In a world where skilled employees are in high demand, determining and securing the best candidates for your open roles is crucial but can prove tricky. Relying only on resumes to find such talented employees is no longer the best option.

Resumes aren’t reliable for identifying talented candidates because they can be manipulated. In other words, they may not provide accurate information about a candidate’s real abilities. Employee skills assessments, on the other hand, focus precisely on individuals’ abilities.

With an employee skills assessment, you no longer have to worry about offering a post to a candidate without knowing exactly how strong that individual is. These tests review your candidates applied skills for carrying out a variety of tasks and allow them to demonstrate that they have the right personality for the job.

In this article, we will define employee skills assessments, explore their various types and why they are important, and explain when you should use an employee skills assessment to get the best result.

Table of contents

• What is an employee skills assessment?
• Types of employee skills assessments
• Why are employee assessments so important?
• When should you use an employee assessment
• ✅ Get started with a smarter way to measure employee skills

What is an employee skills assessment?

An employee skills assessment is a test or a series of tests that companies use to check employees’ capabilities relevant to a particular post. In simpler terms, it is a tool used to measure how effectively a candidate can handle a particular position.

Identifying the best candidate for a position can be tasking for a recruiter, but an employee skills assessment will help remove the difficulties and reduce the chances of mis-hiring.

The primary function of employee skills assessments is to point recruiters in the direction of the most highly skilled candidates who have what it takes to succeed in the open job post. Employee assessments do this by evaluating candidates against various criteria.

An employee competency assessment can either be online or physical. However, most employee skills assessment platforms offer online tests because they are easier and quicker to set up and operate.

When setting up an employee skills assessment, you can group various tests and administer them as a single skills testing package to your candidates. In doing so, you can measure candidates on all the essential skills required for the position.

Types of employee skills assessments

The types of employee competency assessments vary based on the skills they measure. While some assessments evaluate communication skills, others assess more technical skills. Below are six basic forms of employee skills assessments:

1. Soft skills assessments

These are employee skills assessments that measure candidates’ soft skills. Essentially, it reviews candidates for non-technical skills that are difficult to quantify but vital for most jobs. Examples of such skills are communication skills, time-management skills, and collaboration skills.

2. Technical skills assessments

Technical skills are specialized abilities and knowledge required for specific roles or necessary to operate particular tools, programs, or technologies. Technical skills can range from project management and data analysis to knowledge of programming languages and operating systems.

It is necessary to review your candidates’ technical skills, especially when the open position requires specialist knowledge. As such, a technical skills assessment will help you measure your candidates’ understanding and expertise.

3. Leadership skills assessments

Leadership skills assessments are a more specific set of tests administered to candidates applying for leadership posts. A good leadership assessment evaluates how well applicants can work with others and lead their teams to achieve their goals.

4. Cognitive skills assessments

A cognitive skills assessment checks a candidate’s ability to analyze, classify, and interpret information quickly and efficiently. With a Cognitive skills test, you can find candidates who are attentive to details and think logically to provide working solutions to problems.

5. Role-specific skills assessments

Role-specific assessments evaluate candidates’ skills directly related to a particular role. They measure the level of expertise of candidates according to different criteria necessary for them to excel in the role.

6. Culture add assessment

With a Culture Add test, you can identify and recruit candidates who will not only fit into your organization’s culture and adapt to your company’s environment but also provide an additional benefit. This test helps you find candidates who can work productively with your organization to achieve its goals.

Why are employee assessments so important?

Employee assessments are a critical part of recruitment, especially when hiring for a remote position. They can help you find the perfect fit for a particular post by testing candidates with carefully prepared questions.

Additionally, employee competency assessments enable you to see your applicants’ skills in action. Here are the key reasons why employee skills assessments are important:

• Employee assessments help you measure your candidates’ skills 
• They help reduce recruitment bias
• They enable you to assess multiple candidates simultaneously
• They save time and cost
• Employee assessments prevent the risk of mis-hiring for a post
• They can also help you understand the capacity of your current workforce
• They help you classify candidates according to their level of expertise

When should you use an employee assessment?

Employee assessments don’t necessarily have to be administered only during recruitment. In fact, they can be used to measure the skills of your current employees. Here are five examples of when you can use an employee assessment:

1. Before awarding a promotion

You can use an employee competency assessment to check how qualified your current employees are for promotion and if they have the skill set to handle new responsibilities.

2. At the end of the working year

Using an employee skills assessment at the end of the working year helps you gauge the strength of your workforce. You can then use the results of the assessment to plan your organization’s goals for the next working year.

3. During employee performance analyses

An employee competency assessment can help you analyze your employees’ performance by checking how advanced their skills are and how much they have improved.

4. During company performance reviews

While reviewing your company’s overall performance, you can use employee assessments to check how well your employees understand and carry out their roles. Ensuring your workforce is focused will help your organization reach its objectives.

5. During recruitment 

The recruitment process can make or break an organization because the candidates you hire are your business’s future. Hence, you must take extra steps to ensure you hire the best for your company.

Incorporating an employee skills assessment in your recruitment process will help you sort through applicants and identify those who would be productive in the open role. Moreover, it will help you eradicate hiring bias from your recruitment, improving diversity and the quality of new hires.

The smart way to measure employee skills

Whether you’re hiring for an open role or offering a promotion to current staff, employee skills testing is the best way to find the kind of candidates you’re looking for. With an employee assessment, you can extensively test your candidates for all the skills your company needs.

At TestGorilla, we offer many employee skills tests to suit all your assessment needs. Our test library is equipped with all types of assessments, so you can find everything you need in one place.

Create a free account with us today to get started.