Fostering Confidence in Assessments and Education: The 6-Step Approach for Building Trust in Your Program

A blog from Prometric

The Evolution of Education

With college enrollment rates declining over 13% in the last decade, employers such as Apple and Tesla are now reconsidering degree requirements altogether for new job candidates. Other employers, such as Walmart, have already removed the degree requirement for new roles.

As we witness this workforce transformation first-hand, licensure and credentialing organizations have a prime opportunity to leverage credentials as a valuable alternative to degrees, providing employers the ability to gauge required on-the-job competencies more accurately. However, to do so, now more than ever, each license and credential must properly assess the required skill sets of test-takers to ensure the high level of trust that employers will need to have in these credentials. To gain the trust of employers, we must first understand what causes distrust.

What Influences Distrust?

 The center of distrust surrounds our lack of reliance on industry experts. The Pew Research Center survey found that one of the single largest declines was in trust for medical personnel and scientists. This is not just an American problem; it transcends borders, with a lack of trust in something as basic as the food supply chain in places like the United Kingdom. In Ireland, there are similar concerns about trust in policing, the legal system, and the mass media. Data is another prime example. If individuals believe, for example, that voting machines, their local power plant, or their personal credit card can be hacked, they believe there is no safe place for their data. This means candidates will perceive that they are operating in a risky environment where trust is lacking, therefore affecting the credibility of your credential.

So, what does this mean for your certification program? Multinational organizations that conduct assessments in several countries must recognize the varying degrees of trust that employers and individuals face when pursuing certifications.

Rethinking Assessment: Rebuilding Trust and Reestablishing Confidence

In an age where trust in assessments and certifications is increasingly vital, organizations face a pressing need to reevaluate their approaches, including ensuring the integrity and reliability of assessments while also fostering trust among test-takers and employers. Through six key strategies aimed at building trust within organizations’ assessment and certification processes, these approaches not only increase confidence in assessments but also contribute to the broader goal of nurturing skilled and resilient professionals ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow’s workforce.

6 Ways to Build Trust in Your Assessment Program

1. Accuracy and Relevance
   
   The credentials must accurately reflect the skills and knowledge required for specific roles or industries. In today’s rapidly evolving job market  where technological advancements and industry trends shape skill requirements, outdated or irrelevant credentials risk becoming obsolete. Ensuring alignment between assessment content and real-world job demands is essential for instilling confidence in employers that certified individuals possess the necessary competencies.
2. Security Measures
   
   Implementing robust security measures throughout the assessment process is essential for safeguarding the integrity and confidentiality of credentials. Organizations must employ encryption, secure authentication protocol, and monitoring mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access, tampering, or cheating during assessments. Prioritizing data security and compliance with industry standards will help licensure and certification organizations reassure employers of the security and trustworthiness of their assessment programs.
3. Transparency
   
   Being transparent about the assessment process, criteria, and standards is crucial for fostering trust in assessment programs. Transparency not only enhances the credibility of the credentialing process but also empowers candidates and employers to understand how their performance is evaluated. By providing clear guidelines and expectations, organizations promote fairness and mitigate concerns about bias in assessment outcomes.
4. Validity and Reliability
   
   Employers seek assurance that the credentialing process is valid and reliable. Validity ensures that assessments accurately measure the intended knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to the target job roles, while reliability ensures consistency in assessment results over time and across different administrations. Employing rigorous validation techniques and adhering to established psychometric principles will demonstrate the validity and reliability of organizations’ assessment content, strengthening confidence in the overall credentialing process to employers
5. Industry Recognition
   
   Building relationships with industry stakeholders and ensuring widespread recognition of credentials within relevant sectors are essential for building trust. Employers place value on credentials that align with industry standards and are endorsed by reputable organizations or professional associations. Actively engaging with industry partners and soliciting feedback from employers will validate the relevance and utility of licensure and certification organizations’ credentials, enhancing their perceived value of a reliable measure of competency.
6. Ethical Standards
   
   Upholding high ethical standards throughout the credentialing process is essential for building trust and credibility. Ethical integrity encompasses various aspects, including exam development, administration, scoring, and reporting. Organizations must maintain confidentiality, fairness, and impartiality at every stage of the assessment process to ensure equity and trustworthiness. By adhering to ethical guidelines and promoting a culture of integrity, licensure and certification organizations foster trust among candidates, reinforcing the credibility and value of their credentials.

These aspects of building trust can help licensure and certification organizations establish credibility and trust among employers, ultimately making their credentialing programs more valuable alternatives to traditional degrees in the changing landscape of the workforce.

Making the Change for Tomorrow’s Workforce

As organizations begin the journey of rebuilding trust in their assessment and certification programs, it becomes evident that these endeavors extend beyond mere credentials. Taking action on these strategies represents a commitment to integrity, equity, and social responsibility, the essential pillars in fostering a robust and inclusive professional landscape. Organizations that restructure their frameworks and invest in trust-building practices will not only enhance the credibility of their assessment programs but also contribute to cultivating a workforce empowered with the confidence and skills needed to thrive in an ever-evolving global economy.