Why Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment Improves Hiring Results

Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment offers a nuanced approach to pre-employment candidate screening that helps businesses understand the motivations and likelihood of success of candidates in specific roles. Easy-to-read assessment reports are used as a part of the hiring process to ensure the best match between candidates and a particular job, to help those currently in the role maximize their efforts, and/or to help leaders transform their workforce.

But who should leverage these talent assessments, and how do they stack up against other commonly used candidate evaluation tools like personality tests and cognitive tests?

In the below article, we’ll explore these questions and unravel the true value of Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment.

Predictive Talent Assessment Tools: Built for Growing HR Teams

Firstly, who should consider using Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment? The short answer: any organization committed to making informed hiring decisions and building high-performing teams. Whether you’re a small startup, a mid-sized enterprise, or a large corporation, these assessments can offer invaluable insights into candidate suitability, mitigate biases, and streamline the hiring process.

One of the key benefits of Spark Hire’s predictive talent assessments is the versatility across industries and job roles. Whether you’re hiring for sales, marketing, customer service, or another role, Spark Hire’s assessments can be tailored into job profiles to meet the specific requirements of each position.

It measures a combination of the respondent’s skills, knowledge, attributes, and behaviors, what we call “competencies,” in order to identify natural strengths and capacity for success within a given job. By evaluating a range of competencies, these assessments provide a holistic view of a candidate’s potential to succeed in a given role.

Spark Hire’s predictive talent assessment is particularly well-suited for organizations looking to scale their hiring efforts efficiently. When faced with lean hiring teams and high applicant volumes, these assessments streamline the candidate screening process, allowing hiring managers to focus their time and energy on evaluating top candidates rather than sifting through a sea of resumes.

Comparing Various Predictive Talent Assessment Technology

So, how exactly does Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment compare and contrast to other commonly used candidate evaluation tools, such as personality tests and cognitive tests? Let’s break it down.

Predictive Talent Assessment vs. Personality Tests

Personality tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or the Big Five personality traits assessment, are designed to measure an individual’s personality characteristics and preferences. While these tests can provide valuable insights into who the person is as a whole, they then leave the hiring manager with the responsibility of determining if a candidate’s personality is indicative of a fit for a specific role.

Spark Hire’s predictive talent assessment technology, on the other hand, goes beyond assessing personality traits alone. By evaluating a candidate’s behavioral competencies in specific job-related scenarios, these assessments provide a more nuanced understanding of how an individual is likely to perform in a given role. This predictive element is crucial for identifying candidates who not only possess the right personality traits but also have the motivation and intangible skills to excel in their job responsibilities.

Predictive Talent Assessment vs. Cognitive Tests

Cognitive tests, such as aptitude tests or IQ tests, are designed to measure an individual’s abilities in such areas as reasoning, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. While these tests can be useful for assessing a candidate’s cognitive aptitude, they may not capture other important dimensions of job performance, such as interpersonal skills or emotional intelligence. Furthermore, most, if not all, cognitive abilities tests have concerns about fairness and adverse impact.  There are differences in the results by demographic groups.  This can result in lower diversity and litigation.

Spark Hire’s predictive talent assessments take a more holistic approach by evaluating a wide range of competencies, like openness to differing ideas and drive to succeed. By assessing a candidate’s likelihood to apply their full range of skills in job-specific scenarios, these assessments provide a more accurate reflection of their potential to succeed in a given role.

This multidimensional approach is particularly valuable for roles that require a combination of technical expertise and interpersonal skills, such as sales or management positions.  Further, we are very vigilant about fairness.  See the section below about our process to mitigate bias and adverse impact.

A Predictive Talent Assessment is Fast and Easy to Complete

The Spark Hire Predictive Talent Assessment is one assessment which can be used for all roles. Everyone that takes it answers the same 118 questions, and it generally only takes 15-25 minutes to complete. The set of competencies, or job profile, chosen for a particular job is what determines the output/report the client receives for each individual.

Reports are available to review immediately after a candidate completes the assessment, so hiring teams are able to make quicker decisions.

Spark Hire’s Assessment is Based on Peer-Reviewed Science

Over 50 years of scientific research have gone into the development and validation of Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessments. Industrial-organizational psychologists worked to develop the test to reflect real-world outcomes, and the reporting continues to reference the millions of completed assessments from actual candidates.

Independent studies have analyzed the results of organizations using the Predictive Talent Assessment and found positive results in various KPIs essential to company success. Customers saw significant improvements in total sales, team productivity, time to hire, cost per hire, and churn reduction.

Spark Hire’s Assessment Mitigates Bias in the Hiring Process

We have conducted extensive research on the “adverse impact” of the competency scores and profile results. Our dedication to fair hiring practices ensures that our assessment items are put together in such a way as to minimize differences between groups. This means that differences in scores represent real differences in output of the skill.

When organizations need a custom job profile to match a list of appropriate competencies for the role, Spark Hire will work with the team to ensure the new profile does not create any unintentional adverse impacts.

Easy-to-read Reports

Not everyone is an IO psychologist, so Spark Hire designed its assessment reports to be readable and easily interpreted by any member of the hiring team. While some assessment vendors require expensive additional training for each administering team member, Spark Hire offers a turnkey solution with clear results.

There are three scoring options for overall “Fit” for a role based on the profile selected. The report will show that an individual is either a “Good”, “Possible”, or “Not a Natural Fit” for the role. This score is based on the overall average of their individual competency scores.

Studies show that an individual’s score on Spark Hire’s assessment is generally stable and will not vary if taken multiple times. This means you can trust the results to reflect a likely future.

Most individuals will have a range of high to low scores on the competencies that predict success for a role. Having a couple of low scores does not mean someone will never be successful, but it will likely be more challenging to overcome their natural tendencies.

Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment: Hiring with Confidence

Spark Hire’s predictive talent assessments offer a powerful solution for organizations seeking to elevate their hiring success. By providing a comprehensive evaluation of a candidate’s behavioral competencies, these assessments enable hiring managers to make more informed decisions, mitigate biases, and build high-performing teams.

Whether you’re a startup looking to scale your hiring efforts or a large corporation interested in streamlining your candidate screening process, Spark Hire’s Predictive Talent Assessment can help you identify the most qualified candidate for your role.