For the Application of Objective Assessments e.g. Psychometric Tests and Assessment Centres

Professional Relationship with Participants

Participants should be clearly made aware of the following:

• The nature of the assessment and what to expect.
• Why and how the assessment is being used to inform decisions.
• That they can receive full feedback on their performance as is their right under Data Protection legislation. When and how this feedback is to be provided.
• How long their data will be retained, who may have access to it, and for what purposes this may be applied. Generally, it is expected that data will be gathered for a specific, time‐limited and evident purpose only. Under GDPR Regulations we will hold personally identifiable data for no longer than 12 months.
• Participants should be invited to ask questions and to have their concerns addressed openly and objectively.
• Participants should be encouraged to share any specific requirements they have during the assessment. Reasonable adjustments and compensations should be made to accommodate such special requirements. No participant should be unfairly biased against. It is our mission to ensure fair and equal competition between all individuals.
• Participants should be given reasonable opportunity to decline participation at any stage in the assessment.

Application of Assessments

Guidelines for the use of assessments:

Assessments should only be applied if job relevant and be shown as such by a job analysis.

• Only qualified and trained personnel should apply assessments. E.g. no psychometric aptitude test should be administered by untrained personnel. Individuals assessing candidates in assessment centres should be trained to professional standards and apply the ORCEF model.
• Results or outputs of assessments should be carefully controlled and in compliance with Data Protection legislation, GDPR Regulations, Quest’s General Terms and Conditions and Quest’s Privacy Policy. The dissemination of assessment data or information within a user’s organisation is the responsibility of the user, and users must ensure the ethical and professional use of personal information.
• Assessments should be used in context with other evidence. E.g. a personality profile should not be used alone in selection decisions, but rather to support interviews or more behavioural assessment exercises. Assessment centre outcomes have greater proven validity and thus can be used alone. Further training or consultation with Quest is advised if the weighting of various assessment methods is not understood.
• Users have a responsibility to check the ongoing validity of assessments. Quest can support in this area. Validity is not a property necessarily of a particular tool, but rather how the tool is applied. Quest can support the ongoing validation of assessments, e.g. ensuring ongoing compliance with Equal Opportunities legislation.
• All assessment materials, content, outputs etc, must be carefully secured and kept confidential.
• No assessment materials may be copied or reproduced unless the user owns the sole copyright on materials. No user should breach the copyright or intellectual property rights of Quest Partnership of its agents or associates.