Skills Assessment in the Workplace

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Summary of the assessment
Use of the assessment
Criterion-referenced test
Target group for assessment
Possible decisions from assessment
References

Introduction

Educational assessment can be defined as the process through which knowledge, skills, and attitudes are documented in such a manner that they can be measured. Assessment can take the form of a closer look at an individual, community or an institution. The eventual aims and assessment practices involved in education are dependent on the theoretical frameworks applied by researchers and the assumptions they make about how human beings behave and the learning process (Tandf, 2011). This essay will look at skills assessment in the workplace as one of the educational assessments.

Summary of the assessment

This assessment starts by reviewing the files of a worker to look for information that is closely linked with the skills required in the workplace. This is aimed at identifying whether such information has been recorded from prior assessment attempts. After looking for this information, the worker academic credentials are analyzed to find areas applicable in the workplace where the individual had performed well. A review of records showing previous work history and the skills demonstrated in the work is important. Observations either informal or formal are also conducted on individuals who have no work history to determine the level of their skills. Worksite observations are conducted for individuals in work situations. During these observations, a record of habits and skills that the employees demonstrate in the workplace is documented.

Use of the assessment

The skill assessment is used in understanding and identifying the most important qualities that are required for an individual to perform well in a certain position. Once the skills and competencies required by an individual are known, it becomes easy to figure out the existing gaps and come up with a strategy of filling the gaps. Skills assessment is a crucial component of career development. It is applicable in virtually all stages of employee development be it the current position or future positions and change of careers. Many organizations use skills in their human resource processes hence they constitute a vital part of the culture of an organization and the general way of doing things. They also convey information about an organization and communicate to other people the values the organization stands for.

Criterion-referenced test

There are two common types of assessments one being the norm-referenced test and the other criterion-referenced test. In a norm-referenced test, the scores of an individual are compared against the scores of other individuals who have taken the same test (George, 2000). A criterion-referenced test is different from norm-referenced in that it does not compare the results of an individual with those of others (Raymond, 2005). It attempts to discover the strengths of an employee by identifying what they know and what they do not know. Our example is a criterion-referenced assessment in that it tries to identify what the workers can do and what they cannot do. As opposed to comparing their results with the results of other people who have taken the same test, the workers are gauged according to a certain standard.

Aptitude Test

An aptitude test is a test used to determine the suitability of an individual in developing certain skills in an area that the person is not yet trained in. On the other hand, an achievement test is the assessment used to measure the ability or knowledge that individuals have gained in something they have been trained in. In our assessment example, this is an aptitude test since it is testing the skills of workers in performing particular tasks they have not been trained in. For instance, workers are observed to determine whether they can accomplish the tasks by applying certain skills (Richard, 2001).

Non-standardized test

A standardized is a test that is administered using some controlled mechanisms. In these types of tests, there are consistent procedures of scoring for the individuals undertaking the tests. Since in our case we are testing the skills of employees to perform certain obligations, there are no standard ways of administering the assessment. This is because some workers will possess advanced skills while others have less advanced skills. It is therefore impossible to have a standardized test since it will not give the desired results (US legal, 2011).

Target group for assessment

The assessment is based on a certain group of people since different people perform different types of work in an organization. Some types of duties require advanced skills while others do not require advanced skills. This test is geared towards workers who perform technical jobs such as handling machines daily. These workers need to have excellent technical skills since failure to perform their work expertly may lead to a standstill in the operations of an organization.

Possible decisions from assessment

This assessment is very important since it can be used to make crucial decisions in the organization. Careful collection of results from the assessment presents a good picture of the abilities and competencies of the employees in an organization. An organization can decide on starting training programs to equip the workers with the relevant skills to ensure that they perform their duties well. The organization can also use the results of the assessment to make some changes such as shifting workers from some areas and placing them in other areas. Finally, the information can be used by an organization to avoid poor performance and instead improve performance.

References

George, C. (2000). Assessment in the classroom: constructing and interpreting texts. London: Routledge.

Raymond, E. (2005). CLEP Introduction to Educational Psychology. New Jersey: Research & Education Assoc.

Richard, A. (2001). ACHIEVEMENT VERSUS APTITUDE TESTS IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS. Web.

Tandf. (2011). Assessment in Education. Web.

US legal. (2011). Standardized Test. Web.

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