How to develop talent assessment strategy during hiring

What is a talent assessment strategy during hiring?

The process of assessing the candidates on the basis of talents and skills to see if they are a good fit for the organization is called talent assessment strategy. Many companies use different talent assessment methods because of varying job roles, company culture, and locations. Because of this, the hiring team makes a strategy to identify the best talent from the market. Companies use various tools and test like resume parsers, video screening, online skill assessment tests, aptitude tests, and in-person interviews to design their talent assessment strategy.

How to develop a talent assessment strategy for recruitment?

You need the following things to develop a talent assessment strategy:-

1. Define the objectives and criteria 

The first thing you need to do is to define the top talent for your company as it varies from one company to another. You need to mention the requirements and standards needed by your organization. Discuss with the management what all criteria the prospective employees must fulfill in order to get the job, especially for critical roles. You have to do this for every role as the requirements will vary. Once you have determined the specific skills that the candidate must possess then you have to determine how to measure those skills. To make the assessment process faster you have to prioritize the skills for each role. Proceed with the most qualified candidate if you are using skill tests at the beginning of the hiring process.

Randall Averitte, President, and CEO at Remote Raven

2. Establish an effective sourcing  process

Your hiring success is directly proportional to your sourcing efforts. This is the reason why you should use well-structured strategies and not leave anything on hit and trial.  Before conducting the assessments you need to write the job descriptions clearly on job sites such as Linkedin and collect the resumes. After this, you can give the tests to the candidates to evaluate their skills, abilities, and knowledge. Once you have filtered down the best candidates with the help of assessments then you can conduct interviews to evaluate them better about their strengths and weaknesses.

Wes Kussmule, CEO at Osmio

3. Define your pre-screening process

The pre-screening process typically begins with the review of the candidate’s employment application and resume followed by telephone interviews or one-way video interviews. The purpose of an employment application and resume review is to screen out applicants who do not meet the basic requirements for a position (e.g., minimum experience or education, willingness to relocate, salary requirements). Phone interviews are a quick, lower-cost alternative to conducting a first-round interview. An initial phone conversation can give the employer a wealth of information about a candidate's overall communication skills, sense of humor, ability to listen, attitude, and professionalism. But we have a one-way video interview for the same. One-way video interviewing is getting more popular every day. Video interviewing allows long-distance candidates to be more viable. Unlike conducting a phone interview or reading a resume, a video interview lets the employer observe candidates' body language and how they answer questions; however, its key advantage is a reduction in travel costs and more efficient use of time for both the recruiter and candidates.

Vikram Seth, founder of Ducknowl

4. Decide the skill assessment process/tools

The purpose of skill assessment is to help the employer predict how well an individual will perform on the job. Recruiters use several types of tests like quantitative aptitude, verbal ability, logical reasoning, and technical aptitude. Hiring the wrong people can be expensive, and selection errors can have a negative impact on employee morale and management time, waste valuable training and development dollars, and reduce employee productivity and a company's profitability. HR professionals must ensure that the selection process and any procedures related to other employment decisions—are reliable, valid, equitable, legal, and cost-effective. If the position you’re hiring for requires a highly technical skillset such as a software developer you may want to conduct a test prior to a formal interview. This type of test is best prepared by the manager that will be working directly with the new hire. Companies involved in sensitive matters may also want to conduct personality tests to identify red flags.

Jay Singh, Founder of Appvital

5. Update your candidates about the status of their application 

It is always a good idea to update the candidates about their job applications and let them know if they will be moving to the next round of the process or not. Employers should update the candidates about their application via mail or phone so that they can decide further. When companies don’t update the candidates about their application status, the candidate may withdraw their applications or may not be interested in future jobs from the same company. Communication with your prospective employees is all you need to build an overall employer brand. 

Kathy Caprino founder of Kathy Caprino LLC

Conclusion

Talent assessment tools and strategies are a part of a successful hiring strategy. Organizations can employ a variety of assessments to evaluate candidates and combine some of them such as skill assessment tests and structured interviews. Acquired skills and knowledge are excellent predictors of a candidate’s success. 

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