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.
These are the type of questions to which the candidates must respond if they are subjected to cognitive ability assessments during recruitment. After all, when it comes to the tools used in recruitment, personality assessments come out on top, and the significance of cognitive assessments is often ignored.
Assessments measuring cognitive abilities are far behind, yet they provide comprehensive information to estimate candidates' potential. They are particularly valuable allies in determining the reliability of a candidate's decisions, speed of learning, reactivity to change or fairness of analysis in critical situations. Is this a deliberate oversight on the part of recruiters? Or a misunderstanding of the power of the information that these assessments deliver?
Let’s see what “cognitive ability” means, its impact on the exercise of different professions, and its added value in the recruitment process.
How to define cognitive abilities?
Cognitive abilities are similar to an individual's "know-how to think". They represent the reasoning processes called upon by the individual to read their environment, grasp its complexity and provide appropriate responses.
These cognitive abilities are measured using reasoning assessments. These assessments are timed and mentally demanding. Their objective is not to assess what the individual knows but how they think when they do not see a situation beforehand. By subjecting it to various complex problems, we seek to see how they go about solving these problems. Do they quickly understand the instructions, easily perceive the different elements of a situation, see all the subtleties, analyse the problems accurately, and arrive at coherent solutions, all in a short enough time?
Why is this important?
Each profession has its particularities. An executive assistant must have a keen sense of organisation and skillfully juggle the list of priorities. This is crucial for the smooth running of the business. A soldier must know how to navigate unfamiliar terrain and quickly analyse new information to react appropriately. Sometimes it's a matter of survival. The emergency doctor must make a reliable diagnosis in a few minutes in addition to gauging the consequences of one action to be taken rather than another. The lives of suffering people are at stake. The cybersecurity analyst must demonstrate sharp critical thinking to decipher the modus operandi of cyber attackers and propose solid defence strategies. The consequences could otherwise be disastrous.
We could continue the list for each profession where cognitive abilities probe essential to perform. Too often forgotten, they are put aside in favour of personality, motivations or soft skills. However, cognitive ability assessments complement personality assessments and help recruiters with information on how an individual will reflect and perform in their work environment.
What information does the recruiter get?
For the recruiter, knowing the candidate's cognitive abilities is a key factor in determining the level of performance in their job roles. These assessments provide answers to questions such as:
- How fast can the candidate understand the problem?
- What is their creative potential?
- How accurately can the individual interpret instructions?
- How logical are the decisions they make?
- How quickly can they solve problems related to the job?
- How responsive is the candidate to change?
- How credible is the candidate’s judgement in a new situation?
- What skills will the individual be able to develop in the short to medium term?
Specific assessments are designed to measure cognitive abilities. Central Test’s Reasoning-R assessment, the most classic cognitive ability assessment, assesses candidates' general aptitudes to perform in their professional environment. The GAAT, which analyses higher-level critical thinking ability, is suitable for individuals in strategic positions in a more complex environment. While these assessments are naturally demanding for candidates to complete, they are simple for recruiters to interpret. As a bonus, the results provided quickly enable the recruiters to position their candidates according to their ability to perform in their roles.
