HR advice

Predicting success in a job role : the keys to effective predictive matching

A flawless CV, a convincing interview, strong references... and yet, just a few months after starting, the employee leaves their role. This scenario is all too common. Many hires fail not due to a lack of technical skills, but because the individual’s profile doesn’t truly match the role’s requirements or the working environment. This is precisely where predictive matching comes into play.

The recruitment interview: when intuition deceives us

While our brain is capable of processing vast amounts of information, it also relies on mental shortcuts that can lead to major judgement errors. These shortcuts, known as cognitive biases, deeply and often unconsciously influence hiring decisions.

Why do 65% of hires fail within the first 18 months?

Hiring a promising candidate doesn’t guarantee a successful collaboration. Despite structured processes, impressive CVs, and multiple interviews, recruitment mistakes remain frequent.

Recruiting is managing: why managers need to be trained in talent assessment

Recruitment is not solely an HR matter. Every hire directly involves the manager, who will be responsible for the employee’s onboarding, development, and performance.

Measuring workplace well-being with the e-Stress Profile

Work-related stress is an invisible burden with very real consequences: high turnover, disengagement, reduced creativity, burnout, and a toxic atmosphere… While signs of workplace discomfort are often easy to spot, identifying the exact causes is a different story.

5 practical ways SMEs can use psychometric tests

Psychometric tests? Yes—but not just any. We're talking about scientifically validated, digital-ready tools that’ll become your go-to ally for making HR decisions that are calmer, fairer, and more strategic

Psychometric assessment in SMEs: why and how to use it?

An employee struggling to integrate into the team, a newly promoted manager finding it difficult to embrace their role, a salesperson failing to meet their targets… In an SME, the consequences of a poor recruitment decision or an unsuitable promotion are immediate: reduced productivity, disrupted team dynamics, and rising direct and indirect costs.

Revealing Professional Interests with Tailored Assessments

In the pofessional path, we don’t choose our interests; we reveal them! And to do so, an interest test allows us to identify them.

Choose your candidates' weaknesses wisely: turning perceived flaws into strengths

In this article, we'll delve into five commonly criticised personality traits and uncover the silver linings that could make these candidates invaluable to your organisation.

Writing a compelling job offer in 6 steps

Writing a job offer can seem like a routine task, but in reality, it's a crucial strategic skill in the arsenal of any human resources professional. In 2024, the recruitment landscape demands clarity, precision, and attractiveness in every listing more than ever.

Soft-Skills in the age of generative AI: a challenge for all

The advent of generative AI, with technologies like ChatGPT, is revolutionising our way of working. At Central Test, for example, our data scientists have redefined our natural language processing (NLP) program by using ChatGPT to gather data, thereby enhancing the detection of soft-skills in candidates through content expressed via Smart Interview.

The 5 Most Popular Articles on Our Blog in 2024

2024 is a year full of exciting content, and we’re excited to bring you the stars of our blog this year. These five articles sparked the most discussion, sharing, and reflection among our readers. From innovative trends to expert advice, these topics remain highly relevant and continue to inspire thoughtful dialogue.

Recruitment: 5 tips for improving the candidate experience

3 good reasons to conduct evaluations in annual reviews

The season of annual reviews is back. This process, generally dreaded by employees, has forged such a reputation that it now hinders its effectiveness.

Common mistakes in using psychometric tests

Who has never been subjected to a psychometric test? There are few people who can still claim this. And if it’s the case, it’s only a matter of time.

Why you shouldn't underestimate cognitive abilities when recruiting

If some salespeople are good negotiators and some good negotiators are good speakers, can we deduce that some salespeople are good speakers?" That's a typical question requiring your cognitive abilities to measure your logical reasoning.

Let’s understand what psychometric assessments measure!

Do you use psychometric assessments to recruit, orient, coach or conduct skills assessments? It's a great way to make your business more reliable! With these assessments, you are able to seek relevant but also decisive information to fuel discussions and guide reflections.

5 tips for a successful pre-recorded video interview

Soft skills and personality are now an integral part of a candidate's profile and are key factors in their job and interview success. If you're looking for a job and need to do a deferred video interview, here are some tips for successfully completing this crucial step in the recruitment process.

