The hiring process can be compared to assembling pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – gathering resumés, checking references and conducting interviews – all with the ultimate goal in mind to find the right fit for the farm.

Interviews can be relatively subjective though, depending on the time of day, mood and the number of interviews conducted in the last 24 hours. Candidates can often over-prepare resumés, and employee potential can frequently be overshadowed by academic credentials or experience.

According to Dr. Aoife Lyons, adding psychometric testing and looking at a person’s personality might just be the missing piece to the hiring puzzle.

Lyons, a licensed clinical psychologist with Alltech, presented “Power through People” at Alltech’s Global Dairy & Beef in Deauville, France.

The conference, which welcomed 700 attendees from 43 countries in fall 2014, is held annually and brings together some of the most progressive dairy and beef producers from around the world to enable them to network, share experiences and discuss plans for the year ahead.

Eighty-five percent of Fortune 500 companies, including Kraft, Tesco and Kellogg, use psychometric testing as part of their hiring procedure. For example, Coca-Cola previously had a high turnover in marketing staff and no standardized program for interviewing or hiring.

After implementing personality testing through their human resources department, the company has experienced a 55 percent decrease in terminations, resulting in an additional $22 million in sales.

Marks & Spencer incorporated psychometric testing to speed up the recruitment process and make it more efficient as well as garner a competitive advantage by getting the right people the first time.

After adding psychometric testing, the company saved 1.5 million pounds in recruitment costs and had a 45 percent increase in success rates from interviews. Six months later, 76 percent of the employees hired after taking the psychometric testing were rated outstanding or excellent by their supervisors.

“What is the cost when actually hiring someone?” Lyons said. “We know that if you hire someone and they are the wrong person and you have to let them go, it costs your farm twice as much to let them go as their original salary was.”

In addition to replacement costs, managers must also consider recruitment cost, interview time, orientation expenses and resources required to train that employee. But there are the intangibles, such as ability to operate machinery, good husbandry, empathy with animals and people management skills. It is difficult to put a dollar amount on these factors.

“When we are hiring, we can’t predict the future,” Lyons said. “However, we need to be hiring for soft skills that often don’t come through during an interview.”

According to Lyons, soft or intangible skills such as being innovative and creative, having problem-solving skills, managing conflict and being a team player cannot be seen in an interview but can be measured through psychometric testing.

Farm employees need to be trustworthy and diligent, have empathy with animals, exhibit an eye for detail and show respect for colleagues. In addition to these skills, farm managers must exhibit characteristics such as leadership, motivation, innovation and curiosity.

“When hiring, this is your biggest risk but also your biggest opportunity. You don’t want to get it wrong,” Lyons said.

Psychometric testing also examines the five factors of personality:

1.Agreeableness

2.Conscientiousness or attention to detail

3.Extraversion

4.Openness

5.Emotional stability

“I often explain to hiring managers that it’s what we do with what we have,” Lyons said. “Other qualities you can teach someone, but these big five factors of personality tend to be very stable over time.”

Lyons gave a recent example where four people were interviewed for an accounting position. One young man clearly had all the experience necessary and was eager to have the job, but according to psychometric testing, he scored very low in the quality of openness, or being able to think outside the box and try things in a different way.

During a second interview, the interviewee was asked to describe a time when he had to take a risk or bend the rules, or an example of being open. He could not give one example, and the hiring manager knew the person would not be a fit for the company, even though his experience was excellent on paper.

“Skills can be taught, but a quality such as openness cannot,” Lyons said.

Lyons, who has more than 12 years experience with psychometric testing, conducted more than 1,000 assessments for Alltech in 2014. The tests are available in 37 languages and normed for different cultural groups.

There is often skepticism regarding psychometric testing; however, Lyons said it is not mind-reading. It doesn’t replace an interview but provides additional questions to ask in a second interview. The interviewee can try to trick the test, but the assessment has a lie factor or consistency scale built in.

The information gathered from the test is only used for mentorship and training once he or she has joined the company, and all information is kept confidential. Before the test, the interviewee must sign a consent form for legal reasons.

A psychometric assessment specifically for farmers, NEO™ Personality Inventory-3, costs about $120 to take online, and testing takes approximately 30 minutes. A prepared printed report is sent out after completion.

“These tests are applicable to farmers as they can uncover underlying personality characteristics that you might not be able to see in an interview, and they are actually more predictive of behavior on the job than the interview,” Lyons said.

Lyons said psychometric testing can be useful to farmers as it is culturally aware, research-driven, practical and understandable. When farms improve their success rate in hiring, they will see increased profits, a committed workforce, cultural cohesiveness and happy workers, which in turn can lead to happier and more productive cows.

What personality is the right personality for a farm? Lyons said it all depends on the culture of the farm, the country location and the jobs the employees will be asked to do.

“We would never consider this to be a cookie-cutter approach. This is just one piece of the puzzle,” Lyons said. “This is not an IQ test. It’s a personality test, and it allows you to get to know the person better before you hire.” PD

—Submitted by Alltech

PHOTO
Dr. Aoife Lyons, a licensed clinical psychologist with Alltech, presented “Power through People” at Global Dairy & Beef in Deauville, France. Photo courtesy of Alltech.