Proper assessment of job candidates is vital to the government but many agencies “do not use the most predictive assessment tools when evaluating applicant qualifications,” MSPB has said, adding that “this is an area that has received much less attention in governmentwide hiring reform efforts than issues like the length and complexity of the hiring process.”
It noted that in a 2016 survey it conducted, supervisors reported that their most difficult workforce management task is getting a pool of quality candidates, ahead of tasks such as creating recruitment plans, getting necessary resources to do the job, and addressing performance and conduct problems.
Proper assessment is especially important in a time of restrictions on budgets and federal employment levels, it added, because “most agencies likely will be filling fewer positions and will expect the workforce to do even more with fewer resources and staff. Therefore, choosing the right person for the job is especially critical.”
“Good assessment means that agencies are able to more reliably predict which candidates will perform the job successfully. It should not be surprising that research has shown that good assessment practices can improve the number of new hires who perform well on the job, lead to higher organizational performance, and make more efficient use of hiring officials’ time by narrowing the size of large applicant pools. In addition, good assessment practices reduce the likelihood of making bad hires and the associated costs,” it said.
It said for example that evaluations of training and experience are commonly used because they “are inexpensive to develop, widely available, and relatively convenient to administer.” However, such assessments focus on quantity rather than quality of those qualifications. They also rely on self-reported information and thus “are usually less accurate than assessments designed to more directly measure expertise, such as job tests or simulations. Therefore, agencies are often using less valid assessments that are not good predictors of future performance.”
Agencies may not have the resources and expertise to develop more specific and accurate assessments, however; it said that one option is OPM’s USA Hire program which offers an online assessment platform–although for a fee–that can be tailored. In addition, it said, there are private vendors that can work with agencies to develop and implement high-quality assessments. The report includes a set of factors to consider when agencies are considering engaging one.
