Time Management Skills Assessment

According to a recent Gitnux report, more than 80 percent of the U.S. workday is spent on tasks that have little or no value. 32 percent of workers say they procrastinate two to three hours a day, with only 20 percent feeling that their workday is under control.

With poor time management, fewer tasks get done, employees experience more stress and burnout, and your organization loses out on hidden costs and lack of productivity. 

One of the many strategies you can employ to improve time management in your workplace is to ensure new hires are tested for their time management skills. Read on to learn more about how you can use a time management skills assessment to find quality hires with excellent time management skills.

What Is a Time Management Skills Assessment?

A time management skills assessment is a pre-hire test designed to evaluate how well candidates manage time, hit deadlines, prioritize important tasks, and navigate the varying responsibilities that come with demanding roles. Time management skills assessments are great ways to ensure you hire candidates who don’t procrastinate, know how to juggle the moving parts of a role, and can effectively complete their tasks in a timely manner. 

Most time management skills assessments, as we’ll look at closer below, rely on agree/disagree structures as well as analytic problems that ask candidates to explain their strategies for completing a busy workload. 

How to use time management skills assessments

We recommend using a time management skills assessment directly after or before the first interview. You can use a time management skills test to weed out candidates early on in the hiring process or to tip the edge between several qualified candidates. 

Why you should use a time management skills assessment

Skills assessments provide you and your team with more information about your candidates, which will be useful in making an informed and confident hiring decision. Time management skills tests are especially important because of how much money, time, and productivity get wasted with inefficient work habits. When 80 percent of employee time is wasted on low-priority or unnecessary tasks, most organizations are taking considerable losses on productivity and wasted wages. 

While most workplaces will need to revamp their work culture and management strategies to improve their time management, you can mitigate a lot of unhealthy time management habits by hiring smarter and better. Time management skills assessment will help you close that gap.

What to Test for in Your Time Management Skills Assessments

Time management skills are all about how well employees prioritize their tasks, organize their days, understand their own needs to recharge, and employ smart strategies to get the most out of their time. 

Here are a few things to test for in your time management skills assessment

• Organizational skills
• Task management skills
• Ability to focus
• Goal setting
• Scheduling
• Learning agility
• Multi-tasking skills
• Stress management
• Problem-solving skills
• Procrastination
• Critical thinking
• Self-discipline

Learn more about testing for time management skills with our ultimate skills-based hiring guide.

Time Management Skills Assessment Example Template Questions

Two of the most effective and common ways to test for skills assessment involve problem-solving questions and self-assessment scores. You can compare a candidate’s self-assessment with a reference check, providing you with greater insight into applicants’ sense of self-awareness. 

Here are a few time management questions you can use for a self-assessment test. 

Short Answer Responses

1. What do you do when you’re running behind on a deadline? Explain in a step-by-step process.
2. What are some strategies you use to ensure you’re staying ahead on tasks?
3. Is it important to prioritize certain tasks? Why or why not?
4. How do you handle juggling multiple projects or responsibilities at the same time? 
5. What do you do when you’re unable to focus on your work?
6. Would you rather have complete control over a project so you know it’s done right, or would you delegate tasks to lessen the workload?
7. How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance? 

Final Thoughts: Time Management Skills Assessment 

Time management skills are critical for most roles, especially in fast-paced corporate environments. Candidates with strong time management skills will typically be more organized, mindful, aware of their stress levels, communicative, and self-disciplined. These are all qualities that you want in a quality hire. 

Crosschq’s skills competencies help you identify the most important skills by providing you with continuously connected performance data. You can track how your current employees are performing, find skills gaps, and use those insights to inform your hiring process and skills assessments. 

With Crosschq, gone are the days of guessing which skills lead to the best candidates. Sign up for the Crosschq demo to find siloed skills gaps that can help you find quality hires today.