The concept of having an outcomes-based approach and having a strong theory of alignment all the way down to individual learning activities helps facilitate the use of assessment data.

1. It is Assessments that Causes
Improvement

2. 2000 2004 2008 20121996 2016
Evolution of Assessment Industry in India
2 international
testing
companies
2 Indian testing
service providers
emerge
6 testing
players
10 testing
players
Mostly in-
house tests
Outsourcing of
Testing started
Testing mostly
outsourced
Paper based
tests
OMR based
tests
Computer
based
tests
Simulation and
game based
assessments
Video based
testing
Assessment Industry Operational model Assessment Technology
Assessments moving from becoming a rejection filter to a selection filter
Certificati
ons
Language
free Tests

4. #1 Story we have heard from you…
Inflated Recruitment Costs: A software product organization could have
recruited the candidates in One-Fourth the cost
• Interviewed 24
assessed candidates
to select one
• Interviewers
described the other
23 candidates as
being direct rejects at
skill level
What?
• Job descriptions were
not studied while
assessments were
designed and
developed
• Validity to test was
not ascertained
• Testing new
assessments for
establishing their
psychometric
properties
• Use of right
assessments
• Benchmarking
Why? Solution

5. #2 Story we have heard from you…
Attrition of Good Candidates: Overheads increased by 42% due to
cost of rehiring and training
• 26% of best
candidates hired
joined competition in
the first 6 months
• Difficulty in rehiring
good candidates
• Pre-assessed
candidate database
that was used for
recruitment were
compromised
• Non disclosure
clauses were not
stressed on
• Candidate database
and assessment
information to be
maintained by
company
• Assessment to be
independent of
sourcing and training
What? Why? Solution

6. #3 Story we have heard from you…
Poor On-The-Job Performance: Pulse Survey for Employees Revealed
that 35% of them were actively disengaged from their jobs and only
21% were strongly engaged
• Candidates qualified
in assessments fared
badly on job
• Managers feedback
and employee
feedback revealed
lack of motivation
• While candidates’
ability scores were
high, their interest
fitment to various
roles were not
identified
• Candidate allotment
was not done on
scientific basis
• Holistic fitment –
abilities and
personality – has to
be ascertained for
specific roles
• Decisions to be taken
based on
performance on
trainable and non-
trainable traits
What? Why? Solution

7. #4 Story we have heard from you…
Degrading Performance: An Organization was not able to place 21% of
its existing employees in projects due to lack of sufficient skills
• A large pool of
employees were on
bench and not
employable on new
projects
• They did not qualify
client interviews to be
billable
• While employees
spent sufficient time
in the organization,
their skills had
stagnated
• Their skills and
abilities were not
benchmarked against
industry standards
• Stringent assessments
as a qualifying criteria
for certain roles to
ensure the employees
acquire and display
necessary skills
• Continuing use of
assessments to
identify gaps, design
interventions
What? Why? Solution

8. The Assessment Movement
• Perceived Legitimacy
• New Policies in Learning &
Development
• External Stimuli
• Assessment Technology
• Demand from stakeholders for
better and more transparent
information about talent pool /
employee and organisational
performance.
• The need to collect and use
learning outcomes data, and
the availability of more and
better assessment instruments
and approaches
Important changes in the
assessment movement:
Driver

9. Two Paradigms of Assessments
Strategic Dimension
Assessment for
Improvement
Assessment for
Accountability
Intent Formative (Improvement) Summative (Judgment)
Stance Internal External
Predominant Ethos Engagement Compliance
Application Choices
Instrumentation Multiple/Triangulation Standardized
Nature of Evidence Quantitative and Qualitative Quantitative
Reference Points Over Time, Comparative, Established
Goals
Comparative or Fixed Standard
Communication of Results Multiple Internal Channels and
Media
Public Communication
Uses of Results Multiple Feedback Loops Reporting

10. Assessment, Accountability and Improvement
Accountability
Improvement
What and how to
assess
How to organize
assessment tasks
and strategies
How to
communicate
assessment results
Organizational Choices
Guiding principles for organisations in successfully dealing with improvement
and accountability assessments
Respond visibly to domains of legitimate external concern
show action on the results of assessment
emphasize assessment at the major transition points in an employee
life-cycle
embed assessment in the regular learning, development and
performance management cycle

11. Assessment, Accountability and Improvement
Stakes associated with organisational performance are so much
higher for stakeholders
• Imperative to collect and use assessment results to improve
• Communicate what we are doing more effectively to external audiences to achieve
individual and organisational success
Development of complicated initiatives to promote assessment
Certifications gaining importance to help organisations enhance
learning and development
Compelling need to show evidence of knowledge and skills needed to
perform in job

12. Assessment, Accountability & Improvement
For assessment-based improvement to work
effectively learning objectives must be inescapable:
They are in catalogues, on learning portals, and
visible in the criteria faculty use to assign grades.
Learning outcomes need to be continuously mapped
to, and reinforced by, the learning and development
process throughout the life-cycle as part of a
systematic competency-based approach.
Each stakeholder in the assessment approach is
driven its own specific interests in evidence on
organisational and program performance. The key is
evidence and which is an outcome of assessments.

