Behavioral Assessment in the Workplace: A Definitive Guide

Behavioral Assessment in the Workplace: A Definitive Guide

Human resources professionals and hiring managers often have a challenging relationship with the behavioral indicators of performance in the workplace. On one hand, they typically recognize their importance, and virtually all job descriptions will make explicit references to resilience, work ethic, organizational ability, strategic thinking, etc. However, when it comes to actually measuring these constructs, they often make the mistake of relying solely on interviews, which are not suited to this purpose. Ultimately, interviews are social skills tests, and the most charismatic candidate may convince you of their behavioral suitability, regardless of the reality.

In this article, we will outline the two main ways that behavioral constructs can be assessed in the workplace, along with recommendations for practical use.

Personality Questionnaires

Personality questionnaires are the most common way to directly measure essential behavioral characteristics in the workplace. Although a myriad of different names exist for these constructs – e.g., soft skills, personality traits, competencies, strengths, values, etc. – they all belong to the same family of psychometric constructs. Consequently, they are measured in fundamentally the same way, using multiple-choice questionnaires and Likert-scale style responses. Candidates state their level of agreement with each behavioral statement, and those scores are used to quantify their level on each psychological construct being measured, which comprises their personality profile.

The main benefit of behavioral assessments, such as personality questionnaires, over interviews is that they measure both interpersonal and intrapersonal traits. Constructs like interpersonal skills, charisma, charm, and communication are readily expressed during an interview, making them accessible for measurement via interviews. Intrapersonal traits, however, such as resilience, work ethic, organizational skills, and creativity, are not expressed interpersonally, and are thus unsuitable for measurement via interviews. Behavioral assessments, however, can accurately and reliably measure both types of trait, allowing organizations to truly measure the behavioral constructs of importance.

Behavioral assessments, particularly personality questionnaires, can be used at any level and for any role in recruitment. Ultimately, every role in existence has a behavioral component that influences success to some degree. For example, it’s always an advantage to be hardworking, organized, and liked by your team; these are behavioral characteristics that can be measured and factored into selection decisions. Ideally, these assessments should be used at the early stages of the recruitment process, as these tools can be administered very scalably online.

Situational Judgment Test

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) offer an alternative approach to personality questionnaires for behavioral assessment. SJTs present candidates with hypothetical scenarios, along with a series of potential actions to address the situation. Candidates are then required to identify which specific courses of action are the most effective and/or should be pursued. In doing so, organizations measure a candidate’s ability to solve problems, make effective decisions, and exercise sound judgment. The higher the score, the more effectively that candidate demonstrates these behavioral capabilities, suggesting a higher quality of hire.

This approach differs significantly from personality questionnaires, as SJTs involve “correct” and “incorrect” answers. Ultimately, the assessment will be scored such that certain response options yield no points, or fewer points than others. With personality questionnaires, the employing organization must decide what good looks like, which can vary significantly between organizations. For SJTs, however, high scores are universally positive, making interpretation much simpler.

A significant practical benefit of SJTs is their high “face validity,” especially in comparison to personality questionnaires. Since SJTs need to be role-specific and involve scenarios directly related to the area of work, candidates rarely question their relevance. This can also be helpful when introducing behavioral assessments into organizations with hesitant or skeptical stakeholders, making SJTs a useful introduction to behavioral assessment in the workplace.

Summary and Recommendations

Although almost all organizations recognize the importance of behavioral traits in the workplace, few take active steps to actually measure them in the selection process. Rather than rely solely on interviews, which are ineffective measures of behavioral traits, behavioral assessments should be utilized for this task. Personality questionnaires and SJTs are the most common ways to achieve this, and they are by far the most evidence-based. The key, ultimately, is to ensure that you measure what matters in recruitment, maximizing the probability of making good hires, with behavioral assessments being an integral part of this approach.