Insight into assessment practices by organizations to understand employee potential and engagement
Simon Gluyas (Lead Consultant, Assessment and Employee Survey Practices, Asia Pacific, Kenexa, a 1,400 Employee-strong HR Organization)
1. What are the benefits of having regular employee assessments and surveys? Please enumerate?
Assessments help an employer in the selection process at the very initial stage and further on in developing the employee in the desired areas as well using their unique behavioural traits to increase productivity.
Surveys, on the other hand, play a more macro role and are done at the organisational level. They aid in determining employee engagement and creating a feedback mechanism to identify areas where more time and effort is needed.
At a fundamental level, both help in creating business intelligence by gathering and analysing relevant data and putting initiatives to better the overall performance. This enables in adding more strategic value to the business.
2. Would you say that there has been a significant increase/decrease in the assessment practice across sectors? Also, specify sectors and roles that have seen a significant change.
The assessment trend has surely gained momentum in the Indian market. There’s a growing realisation that it’s helping business by identifying employee potential and gaps, thereby driving performance. Some of the sectors that are rapidly adopting it include telecom, IT since they are labour-intensive and are also moving up the value chain in terms of their service offerings. These assessments are largely done for the entry-level and the mid-level employees and hence are done in large numbers.
Interestingly, even manufacturing sector which traditionally hasn’t used assessments for long is now realising the value in it. In fact, it’s not just using these assessments for their generalist, white collared employees but also their blue collared workers. Needless to say, the assessment techniques used are different for the blue-collared and white-collared workforce.
3. What are the changes witnessed in the employee assessment trends (esp. Indian market), post recession if any?
One key change that we have seen is the strong integration between the psychology aspect and the technology of assessments. Online testing is becoming a common form of assessments where employees are given simulation tests. The whole assessment process is becoming more interactive e.g. we now have a whole lot of dynamic elements thrown into the online tests like visual clips, ticker/scroll with new, industry-specific news. It’s getting a whole new flavour.
4. What are the assessment instruments/tools that have gained ground in the Indian market?
The Indian market is fairly mature and the assessments trend has been here for a while with many providers using several tools. The effectiveness and significance of these tools change with time. Hence, we’ve newer, better tools coming into practice as the industry is constantly evolving. Some of the popular instruments currently being used include Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Thomas International etc.
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