Lisa-Anne M. Knowles, Contributor

The week of November 10, 2006 was a dreadful week for 800 employees (from entry level to management) at Atlantis Resorts in The Bahamas. For some persons, twenty-three years of their working life at the resort had come to an abrupt end as they read redundancy letters and for many of these persons, the small redundancy packages left them completely devastated.

The warning signs are here; the global economic down-turn is forcing companies to lay off employees and many Bahamians led the rest of the Caribbean region in the early impact of what has become a global recession.

It had long been said that "when the United States sneezes, the rest of the world catches the flu."

If employers have to make tough decisions on who stays and who goes how can they use psychometric testing to assist in the process?

Using Psychometric Testing to Assist in Redundancy Programmes

There are two ways to look at the use of psychometrics in redundancies. One is where the testing is used to determine which employees have the core values, skills and abilities necessary to help your company succeed in the next phase. There are different types of psychometric assessments available, depending on what areas are of greatest importance to your plans for the organisation. Another way to use psychometric testing during redundancy exercises is to assist employees who will be made redundant with identifying their skills and abilities and how they can use those for new career and/or entrepreneurship pursuits.

Hiring and Promotions

Caribbean companies lose millions of dollars each year hiring persons who are the wrong fit for the companies which hire them. Others simply do not fit the job role for which they were hired. In other words, there is a "fit" for every organisation and every job type. This means that the person has the values, interests and skills necessary to succeed in a particular company and job. Interviews, references and resumes are often insufficient measures to use for hiring persons. These tools should be used in conjunction with psychometric testing carried out by a trained assessor. This can increase the chances of choosing the right staff for the job and the company.

Closing Skills Gaps (Training)

Without knowing where your staff's skills lie and knowing what levels you need them to attain to be on par with industry and international standards, how can you realistically close skills gaps? Every organisation, regardless of its size should have the skill levels of their existing staff base assessed and also set targets as to where those skill levels need to be to meet certain quality standards. Once that is done, you can determine if there is consistency across staff and/or departments in the kinds of gaps which exist and provide the necessary training to close those skills gaps.

Lisa-Anne M. Knowles is the President of QOHC, a people and business development company. For more information on psychometric assessments and/or the ICRC, you may email QOHC at icrc@qohconsultancy.com, call 620-9056 OR 791-8188; or visit their office at 59 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5. Website: www.qohconsultancy.com