Many entrepreneurs, bosses, and HR employees wonder how best to measure the cognitive ability of employees and job applicants. We are now in a time when a CV is no longer enough to accept someone for the job, because it is difficult to know and identify their skills and aspects of personality.
Here, an effective and more accurate method must be used to obtain sufficient information for the employee or the applicant from personal skills, weaknesses, strengths and others. One such effective method is the Assessment, which is an online assessment.
It consists of a number of questions that are asked within a specific time, such as half an hour or less. It is an assessment given by the employer to candidates for vacancies or current employees. Through this assessment , the employer shows in detail how each candidate performs tasks effectively within the workplace and the most appropriate choice for the job. It also enables him to know the weaknesses of his employees and thus work to develop and train them.
This evaluation has many types and only the employer determines the appropriate assessment for its performance.
For example, there is an assessment of cognitive ability and skills, personality, leadership and specialized assessment such as the English language assessment, sales, electronic marketing..etc
These assessments are not limited to simply recognizing the performance of the candidate or employee. Rather, the employer is able to determine the characteristics and personality characteristics of each candidate or employee, his cognitive abilities and job skills, in addition to his behaviours and emotional intelligence.
It enables them to know the skills of employees and what they need to develop and helps to know the best of the right candidates for the job and their environment before making an appointment decision. These assessments have been classified into standard and for job skills, each type includes several assessments and here in this article we will address the most important ones, which is the assessment of cognitive ability.
What is the assessment of cognitive ability?
The cognitive ability assessment was first created at the end of the 19th century and was used as a measure of a general mental capacity of people. Unlike other competency assessments (such as verbal or numerical thinking), cognitive ability assessment covers a range of criteria such as mechanical thinking and spatial awareness – to assess an individual’s overall intelligence.
The assessment of cognitive ability as mentioned earlier is usually used before employment for the purpose of measuring the cognitive skills of the job applicant. It helps in screening and identifying the best candidates so it speeds up and streamlines the recruitment process. A detailed report is also provided to the manager or leader on the skills of their employees, at which they can know the weaknesses and skills of their employees or team members and what they need to develop and training programs.
What does cognitive ability assessment measure?
The cognitive assessment measures an individual’s mental abilities across a number of different categories. It not only measures what you know, it measures how you think. One of the mental skills that may be included in the assessment to measure are the following:
Attention to detail, problem solving, critical thinking, numerical thinking, reading understanding, spatial thinking ..etc
The assessment is usually short and consists of multiple choice questions, which can consist of logical puzzles, mathematical problems, or reading comprehension questions. The cognitive ability assessment can be designed to test a single individual skill (such as numerical thinking) or can also be coordinated as a general intelligence assessment covering each category of intelligence.
What is the best platform to offer cognitive ability testing?
Because of the importance of this test, many platforms and entities have appeared that offer it with different designs and methods. Each platform was creative in designing and presenting the assessment in order to meet the needs of the beneficiaries in an optimal way, which caused confusion for some about what is the best and the most appropriate among them.
These lines will show you the answers to these questions, and two platforms will be mentioned which are the best platforms offering this assessment and you will have an overview of them.
Harver is a well-known and diverse global platform that has gained a lot of global customers. It is a platform that provides many and diverse pre-employment assessments and one of the most important assessments that it provides is the cognitive assessment .
The Harver Cognitive Assessment consists of five optional parts or sub-assessments. It is used to measure a wide range of cognitive abilities. Its performance takes 6 to 24 minutes per section.
What distinguishes the assessment is that the employer can allocate it to include or exclude one of the sub-tests. The assessment is offered only in English, which may be problematic or not suitable for Arabic speakers.
The Harver assessment sections are as follows:
Logical section:
This is a sub-assessment that measures logical thinking and your ability to recognize and interpret patterns and details in numbers and shapes. This ability is closely related to problem solving and decision making. Based on this test, it is possible to identify the employee’s ability to deal with abstract concepts and ideas, solve problems and make decisions.
Verbal:
This section measures from the assessment verbal thinking and your reading comprehend skills. It also assesses your ability to think abstractly, solve problems, and relate verbal concepts. This section includes questions that include reading a piece and answering questions about it, as well as verbal analogies. This assessment can help predict something simple, such as how well you can read and follow instructions.
Perceptual speed and accuracy:
This section measures how fast and efficient you can work on unfamiliar tasks. It also measures how well you can work under pressure. This sub-assessment is often used in specific functions that require the ability to sort and rank information in a fast and efficient manner. This section is highly associated with measuring short-term memory and the ability to learn quickly and remember specific details.
