When considering whether you should use testing in the recruitment process, remember this fact: A bad hire costs a business on average £8,200, rising to £12,000 for senior managers or directors, states CIPD.
When it is time to fill a vacancy in your organisation, you want to be sure that the person you recruit is the right one for the job. Recruiting staff is a costly exercise so getting the hire wrong does not just cost the business money- you must also take into account the loss of productivity, loss of knowledge, any costs to hire a replacement, as well as further training costs.
According to a recent CIPD/Hays survey, 75% of HR professionals in the UK are reporting recruitment difficulties and expect competition for well-qualified talent to increase in the next three years, so getting it right first time will save time and money all around.
Testing as a Selection Method
Skills Testing as a selection method can help narrow out unqualified applicants and allow employers to distinguish between those who are truly talented for the job role and who are unsuitable. As a result, you will be able to eliminate unqualified applicants and identify the high quality applicants.
Testing in the recruitment process, helps you as the recruiter to establish an individual’s skill levels or capabilities and their behavioural preferences and removes the risk of solely relying on a CV.
4 key benefits of using Selection Tests for recruitment
Incorporating pre-employment tests into your current recruitment process will help you to highlight the best applicants as early on as possible. Testing as a selection method will allow you to reduce the number of applicants you receive down to a manageable quality candidate pool. Not only will this save you time and money on recruitment, but it will also give you a more rounded picture of your candidates – helping you get to know them before you’ve even met.
- Time: Streamlines the process of selecting a new employee
- Expense: Reduces the cost of recruitment
- Talent: Identifies candidates most likely to add value to your business
- Efficiency: Ensures the new arrival will fit the role and be productive
Incorporating Pre-Employment Testing in the Recruitment Process
skills testing for recruitment
Skillsarena has developed a range of skills testing for different stages of the Recruitment Process.
The Recruitment and Selection Funnel demonstrates a typical hiring process when utilising the pre-employment tests available.
At the earlier stages, high volumes of candidates can be tested and sifted out in order to reduce the candidate pool size significantly. Recommended tests are Situational Judgement Tests and Core Skill Tests.
At the later stages, the focus turns to selecting the best candidates for the role itself. An ideal test to use here is our personality test.