How neuroscience can transform your recruitment process

Our decision-making power appears to be only 0.26%, and the remaining 99.74% is decided by our brain before we even realize it. So our brain makes decisions before we do? Let's take a look at how neuroscience can shed light on the factors that influence our hiring decisions (and not only).

Attracting talent: 6 tips for building your employer brand

One of the key issues in recruitment is not only to attract candidates who are like you, but also to keep them. But how? By working on your employer brand, of course! Here are our 6 tips for doing so.

Why is the 360° assessment still feared?

How to successfully implement a 360° assessment in 5 concrete steps

The 360° assessment is a different assessment method from the traditional method because it uses a multi-source assessment to evaluate an individual’s behavioural and professional competencies via the feedback of their professional entourage.

What if, in 2023, we put people back at the heart of organisations?

Putting people back at the heart of organisations becomes the central area of challenge for 2023. Let's take a look at some of the ways in which this can be achieved.

Overcoming the Global Talent Shortage in 2024: Key Mistakes to Avoid

Companies are not only struggling to find candidates but also to retain them with the wave of "great " and "silent" resignations. But with the massive number of resignations, there is a marketplace for available candidates!

Understanding the Rise of Quiet Quitting: Meaning, Challenges, and Solutions

After the Great Resignation, it is the Silent Resignation (also known as Quiet Quitting) that is unfolding in this post-pandemic world of work.

3 reasons why you need to use psychometric tests

Psychometric tests are key elements in providing complete and objective data in order to make the right decisions in recruitment and talent management.

The new skills in the era of work hybridization

HR departments are faced with major challenges, including the development of the skills necessary for a hybrid organisation and the transformation of working methods.

Predicting skills and behaviours using predictive analytics

In HR, predictive analytics is already transforming talent acquisition and management processes. As part of an artificial intelligence application, it allows one to use the power of data to anticipate candidate/employee behaviours and predict their future performance.

Finding talent: 3 ways to optimise your recruitment process

Today, 75% of companies that have a hard time recruiting attribute their struggles to a lack of qualified candidates. To overcome this issue, and to offset the drop in activity, certain companies have opted for outsourcing by hiring employees overseas.

Smart Data vs Intuition: who will win in the battle of decision-making?

Data is now at the heart of all our decisions. Our hyper-connected world generates more than 2.5 trillion bytes of data every day. And that isn’t even close to the amount of data that our brain can process in less than a second. So in terms of recruitment, who to entrust our decision-making: data or our intuition? This is the Cornelian dilemma that haunts recruiters today more than ever. Smart Data: an intelligent asset?

Why assess vocational interests?

Factoring in interests within career management is beneficial on a number of different levels. In this article, let's take a look at the benefits of assessing vocational interests.

How to prepare for a pre-recorded video interview - tips for candidates

Let us break the pre-recorded interviews down for you, and we’ll provide you with some tips to do amazingly well in a pre-recorded interview and impress your interviewer!

How to prepare for a pre-recorded video interview – advice for recruiters

The latest tool that modern recruiters have at their fingertips is the pre-recorded video interview. Let’s take a look at the steps you can take to fully reap the benefits of this solution.

2020: 5 most popular psychometric assessment tools

We adapted our existing tests and tools, and added new solutions to help companies recalibrate their HR processes to match the many tough shifts in work and performance.

2020: Top 5 articles from our HR Blog

In 2020, the Editorial Team at Central Test worked on creating blog posts with knowledge, advice and recommendations to assist HR professionals and employees to overcome this year's challenges, and successfully adapt to what is going to be “the new normal” to come.

How to facilitate personal development for employee motivation and well-being

According to the most recent Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace, 85% percent of employees are not engaged in the workplace. This means that the majority of the workforce around the world does not have a positive outlook towards their job and organisation and they are not performing at the optimum level of their skills and experience. Adding to that, research after research has shown that motivated employees outperform their unengaged peers that are not engaged.

Communication - the key to boost your team cohesion

To keep your teams motivated, it is essential to communicate well at all levels in order to meet the expectations of the greatest number.

Three methods for measuring employee commitment

Employee commitment drives the performance of your company and is a powerful source of well-being and motivation.

Returning to work and psychosocial risks - what actions to take

Confinement, compulsory remote working, isolation, short-time working, family life turned on its head, constant fear of being contaminated... these situations have amplified psychosocial risks, particularly for employees.

