Of all the ways to ensure a safer and more productive work environment for your employees, there are perhaps none more effective than functional employment testing done properly in your place of business.
There are several ways organizations today implement and execute employment testing, from utilizing offsite clinics to leveraging generic or isometric tests.
Fit For Work’s testing strategy is different. We are a licensed provider of WorkSTEPS employment testing, combining job-specific test development with onsite processes to help you quickly hire and retain the right workers while reducing injuries and associated costs by 50% in the first year.
Here’s how functional employment testing through Fit For Work delivers unmatched advantages to help you refine your hiring process from start to finish.
Fully Accurate Job Simulation
In order for a functional employment test to be optimally effective, it’s critical that it mirrors the requirements of the role in question. Each of our tests is job-specific and is designed to most closely simulate the demands of the role. Two errors made when developing functional employment testing that drastically reduce legal defensibility and ADA/EEOC compliance are:
- Including tasks that are not part of the essential functions of the job; i.e. tasks that are not job-related. For example, including push-ups and sit-ups as part of the job-specific tasks that are tested.
- Not basing the tests on scientifically rigorous Physical Demands Analyses (PDAs) . For example, developing a test based on observations collected while walking through a facility without measuring distances/heights, weighing/measuring items, determining push/pull forces with calibrated dynamometers, and/or determining frequencies, duration, and/or repetition.
Our tests are based on scientifically rigorous Physical Demands Analyses (PDA) performed by Ergonomic Specialists who have conducted over 10,000 PDAs and are regularly reviewed to ensure testing requirements are valid and that they accurately reflect the physical demands of the position. Our recommendation is to evaluate each PDA on an annual basis and/or whenever a change has been made to the job/process within that year. Our testing takes place in your facilities using your equipment, tools, and materials, resulting in the most accurate simulation possible of each and every position.
Streamlined Testing and Hiring Processes
With the Fit For Work process, candidate screening is significantly faster – especially when testing is performed onsite. The majority of employment testing with other providers takes place in an offsite, clinic-based setting, where tests may take up to 48 hours to schedule due to patient appointments that must be worked around.
Onsite testing, however, can be provided during dedicated hours set aside exclusively for your organization, without the need to compete for time, space, or attention within a busy offsite clinic. This sole focus on your organization allows a larger volume of candidates to be tested, while typically delivering results within 24 hours of test completion.
These factors help employers condense onboarding timelines , which can help secure high-quality candidates before their interest is lost or they accept an offer elsewhere. Through the Fit For Work cloud-based portal, you can leverage real-time reporting to monitor the efficiency of testing, total screening rate, results by position, screening population demographics, and more.
Testing Compliance – Today and Tomorrow
Another key advantage of WorkSTEPS testing through Fit For Work is that each test is 100% valid and legally compliant.
For years, all testing policies and protocols have been written in cooperation with and thoroughly reviewed by the top employment law firm in the country to ensure compliance with federal law governing testing practices. This provides an additional layer of protection simply not found from other testing services. These protocols are reviewed regularly and updated as necessary to remain compliant with changes in case law over time.
Improved Hiring and Retention
The greatest benefit of functional employment testing is that it helps ensure you are hiring and retaining employees who are capable of performing the physical demands of the job for which they are applying. Not only does this lead to improved safety and satisfaction once hired, but operations and HR managers will be happy to know that post-offer testing also reduces turnover .
Workers who are physically capable of performing in their roles are more likely to stay on board to enjoy longer and more successful careers within your organization. Hiring physically capable candidates also decreases the risk of other employees injuring themselves, since they won’t have to perform their job and the jobs of others who are unable to safely meet the physical requirements.
Start Hiring and Retaining the Right Employees with Fit For Work
Not only does Fit For Work perform industry-best employment testing, but we do so onsite by coming to you wherever you are, resulting in more accurate job simulation, prompt scheduling and testing of candidates, and the ability to accommodate larger testing volumes during periods of increased hiring. Bringing employment testing onsite allows our clients to achieve a more streamlined hiring process with reductions to onboarding times for new hires while still meeting goals for the new hire contingencies of drug and functional testing and background screens.
The bottom line is that bringing employment testing onsite speeds up the process and improves the candidate experience, giving you a crucial hiring advantage. Through functional employment testing, employers are able to see a 50% reduction in injuries and associated costs within the first year of testing, with additional reductions possible in the years that follow.
Contact us today to begin crafting employment tests designed to decrease injuries while increasing the speed of hiring and boosting retention.
