In the modern workplace, the role of behavioral assessment tests has become more critical than ever.
Such assessments are not just tools for finding the perfect match for your job openings; they’re the compass guiding you through the ever-changing job market.
They also ensure your team meets current skill demands and thrives in the current environment. This is vital for sustaining a vibrant and effective workforce.
Whether it’s behavioral assessments for employment or training and performance appraisal purposes, an online quiz tool can fulfill such needs.
According to CareerBuilder:
- 75% of employers admitted they selected the wrong person for a position before
- Companies lose $14,900 on every bad hire on average
This is something you never want to experience.
In this post, you’ll learn about behavioral assessment tests – what they are, their benefits, the types of behavioral tests, and finally, how to conduct such an assessment.
Let’s dive in.
What Is a Behavioral Assessment Test?
A behavioral assessment test is used for observing, analyzing, describing, and predicting human behaviors. It has its roots in the field of psychology. In the context of employment, organizations rely on these assessments to gain insights into employees’ behaviors outside the clinical settings.
This assessment can throw light on employees’ personality traits, attitudes, working styles, adaptability, willingness to learn, and leadership capacities. This enables companies not just to hire but also retain and promote the right individuals confidently after assessing their suitability for a position.
Behavioral assessments also predict how employees will behave in certain work situations. It identifies their likes, dislikes, abilities, aspirations, fears, and personal and professional challenges and sees how they fit into a new role. In this sense, it’s a type of personality test or psychographic test.
For example, a candidate with poor time management skills won’t thrive in an environment that works on time-sensitive tasks and emphasizes timeliness and strict deadlines.
You can also deploy such assessments before conducting conflict management training by analyzing the nature of conflict in the workplace and your employees’ conflict management styles. Plus, you can use this type of assessment for annual performance reviews or succession planning.
According to Dianne Crampton, the founder & president of team-building and leadership development consultancy TIGERS Success Series, Inc.,
“A behavioral assessment measures how people perform and act both emotionally and professionally in common, everyday situations. For example, if you are looking for a collaborative work culture suite of behaviors as opposed to an internally competitive work culture, how people behave within these distinct work culture personalities is important.”
Watch: How to Create an Assessment Online
Why Are Behavioral Assessment Tests Important?
In the past, companies generally hired or promoted people based on their educational qualifications and work experience. But these methods didn’t give recruiters a full picture of the candidates.
Of late, there’s been heightened competition in the job market primarily due to a shortage of employable candidates. This leads to a paradigm shift in skill requirements and work culture in almost all organizations.
This is where behavioral assessments become a viable method for assessing a person’s suitability for a job role. They are a must, considering the time and effort that goes into hiring the right candidates.
These pre-employment and pre-training behavioral assessments help you measure various characteristics, such as attitude, adaptability, ability to be a team player, leadership & management skills, and more.
The average cost of a bad hire equals up to 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings, as per the U.S. Department of Labor.
Employee retention is a major concern these days. On top of that, a hiring mistake for a job position can cost you monetarily and in terms of lost time and missed opportunities. A behavioral assessment test can be the best solution for this issue.
It enables you to make informed hiring and promotion decisions so that you hire, develop, and retain the right employees without bias and bring the best results to your employees and company.
Which Traits Can Behavioral Assessment Tests Measure?
Behavioral assessments are powerful tools that can measure a wide array of traits to help organizations understand their employees better. Here are some key traits these assessments can measure:
- Personality Traits: Assessments can reveal core personality traits such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability, helping employers understand how individuals might fit into their teams and organizational culture.
- Cognitive Abilities: These assessments can gauge cognitive skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities, which are crucial for roles that require analytical thinking and strategic planning.
- Emotional Intelligence: Understanding emotional intelligence traits such as self-awareness, empathy, and social skills is essential for roles that involve teamwork and leadership.
- Adaptability: Assessments can measure how adaptable an employee is to change, which is vital in today’s fast-paced work environments.
- Communication Skills: Effective communication is key in any role, and these assessments can evaluate an individual’s ability to convey ideas clearly and listen actively.
- Leadership Potential: By assessing traits like confidence, initiative, and the ability to inspire others, employers can identify potential leaders within their organization.
