Rigorous and fair assessment of individuals in the workplace and organizational context is essential, as this assessment will support the diagnoses that are made, and the decisions and interventions that are taken will depend on these diagnoses. If the assessment is incorrect, the diagnosis will not be accurate and the decisions will be wrong. That is why, at Psicotec, we are talking today about the ISO10667 standard.
Until recently, there was no international standard regulating evaluation processes, although there were various recommendations, guidelines, and scattered documents on good evaluation practices. Fortunately, this situation has just undergone a radical change with the recent publication of the new ISO 10667 standard, which regulates everything related to the provision of assessment services, providing guidelines on procedures and methods for assessing individuals in the business and organizational sphere. The standard was developed by an international commission and published in October 2011.
In Spain, AENOR has established a commission that is working on translating and adapting the new standard to our country, and if everything goes according to plan, it is expected to be officially operational by the end of this year or early next year.
The overall objective of the new standard is to provide clear and concise rules for assessment service providers and their clients, with the aim of ensuring rigorous assessment processes. This objective is to be achieved by defining good practices in assessment methods and procedures, ensuring fairness, and evaluating the quality of the service provided. The standard applies to procedures and methods used at the individual level (selection, counseling, training, etc.), group level (work team climate and cohesion), and organizational level (work climate, corporate culture, satisfaction, etc.).
It covers the entire working life cycle of individuals: selection, recruitment, career guidance and counseling, personal development, succession planning, and outplacement. The standard consists of two parts, the first relating to requirements for the client and the second to assessment service providers. It describes the competencies, obligations, and responsibilities of clients and assessment service providers before, during, and after the assessment process. It also provides guidelines for all parties involved in the assessment process, including the person being assessed and those who receive the assessment results. To achieve these objectives, the standard is divided into six sections.
Structure of the ISO10667 standard
- Scope of the evaluation
- Terminology and Definitions
- Customer-Provider Service Agreement
- Pre-Assessment Procedures Conducting the Assessment
- Post-Evaluation Review
The central part of the regulations focuses on section five, relating to the assessment itself, which is divided into five subsections:
- Assessment planning
- Information for parties involved in the evaluation
- Development of the Evaluation
- Interpretation of Results
- Report Preparation
- Communication of results (Feedback)
- Assessment Evaluation
In short, the new ISO10667 standard represents an important step toward promoting good practice in the assessment of individuals in work and organizational contexts, establishing a clear regulatory framework in which to carry out rigorous assessments.
José Muñíz
Professor of Psychometrics
Universidad de Oviedo
José Muñiz was Professor of Psychometrics at the University of Oviedo, Director of the journal Psicothema, and the sole Spanish representative on the International Standards Committee. In 2020, he was appointed rector of Nebrija University.