Personal Skills Testing: Data Protection Requirements and Assessment Ethics – Sample

For several years, so-called “personality tests” have been flooding the HR software market. However, even though they have become an ubiquitous HR Management tool, we should not forget that personal skill assessment tests have to meet strict requirements in terms of the protection of the personality of job candidates.

This has truely become a burning issue, as test results and personal data often transit over the Internet. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify with the software provider in which way the data will be stored. In addition, data confidentiality and the non-transfer of data to third parties must be guaranteed.

CHARTER OF ETHICS

Therefore, it may be useful in order to avoid any accusation of privacy infringement, to outline a charter for the use of personal skills tests. This document will have to clarify:

  1. The technical requirements that psychometric tests have to meet (statistical validation);
  2. A precise list of the people who are authorized to use the tests and access their results (mandatory training; listing of the people authorized to access the “raw” data);
  3. The candidates’ rights of access to information (right to a debriefing interview and to the handing out of a presentation of test results, access to the assessment report that will be sent to the hierarchy, information about the validity duration of test results);
  4. How the data is stored, and who has access to it (the software must ensure the anonymity of results; in addition, the latter should not be included in the personnel file in order to prevent their use by untrained third parties).

Introducing the charter of ethics to the candidates before taking the test may incidentally contribute to building trust with the candidate. This will in turn ease the assessment process and make it more profitable for both the candidate and the company!

Moreover, a personal skills test, as reliable as it may be, should only be performed if a debriefing interview (guidelines) can be offered afterwards, so that test results may be discussed with the candidate.

SAMPLES

Here are examples of a mission statement for an assessment process (sample) as well as of a charter of ethics for the use of personal skills assessment tools (sample). Such a document will indeed help clarifying the company’s commitment in terms of technical, ethical and behavioral requirements for the use of personal skills assessment tests in a professional context.

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