One of the most common factors influencing job satisfaction is career development and training. Yet during and post recession, this is many times one of the first things to get cut. In fact, in Accenture’s High Performance Workforce Study, organizations ranked training and development dead last when asked to name the most functional areas within the company. Last. Even behind logistics and distribution. And only 11% of respondents thought it should rank in the top 3.

If employee engagement is so important right now, why is that an area of business considered the least important?

Understandably, cutbacks have had to take place and something’s got to give. But what if you were able to streamline your training programs to ensure they will really have an impact?

Psychometric testing uncovers many variables about your employees such as personality, intelligence, attitude and beliefs. These tests can be administered to groups with results available quickly. Doesn’t it stand to follow that these results could then be used to guide the training and development programs that you offer employees?

How many of the programs you offer actually achieve the desired goals of providing value to your employees and demonstrating your investment into their career? It’s like anything else, if the effort doesn’t resonate with the employees it is nothing more than a feeble attempt to show you care. (Read my previous post about surveys to understand how counterproductive this is.)

There are many, many types of psychometric tests to choose from and used effectively, you should be able to learn about your employees and cater training and development programs to focus on what they want to learn. This allows the company to nurture employee strengths and cultivate their talent, which is to the organization’s benefit. This is in conjunction with motivating employees by giving them what they want and proving that you care about their careers and their futures.

Do you use psychometric testing in other areas besides recruiting? Does it make sense to drive training and development with the results of these tests? Could this turn training and development into a retention tool? Share your thoughts and stories in the comments.