The CIPD’s Resourcing and Talent Planning report, in partnership with Omni, is now in its twenty-third year. It’s a valued survey report with a sample this year of over 1,000 UK-based HR professionals. It is a broad survey asking searching questions across the talent and resourcing spectrum and as a longitudinal survey, it is a great way of seeing how assessment practices are developing over time.
Although the survey covers much more and includes both insights and recommendations. It can be useful to zoom in on particular areas and looking at this through as assessment lens, here we have curated some of the assessment based findings that are contained in the report.
Assessment best practice and objectivity:
- 17% of organisations check that any tests used are valid, reliable and objective and were tested on diverse norm groups.
- 25% determine selection criteria and approach in advance to ensure it is directly related to performance on the job
- 26% remove certain biographical details (ie name, gender, age, university) from initial selection processes.
- 28% train all interviewers on legal obligations and objective interview practice.
What types of assessments are organisations using?
- Competency based are the most commonly used interviews with 51% or organisations employing these in selection, followed by values based interviews (32%) and strengths based interviews (29%)
- 16 % of organisations say that they run assessment centres
- 22% are employing verbal and/or numerical reasoning tests
- 17% use personality/psychological questionnaires in selection
- Work experience is by far the most frequently used measure by which to select applicants and over half (59%) use educational qualifications to select candidates.
Technology in Assessment:
Unsurprisingly, the 2020/21 lockdowns increased the number of organisations that use technology to help assess candidates, in lieu of in person interviews and although there has been a contraction in the use of some of these technologies, they remain more prevalent than they were prior to Covid-19.
- 47% of organisations employ video interviews and 35% use telephone interviews in the recruitment process.
- It seems that the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is still at early adopter stage with only 5% of organisations reporting using AI in screening or in the analysis of interviews (eg chatbots for fist stage interviews)
The full report contains many more insights both around assessment but more broadly across the resourcing and talent planning lifecycle, and a free report can be downloaded below.