3 tips for managing your teams in times of crisis

Faced with the effects of the current pandemic, most companies have had to change the way they work, including by adopting teleworking. To take up this unprecedented challenge, managers must find new ways to communicate with their teams, keeping staff motivated while also reassuring them about the possible impacts on the company.

3 reasons to use pre-recorded video interviews with your teams

In this unprecedented situation why not switch to new business practices? A change in how some solutions are used can only prove beneficial !

Our behavioural responses to Covid_19

This article brings a different viewpoint about our behavioural responses to Covid_19 and invite you to think together about the different stages of awareness.

Advice to Recruiters: 4 errors to avoid when recruiting

Lack of motivation, poor performance, incompatibility with the team or manager... poor recruitment is irrevocable. Here are four tips to implement when recruiting.

Candidates: what are the keys to success in a pre-recorded video interview?

So, a recruiter has invited you for a pre-recorded video interview? Don't panic, we reveal to you the best tips to rise to the challenge and ace it!

Recruiting by video interviews? A handy guide of 5 lessons

Do people’s aspirations and motivations change according to their generation or age?

In the world of work, 3 generations of people: generation X, generation Y and generation Z cohabit in the same professional environment.

How to recognize and develop the 3 key soft skills at work

Having professional skills is one thing, knowing how to manage your emotions and relationships with colleagues in the workplace is quite another. Indeed, it isn’t in the interest of a company to recruit a candidate that nobody likes to work with, but looks great on paper. So, what are the soft skills important in a professional setting? The 3 essential soft skills at work

4 Ways AI Is Improving HR Recruitment Process

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already made its presence felt across a multitude of industries. AI has only made business smarter with more informed decision making and proactive processes.

Superpower in the Workplace: Empathy

How would you describe a superpower in the workplace? Words such as “inspirational,” “influential” and “powerful” would come to mind, but you would rarely think of “empathetic.” Empathy is a skill which is often overlooked in the workplace. Determined by Frans de Waal as the “social glue that holds human society together,” empathy refers to the awareness of one’s own and other people’s feelings, needs and concerns.

GAME OF THRONES : Are you the type of leader who will sit on the Iron Throne?

Team cohesion, give employees recognition, provide regular feedback, be trusting: Game of Thrones, the famous TV series, delivers management lessons to be applied- or not - at work. Charismatic leaders, visionary strategists and crisis management specialists... The heroes and heroines of the show displayed good management skills throughout the 8 seasons. There are only a few lucky characters left - the last episode of the series will be released next Sunday - but the conquest of the Iron Throne is still raging. Among the favourites to win we have 3 charismatic leaders, all with their own unique style of management: Jon Snow, Sansa Stark and Daenerys. Time to bet!

5 Ways Successful Leaders Communicate With Their Teams

Leadership should come with the ability to communicate well. Without a certain level of charm and skill in the spoken word, it would be hard to connect with the rest of the team. In any case, communication is always the key towards better cooperation, meeting expectations and encouraging improvement.

Candidate Experience Vs Test Reliability

Now more than ever, candidate experience is in the driver's seat with respect to the selection of appropriate pre-hire assessment tools. The onboarding process begins in the earliest stages of the recruitment process, where candidates are given exposure to the company culture, branding, and get a taste of what to expect if their application is successful.

How to identify your high-potential employees?

Ideally, organisations would want all their employees to work at their full potential and contribute equally. But research shows that the long-term success of an organisation is driven and sustained by a select few high-potential employees or HiPos. High-potential employees deliver two to six times the return of average players.*

How to Train the Next Generation of Leaders

Millennials are quickly moving into leadership positions across most industries. A largely misunderstood and oft-criticized generation, they contain the potential to hold roles and responsibilities that will impact the companies they lead for years to come. How can current managers best train their rising stars to take up the mantle of management?

Psychometrics: Assessing the Business Case

The use of robustly designed psychometric tests provides valuable insights into individuals and their capabilities, but implementing them into an organisation’s recruitment process can constitute a significant investment for a potentially cash-strapped HR department.

