Helping employees overcome resistance to assessment

Elcke

Hi there fellow HR and psychology professionals!

A question that has been coming up a lot among our training delegates and assessment users is how to positively influence employees who have a fear of / resistance towards assessments, especially common in more technical fields. As employees tend to have varying levels of exposure to "soft" science such as psychology and psychometric assessments, some may feel less comfortable with being assessed than others.

I would love to hear from other professionals who may have faced and overcome this challenge in their organisation - any advice you can share?

Manie Prinsloo

Providing information about the purpose of the assessments can alleviate a lot of apprehension. When people understand why assessments are being conducted and how the results will be used, I have found people to be more likely to engage with it positively.

Additionally, another effective approach I have found is to emphasise the benefits of the assessments for personal and professional development (getting to know yourself). Thus, the importance of providing feedback which highlights strengths, areas for development, and even career growth opportunities can help people who shows resistance see it in a more positive light.

Simone Da Ponte

Love this topic, Elcke! I would add that it is always important to acknowledge and validate anyone's hesitance/anxiety/other feelings around assessments. As a candidate, you can already feel in a delicate position and we never know what is going on in someone's life.

I fully agree with Manie that emphasising the benefits of the assessments for development is key, provided that that is also how you as the assessment taker will use it. Sharing with them what you'll do with the information can therefore greatly help as well.

What may also be worth noting, is the topic of neurodiversity and and psychometrics as this is something that often comes up when there is any form of apprehension towards assessments. Luke wrote a really nice article about it and Stephen spoke a bit about his experiences with assessments as someone with dyslexia: https://www.thomas.co/resources/type/hr-blog/neurodiversity-and-psychometrics