Dr. Charles Handler’s annual survey was released earlier this week. The key finding regarding the use of assessments were as follows:

• Overall usage of assessment tools was generally about the same as in past years — roughly two-thirds of the organization who participated in the study.
• Of the organizations using assessments, 54% are deploying both paper-based and online assessment, and 30% are using exclusively online assessment. The remaining employ only paper-based tools.

Comment – The proportion of paper-based tools comes as a surprise. Less than 10% of Prevue users are continuing to use the pencil and paper version of Prevue Assessments.

·          Most organizations use a variety of different assessment methods, with the majority using between one and three different types. The table below reveals the proportion of firms using various common tools.

             Usage rates of common assessment tools

            Comment – It is noteworthy that Prevue Assessments provide information for four of    the top six most commonly uses type of assessment. Let us know if you’d like to hear more about this subject.                                                        

·          Only 64% of assessment users collected metrics to judge the ROI on their use of assessments. Wide variation in the real-world evaluation of ROI clearly reveals that, while many companies do collect metrics, few of them are going about this in a way that reflects best practices.

Comment – So why aren’t organizations internally validating the use of the assessment tools and processes they are using for making hiring and promotion decisions? Is it because they don’t understand best practice? Or maybe they don’t understand how to go about internally validating the tools and processes they use. As Dr. Handler ably points out there are two reasons for doing so – first to prove the ROI and second to assure the use of those tools and processes is legally defensible. You will be hearing more about this subject in this blog, the Prevue Newsletter and our weekly Prevue Webinars. Please feel free to contact us for details.

If you would like to see a complete copy of the Dr. Handler’s study summary, please refer to http://www.ere.net/2009/08/03/results-from-the-6th-annual-rocket-hire-online-assessment-usage-survey/