Designing Psychometric tests - which existing Test/s can I use to measure aspects?

I am working for a reputed hospital. I am looking to design Psychometric tests for our employees measuring the following aspects:

1. Team building
2. Handling stress
3. Potential for growth
4. Emotional intelligence (EQ) - Using one's emotions in a constructive way in the work environment
5. Physical and mental stamina
6. Time management and Discipline

I need suggestions on which existing tests I can use to measure the above aspects or how I can proceed with designing a new test. I would require the actual test pattern, its scoring key, and its interpretation. If anyone has experience with a similar assignment, please provide me with assistance.

Thanks and Regards,
Aditi

Designing and Implementing Psychometric Tests

Psychometric tests are well-designed by some companies. We use these for various purposes. If you are taking the onus of designing these tests yourself, do you have the requisite qualifications to do so? Designing psychometric tests requires immense research. Do you have a research plan? If the design of the tests is faulty, the output the test provides will also be faulty, affecting the quality of your recruitment.

You may use existing tests available in the market, but it can be costly to test each candidate. Do you have that kind of recruitment budget?

Among the five parameters you have provided, I notice some overlap. If a candidate has good EQ, then they will likely be a good team player or team builder. They will also be able to handle stress and possess mental stamina. Therefore, why test the candidate on separate parameters?

At what level would you like to conduct these tests? At lower levels, will candidates understand the test questions or statements? I raise this question because I once trained staff at a very prominent multi-specialty and super-specialty hospital in Bangalore. Their command over English was average, barely enough to communicate with patients. Administering psychometric tests would have been too much for them.

What score do you expect candidates to attain in each parameter? Finding a candidate who can score more than 70% on each parameter would be a herculean task. Are you prepared to reject a candidate due to a low score in 1-2 parameters?

Behavioural Interviewing as an Alternative

For recruitment purposes, there is a time-tested method of "Behavioural Interviewing." Have you trained your Managers and HODs in behavioural interviewing skills? What is your observation regarding the effectiveness of this interviewing method? Training the individuals involved in recruitment in behavioural interviewing can significantly enhance the quality of your recruitment process. I conduct training on this module. Click on the hyperlink to know the details.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Like Dinesh mentioned, designing Psychometric Tests is a full-time job, needing teams or hordes of psychologists from different streams like Clinical, Organizational, Criminal, etc., to cover a single test score from multiple and all possible psychological scenarios. There are companies that exclusively focus on PsyTests alone.

Examples of Companies Specializing in Psychometric Tests

Thomas Profiling and AtmanCo (contact: Sawalha, Leen [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]) are two such companies with which I have had some interaction and experience. I would suggest you focus on your core areas and utilize the help of specialists in other areas that are bound to be off-track for your function.

@ Dinesh,

Costs can be handled when the deal is struck for bulk usage. But most often, organizations have mandatory PsyTests for only senior-level and/or critical positions, not across the board for all positions. There were days when most such PsyTests were based on IQ (Intelligent Quotient), but they have been discarded for decades due to the introduction of what you mentioned, EQ (Emotional Quotient), as a more accurate indication of human psychology. Now the most accurate indicator is found to be SQ (Spiritual Quotient), more like what Indian Philosophy taught and practiced for eons. But I am not sure if there are any PsyTests based on SQ.

However, your comments regarding the scores vis-a-vis different parameters are a bit misleading. Please note that there are no ratings that are right or wrong. Even if someone scored 70%, it doesn't mean they are great. To give an example, a recent case we handled was for a senior IT person whose scores showed that he was a taskmaster, one who takes responsibility and expects the needed authority. We were asked to evaluate him. In a nutshell, he would be the right fit for an environment where the existing work culture is more lackadaisical and needs some straightening-out, but would be the wrong fit in such an environment if there's no company management backing. I hope you get the point.

Regarding the English example of the hospital you quoted, I don't think PsyTests are meant for such situations. The English knowledge or the lack of it and similar skills don't really fall under the ambit of PsyTests, which are used to gauge the mental, emotional, and psychological frames of the individual.

Regards,

TS