By Dan Harrison, Ph.D.
In order to achieve an integrated assessment, eligibility must have a scoring system. Screening out applicants who fail to meet the minimum eligibility requirements only eliminates people who are not qualified for the job. It does nothing to assess the eligibility levels of the people who pass the minimum requirements.
If eligibility and suitability are not scored and integrated, many interviewers will make employment decisions based on a serial process. For example, they may short-list the candidates who are eligible for the job. Then they may assess suitability and select the person with the highest suitability. This is a serious mistake because it does not take into consideration the different levels of eligibility for those candidates when making the final decision. The candidate with the highest suitability level may not be the best candidate because that candidate may not be as eligible as other candidates.
By scoring the eligibility of the candidates who meet the minimum requirements, you can combine the eligibility score with the suitability score to achieve an overall assessment. Otherwise, each interviewer is left to determine how the suitability assessment will impact the overall result. On what basis can the interviewer decide how different suitability factors will impact at least a half a dozen eligibility factors? How can they reliably and consistently hold such a formula in mind when evaluating dozens of candidates? A systematic approach produces controlled and reliable decision-making based on a complete view of all the job success factors.
Formulating the Success Factors for the Specific Jobs
The first challenge of effective assessment is to fully analyze the job to determine the factors that enable job success. Without a comprehensive set of the job success factors, assessment cannot be effective. However, listing of factors is only the first step. The factors need to be developed into a formula that weights each factor and scores different levels of each factor.
A Job Success Formula includes three parts: Eligibility, Suitability and the Interview. Eligibility factors can be scored using assessment questions either before the interview or during the interview. If used in a pre-assessment before the interview, the interview can be used to further investigate and confirm the answers. Suitability factors can be scored using a suitability assessment, using behavioral interviewing questions, or both.
Other assessments such as aptitude tests or manual dexterity tests can also be added to the formula, but must be formulated in the same way to reflect how different result levels will impact the overall score.
© 2008. Harrison Assessments Int’l 3
