PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS TO HELP YOU AVOID HIRING INTERPERSONAL TROUBLEMAKERS - Part 1

Fortunately, pre-employment tests can help you avoid hiring troublemakers – including applicants who have lousy or unproductive interpersonal skills.  Three interpersonal skills of major concern are the applicant’s level of
+  Friendliness
+  Assertiveness
+  Teamwork

Here, you will learn how to determine what pre-employment test scores are “good” or “bad.  Then, see an example of how to put these “good” or “bad” test scores into action.  

1^ST = WHICH PRE-EMPLOYMENT TEST SCORES ARE “GOOD” OR “BAD?”

Before using pre-employment tests to weed out interpersonal troublemakers, you should uncover the typical or “benchmark” test scores of your company’s “superstar” or best employees in each job.  How?  Have some of your best – “superstar” – employees in each job take the pre-employment test.  Scores of these “superstars” become the “benchmark” test scores you could prefer in job applicants.  Reason:  You want to hire applicants who possess qualities similar to your best employees. 

Pre-employment tests’ interpersonal skills benchmarks will be on (a) low-friendliness vs. high-friendliness, (b) passive vs. aggressive, and (c) solo-work vs. teamwork.  Knowing your company’s benchmark test score helps you avoid hiring applicants whose interpersonal skills differ from interpersonal skills of your company’s “superstar” employees. 

EXAMPLE OF PRE-EMPLOYMENT TEST SCORES ON 3 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

One company that uses pre-employment tests I created wanted to hire great Sales Reps.  The company’s Sales Reps took the behavior personality test.  On the test’s three interpersonal scales, the company’s “superstar” Sales Reps’ “benchmark” scores were 
+  Moderate score on Friendliness
+  Moderate score on Assertiveness
+  High score on Teamwork

So, when the company tested applicants, the pre-employment test showed if applicants scored similar to – or different than – its best Sales Reps. 

Now, let’s look at how hiring an applicant with test scores different than the company’s benchmarks can cause trouble.  Such trouble harms productivity and profits, plus waste valuable management time dealing with an employee you should not have hired.

FRIENDLINESS TROUBLEMAKERS

Imagine the interpersonal problems – that would impact productivity – if the company hired a Sales Rep whose interpersonal skills differed from the company’s “superstar” Sales Reps. 

For instance, the pre-employment test’s benchmark scores on Friendliness scale was moderate Friendliness.  A low-friendliness applicant is more shy, withdrawn and introverted than the company’s “superstar” Sales Reps.  That spells trouble. 

Or, imagine an applicant who scored highly-friendly, which is higher than the company’s  benchmark of moderate friendliness.  Such a highly friendly person would excessively socialize – so excessively that their boss would need to tell them to “stop socializing, and get back to work!” 

Next time....ASSERTIVENESS TROUBLEMAKERS