Pre-Employment Testing & Hiring Expert Blog - Dr. Mercer

PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS HELP YOU AVOID HIRING SUCH TROUBLEMAKERS

JOB APPLICANTS who have PERSONALITY PROBLEMS: PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS HELP YOU AVOID HIRING SUCH TROUBLEMAKERS 

Imagine your horror as you observe an employee making trouble in your company.  Imagine how this troublemaking employee with personality problems . . .
-  increases costs
-  hurts profits
-  harms productivity
-  disrupts co-workers
-  needs extra management attention
-  makes you cringe

Fortunately, certain pre-employment personality tests can help you avoid hiring people who have personality problems.  Here is how specific personality tests can enable you to hire people with productive personalities – and avoid hiring those disgusting people with personality problems that will drag down your company’s organizational culture and financial success. 

 7 PERSONALITY PROBLEMS of PEOPLE YOU WANT to AVOID HIRING

As pre-employment test researcher and creator, as a Ph.D. in industrial psychologist, I discovered troublemaking employees most often display seven personality problems: 

1.  Liars – dishonest, hate following instructions, and refuse to admit work difficulties

2.  Obnoxious & Pushy – ‘eat people up before breakfast, and spit them out
        before lunch’

3.  Anarchists – rebel against following your company’s rules, policies, and procedures

4.  Complainers – react to pressure by whining, moaning, and complaining

5.  Pessimists – down-in-the-dumps, low-confidence, and seek to drag down
       co-workers’ moods

6.  High Strung – cannot sit still and concentrate and, even worse, does not want to
       concentrate on work

7.  Emotionally Volatile – enjoys focusing on their array of negative emotions

GOOD NEWS = PRE-EMPLOYMENT TEST FORECASTS JOB APPLICANT’S PERSONALITY PROBLEMS

On one pre-employment test I created, “Behavior Forecaster(tm) Test,” I devised personality test scales that reveal if a job applicant has certain personality problems.  Here are examples of test scores of applicants with certain personality problems:

1.  Liars – low score on the test’s Honesty/”Accuracy” scale

2.  Pushy and Obnoxious applicants – horribly high score on Assertiveness scale

3.  Anarchists who despise your rules & procedures – low score on Following Rules
       & Procedures scale

4.  Complainers – low score on Reaction to Pressure scale

5.  Pessimistic – low score on Optimism scale

6.  High Strung – score Excitable on Calm-Versus Excitable scale

7.  Emotionally Volatile – score Feeling-Focused on Feeling- versus
        Fact-Focused scale

QUESTION = WHY DOES PRE-EMPLOYMENT TEST “CATCH” PERSONALITY PROBLEMS BETTER THAN INTERVIEWS & REFERENCE CHECKS?

Answer #1 = Interviewers typically are lousy at evaluating applicants in job interviews.  For instance, most applicants act nice and accommodating during job interviews. 
That is a ‘show’ to win a job offer.  Unfortunately, most interviewers fail to uncover personality problems during interviews. 

Answer #2 = Reference checks very often fail to uncover personality problems.  When you call an applicant’s previous bosses, those ex-bosses typically (A) refuse to reveal useful information or (B) sugarcoat their comments by not mentioning ex-employees’ flaws.  The flaws they hide from you usually are productivity and personality problems. 

 Given common problems of job interviews and reference checks, what can you do to avoid hiring people with personality problems?  The answer is to use a personality test designed specifically for pre-employment testing. 

MORE GOOD NEWS = PRE-EMPLOYMENT PERSONALITY TEST MAKES IT EASY FOR YOU TO AVOID HIRING PEOPLE WITH PERSONALITY PROBLEMS

The best way to not have troublemakers on your payroll is not to hire troublemakers. 

The best way to not have employees with personality problems is not to hire people who have personality problems, such as
-  Lying
-  Terrible aggressiveness
-  Dislike for following your company’s rules and procedures
-  Complaining, blaming, & moaning
-  Pessimism & lack of confidence
-  Hyper-excitability
-  Emotion-focused on their feelings rather than getting work done

 A pre-employment personality test that forecasts such horrible personality problems immensely helps you.  The personality test helps you identify good applicants – those applicants who have personalities of hard-working, productive employees – the type you crave to hire.  

