Webcast - Why You Shouldn't Fear Assessments

Webcast Aired: July 19, 2012, 12:30pm ET

Assessments seem to strike terror into the hearts and minds of more people than I would like to admit. The reasons people cite for their fears span a wide range from irrational to anecdotal to elaborate. But few if any of the reasons are, upon serious investigation, legitimate.

The fact is that assessments have been proven to be powerful sources of insights into people and jobs as well as reliable means of identifying high performing individuals and thereby increasing the odds of placing the right people in the right jobs. Assessments are a win-win. What's the problem and how can we fix it?

The fear of assessments arises from causes both reasonable and spurious and from sources both personal and professional. Understanding the causes and what leads to them becoming dominant or even influential is essential if they are to be depleted of authority and the benefits of assessments are to be realized.

We will look at the causes of the fear of assessments and discover how to mitigate them. We will look at the various methods in use today to reduce the fears. We will examine the depth of benefits generated by using assessments.

The world of assessments has changed greatly in recent years due to substantial investments in science (psycometrics) and technology (the internet and big data) and it is becoming easier to access validated assessments and gain from them. Overcoming fear of assessments will not only grow as a concern among ambitious and high-performing organizations, it will become essential to their success.