Managed Assessment Test Service vs In-House Testing

Many organisations are keen to implement assessment testing like psychometrics but are unsure how, when, or where to incorporate them. Psychometrics can be complicated, both from a theoretical perspective and more practically. Most HR practitioners aren’t psychologists and may not feel comfortable diving straight into the research in this area. Additionally, psychometric tests are administered via software platforms, which have their own onboarding and training requirements.

One popular alternative is requesting a managed psychometric testing service, where trained assessors and psychologists conduct the assessment on your behalf. This way, there is no training, onboarding, or technological change required; it's all handled as part of a professional service and you know it will be done correctly.

The managed psychometric testing service will also handle the administrative practicalities of testing, inviting the candidates, replying to candidate emails, adding extra time, and even providing feedback if needed.

In this article, we will outline the benefits of using a managed psychometric testing service over doing everything in-house.

The main reason why organisations use managed psychometric testing services is to save time on training and onboarding requirements. Many psychometric testing providers require clients to complete training and acquire qualifications before they can administer the assessments themselves. Although this approach is becoming quickly outdated, some providers still insist on this, making a managed service seem more attractive. Here, already-qualified assessors can simply handle the assessments on the client’s behalf, saving the client time and effort in the short term.

With a managed service, organisations can see if they like the assessments and their results before committing to a larger contract, easing the concerns of worried stakeholders. Likewise, after completing a managed assessment service, if the organisation did not find that the process added value, then little would have been lost compared to a larger upfront commitment.

Managed psychometric services also provide a gateway to conveniently use niche or infrequently required assessments without a larger commitment. For example, if you want to test the emotional intelligence of senior manager candidates but don’t hire senior managers often, a managed service could be more cost-effective. Managed psychometric services lend themselves well to low-volume and infrequent assessment projects and could represent a more cost-effective option in this instance.

Another common reason to request a managed psychometric testing service is to leverage the expertise of the provider. Most organisations don’t have extensive knowledge and experience of psychometrics, certainly not to the level of specialist consultants. Consequently, some HR professionals and hiring managers may feel insecure about their level of knowledge and will simply prefer to outsource this task to someone more experienced. This can give significant peace of mind to uncertain employers and reassure hiring managers of the efficacy of the process.

Expert advice and perspective are also welcomed by organisations that have particularly stringent compliance requirements and feel that conducting assessments in-house could expose a potential discrimination claim. Many organisations are concerned about the legal implications of using psychometrics and would much rather defer to experts in the field. This is a completely understandable perspective, and a managed psychometric testing service could represent a smooth approach from a compliance perspective.

Sometimes, especially if there's the threat of a discrimination claim, it's reassuring to have the experts on your side. They will be able to robustly defend the choice of assessment (based on requirement for the role or job description) and use evidence to explain how the assessments do not unfairly discriminate against protected groups.

One challenge for organisations when adopting psychometric testing is the additional candidate support required. Some in-house talent professionals don't know the research well enough or the associated testing platform to troubleshoot candidate issues as they arise. For example, if candidates start asking technical questions about the validity of psychometric tests or experience technical issues with the testing platform, not knowing how to respond could reflect poorly on the organisation.

A managed psychometric testing service would probably include first-line candidate support, making it the provider's responsibility to deal with candidate queries. Undoubtedly, these service providers will be more experienced and better informed regarding technical issues and can resolve them with more confidence. This helps ensure a smooth candidate experience, which is essential from an employer branding perspective.

Lastly, if the organisation has access to the correspondence, the provider's responses can help inform organisations of best practices, making in-house testing more viable down the line. Organisations should use this content to create a set of frequently asked questions from candidates, helping the organisation to act more autonomously next time. Sometimes, managed psychometric services are used as a temporary stopgap, with the provider helping the client transition to towards in-house testing over time.

An outsourced managed psychometric testing service could be useful where internal resources are stretched. Many psychometric testing platforms are so accessible and easy to use that a managed service is either not necessary or is something that is used infrequently by internal talent teams. However, especially for organisations without a dedicated HR team, this level of outsourcing could be a cost-effective and time-efficient option, and is something you should raise with any psychometric testing provider that you are considering. For organisations with a dedicated HR team or with prior experience with psychometric testing, managing the process in-house is likely to be more cost-effective, especially when working with providers that don’t require mandatory paid training.

To find out more about how Test Partnership could help with a managed service or to discuss whether it's something you will get value from, feel free to book a call with us to discuss your requirements.