We are accredited to administer and interpret SHL Psychometric tests, one of the best psychometric testing tools around.

Why is psychometric testing so good for leaders?

Leadership isn’t just about a job title; it’s about influence, decision-making, and guiding others. Using psychometric testing for leaders, or those aspiring to lead, brings huge benefits:

 

    • Targeted development for leaders: Everyone has strengths and areas to grow. These tests highlight a leader’s natural talents (like strategic thinking or influencing others) and pinpoint areas where they might need a bit more support (like delegation or resilience). This means your development budget goes exactly where it’s needed.

    • Boosted self-awareness: a great leader understands themselves. Psychometric feedback gives leaders a clear look in the mirror, helping them see how their natural style impacts their team and decisions. This self-awareness is key to growth and becoming an even better leader.

    • Smarter hiring and promotions: Interviews can be tricky. Psychometric tests add an objective layer, helping you pick the right person for a leadership role by showing if their natural strengths match what the role needs. Make better decisions and fewer costly mistakes.

What exactly is psychometric testing?

Think of psychometric testing as a scientific (and super simple!) way to get a clear picture of someone’s preferred (or fallback) behaviours. The word ‘psychometric’ just means ‘mental measurement’.

Instead of relying on guesswork or just a feeling, psychometric tests give you solid data. This helps you understand what makes someone tick, providing a much deeper understanding than a resume or interview alone can offer.

These aren’t crystal ball readings; we use well-researched, reliable tools designed to give objective insights into things like:

 

    • How people think: Are they good at problem-solving, logical reasoning, or understanding complex information?

    • Some personality traits: Are they naturally collaborative, resilient under pressure, or more introverted/extroverted?

    • How they work in group situations, or how well they work with others.

Using psychometric tests to find hidden potential

Finding your next generation of leaders early is vital for any business. Psychometric testing is incredibly powerful here because it looks beyond just experience. They are also extremely useful when you see someone who has fantastic technical skills in their current job and you’d like to understand if they are, or importantly are not, ready to lead.

 

    • Beyond the resume: Sometimes, the best potential leaders are quietly excelling in non-leadership roles. These tests can uncover hidden gems by revealing innate leadership qualities. Examples include strong problem-solving skills, resilience, or a natural ability to influence. This is helpful if they haven’t had a chance to lead yet.

    • Assessing future potential: Some people have amazing technical and job-related skills and it’s tempting to promote them to leadership. But leading is very different to doing. Psychometric testing helps you to understand who has the skills to lead, and who is more likely to adapt to leadership. They uncover what behaviour traits need to be worked on so that someone can transition to leadership successfully.

    • Uncovering key traits: Traits like emotional intelligence, a proactive attitude, and strong communication skills are crucial for leaders. Psychometrics can accurately identify these in individuals, giving you a clear indication of their leadership readiness.

    • Building your leadership pipeline: By using psychometric data, you can objectively identify individuals with high leadership potential across your organisation. This helps you build a strong “bench” of talent, ready to step up when opportunities arise. This ensures your business always has capable hands at the helm.

In short, psychometric testing isn’t just about assessing who’s ready now. It’s about seeing who has the potential to lead your organisation into the future. It’s a smart investment in your most valuable asset: your people. We recommend this as part of your overall leadership development programme.

Ready to unlock the full potential of your leaders and identify your next generation of talent? Let’s chat about how psychometric testing can benefit your business.

We recommend pairing psychometric testing with social intelligence measurement and training.

 

FAQ's about psychometric testing

What is psychometric testing?

Psychometric testing is a scientifically developed method of assessing psychological characteristics relevant to how people think, behave and perform at work. Depending on the assessment, psychometric tests can measure cognitive abilities, reasoning skills, personality traits, behavioural preferences, motivations and other work-related characteristics. Organisations use psychometric testing for recruitment, leadership development, career development, succession planning and promotion decisions.

It depends on the assessment. Psychometric tests can measure cognitive abilities, reasoning skills, personality characteristics, behavioural preferences, motivation and other work-related attributes. The right assessment should be selected according to what you are trying to understand rather than using the same test for every situation.

Psychometric testing can provide useful information about characteristics relevant to leadership potential, but it shouldn’t be used in isolation to decide whether someone will become a successful leader. Assessment results are most useful when considered alongside performance, experience, observed behaviour and other relevant information.

No assessment can guarantee that someone will become a good manager. Psychometric testing can, however, help identify strengths, behavioural tendencies and potential development needs that are relevant to leadership. This can help organisations make better-informed promotion and development decisions.

Psychometric testing can be particularly useful when you’re considering promoting a technically strong employee into their first management position. Their current performance tells you how well they do their existing job; psychometric assessment can provide additional information about capabilities and behavioural tendencies that may become important when they are responsible for leading others.

Yes. Psychometric assessments can provide additional objective information during recruitment and selection. Depending on the role and assessment, they may help assess reasoning ability, behavioural preferences or other job-relevant characteristics. They should generally form one part of a broader selection process rather than being used as the sole basis for a hiring decision.

A personality assessment is one type of psychometric test. Psychometric assessment is a broader term that can include assessments of personality, cognitive ability, reasoning, motivation and other psychological characteristics relevant to work.

For ability and reasoning assessments, becoming familiar with the format and completing appropriate practice questions can help you understand what to expect. Personality and behavioural questionnaires are different: there generally aren’t “right” answers, and participants should respond honestly rather than trying to guess what an employer wants to see.

People may sometimes try to present themselves in a particular way, especially when an assessment is being used for recruitment or promotion. Well-designed assessments and professional interpretation can help identify unusual or inconsistent response patterns. This is another reason psychometric results should be interpreted by an appropriately qualified practitioner and considered alongside other information.

The time required depends on the assessment or combination of assessments being used. We’ll explain what is involved, how long participants should allow and any preparation required before assessments are sent out.

Yes. SHL assessments can be completed online, making psychometric testing available to organisations and participants throughout New Zealand. Participants should complete assessments in a quiet environment where they can concentrate without interruptions.

We discuss reporting and feedback arrangements with the organisation before assessment begins. Where individual feedback is appropriate, we can meet with the participant to explain their results and help them understand how the findings relate to their work and development.

Assessment should lead to action. Depending on why the assessment was undertaken, the next step might be a development plan, coaching, leadership training, a career development conversation or consideration alongside other information in a recruitment or promotion decision.

The cost depends on the assessment or combination of assessments required, the reports selected and whether individual feedback or development planning is included. Talk to us about what you’re trying to assess and we’ll recommend an appropriate approach and provide pricing.

Want to understand someone's leadership potential?

    Talk to us about psychometric testing services

    Whether you’re developing an existing manager, considering someone for their first leadership role or building your future leadership pipeline, we’ll help you choose an assessment approach that answers the questions you actually need answered.

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