Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Psychometric Testing Can Valuate Earmarks of a Leader

By Bill Nickolas

Psychometric Assessment can help employers find good leadership qualities among the many applicants for a job. to find future leaders? There is not much of a challenge for companies that only promote from within because the company can recognize its potential leaders through familiarity. ut what if the company is seeking to hire recent college graduates who will be developed into future leaders over time? The human resource manager can use an assessment to determine the best candidates for a leadership position.

An organization may be in the process of upgrading or revamping an existing company-sponored leadership training progam. As the leadership training committee maps out a plan to find likely candidates for training, they can also develop their ownassessment and interview process. A talent assessment for leadership abilities can be given as part of a psychometric assessment that includes aptitude and personality testing.

The talent testing could be geared toward identifying the twelve characteristics of a leader listed below:

1. Carefulness. A good leader plans and thinks carefully before he speaks or acts.

2. Cooperation. A leader is likable and congenial in all of his interpersonal relationships.

3. Creativity. A leader is willing and able to "think outside the box".

4. Discipline. A leader leads the way in responsibility and dependability. He has follow-through skills to complete his work.

5. Goodwill - able to be forgiving and to think of others as having good intentions.

6. Influence. A leader has the ability to impress others because he communicates his thoughts without hesitation.

7. Optimism. A leader believes in successful outcomes.

8. Order - the natural tendency toward organization

9. Savvy - the ability to read people

10. Sociability - enjoys being with other people at work and at social gatherings,

11. Stability - ability to remain calm and rational during stressful situations.

12. Striving - incapable of quitting

There are more than enough assessments in the marketplace to choose from. Employers may also wish to develop their own assessment the is customized to their particular organization. It is advised that the company compares several different assessments and their benefits before making a final choice. The talent assessment can help an organization save time by looking for leadership abilities at the same time it is hiring. If a company's senior leaders are retiring within a few years, this assessment can be given every time there is a job opening in the company so that new potential leaders can be trained and transitioned smoothly into the vacated positions.

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