What is high volume talent assessment?

High volume talent assessment is a process used by businesses to evaluate large pools of applicants more cost-effectively, faster, and with greater accuracy. It is used to quickly identify those candidates who are the most qualified for a role and can do the job today. High volume talent assessments are typically automated and can be integrated into a company’s applicant tracking system to help streamline the recruiting and hiring process, eliminating many manual tasks such as reviewing each individual applicant’s resume and spending time interviewing poor fit candidates.

High volume recruiters are tasked with goals they must meet in a given timeframe, such as the number of candidates per day that must be identified, screened, interviewed and put through the hiring process. High volume talent assessments reduce the time it takes for a business and high volume recruiters to identify qualified candidates, which can be invaluable when hiring for high-turnover or high-volume positions. Talent assessments give businesses access to detailed, science-backed data and insights into potential candidates, which is collected easily, quickly, and accurately.

High volume talent assessments help solve many of the current challenges and pain points impacting volume recruiters and hiring managers today, according to a December 2022 Employ/Jobvite Report:

• 46% of hiring managers have seen an increase in candidates applying for open roles, most often for entry-level jobs (55%) and high volume jobs (47%).
• 41% of recruiters interview more than half of the applicants for a job.
• 88% of hiring managers are experiencing new or more pressure because of the current job market.
• 84% of hiring managers say they hit or have come close to burnout because of hiring for their organization.

 

What are the benefits of high volume talent assessments?

High volume talent assessments are an invaluable asset for employers of all sizes. Through the use of talent assessments, organizations are able to save on overall cost-of-hire and reduce a range of HR outcomes, including time-to-fill rates, turnover rates, candidate experience and engagement, and labor costs. In fact, according to findings from Aptitude Research, companies that invest in assessments are 4X more likely to improve quality of hire and 3X more likely to improve the candidate experience. That’s why 82% of companies are utilizing some sort of talent assessment today, according to the Society of Human Resources Management.

High volume talent assessments have several advantages for employers, recruiters, and candidates:

• Efficient: Given that vacant roles can suspend projects and cost money, a slower screening and hiring process can negatively impact a company’s bottom line and growth. Talent assessments make every phase of the hiring process more efficient and streamlined.
• Scalable: High volume hiring often comes with peak demands or seasons or to complete a project or expansion. Talent assessments help a company quickly ramp up hiring to meet these needs.
• Fast: High volume talent assessments quickly identify best-fit hires, reduce the time spent interviewing applicants, and speed up the overall candidate hiring experience.
• Accurate: Predictive analytics and data-driven decision-making power the talent assessment process to identify the best-suited individual quickly and accurately for the job.
• Bias-Free: High volume talent assessments help ensure a more diverse and equitable hiring process by enabling employers to focus on the skills and attributes that are most important for the role and reduce the amount of unconscious bias that exists in traditional recruitment processes.

What is a talent development assessment?

Talent development assessments are an important tool used by businesses to identify and assess the potential of current and prospective employees. These assessments are typically used within organizations to map out individual strengths, weaknesses, and future potential to ensure employees are being used in the most efficient and optimal manner.

Talent development assessments can serve a variety of purposes, including identifying areas that need improvement, providing targeted feedback and strategies for improvement, and driving greater employee loyalty and performance. In addition, talent development assessments can provide insights into job-role compatibility, potential issues with a current job role, and inform decisions made by managers – such as promotions, assignments, and employee development methods.

What are high volume talent assessment tests?

High volume talent assessment tests are used to assess large numbers of applicants for a particular job or role. These types of talent assessment tests are used to measure an individual’s aptitude and competencies in various areas that are important for success in a given role. They may range from simple cognitive tests to more sophisticated talent assessment tests that measure multiple competencies, including critical thinking skills, that give a more accurate predictor of success.

Credible and quality high volume talent assessment tests are offered by providers that have invested time and resources into developing scientifically-sound tools and solutions. This is typically accomplished by partnering with Industrial or Organizational (I/O) Psychologists whose discipline is to develop effective and proven tests and assessments.

It’s important to also distinguish science-backed talent assessment tests from other test providers that rely heavily on artificial intelligence (AI) or recruitment process automation (RPA). For example, according to a Talent Assessment Market research report by Rocket-Hire, 73% of RPA firms do not use psychometrics or talent assessment and 50% of RPA firms are seen as high risk. In fact, only 10% of providers offering RPA have an I/O psychologist on staff, while 64% of firms offering any form of AI do not employ an I/O psychologist.

As you look for a partner to provide high volume talent assessment tests, be sure to determine if their solutions are valid and scientifically backed by I/O psychology principles and practices.

