The Supreme Court's recent landmark employment-discrimination ruling might prompt employers to use tests more in making hiring and promotion decisions. But it has others scrutinizing their existing tests to ensure they are free of bias.
"There's going to be a re-evaluation of what additional tools are available to employers," says Maria Konev, human-resources manager at Liquid Transport Corp. of Avenel, NJ. Ms. Konev says she sometimes uses personality tests to help choose between equally qualified candidates for jobs or promotions, and would like to use tests more frequently. Following the court's ruling, Ms. Konev says she is considering using personality tests more and giving other exams to dispatchers and drivers.
"It is a tool," says Paul Nolan, owner of Cincinnati-based Personnel Profiles, which designs and administers aptitude tests. He suggests clients follow five steps, including an introductory interview followed by a skills test, a second interview, a drug test and a background check.
Doug Reynolds, vice president for Development Dimensions International, a Pittsburgh human resources and leadership consulting firm that develops tests for employers, says tests for hiring and promotion are most commonly used by retailers, manufacturers, telecommunications companies and businesses with large sales forces. Mr. Reynolds says the court's "very public statement of support for an objective and validated" test should ease concerns among private-sector employers about using tests.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2009
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