Feature

Testing for Talent !

Tests of ability and personality are used for selecting the right candidate for a job through psychometric analysis. Sonal Shukla examines if these can be used as effectively in the healthcare industry

Hire for attitude, train for excellence has always been the mantra for Rachna Kamra, Director, Capability Development, Fortis Healthcare Limited, New Delhi. Not surprisingly, Fortis Healthcare has implemented psychometric tools like Thomas profiling, FIRO -B and Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) selectively in key areas of senior management, patient care services and nursing in their quest to hire and harness the right potential.

Psychometric tests are objectively and scientifically designed questionnaires that test one's ability in general and/or in specific areas, or assess personality and behaviour. Psychometric analysis is the interpretation of psychological data to predict the possibility of an individual succeeding in a given role, hence considered a major help in recruiting the right individuals with right attitude for a particular job profile. These tests are also used within companies for developmental and promotional purposes. Today, worldwide as well as in India, IT and pharma verticals are increasingly utilising these tests. However, besides a few exceptions like Fortis and Reliance Healthcare who have customised psychometric tools in some key areas, the healthcare industry is still largely ignorant about their benefits.

Recruiting Right

Psychometric tests provide valuable information about a person's abilities, personality and motivation. "Using these tests a company can assess if a candidate has the right competencies to deliver superior performance on the job, thereby enabling the selection of the right candidate," says YVL Pandit, Managing Director, SHL India, Mumbai. Having the right candidate in a job ensures higher employee productivity in the healthcare vertical as elsewhere. With the right healthcare employees, whether nursing, patient care, or hospital administrators, a hospital can deliver superior service to its patients.

Tests popular in the corporate sector, such as FIRO-B, 16 PF (personality factors) and MBTI, are those of general intelligence, verbal and numerical ability and personality. The idea is to judge an individual's problem-solving capability and capacity to be a team player and get along with others. Most psychometric tests preferred in healthcare are related to general intelligence, communication skills, analytical and problem-solving skills. Tests are based on situations relevant to service industry with a high focus on emotional intelligence.

"16 PF Job Model Report gives a 'Good fit Bad fit' of the candidate for the position depending upon the match between the actual scores and the preferred scores. Therefore, this report can be effectively used as a recruitment tool," explains Pooja Karopady, Assistant Consultant, Ma Foi Management Consultants, Mumbai. For example while recruiting for HR, the job profile—the activities of an HR person within a hospital will first be analysed. Information is gathered on skills, attitudes and behaviours required for an HR person's effective functioning in a hospital set-up. On the basis of ranges created for each of those skills, the person will be analysed as a good or bad fit for that position. This report also gives an overall 'percentage fitment' of the candidate to the job as well as his 'fitment' as an individual. Additional on-the-job training can then increase the employee's productivity.

"Some crucial factors missing in an individual when recruited can be analysed. Then he could be trained to develop them" - Pooja Karopady Ma Foi Management Consultants Mumbai

"The industry uses tests which bring out the temperament, care, softer aspects of an individual like empathy, concern & compassion" - Rachna Kamra Director Capability Development Fortis Healthcare, New Delhi

"Using these tests, a company can assess if a candidate has the right competencies to deliver superior performance on the job" - YVL Pandit Managing Director SHL India Mumbai

Successful Service

Success on the job is a function of many variables, depending on an organisation's ability to manage and/or control all of them synchronously. Healthcare is a service industry with a lot of stress and strain on human resources owing to high expectations from society, fast changing technology and competition. "In such a scenario, employees in hospitals selected through proper psychometric analysis cope with stress and job burnouts better, and hence have better output in terms of quality and work schedules," believes Dr Aninda Chatterjee, Medical Superintendent, BM Birla Heart Research Centre, Kolkata. Since objective assessment based on the science of psychometrics is able to provide an insight into the individual's abilities and personality, it is possible to identify the right candidate for the right job. This increases the probability of an employee's success.

Up the Ladder

Today, a wide variety of tests are available. However, the choice of test depends on what one wants to measure. In an organisation, various levels require skill sets specific to their job description. For freshers, attributes like adaptability and attitude to learn are important, whereas for the middle level, strategic leadership and ability to take key decisions are vital.

For the senior level, skills like leadership, outlook and ability to look beyond the horizon are essential. Pre-recruitment psychometric tests help to employ the right people at different levels in hospitals. Experts say at the pre-recruitment stage, it is important to know what competencies one is looking for and then to choose the instrument that best predicts it. "Psychometric testing can be used for freshers and lateral entries in the junior management level. Those being inducted at the middle and senior levels are not likely to take too kindly to such tests," objects Ajay Devraj, HR Head, Reliance Health, Mumbai.

Healthcare Specific

"Generally the service industry uses tests which bring out the temperament, care, consideration, the softer aspects of an individual like empathy, concern and compassion. I think these are useful for healthcare too," opines Kamra. Healthcare deals with people and processes, and psychometric tests provide an objective method of profiling an individual which interviews alone may not be able to do without interviewer bias. SHL has deployed tools like Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32), 360-degree feedback and a few simulation exercises in various hospitals in the UK. "We have successfully developed team impact reports that were able to provide objective insights into individual personalities and how they perform in teams. This has provided specific action points for further development," says Pandit.

The choice of tools in a hospital is also role-dependent. For example, individual focused tests are important for a nurse in the wards; however, in an operating theatre what is important is the ability to work well in a team; in an ICU the emphasis would be on attention to detail as well as the ability to handle high amounts of stress. Hospital employees, particularly those engaged in patient care like nurses and ward boys should have a personality that is caring, empathetic, and service oriented. "Hospitals also require staff that work very effectively in teams. Psychometric tools can go a long way in identifying such personality types. Whether it is at the entry level or at higher levels, these tests are useful," opines Pandit.