What is a high volume talent assessment strategy?

A high volume talent assessment strategy is a systematic approach to evaluating and identifying best-fit candidates for an organization’s open positions. A best-in-class high volume talent assessment strategy includes four components to create a business-relevant test that increases the level of talent, speeds up screening and hiring, creates a more efficient and streamlined process, and that is legally defensible and objective to support diversity goals.

The four components include:

Benchmark What Success Looks Like.

The process begins with a thorough job analysis that leverages personas from the target group who are experts in the expectations and demands associated with the position. The focus is on identifying the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for success in the position being targeted. The gathered information is categorized into simple, well-defined areas, or competencies necessary for success in the job – also called a Job Profile. Based on the competency model, companies can deploy a high volume talent assessment to assess the extent to which the candidates demonstrate such competencies. For example, the XBL High Volume Assessment Platform includes job profiles & benchmarks based on thousands of assessment data from 50+ industries that can be customized by role and industry.

Align Candidate Values with Corporate Culture.

The best companies focus on building a strong culture that is part of their brand and seek out candidates who align with these values and will be strong advocates for the brand. During the selection process, hiring managers should assess candidates’ values using job-and-company specific measures. When employees’ values match the company’s values, retention and engagement are significantly higher. The most successful organizations hire employees who look forward to coming to work.

Assess Relevant Behaviors.

A behaviorally focused, structured interview is another key component. Using high volume talent assessments provides hiring managers with targeted and tailored questions based on a candidate’s assessment results and the skills and behaviors most important to the job, helping interviewers zero in on the competencies and areas that are most critical to success. Having relevant behavioral interview guides to augment selection testing is a key to involving hiring managers in a meaningful way. In these interviews, relevant experience and other softer skills (values, work style, personality) can be assessed. The testing portion of the selection process narrows the interview pool and allows for selecting the best candidates among a pool of well-qualified ones.

Measure Your Results for Ongoing Selection Rigor.

Using the data and scientific-based insight from high volume talent assessments, hiring managers can measure and evaluate potential candidates against a set of criteria that are important to the organization and can continue to validate the selection tools and process to ensure effectiveness or to make any adjustments needed. After collecting performance-related data (as well as other HR outcomes, such as turnover and employee attitudes) and comparing it with scores from the assessment, you can:

• Build a business case for high volume selection rigor by providing a measurable basis for comparing pre- and post-hire performance, allowing you to correlate long-term performance of successful hires to predictive measurements.
• Analyze applicant trends based on sourcing data and accurately identify candidate pools who are ready to do the job based on validated profiles and measurements.
• Demonstrate ROI and adjust workforce planning efforts using customized, easy-to-interpret reporting and dashboards.
• Create a more equitable hiring process and drive more diverse hiring through bias-free, objective data and measurements.

 

What is a high volume talent assessment framework?

A high volume talent assessment framework is a physical representation of the strategy and methods by which a business screens and hires candidates – from identifying positions and requirements to assessing and interviewing candidates to the actual hiring of employees. The high volume talent assessment framework sets the strategy and should align with and further the company’s goals, vision, and needs. It also needs to take into account the organization’s skills gaps or current weaknesses and strengths among its workforce and where talent assessments can streamline processes, improve outcomes, and reduce bias. A high volume talent assessment framework also helps eliminate inconsistent screening and hiring and ensure recruiters and hiring managers are working towards the same goals with objective, consistent, and science-based criteria for each role.

A high impact, data-based selection system is built on this best-practice talent assessment framework:

1. Identify a trusted and sophisticated high volume talent assessment provider.
2. Define the competencies, experience, skills, and behaviors required for success in each position and within the company and/or department.
3. Connect candidate details and journey seamlessly through integration with your ATS system.
4. Deploy automated, science-backed assessments to assess and measure individual or multiple groups of candidates against job-relevant benchmarks set forth in the customized job profile for each role.
5. Deliver exceptional candidate and hiring experiences with an engaging and user-friendly talent assessment platform that can be customized to match your brand elements, style, and design to reinforce your commitment to hiring and onboarding best practices and promote ongoing engagement with high-potential candidates.
6. Build a decision-making model that is based on reliable and accurate data about job candidates, utilizing the skills and experience of hiring managers.
7. Arm hiring decision-makers with the shortlist of best-qualified candidates that can move on to the interviewing phase of the hiring process.
8. Utilize targeted and customized interview questions generated from a candidate’s talent assessment results and based on the skills and behaviors most important to the job.
9. Correlate long-term performance of successful hires to the job profile and predictive measurements of your talent assessments, demonstrating the ROI of your talent assessment framework.