An increasing number of employers today are relying on personality assessments. Generally, organizations use the results of these assessments to better understand their people in order to tap into their strengths and therefore become more successful.
Personality assessments are designed to measure an individual’s basic characteristics such as traits, interests, interpersonal relationships, motivations, and adjustment mechanisms. The credibility of this process depends on whether or not the assessment procedures provide consistent and accurate and information; that is, whether they possess reliability and validity.
Business executives and decision-makers usually have little or no background in the scientific study of behavior. When I am asked to provide starting points for approaching the basics of personality assessment—in particular, reliability and validity—this is some of what I tell them.
- First of all, approach sales pitches for personality assessment products with a healthy skepticism. Looks can be deceiving. Advertising’s role is to make products look appealing. We might even be persuaded to believe advertising claims that services and products work well when, in actuality, they may not work as claimed. For example, if someone tries to sell you an irresistibly beautiful car with no engine, that car is not going to be worthwhile. As another example, some people choose to marry simply on the basis of whether the person is pretty. When business decision-makers make choices about personality assessment products, they should exercise caution and carefully investigate these services.
Some larger corporations can afford to have a psychologist in their human resources department, or they might have access to a reputable consultant who is trained in scientific methodology. But whatever the status or size, businesses should utilize professionals who specialize in personality assessment practices. Such persons have the credentials to guide you toward accurate assessments, and they can also help ensure the practical usefulness of your assessment results.
- Now to the topic of reliability. It’s important to understand that a measuring procedure can be very reliable but totally useless—i.e., invalid. Reliability refers to repeatability of measurement. Let us consider the measurement of a particular person’s height. Every time you measure it, it should come out the same. If it doesn’t, then the measuring procedure is not reliable. The same principle applies to personality measurement. If an individual takes a personality test several times and the results give a different result each time he or she takes the test, then it is not a reliable test. In a manner of speaking, reliability can be considered a gate-keeping function. As another example, look at your watch. It is moving along with the seconds ticking away, giving the correct time. But if you happen to step into another time zone, we can say that although the watch is still reliable, it is now not a valid indicator of the correct time. It’s not giving you the correct time for the relevant time zone. So, you can have high reliability without any validity.
- A personality assessment test can be viewed as a quick and relatively cost-effective tool for measuring personality traits and predicting behaviors. Such a test can replace procedures that would ordinarily take unrealistic amounts of time, efforts and resources. Let’s say an employer wants to assess an individual’s personality—a complex, wide-ranging concept that is relevant to nearly all aspects of a person’s life. But as a practical matter, no business could justify the cost of following people around for a year—observing them and gathering information on everything they say and do—because it would be time- and cost-prohibitive. Obviously, organizations are better served by a less lengthy process but cost-effective procedure—a well-researched and well-developed personality assessment tool.
Today we see businesses relying more and more on personality assessments because they can be a valuable tool for improving hiring, retention and productivity rates. Not only does this tool help identify and evaluate candidates’ suitability for your organization, but you can also use the results to help identify roles and positions for which your employees may be truly suited.
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