Working in the world of Psychometrics sometimes makes me feel like a kid in a candy store – so much choice, so many colours. Over the years I could see how brilliant Psychometric assessments can be in adding value to selection and development processes, if used properly of course.
I personally enjoy discovering what tools are out there, new and old, and getting to know them and qualified in them where possible. At the same time, I appreciate how easy it is to become comfortable with one assessment tool – after all, if you already use a tool that you consider to be great, and you are comfortable and familiar with it, why would you need to know or get trained to use a second one? Or even a third? Actually, there may be plenty of reasons.
For me, being trained to use several tools gives me freedom – freedom of choice – and I enjoy opening my ‘tool box’ and choosing the one I think will bring the most value to the project and the client in that specific case. Some clients and consultancies have their preferences; however, by being versed in many tools I can better understand why someone would want to use a particular tool, and therefore not only propose the ‘best’ tool for the job,
I do not believe that assessments are mutually exclusive: sometimes using several assessments that are quite similar, such as the Big Five and Lumina Spark, can be very productive and informative. I also know that I am not alone in that opinion: for example, my respected peer and colleague has informed me that he is formulating a report based on assessments from 7 tools, though I think 7 is a bit much.
For selection and development I would advocate the use of both Personality that gives you an indication of “Will do” the relevant ability assessment/s that provide you information on “Can do” .
I personally find that due to the very personal nature of our work (personal approaches to coaching, feedback, etc.), the qualification session itself provides me with a great opportunity to learn from my peers: not only from the ones performing the training, but also fellow trainees.
The psychometric world is rife with exciting ideas and a multitude of assessments, bright colours and great websites, which, if not promising ‘salvation’, definitely promise a ‘panacea’ for recruitment and development needs. It is up to us as professionals to keep our critical reasoning in check and have a pinch of salt at the ready when choosing and using the tools of our trade.
Guest blogger Nikita Mikhailov, consultant psychologist and Lumina Learning Associate