- Work Ethic and Motivation: Assessments can help determine an individual’s level of motivation, their approach to work, and their commitment to their job.
- Team Collaboration: Understanding how well an employee works within a team, including their ability to cooperate and support colleagues, is critical for team dynamics.
- Conflict Resolution: Assessing an employee’s approach to handling conflicts can provide insights into their problem-solving skills and their ability to maintain harmony in the workplace.
- Stress Management: Evaluating how employees cope with stress can help in placing them in roles where they can perform optimally without being overwhelmed.
By measuring these traits, behavioral assessments provide a comprehensive view of an employee’s capabilities, helping organizations make more informed decisions in hiring, development, and team composition.
Types of Behavioral Assessment Tests in the Workplace
In this section, we’ll explore the common behavioral assessment methods used in the workplace.
1. Personality-Based Assessments
Personality-based assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or the Big Five Personality Traits, provide valuable insights into an individual’s typical behavior patterns, traits, and preferences. They help identify an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferred work styles.
By understanding employees’ personalities, organizations can effectively tailor job responsibilities and identify potential areas for growth and development.
Watch: How to Create a Personality Quiz
2. Cognitive & Emotional Intelligence Assessments
Cognitive assessments evaluate an individual’s mental ability and problem-solving skills, while an emotional intelligence assessment measures competencies such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills.
These assessments help organizations identify employees with strong cognitive abilities, critical thinking skills, and emotional intelligence, which are valuable for roles that require complex problem-solving, decision-making, and effective interpersonal relationships.
3. Soft Skills Assessments
Soft skill behavioral assessment tests evaluate an individual’s abilities in areas such as time management, task management, self-management, communication skills, and other behavioral competencies.
These assessments help in understanding how employees organize their work, manage their time, communicate with others, and regulate their behavior in a work environment. Such assessments can be conducted through interactive scenarios, self-report surveys, and feedback from colleagues and supervisors.
4. Behavioral Interviews & Situational Judgment Tests
Behavioral interviews and situational judgment tests assess an individual’s behavior and reactions in specific work-related situations. These assessments help organizations gauge a candidate’s future behavior based on past behavior and responses to hypothetical scenarios.
Organizations can use these assessments to assess an individual’s decision-making skills, problem-solving abilities, and interpersonal skills.
Pro Tip: You can conduct behavioral interviews in a highly flexible way using video interview quizzes. Such quizzes let the interviewer and interviewees record their questions/responses anytime, anywhere, making the interview process highly convenient.
Watch: How to Create a Video Interview Quiz
5. 360-Degree Feedback Assessments
360-degree feedback assessments involve gathering feedback about an individual’s behavior and performance from various stakeholders, including supervisors, peers, direct reports, and customers.
These assessments provide a comprehensive view of an employee’s performance from multiple perspectives and help identify strengths, motivation levels, goal-orientedness, and opportunities for improvement.
By using 360-degree feedback assessments, organizations can gain a holistic understanding of an individual’s behavior, facilitate targeted development plans, and improve leadership.
You can collect 360-degree feedback easily by creating employee surveys using an online survey tool like ProProfs Survey Maker. It lets you pick from 100+ ready-to-use and customizable survey templates or build surveys in seconds using an advanced AI question generator.
Watch: How to Create a Survey Using ProProfs Survey Maker
6. Diversity-Sensitivity Assessments
Diversity-sensitivity assessments evaluate an individual’s behaviors and attitudes in relation to cultural differences and diversity.
These assessments help organizations understand how employees approach and interact with individuals from different backgrounds, ethnicities, or cultures. By fostering cultural awareness and inclusivity, organizations can create a more inclusive and harmonious work environment.
7. Observational Assessments
Observational assessments involve directly observing and evaluating an individual’s behavior in real-life work situations. This can be done through methods such as job shadowing, work samples, or role-playing exercises.
By observing employees’ behavior firsthand, organizations can gain valuable insights into their skills, work habits, interactions with others, and overall performance.
8. Self-Report Questionnaires & Surveys
Self-report questionnaires and surveys ask employees to provide information about their own behaviors, preferences, and attitudes. These behavioral assessments can cover a wide range of topics, such as work style, communication style, or conflict resolution.
