Huggies firm extends psychometric testing

Healthcare products giant Kimberly-Clark is planning to extend its use of psychometric testing across its European operations.

The owner of brands such as Kleenex, Andrex and Huggies has signed a deal with its existing assessment firm SHL to extend its services to Kimberly-Clark locations outside the UK.

The company estimates that the cost of hiring the wrong candidate is around 30,000, which means the use of psychometrics can play a vital role in ensuring the firm remains competitive, according to Rick Woodward, learning and development director at the firm.

"We simply have to get the best people to remain competitive and the use of psychometric assessment and ability tests is crucial in this aim," he said. "In particular, the Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) enables us to learn things about candidates we wouldn't be able to identify from a CV or in an interview."

At Kimberly-Clark's centralised European administrative service centre in Brighton, West Sussex, managers will undergo SHL's clerical check test.