13. Using Assessment Data
“The concept of having an outcomes-based approach and having a strong theory of
alignment all the way down to individual learning activities helps facilitate the use
of assessment data.”
Value
•The field of assessment
focuses on the role of
assessment as one of
improving learning
Concerns
•Closing the loop and
lack of appropriate use
Using Results
•Most assessment
literature states that
the reason or purpose
of engaging with
assessment in the first
place is to USE the
results to IMPROVE
learning
Causal Statements
•The ability to make
causal claims about
impact on learners and
their learning
•Organisational
structures and support
+ learning = enhanced
learning

14. Using Assessment Data
•Coverage and content
•Opportunities and support
•Intentional, coherent, aligned pathways
•Within each of these is the belief about a root cause – why learners were not learning
or not meeting the outcome and the mechanism by which the organisation can help
them succeed.
•Evidence of learning is used in support of claims or arguments about improvement
and accountability told through stories to persuade a specific audience.
Areas of Change
•Discussion and reflection; Involvement of multiple stakeholders including learners and
trainers; Check the fitness of measures to desired outcomes; Embed within the
organization; Document and communicate widely when use occurs.
How do you do it
•Filter data; Action analytics; Data audit; Data analysis
Clean & Transform Data

15. Using Assessment Data
• Making sense of results – Meaning Making; Multiple individuals across the organisation critically engaging with
assessment data; Make sense of data to determine what, if anything, to do
• Examine multiple data points; Group data by theme not method
Discussion & Reflection
• Build into the assessment process time, space, and mechanisms for people within, and potentially outside the
organisations, to engage with results
Time to Reflect
• Importance of audience; Internal and external communication; Providing context; Making information
accessible
Tell the Organisational Story
•Embed questions about use into program review for all programs; Ask “how do you know?” “Why do you
think that?” “Why are we trying this approach and not something else?”
Embed
• Don’t automatically expect improved results or try to make changes before the current changes have had a
chance to take effect.
Change Trap

16. Progression of mean score over successive waves of testing with Proxor SDE
(Medium-sized IT firm, Bangalore staff)
One firm, specializing in
providing software to
government agencies, told
its engineering department
that they would be
required to program at a
certain level or better in a
standardized certification
test within six months…or
be reassigned to a different
job (or company).
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15
Key Findings: It is Assessments that Causes
Improvement

17. Changing Dynamics of Assessments
Technology-led
Assessments
• Online assessments for greater speed and accuracy
• Customizable assessment platforms that allow building
assessments in a short span of time
• Technology based services for candidate authentication, On
Screen Marking
• Integration of assessments to HRMS
• Leveraging mobility for greater efficiency
Widespread use of
Personality assessments
• Identify applicants with potential to fit job demands and be
high performers
• Aid in understanding individuals, teams, and their interaction
• Useful inputs for structured behavioral interviews rather than
‘shooting in the dark’ approach to interviews

18. Changing Dynamics of Assessments
Language-free, Culture-free
Tests; Removes Bias
• No spoken or written language from the assessor or
participant
• Does not include any symbols, icons or gestures that may be
familiar to a particular culture, region or country
• Test taker does not require any level of literacy or numeracy
skills in order to complete the test
• Digital form of the assessment
Simulations • Online simulators which reflect “real-world-situations”
to assess skills that cannot be assessed through traditional
assessments
• Use of stealth assessments – video games etc. – for
measuring higher-order thinking skills
• Algorithmic question types for technical skills such as coding
and database query writing
• Better prediction of job success by measuring business-
relevant competencies like Leadership management, People
management, Conflict resolution, etc.

19. Changing Dynamics of Assessments
Lifecycle Assessments • Focus is shifting from one-time assessment to providing
complete assessment cycle solutions through an employee’s
lifetime within an organization
• Synergy with all HR processes whether it be recruitment,
development, succession planning, training needs analysis,
etc.
Learning Analytics • Employee assessments rigorously track and measure data at
various touch points
• Advanced analytics have enabled these systems to “talk” to
each other and get linked to business outcomes
• Powerful insights to help organizations make better decisions
and make better workforce decisions

20. Importance of Basics
Using the Core Tenets of Assessment
Science
• Reliability of test
• Validity of test
Process
• Large validated question bank
• Proctored assessment
• Security
Principle
• No conflict of interest
• No compromise of candidate information
• Secure management of assessment data

22. Thank You!
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