For example, in an operation theatre scenario where people with different skill sets like GPs, surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses work as a team, it becomes very crucial to build an effective network and relationships. The key is to build team spirit, trust and openness and therefore make the whole team more productive and successful. "SHL's Team Impact Reports used with OPQ32 are easy to use and great for both teams and individuals," says Pandit.

"Usually, people are averse to receiving feedback, but these reports provide feedback in easy-to-understand formats like graphs, making people more receptive not only to critical feedback, but also to use it for development," he adds.

However, Ankush Gupta, Manager, HR, PD Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai believes that it is the middle-level management which can reap maximum benefits from these tests. "Middle level management is a very delicate strata because what is planned at the top is executed and implemented through this level. These are the people being groomed for future leadership positions. Therefore, psychometric tests should be conducted more for middle level management people as the right selection at this level will really help," opines Gupta. Kamra concurs, "Ideally, I would recommend middle level because they will have the highest interface with people. We have also used tests for the middle level."

By identifying candidates with the correct personality, the Hospital is able to employ the right type of patient care staff, thereby providing good service and care to its patients. The advantages are thus, focus and planned developmental initiatives, which in turn lead to employees performing at a higher level and thereby the achievement of desired organisational outcomes. However, according to Dr Chatterjee, unless psychometric tests are standardised, they cannot assess the suitability of a person for a particular job description. A lot of these psychometric reports are targeted at each of these stages like Basic Interpretative Report (BIR) for freshers and to an extent for the middle level management, whereas the CCPI report could be used primarily for higher-level selection.

Identifying the Stars

A combination of ability tests, personality questionnaires and simulation exercises will enable a hospital to identify employees with high potential (stars) and employees with low potential. However, as a first step, it is important to identify what competencies are required to deliver superior performance in the job. Then the employees have to be assessed for these competencies using psychometric tests. Those who demonstrate the right competencies are star employees. "Psychometric analysis provides information about the potential of people. Whether they become stars or under-performers largely depends on how the organisation uses the information derived from psychometric analysis," opines Devraj. A technique called competency mapping helps to identify what important competencies are required for an individual to perform successfully. Certain ranges are decided for these competencies and then mechanisms like psychometric test or role-play (wherein you play a role which you might need to play after you are recruited, not as part of psychometric test but in conjunction) can be used. Depending on the competencies, the organisation can use psychometric tests to identify star performers. Benchmarking the data can also identify potential star performers. Any psychometric test will give data on a person's strengths and weaknesses on the basis of which one could also do a benchmarking. On the basis of the tests given to the star performers (whom you think have been successful in the past in an organisation), data is benchmarked. "The scores of people whom you want to promote or recruit can then be compared with the benchmarked data and their potential gauged," says Karopady. Once the star performers or employees are identified, they can be provided with the right career moves. They can be provided with fast track growth, rewards and more challenging jobs. "The analysis helps in tailoring interventions to convert potential stars to star performers. The analysis by itself does not do this," cautions Devraj. Psychometric tests also help to conduct a need-gap analysis for under-performing employees. Separate training modules may be devised for them to eliminate their shortcomings and improve their productivity. Used by trained and authorised assessors, psychometrics is also an excellent method for identifying potential to shoulder higher responsibility.

Developing Skills

Psychometric tests help in identifying areas of strength and development of hospital employees. This will help the hospital to customise its training programmes to meet specific developmental needs. "They help you in customising behavioural training programmes, for you will know what the gaps are. Suppose there isn't enough concern or compassion in the employees, then we will evolve a programme around service delivery or service excellence," states Kamra.

16 PF BIR includes personality factors like warmth and emotional stability, which form different facets of an individual's personality and help him to function. "Some crucial factors missing in an individual when recruited can be analysed. Then he or she could be trained to develop them," explains Karopady. "On the other hand, Personal Career Development Profile (PCDP) Report gives information on problem-solving resources, how you solve problems, how you cope with stressful situations, your life style, your interaction with your subordinates and your leader, as we believe that a lot of these factors are important in a person's personality. The same report could be used for counselling. If you see that there are certain weaknesses in an individual, than a training programme could be customised to target only those areas."

Use in Conjunction

Along with many benefits, there are also a few limitations to the utility of these tests. Psychometric analysis does not help in increasing the productivity of employees. "It is just one among many tools available to predict the possibility of an individual succeeding in a given role. However, it can be used as a base for planning other interventions that lead to increasing the productivity of employees," avers Devraj. For example, there are tests that could be used to predict the extent to which an employee would take responsibility. By grouping people according to the scores they have attained in these tests, it is possible to put them through appropriate interventions to improve their productivity. As experts suggest, these tests cannot be seen in isolation and can only be used as a part of the entire selection process. "Whenever we give a psychometric test to a person or a corporate entity, we always caution them not to use this test as a sole medium of recruitment because there would be many aspects which can emerge from a face-to-face interview. But equally, other aspects do surface from the psychometric tests. Therefore, they should be used in conjunction," says Karopady.

Proper Application

There is considerable potential for using psychometric testing in the healthcare industry. As more hospitals become professionally managed, and want to provide the best possible treatment and care to their patients, they will require staff with the right competencies. Psychometric tests can contribute to the selection and development of such employees. Therefore, there is significant potential for psychometric tests in the healthcare industry. "It is literally a green-field and has tremendous potential, provided it is done by qualified, trained and authorised assessors. By the same token, it would die a premature death if treated as a fad and done by amateurs, untrained and unauthorised assessors," Devraj warns.

healthcare@expressindia.com