Preventative > Psychological Assessment


What is Psychological Assessment?

Psychological assessment involves an analysis of current and potential staff members in a range of areas to determine their aptitude, skills and personalities.

Psychological assessments are undertaken to help employers determine the professional development and career needs of employees and to appoint the most appropriate applicants to vacant positions.

Individuals also request the services of psychological assessments when preparing to enter a course of study or to change professions.

How does Psychological Assessment work?

In its simplest form, a psychological assessment includes a set of questions or tasks for a person to complete.

Psychological assessments are generally undertaken to measure aspects of an individual’s personality and abilities that cannot be directly observed and measured. For example, a person’s numerical ability or motivation levels cannot be seen and, therefore, not easily assessed.

The assessments may be completed on paper, on-line, via telephone or by face to face interview with a psychologist. The duration of an assessment can last anywhere from ten minutes to a few hours. In some situations, employees are requested to complete surveys over a period of time. Psychologists also seek to ensure the assessments are objective by standardising test conditions, instructions, time, content, scoring and interpretation.

All assessments are tested and interpreted by skilled psychologists who provide the results in a formal report that is given to the employee and/or the person’s manager.

One of the main purposes of psychological assessments is to assist employers to recruit and select the most appropriate people. The recruitment and selection process can be expensive and finding and retaining the ‘right people’ can reduce long-term costs and ensures the abilities and personalities of new employees match that of the organisation’s corporate culture. Employers also request the psychological assessment of current staff to determine training needs and gaps.

Is Psychological Assessment for You?
Employers who want an appraisal of the aptitude, skills and personalities of current and potential employees request the services of psychologists to undertake psychological assessments. Special psychological assessments are available to measure the following areas:

Recruitment and Selection:
• Reasoning Skills
• Intellectual Ability
• Problem Solving Skills
• Critical Thinking and Reasoning Processes
• Verbal Skills
• Mathematical / Numerical Abilities
• Memory and Recall
• General Knowledge
• Clerical Speed and Accuracy
• Mechanical Reasoning
• Spatial Ability
• Literacy , Spelling and Language Usage
• Computer Skills
• Manual Dexterity
• Reading Ability
• Employment Ability for those with Disabilities

Personality Indicators:
• Emotional Intelligence
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Management
• Risk Taking
• Change Orientation
• Conscientiousness

Organisational Development:
• Conflict Resolution
• Change Management
• Coaching
• Employment Wellbeing
• Job Analysis
• Leadership
• Occupational Stress
• Organisational Culture
• Motivation
• Team Building

Career Planning
• Career Choice
• Career Transition
• Outplacement
• Succession Planning
• Learning Styles
• Long-Term Unemployment

What are the Benefits of Psychological Assessment?
Appointing ITIM professionals to undertake psychological assessments provides a range of benefits.

Benefits for employers are that they:
• retain valuable employees
• improve employee morale
• reduction in recruitment and selection costs
• evaluate the effectiveness of work systems and quality improvement initiatives
• assess the impact of major organisational changes such as rapid growth, restructuring, mergers or downsizing
• evaluate human resource programs such as communication, training, benefits and compensation
• assess staff satisfaction of customers
• identify new business opportunities
• receive a professional and external ‘snapshot’ of key concerns occurring in a work environment
• implement proactive, safe and positive strategies that minimise employees’ resistance to change
• reduce the likelihood of managers making decisions that won’t work
• give employees a sense of being heard increasing their commitment to the organisation
• instigate strategies that have been based on objective findings

Benefits for employees include:
• a chance to find out about their own skills’ levels, abilities, personalities and training requirements
• a sense of organisational involvement in which they are asked for their opinions, and perspectives on the work environment
• a sense of being heard which increases their commitment to the organisation
• a possibility to contribute to the appraisal and growth of the organisation.