By collecting self-reported data, organizations can gain insights into how employees perceive themselves, their work environment, and their interactions with others.
When selecting the appropriate behavioral assessment test for the workplace, it’s crucial to consider the specific needs and goals of the organization. Each of these assessments uncovers valuable insights into employee behavior and helps organizations make informed decisions that drive success and growth.
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Uses & Benefits of Behavioral Assessment Tests
Behavioral assessments have quickly become an essential tool in modern organizational management, offering a range of uses and benefits that contribute to a dynamic and effective workplace.
Let’s explore how these assessments serve as multifaceted tools:
- Enhanced Hiring Decisions
Behavioral assessment tests streamline the recruitment process by predicting job performance and compatibility. By evaluating a candidate’s behavioral traits, companies can make more informed and efficient hiring decisions, leading to a better employee-job fit.
- Personalized Employee Development
Behavioral assessments are instrumental in tailoring employee development programs to individual needs. Understanding an individual’s behavioral profile allows for customized training and development plans, fostering personal growth and skill enhancement.
- More Employee Engagement
Understanding the behavioral drivers of employees enables managers to craft engagement strategies that resonate on a personal level. This approach not only boosts morale but also enhances overall productivity.
Read: How to Drive Employee Engagement Using Online Quizzes
- Improved Communication
A deep understanding of individual communication styles, as revealed by these assessments, facilitates better interactions among team members. This improved communication leads to a more collaborative and efficient work environment.
- Effective Conflict Management
By illuminating various conflict management styles within a team, behavioral assessment tests equip managers and employees with the insights needed to navigate and resolve conflicts more effectively, promoting a harmonious work environment.
- Leadership Identification & Succession Planning
Behavioral assessment tools are pivotal in identifying potential leaders by highlighting those with innate traits and skills for leadership roles. This aids in effective succession planning and leadership development.
- Team Composition & Transformation
Building teams with complementary behavioral traits leads to a more balanced and effective workforce. Behavioral assessment tests aid in assembling teams that bring diverse perspectives and employee’s strengths to the table, enhancing innovation and team dynamics.
- Comprehensive Performance Reviews
Integrating behavioral assessments into performance appraisals provides a holistic view of an employee’s contributions. It allows managers to understand not just what tasks were accomplished but how they were approached, offering a more nuanced perspective on performance.
In essence, behavioral assessments’ utility extends far beyond mere evaluation; they are integral to shaping a productive, harmonious, and progressive workplace.
From recruitment to leadership development, these tools offer invaluable insights that drive personal growth, enhance team dynamics, and ultimately contribute to the overarching success and sustainability of an organization.
Examples of Behavioral Assessment Tests
If you’re wondering about the available behavioral tests for employment, here are five top ones you can use. Find out what each of them tests and how they work.
- DISC Test
The DISC test is attributed to William Moulton Marston, an American psychologist. DISC stands for dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. The test dissects a person’s personality into these four areas and assesses them.
(Source)
How It Works: It works through self-evaluation in the following areas:
- Dominance: How strong-willed or confident employees are about their work
- Influence: How influential or inspiring they are to others and whether or not they’re capable of building meaningful professional relationships
- Steadiness: How stable, consistent, and dependable they are
- Compliance: How task-oriented, cautious, and accurate they are based on their expertise
The DISC test identifies the main personality type of an employee and how they are likely to behave in the workplace. It enables employees to understand themselves better and how they interact with those around them.
Participants self-assess by rating themselves on a scale of 1 (very inaccurate) to 5 (very accurate) on a series of statements about their personality.
Example Questions
- I am always confident about my work
- I like meeting new people
- I am dependable in the workplace
- I prefer doing a task right, not just finishing it
- Big 5 Test
Also known as the Five Factor or OCEAN Test, the Big 5 test is another personality test based on self-evaluation. It’s derived from the five-factor personality model that assesses personality in five areas.
- Openness: How open the assessment takers are to new ideas and activities
- Conscientiousness: How aware they are of their actions and consequences; a sense of responsibility
- Extraversion: How outgoing and sociable they are
- Agreeableness: How friendly, cooperative, and likable they are
- Neuroticism: How emotionally stable they are and what their stress, frustration, and irritability levels are
(Source)
How It Works: Participants self-assess by rating themselves on a scale of 1 (very inaccurate) to 5 (very accurate) on a series of statements about their personality. The test gives you a better understanding of the personality types and whether a person will fit into a particular role.
