Two recent studies have been released on pre-employment assessment and screening tools ” one from Charles Handler and Mark Healy and the other from Katherine Jones at Aberdeen.

First, its important to make the strategic distinction between assessment and screening. Screening is the simple qualification for employment and is not similar to assessment or the ability to predict future performance. So consequently, their use is often motivated to either screen out or screen in candidates.

The utilization of screening tools today among companies is about 60% (studies found 58% and 61%) with a projected growth in the next 12 months of 14% according to Aberdeen. The risk of discrimination is virtually non-existent (5 successful suits in 60 years).

But does it work?
One study shows that 80% of the companies that measured this metric deem it effective. The remaining 20% just didnt know. The other study quotes 57% of the respondents seeing it as a valuable strategy for retention.

So Aberdeen highlights some recommendations for action:
1. Make sure you validate your results on a consistent basis so you are screening in the best candidates and not the other way around.
2. Automate the test by enabling online access and connecting the results to your workflow.
3. The test and assessment results must be integrated to your talent management system.
4. Work towards organizational consistency.

At Taleo, we saw that clients who used our assessment platform bring their talent acquisition work of art closer to a predictable work of science. Read the findings in these studies and see how assessment tools can improve your quality of hire.

My recommendation: if you are not using assessment today, try it!