Technology as assessment enabler

With the increasing growth and expansion of assessment technologies come unique questions in how best practice can be maintained in psychometric testing. A key issue around technology and online assessments relates to the impact that various technologies have on accessibility, standardisation, fairness and consistency.

For instance, when one takes into consideration the use of mobile technology, how do factors such as screen size, page orientation, download time and input devices impact standardisation, fairness and the reliability of the assessment data?

While benefits associated with online assessments such as increased effectiveness and efficiency, enhanced test security, and cost reduction due to decreased travel time are undeniable, IO Practitioners still need to ensure that best practice testing is maintained within their client organisations. Indeed, it is this scientifically-rigorous and generally cautious approach in making critical talent decisions that has ensured the longevity of IO Psychology in the modern world-of-work.

Therefore, it is perhaps not surprising that the discipline has been somewhat reluctant to become first adopters of radical and often disruptive technologies entering the marketplace.

But there is an alternative perspective: seeing technology as an enabler of well-founded IO Psychology principles.

As an example: for years it was the responsibility of IO Practitioners to use their insights to write integrated reports based on professional judgement. However, more recent studies demonstrate that the use of algorithms and mechanical data integration is superior in comparison to professional judgement.

The integration of data is not the only contribution that technology is making to IO Psychology. It is now also possible to create highly flexible and user-friendly reports that describe results in such a way that it can best be understood and interpreted by the targeted end user or audience.

For more on how technology can aid you in making better talent decisions, please drop us a line at info@tts-talent.com.