The Creative Flow: 3 Ways to Unleash Creativity in the Workplace

Creativity is the foundation of every company. Whether it’s a new product, new recruit or new technology, businesses everywhere are always seeking originality. It should come as no surprise therefore that creativity has become a sought-after skill and is now a number one priority in the workplace; but what actually is this creative talent everyone is looking for?

How Can Companies Improve Learning Agility?

The contemporary workplace culture is constantly evolving. With the introduction of new technology, company expansion plans and flexi-hours, the work environment is perpetually seeking new opportunities to grow. However, studies show that most employees struggle with these transition processes and are hesitant about riding the roller coaster of change.

How to assist millennials with their career development

Attracting and retaining the millennial generation has become an essential factor for any thriving business. Born between 1980 and 2000, millennials are the “future leaders” of society. Their ambitious career objectives, profound knowledge of technology and high emotional intelligence differentiate them from the soon-to-retire Baby Boomers, and unlike their predecessors, millennials seek more than just a job; they also want a role which is interesting and rapidly progressing.

5 Ways to Deal with Work Stress

Stress, especially work-related stress, can have a major impact on an individual’s mindset and well-being. Over recent years, it has been reported that a demanding work schedule can cause sleepless nights, headaches, or even chronic health conditions, consequently affecting a person’s professional and personal development. our top five ways on how to deal with stress at work and how to conquer the feeling of being overwhelmed.

RIASEC in depth, part 6: Are your employees Conventional?

Conventional employees are often seen as traditional, ones who like to follow the routine, and avoid work that does not have clear directions. But a Conventional employee is more than that. In the workplace, the Conventional personality types keep the things running smoothly and take the organization to the next level. You will find that some of your most efficient and dependable finance personnel, administrators and technical writers are Conventional.

RIASEC in depth, part 5: Are your employees Enterprising?

An enterprising person is defined by the dictionary as resourceful, bold and initiative — But an Enterprising personality defined by RIASEC model is much more than that. Holland’s RIASEC model puts forward that personality is key to understand work interests and it divides people into six personality-based groups, one of them being Enterprising. He also states that individuals belonging to these personality groups have a preference for certain types of tasks and interactional styles, knowledge of which shall allow you to quickly determine any individual’s career fit.

RIASEC in depth, part 4: Are your employees Social?

What do you think of when you hear the words “a Social employee”? Someone who’s always suggesting after-work drinks or chatting with friends and colleagues? Who cheers you up on a Monday morning, but stresses you out when you need everyone focused on their work?

Interpersonal skills have become essential for technical professions

IT developers, engineers, maintenance technicians... many technical professionals share many of the same characteristics. They are usually enthusiastic about technology and their work, and their soft skills are often underestimated by recruiters.

Combine different tests to get more accurate results

Personality tests, the Emotional Intelligence test, and the IQ test are examples of the wide variety of tests and questionnaires available to the public. Applied to the field of human resources, these tests may be very useful, as is confirmed by Patrick Leguide, the founder of Central Test.

Recruiting without CVs: The role of personality tests

An anonymous CV is one that excludes a person's personal information, i.e. age, sex, pictures, and ethnic background. In the United States, the anonymous CV has been in use for almost as long as its existence, but in many other countries, it has just recently become accepted. As the anonymous CV becomes increasingly popular all over the world, more and more businesses are taking this concept one step further by removing it altogether.

How to identify and challenge your creative people

Tough times can sometimes reveal a positive side. The recession made many companies discover or re-discover that creativity was a crucial business asset. Creative thinking generates innovation and sets your company in gear for greater growth.

How to Avoid Interpretation Errors?

In the world of personality testing, there are no right or wrong answers. To make an accurate interpretation of a person's responses, evaluators should consider six essential points.

Recruitment: Proper use of psychometric tests

The use of psychometric tests for recruitment has greatly increased in the last 10 years. Be it in Europe, India, or Australia, almost all big companies use them. In the US, however, the use of psychometric tests is more widespread, especially due to the governmental accreditation policy on the use of these tests. It has also been found that around 70% of SMEs use psychometric tests.

Emotional Intelligence: An Invaluable Assessment Tool

Personality and intelligence tests have long been valuable corporate tools. But the more recently discovered emotional intelligence is now starting to earn its place in the HR assessment tool-chest. What is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is all about our ability to understand our own emotions and to interact harmoniously with those around us.