by Jenny Reid
Ensuring your new hires and current employees have the skills needed to perform their jobs should be an essential part of pre-employment screening. A candidate submits a CV that outlines the skills they have that are relevant to the position in question, but it’s very easy to lie with skills falsified on a CV.
Skills are more difficult to verify and there is also the matter of proficiency. By using a skills assessment as a part of your pre-employment screening process, it assists with the verification process.
Skills Assessments are tests designed to measure someone’s specific, tangible, and technical skills or abilities in a particular job or field.
These assessments look at a candidate’s proficiency in specific skills, which aids an employer in making informed hiring choices. Skills assessments are ideal to ensure a candidate has the necessary skills to perform a job and save yourself the time needed for training the candidate after they’ve been hired.
These assessments also determine how well an individual can perform tasks, solve problems, or apply knowledge in areas. Skills assessments include knowledge tests, skills tests, aptitude and attitude tests which can be utilised before making a hiring decision.
There is much in the news regarding a lack of skills causing reputational or other damage within a company, “some 75% of employers in 21 European countries could not find workers equipped with the right skills” says EuroNews and the same is true in South Africa, especially with the unemployment rate as high as it currently is, people are desperate for jobs, and as a result, may well lie on their CV’s.
Hiring unskilled workers is a problem that companies should take seriously and conducting a skills assessment offers several benefits:
Ensure Candidates Meet Job Requirements: Skills tests help confirm that candidates possess the specific skills and knowledge required for the job. This is especially important for technical roles or positions requiring specialised expertise.
Assess Practical Abilities: While resumes and interviews can provide insights into a candidate’s background and communication skills, skills tests evaluate their practical abilities and performance in real-world scenarios.
Reduce Bias: Skills tests objectively measure a candidate’s abilities, helping to reduce unconscious bias in the hiring process.
Identify Top Performers: Skills tests can identify candidates likely to excel in the role based on their demonstrated abilities.
Better Hiring Decisions: Skills tests help employers make better hiring decisions by more accurately predicting job performance, leading to increased productivity and reduced turnover.
Better Fit: Hiring candidates with the right skills and abilities improve their chances of success and job satisfaction, leading to higher retention rates.
Reduce Turnover Costs: Employers can reduce the costs associated with turnover, such as recruiting, hiring, and training new employees, by selecting suitable candidates from the start.
Documented Process: Skills tests provide documented evidence of a candidate’s abilities, which can be necessary for compliance and accountability, especially in regulated industries.
Defend Hiring Decisions: When hiring decisions are questioned, skills tests offer objective data that can help defend against claims of unfair hiring practices.
iFacts offers a wide range of skills assessments that could be the difference between hiring unskilled workers, or the employee of the month. No matter the skills you require testing for, we have an assessment that will help you weed out the people you should hire, and those that wouldn’t be worth the risk.
Hire with confidence, hire with iFacts.
Jenny Reid is a Human Risk Expert and Professional Speaker, and the owner of iFacts based in South Africa, a specialist employee screening and vetting service. She is constantly assessing new and innovative ways to remove the people risk in any organisation. Since 2009 when she took over iFacts completely, she has seen the company double in size and hopes to continue this growth. iFacts specializes in employee Screening, risk assessments, employee wellness, investigations, and truth verification. Jenny is a past President of the Security Association of South Africa. Contact Jenni via email jenny@ifacts.co.za
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