Psychometric testing catches on

Companies now conduct objective assessments.

Infosys and Wipro use them, as do Bharti Enterprises, Hindustan Lever and about 250 other companies in India. Welcome to the world of psychometric tests.

The underlying logic: In times of high attrition, being able to fit people into jobs that match their aptitude, rather than fitting jobs into people, is key to minimising staff turnover.

That in turn requires doing away with subjectivity in candidate assessment, through the use of standardised tests that have been evolved for a given job. The 360-degree assessment method, one of the latest in the assessment field, helps firms find the right kind of position for an individual, given his or her core strengths.

This helps firms get the best fit for a given job, sometimes even from within the company. Since the tests tell how best a person can be used to meet the firm's needs, their use is catching on.

"When people get jobs in line with their aptitude, they give their all. Since it seems so natural to the individual, the stress of the job is minimal and the person is happy," says Y V L Pandit, managing director of SHL India, the local subsidiary of London-based global assessment firm SHL, the world leader in objective assessment of people based on the science of psychometrics.

If an individual is on the rolls of a firm, it may even need to relocate him or her to get the best out of them. The objective in this case is to take a holistic look at individuals and their abilities, which helps increase the productivity of an individual.

Before assessing employees, however, SHL gets clients to promise that the assessments will not be used to victimise anyone. It says that the assessments are for trying to find the best way to benefit the company.

Pandit stresses that in times when the demand for people is high and there is a talent crunch, it is better to go in for the best candidates, even if this means a company is unable to fill all posts.

Reason: This ensures minimal attrition and helps cut recruitment and training costs. It is an individual's displeasure with the job that makes him or her leave, forcing the company to hire another person to fill the vacancy"" and incur the attendant costs.

SHL has eminent psychologists on its board who meet regularly and give the company feedback on the latest research and development in academia.

These individuals, some of the best minds in occupational psychology and psychometric testing, give independent advice to SHL.