How leveraging competency-based assessments can increase the chances of successful employees.
By Brad Zomick
Often chief learning officers and chief human resource officers use traditional methodsâbasic completionâ¨and quizzes and surveysâas the primary way to gauge success in analyzing a candidateâs fit when making â¨hiring decisions or implementing learning initiatives. But competency-based assessments can demonstrate how the candidate functions in real-world scenarios. Outcomes include:
- Judging a work-based product
- Evaluating acquired skills
- Creating a replicable tool
Showing Versus Telling
Weâve all heard the adage: show me, donât tell me. Resumes and interviews provide a snapshot of the candidateâs potential, but do they demonstrate an employeeâs actual abilities or how theyâll perform in real-life scenarios?
Traditional screening and hiring processes haveâ¨been refined and now interviewing is increasingly sophisticated. No matter how specific the questions are, the approach still âtellsâ instead of âshows.â Askingâ¨a candidate to produce a piece of workâdevelop a short Powerpoint presentation, write code, or chair an impromptu staff meetingâgives the hiring manager a better idea of how well the candidate applies their skills in an environment with rigid deadlines.
Competency-based assessments arenât new. In 2014,⨠the U.S. Department of Education developed an âexperimental siteâ initiative to encourage collegesâ¨to implement this in their degree-track programs. Institutions are either offering or plan to offer these programs, reports Inside Higher Education. But the speed of development and change in todayâs business world requires staff to adapt to dynamic circumstances. CLOs and CHROs are tasked with finding employees with exemplary job skills as well as the ability to think on their feet. These are the types of candidates who add value to the company.
With an increasingly competitive hiring market for tech staff, tools like Talentbuddy, Gild, and Codility enable software development managers to use competency- based assessments. In the fast-moving field of technology, simply evaluating a candidateâs work experience or technical skills wonât tell a hiring manager how well theyâve delivered a product under pressure or interacted with team members to implement a design change.
Using an assessment to screen software engineers means actual job experience and capabilities are closely simulated. A hiring manager can evaluate basic knowledge as well as productivity (are they able to do the work quickly, at a reasonable pace), critical thinking (can they problem-solve on their feet) and communications (are they able to explain their thinking process; do they ask pertinent questions).
Itâs not surprising that consulting companies use a form of assessment (case interviews) to hire or contract their own staff. Their business model is built on staff whoâ¨can join a company, quickly assess problem areas, and develop strategies to produce positive change. By using these interviews to screen their own staff, the consulting company has a core group of critical thinkers who bring flexibility and creative ideas to the job.
Developing The Tools
Competency-based assessment tools are more labor- intensive than traditional methods for evaluation. After a learning curve, a CLO or CHRO who develops and implements this tool will understand it pays dividends.
While the methodology of developing and using a rubric for assessment is more rigorous and complex in the academic world, corporate requirements are used to design them to reflect company needs.
Developing a replicable rubric with stated goalsâfor example, a candidate writes a synopsis from a longer report on a laptop during the interviewâ helps with the implementation of the tool. Measurable metrics might include speed writing and the ability to understand and address the subject. This rubric measures the capabilities of candidates and can be used for all similar job roles.
For positions like software developerâwhich requires more than the ability to code with JavaScriptâthe rubric might include a short code-writing session with a current software employee. Does the candidate understand the coding instructions, are they able explain them to their work partner? Did the candidate interact well with the existing employee? Was the candidate able to add helpful information?
Whether using competency-based assessments to recruit new hires or for assessing programs for internal staff, a manager is provided a rational basis to determine the strengths of the person for the job available. A candidate can look great on paper: education, experience, awards, recommendations, and solid references. But will these translate to a motivated employee who can accept challenges, change the way they approach problem-solving, and bring excellent interpersonal skills to the table?
Metrics like engagement and satisfaction are used in evaluating corporate education. Do these have a practical outcome? Quizzes and surveys gauge an employeeâs knowledge, but how does it translate to the real work world outside the training classroom?
By linking education and background learning to results, competency-based assessments help answer questions like: Is this the right person? Will they succeed? Willâ¨they add value to our company? Competency-based assessments help CLOs pinpoint weaknesses in internal staff and help them develop learning tools to bridge the productivity gap.
Competency-based assessmentsâthe tools to finding people who can prove their ability to do a jobâhelp tie talent acquisition with talent developmentâwhere existing employees can learn the skills to increase their value to the company.
Brad Zomick is senior director of content strategy of SkilledUp.com.