions.
Taking the time to ensure the candidate is right can prevent a bad hire. Skills testing can help to find the right talent for a position and ensure new hires fit in well.
Skills tests provide hard data that can remove unconscious bias from the decision-making process. They can even be a great way to attract and retain graduates that are fresh and eager to learn.
Using skills tests to reduce employee turnover can lead to great retention levels. This is because the assessments are designed to test the best candidates for skills required in the new job. By narrowing down the top candidates, you will be able to reduce the cost and disruption of high turnover rates.
Ready to implement skills tests or personality assessments in your hiring process? Contact us today to find out how we can help with your skills testing needs!
