What is a Behavioral Assessment?

Imagine you are hiring for a critical position in your company. You have several resumes in front of you, all seemingly qualified candidates, but how can you be sure who will truly excel in the role? Sure, their education and experience are important, but what about their behavior? How they interact with others, handle stress, and make decisions can be equally crucial in determining their success.

This is where a behavioral assessment comes into play. It's a tool used by employers to evaluate a candidate's personality traits, behavior patterns, and cognitive abilities. By using this assessment, employers gain valuable insights into how candidates are likely to perform in specific work situations. It helps them make informed and objective decisions during the hiring process.

Understanding the purpose of a behavioral assessment is essential, but let's dig deeper to truly grasp its significance.

**The Purpose of a Behavioral Assessment**

The primary purpose of a behavioral assessment is to determine how an individual is likely to behave in certain situations based on their past behavior. It provides a glimpse into their personality, motivations, and work style. By identifying these attributes, employers can predict how candidates might perform within their organization.

The assessment helps employers:

1. **Make better hiring decisions**: A behavioral assessment allows employers to objectively compare different candidates against a set of predetermined criteria. This helps them identify the best fit for a particular role and reduces the risk of hiring someone who may not be suitable in the long run.

2. **Improve team dynamics**: By understanding the behavioral preferences and strengths of each team member, employers can create well-rounded teams that complement each other's skills. This promotes better collaboration and increases overall team efficiency.

3. **Identify potential leaders**: Behavioral assessments can shed light on individuals who have the potential to become leaders within the organization. By pinpointing key leadership traits, employers can nurture and develop these candidates, ensuring a smooth succession planning process.

4. **Reduce turnover**: Hiring the wrong person for a job can be costly, both financially and in terms of time and energy. Behavioral assessments help in making more accurate hiring decisions, ultimately reducing turnover rates and increasing employee retention.

Now that we understand the purpose, let's explore the different types of behavioral assessments used by employers.

**Types of Behavioral Assessments**

1. **Personality Assessments**: These assessments examine various aspects of a candidate's personality, such as extroversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. Personality assessments often use established frameworks like the Big Five personality traits to provide employers with a comprehensive understanding of a candidate's behavioral tendencies.

2. **Cognitive Assessments**: Cognitive assessments measure a candidate's mental abilities, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking. They help employers evaluate how candidates process information and make decisions, which is crucial for roles that require analytical thinking or complex problem-solving.

3. **Skills-based Assessments**: While not solely focused on behavior, skills-based assessments evaluate a candidate's proficiency in specific areas. These assessments are often used to determine a candidate's technical skills, hands-on ability, or knowledge in a particular field. Although they may not directly measure behavior, they indirectly give employers insights into a candidate's work habits and dedication to self-improvement.

4. **Situational Judgment Tests**: Situational judgment tests simulate real-world scenarios and present candidates with a range of options they can choose from. These assessments evaluate a candidate's ability to analyze situations, make decisions, and apply problem-solving skills to work-related challenges. By examining how candidates would handle specific situations, employers gain insights into their decision-making process and behavioral tendencies.

It's important to note that behavioral assessments are not meant to categorize individuals as "good" or "bad" employees. They serve as tools to assess the fit between a candidate's behavioral traits and the requirements of a specific job role.

Now, let me share a real-life example to illustrate the practical application of behavioral assessments.

**A Real-Life Example**

Meet Sarah, a hiring manager at a marketing agency. The agency is expanding rapidly, and Sarah needs to hire a new team member to handle the increasing workload. She receives numerous resumes, but one stands out – John's. On paper, John seems like the perfect fit for the role, with an impressive educational background and prior experience at a renowned agency.

However, Sarah doesn't solely rely on John's credentials. She decides to administer a behavioral assessment to gain deeper insights into his work style and behavioral preferences. The assessment reveals that John is highly adaptable, a collaborative communicator, and thrives in fast-paced environments. These traits align perfectly with the agency's culture and the demands of the role.

Emboldened by these findings, Sarah invites John for an interview. During the conversation, she delves deeper into the assessment results to gain a better understanding of how John approaches problem-solving, handles conflicts, and adapts to change. The insights from the assessment, combined with the interview, enable Sarah to make an informed decision. She chooses John as the newest addition to her team, confident that he will excel in the role.

**Conclusion**

Behavioral assessments are powerful tools that provide employers with invaluable insights into a candidate's personality, behavior, and cognitive abilities. By utilizing various types of behavioral assessments, employers can make more informed hiring decisions, foster effective team dynamics, identify future leaders, and reduce turnover rates.

When used appropriately and ethically, behavioral assessments can be an essential component of the hiring process. They allow organizations to go beyond what's presented on a resume and truly understand how a candidate is likely to perform in a professional setting. So, the next time you find yourself evaluating a candidate, consider looking beyond the surface and delve deeper into their behavior with a behavioral assessment.