PRE-EMPLOYMENT PERSONALITY TESTS: ARE THEY WORTH THE RISK AND COSTS?
A growing number of organizations are using some type of pre-employment personality assessment test to assist in the hiring process. A number of these organizations have publicly stated that such tests provide them with a better pool of candidates to choose from, by weeding out those that are not suited for the job.
However, personality tests are expensive to implement. They also pose legal risks to employers. These risks have been increased by relatively recent state and federal legislation that prohibits discrimination based on genetic characteristics, as well as the recent trend by plaintiffs' attorneys to consider class action claims instead of just challenging employment practices on behalf of their own individual clients. Because personality is at least partially, if not largely, formed by genetics, an employer who is unable to tie the personality test to the essential functions of the job now faces increased risks when implementing such tests.
This blog certainly does not have the answer as to whether the benefits of such testing outweigh the legal risks and costs, but the Wall Street Journal published an interesting article yesterday discussing this issue. This article also explains how answer keys with optimum answers for the most common personality tests are now widely available on the internet and many applicants are using these keys to ensure that they do not get weeded out in the testing process.
If you use personality tests to screen job applicants or are considering using these tests (or perhaps if you are about to apply for a job and take one of these tests in the hiring process), we encourage you to review this very interesting article.