What is a psychological assessment?

Psychological assessment, also known as psychological testing, is conducted by a trained psychologist to better understand an individual and provide valuable insights into the individual's behavior, skills, thoughts and personality.

What are the benefits of psychological assessments to businesses?

Psychological assessments can be valuable tool for businesses to utilise when they are hiring staff, it can help them identify the most suitable staff and can be used in employee screening, succession planning, managerial selection, pre-employment decisions, and employee counselling situations. Financially, psychological testing can aid your company from employing the incorrect person.
Why do businesses hire psychologists?**
A business usually hires a psychologist to help hire or promote people, based on the psychological testing results. Many companies have a trained psychologist evaluate all final candidates for a position above a specific salary level or for very high level executive positions. There is an obvious advantage to having an objective psychologist as the evaluator, as there can be variability and inconsistencies in the approach managers take to performing evaluations.

• How does a psychological evaluation assess a person?
  

Most evaluations assess the following areas:

(1) Intellectual level (IQ) and problem-solving style and ability
(2) Creative abilities
(3) Personality and emotional functioning (identify potential problems and abilities)
(4) Insight ability
(5) Managerial style
(6) Ability for sales
(7) Decision making ability
(8) Organisational skills
(9) Leadership abilities
(10) Ambition
(11) Adaptability
(12) Ability to fit specific needs for the company or organization

Psychological evaluations can guide the organisation how the candidate can develop or improve their skills, as some candidates may need additional training or education. Once the evaluation process has been completed, psychological evaluations are confidentially submitted to the senior HR manager or directly to the CEO to protect the confidentiality of the information. Individual feedback sessions are available to every successful candidates as part of their development.

How can psychological assessment help my business?

• Psychologists use psychological testing to improve your business in the following ways:
  

(1) Gain a better understanding of a company's management talent and potential
(2) To better recognise individuals that have strong abilities for development opportunities
(3) To discover whether an employee is ready for promotion or managerial work
(4) To tailor plans for development based on the individual's specific abilties and deficiencies
(5) To gain a better understanding of a person's poor work performance or personality issues and to tailor a plan for improvement .