 Also, the pre-employment personality test can warn you about other applicants with personality problems – the ticking time-bombs you must avoid hiring if you want to operate an efficient, productive, profitable company. 

COPYRIGHT 2011 MICHAEL MERCER, PH.D., www.Pre-EmploymentTest.com 

PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS TO HELP YOU AVOID HIRING INTERPERSONAL TROUBLEMAKERS - Part 4

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

My last three blogs disucssed the 3 types of Interpersonal Troublemakers.
Today, what does it cost your company to make such a mistake.

TROUBLEMAKERS COST YOUR COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY & PROFITS

Your goal is to hire applicants who are likely to be productive, low-turnover and profitable for your company.  So, you have financial reasons to avoid hiring troublemakers.  The most scientific way to determine who may be a “troublemaker” at your company is to do a pre-employment test benchmarking study. 

 For this, pre-employment test scores of your best or “superstar” employees must be determined.  Then, you could seriously consider applicants whose test scores are the same or similar to your superstars’ benchmark test scores. 

PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTING RECOMMENDATIONS to HELP YOU AVOID HIRING INTERPERSONAL TROUBLEMAKERS

First, use pre-employment test that measures interpersonal skills like Friendliness, Assertiveness, and Teamwork.  Second, do benchmarking study – to find typical or “benchmark” test scores of your company’s “superstars.”  Third, seriously consider possibly hiring applicants who get pre-employment test scores the same or similar to your company’s benchmark test scores.

Using these three steps enables you to avoid hiring interpersonal troublemakers – based on applicants’ benchmarked pre-employment test scores. 

COPYRIGHT 2011 MICHAEL MERCER, PH.D., www.Pre-EmploymentTests.com
For more information on my pre-employment tests, please call us at 847-382-0690.

 

PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS TO HELP YOU AVOID HIRING INTERPERSONAL TROUBLEMAKERS - Part 3

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.

Last time we discussed...FRIENDLINESS TROUBLEMAKERS.
and ASSERTIVENESS TROUBLEMAKERS
Today we will discuss....TEAMWORK TROUBLEMAKERS

TEAMWORK TROUBLEMAKERS

The third pre-employment test interpersonal skills scale is Teamwork.  This test scale is a continuum from Prefer Solo Work to Prefer Teamwork.  In example used here, the company’s best Sales Reps scored high, that is, Prefer Teamwork.  

Well, imagine an applicant who scores low on the personality test’s Teamwork scale, i.e., scored toward Prefers Solo Work.  Watch out!  Such an applicant prefers to work solo or alone.  Obviously, that would result in expensive trouble on-the-job. 

Next time....What TROUBLEMAKERS COST YOUR COMPANY PRODUCTIVITY
& PROFITS

PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTS TO HELP YOU AVOID HIRING INTERPERSONAL TROUBLEMAKERS - Part 2

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.

Last time we discussed...FRIENDLINESS TROUBLEMAKERS.
Today we will discuss...ASSERTIVENESS TROUBLEMAKERS

ASSERTIVENESS TROUBLEMAKERS

Now, imagine an applicant whose pre-employment test scores on the test’s Assertiveness scale differed from the company’s “superstar” Sales Reps.  Remember:  The company’s best Sales Reps’ benchmark test scores indicated moderate Assertiveness.  But, if an applicant scored Passive – i.e., low Assertiveness – that spells trouble.  Such a person would be too “laid back” or wishy-washy and fail on-the-job. 

 And pre-employment test scores showing an applicant is highly Assertive – i.e., aggressive – also spells trouble on-the-job.  Applicants who get highly Assertive test scores often act extremely aggressive:  They “eat people up before breakfast, and spit them out before lunch.”  Since this company’s best sales reps are only moderately assertive, such aggressive, pushy behavior spells trouble. 

Next time....TEAMWORK TROUBLEMAKERS