Numerical thinking:
The assessment assesses numerical thinking and your ability to deal with numbers. More specifically, you are asked to recognize patterns and systems in digital sequences. Topics covered include sequences of numbers and percentages, with questions often including graphs and tables to be analysed as part of the question. This sub-assessment is useful for jobs that require the ability to think analytically and work well with numbers, such as jobs in banking or finance ..etc.
Spatial Capability:
This section assesses your spatial ability to work with shapes and processes. Most questions are about shapes and ask you to be able to move, rotate, or otherwise manipulate a shape. These capabilities are often important for jobs in areas such as architecture and engineering, but they are also related to strategic thinking abilities, as they reveal how a potential employee can perceive the bigger picture.
Upskillable
It is an Arab platform that provides advisory services and a number of assessments, including leadership assessment, psychological measurements, knowledge, skills, organisational capacity assessment and other assessments. It offers its services at the level of Saudi Arabia and on an Arab and Gulf scale. The Upskillable Cognitive Assessment is a 32-minute assessment that can be conducted online as a pre-employment assessment or to determine training requirements, and includes assessing four skills.
What distinguishes the Upskillable cognitive assessment is that it is offered in Arabic and English, and each section can be performed separately at a separate time. Employers can apply it to job candidates and sort out the best of them according to their results.
According to the Upskillable Cognitive Assessment, the candidate is assessed on the following four cognitive skills:
1-Critical thinking
It is a 9-minute assessment that measures an individual’s ability to think publicly critically. It includes a range of cognitive skills, including observation, analysis, interpretation, reasoning, evaluation, and problem solving. It is necessary to make clear decisions in all aspects of life. Critical thinking skill is also important in many fields, including science, law, medicine, and business.
3-Numerical thinking
Its 9-minute duration measures the skill of numerical or quantitative thinking, which is an important skill in many fields, including finance, accounting, engineering, and science. This assessment is often used as a key factor in the recruitment process for jobs that require strong analytical and quantitative skills. By developing numerical thinking abilities, individuals can improve their ability to analyse complex data, make informed decisions, and succeed in a wide range of academic and professional environments.
4-Numerical thinking
Evaluates the ability to think with information to solve unfamiliar new problems, regardless of any prior knowledge. It is an 11-minute assessment that measures the ability to think clearly, process information, solve problems, and make good decisions. Abstract thinking is an important cognitive skill which is necessary for success in a wide range of academic and professional fields, including mathematics, science, engineering, design, and computer programming. It is also a critical component of standardised assessments such as IQ tests, proficiency tests, and college entrance tests.
What’s the best?
As a Saudi or Arab company or institution, you must be looking for the best platform to serve you in this field and provide high-quality assessments and accurate and detailed reports that show you the skills, weaknesses and strength of individuals in your organisation. As we reviewed above, each platform has its advantages and is different in its way from the other.
But if you are looking for the best, Upskillable is the best choice on an Arab, Gulf and Saudi scale in particular. It provides various assessments that include cognitive skills and provides it in Arabic. Also, it supports the Kingdom’s vision2030 and goals through its services and assessments.
The Upskillable cognitive assessment has benefits, the most important of them are the following :
- Facilitate the recruitment process: by assisting employers in identifying candidates with specific skills and abilities for specific job roles.
- Improving Functionality: Upskillable cognitive assessment can be used to identify individuals with strong cognitive abilities, leading to better job performance and more effective workplace decisions.
- Development of cognitive training: A cognitive ability assessment can help identify specific areas of knowledge that need improvement, allowing targeted training and interventions to improve overall cognitive function.
- Analysis of areas that need to be developed
- Development and training in leadership skills
- The training follows the agile methodology in project management
- Human capacity development programs
- Regulatory assessments
Upskillable is a platform that provides you with an integrated service both in its assessment of cognitive ability and its other assessments. Its services are in stages assessing firstly, then follow-up, analysis and finally helping to develop!
So don’t hesitate to try the assessment, apply it and get its benefits!
In conclusion, we gave you an overview of the cognitive assessment and what it is and the skills it measures. We also mentioned the best platforms that offer it on a global and Arab scale and explained in detail what distinguishes these platforms in providing this assessment and we also provided a detailed explanation of the sections of each assessment according to each platform and its details and benefits.
And the most important thing is that we mentioned the best platform that offers this assessment on an Arab and Saudi scale and we mentioned too what distinguishes it and makes it the best. We hope this article satisfies your curiosity and answers your questions about the cognitive assessment and the best platforms offering it !