Example Questions
- I get irritated easily
- My colleagues like to be around me
- I like participating in team activities
- I weigh all the pros and cons before executing a task
- I welcome new ideas and challenges
- Culture Add Test
This test measures an employee’s personal values and how they align with a company’s values. It helps you check their likelihood to adapt or conform to your organization’s core values. This test lets you identify employees who will positively impact your company culture.
(Source)
How It Works: You share a survey listing all the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and values that resonate with your organization. Participants take the survey and select all the values they think matter to them and uphold. They can even elaborate on why the values are important to them.
As already mentioned, this test lets you assess how an employee aligns with your organizational values and whether they will be a culture fit or misfit in your company.
Example Questions
- What are your career goals?
- How do you measure success at work?
- What values do you generally endorse?
- If you were to hire someone, what values would you consider in a candidate?
- Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
- Enneagram Test
Bolivian philosopher Óscar Ichazo came up with this system of personality assessment. It identifies nine different personality types on a diagram known as an enneagram.
The test is designed to help you understand core beliefs and motivations in people and how they affect different areas of life, including emotional intelligence, team dynamics, leadership, and conflict resolution.
(Source)
How It Works: This personality typing system identifies patterns in how people interpret the world and manage their emotions. It shows how the nine personality types relate to one another.
For this, it uses a numbers system to designate each personality type, and individuals may relate to more than one type. Each type comes with its motivations and fears that guide people’s actions and decision-making.
Test takers must choose from two opposing statements, helping evaluators understand their personality better.
Example Questions
- I’d describe myself as a go-getter OR I am a dreamer and always content with life
- I like reconciling conflict situations OR I don’t usually give in but fight till the end
- I like to help people around OR I believe people should seek things out by themselves
- 16 Types Test
The 16 Types test is based on the work of Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. It’s an introspective and self-evaluation questionnaire to assess participants’ preferences in real-life situations. They can select their choices based on four different dimensions:
- Introversion versus extraversion
- Intuition versus sensing
- Feeling versus thinking
- Judging versus perceiving
(Source)
How It Works: Test participants must choose between two statements and select the statement that best applies to their personality. The test gives an idea of their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and key motivators. This, in turn, helps you see how they may fit into your organization.
Example Questions
You focus on:
- Specifics and facts OR Patterns and relationships
What do you find most attractive in other people?
- Intelligence and integrity OR Beauty and charm
How do you affect people positively?
- I make them feel relaxed OR I motivate & energize them
What do you value most?
- Timeliness OR Spontaneity
How to Conduct a Behavioral Assessment Test
One of the easiest and most accurate behavioral assessment tools is online quiz software.
Online quizzes are versatile. You can assess employees and candidates on various characteristics, such as
- personality traits
- emotional intelligence (empathy, adaptability & teamwork)
- soft skills, such as management and communication
- cognitive abilities
- analytical skills
Let’s see how to conduct a behavioral assessment using online quizzes in five easy steps:
Step 1: Understand the Job Positions & the Types of Employees You Expect
Before you conduct a behavioral assessment test, understand the job roles you want to fill in and the sort of employees you expect for them.
For example, if you have an opening for a middle manager, one of the qualities you would expect to see is coordination skills, as they would act as an intermediary below top management and lower-level management.
They should also be good at implementing directives from senior management, goal-setting, supervising subordinates, and running day-to-day business operations.
Along with this, they should be able to work under pressure, work with employees with different personalities, and lead others through motivation and confidence.
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Step 2: Choose the Best Quiz-Making Tool
Choosing the best quiz tool for your assessments is half the work done. Ideally, the software application should have the following characteristics:
- Easy to understand and use
- Support easy assessment creation (from scratch, with ready resources or AI)
- Customization options for themes, colors, styles, and branding
- Robust security settings
In addition, the quiz software you choose should provide reports and statistics on quiz results. This will enable you to make informed decisions on participants’ performance. For example, ProProfs Quiz Maker provides quiz participants’ details, assessment date, score, time taken, and result.
Watch: How to Review Quiz Reports & Statistics
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