In a previous article, “Hiring the Right People: Benefits of Pre-Employment Screening,”we highlighted the importance of carefully selecting employees to decrease future turnover and improve productivity, to increase safety and security by lowering the risks of making a negligent hire, and to ensure greater compliance with industry regulations. Toward the end of that article, we briefly described two different pre-employment tests Leadership Excellence offers to help organizations thoroughly screen candidates: the Achiever and the Judgment Index™. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the Achiever pre-employment test.
Benefits of the Test
Used by organizations for decades to formulate comprehensive views of potential employees or to guide professional development approaches, the Achiever assessment measures six different cognitive aptitudes or mental faculties and ten different personality traits to provide a normative testing tool capable of benefiting both employers and candidates. As the first assessment to utilize benchmarking as a method of comparing top candidates for a position, the Achiever helps employers from various fields find employees with the skill sets and temperaments they need to be productive and successful. Future employees benefit from the test because they are more likely to be offered positions that match their skills and interests, thus increasing their odds of experiencing job satisfaction and higher achievement.
Primary Components of the Test
Six mental aptitudes are gauged on the first portion of the test. A person’s mental acuity is measured, which refers to the person’s capacity for learning, judging, reasoning, and problem solving. The candidate’s knowledge of business terms and his or her memory recall of current events are gauged as well. In addition, the person’s vocabulary of general English words and his or her numerical perception, the ability to quickly and accurately perform numerical tasks, are rated. Finally, the subject’s mechanical interest is evaluated as well. The scores in these categories are designed to give administrators a clearer picture of the test taker’s potential for success in the sought after role.
The ten personality dimensions that are measured on the test include gauging one’s energy, flexibility, organization, communication, emotional development, assertiveness, competitiveness, mental toughness, questioning, and motivation. This means that within these ten categories, administrators will assess the test taker’s reliability, integrity, work ethic, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, and sources of motivation. The test taker’s ability to use time effectively, interest in interacting with others, and ability to ask probing questions will also be measured within these broader categories. The information gained in this portion of the test will allow for more accurate predictions of the candidate’s behavior should he or she assume the position in question.
The Achiever is a very effective tool in pre-employment screening because of its ability to combine valuable personality assessments with important cognitive ability measures. The customizable report can accurately reflect the requirements of the company or position while predicting a candidate’s chances of success and identifying areas for improvement. This will benefit the employer who is looking for that special employee who will match the organization’s culture and needs while simultaneously giving the candidate a clear understanding of the demands of the position and knowledge of what areas need further attention for professional growth. The Achiever is also a useful instrument for generating professional development strategies for many of these same reasons.
The Achiever offers many benefits to those who incorporate it into their hiring and developmental practices. However, it is important to remember that it is only one tool in the process, and it should be used in conjunction with other evaluative measures as well. Our professional business consultant, Greg L. Thomas, has decades of experience in business ownership and management, and he will help you facilitate effective business and hiring strategies. Contact Greg today to learn more about how he and the Achiever™ assessment can benefit your organization.
*Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / freedigitalphotos.net
