As organisations expand across borders and talent becomes increasingly global, psychometric assessments have become a vital part of how businesses recruit, develop, and retain the right people. But while these assessments can offer deep insight into human potential, their effectiveness hinges on something often overlooked: high-quality translation.
At Comms Multilingual, we’ve supported global organisations for over 22 years in translating and localising assessments that are fair, valid, and culturally appropriate – no matter the language.
The Role of Assessments in Modern HR
Whether you’re identifying leadership potential, evaluating cognitive skills, or exploring behavioural profiles, psychometric tools help HR teams make more objective, data-informed decisions.
But when these tools are only available in one language – or translated without care – they can create barriers for candidates and distort the results. That’s why quality translation isn’t just about accessibility – it’s essential for accuracy and fairness and enabling HR teams to make the right decisions.
What Makes Psychometric Translation Different?
Psychometric translation is different from general translation.
Each question or prompt must maintain its:
- Intended difficulty level
- Cognitive load
- Cultural neutrality
- Statistical reliability
A word-for-word translation, especially one done solely by machine, can compromise the integrity of the entire assessment. The stakes are high – especially when assessments are used for high-impact decisions such as hiring or leadership selection.
Why Human Translation is Still Essential for Psychometric and HR Assessments
Human translation remains critical when it comes to high-stakes materials such as psychometric tests, certification exams, and other assessments. We’ve evaluated numerous AI translation tools and found that they still tend to translate word-for-word – failing to capture the nuance, context, and intended difficulty level of the original items. What may seem like a direct translation often results in a shift in meaning or complexity, which can significantly affect outcomes.
That’s why we strongly recommend fully human translation for high-stakes content. While there may be opportunities to speed up certain parts of the translation process, this should be discussed on a case-by-case basis to avoid compromising accuracy, compliance, or fairness. Ultimately, you decide the level of risk you’re comfortable with – but human translation remains the gold standard when precision truly matters.
For materials that are not as high-stakes – such as general HR policies, internal communications, or employee onboarding guides – AI translation with human post-editing can be a viable option.
Supporting Inclusive, Global Hiring
When assessments are made available in multiple languages, candidates can take these in their native tongue – reducing anxiety, improving comprehension, and offering a more accurate measure of ability. This supports not only fairness, but also your DEI goals. You want to compare talent – not language proficiency.
As more companies grow internationally, accurate translation becomes a business necessity. If your HR team is based in the UK but you’re hiring in Spain, Brazil, or Japan, your assessments must reflect local language and cultural expectations. This isn’t just about communication – it’s about compliance, too. Poorly translated materials can lead to misunderstandings, inconsistent candidate experiences, and even risk breaching local employment or equality laws.
Accurate, well-adapted assessments help you identify the right talent, meet legal obligations, and build a fair recruitment process across all your markets.
Our Approach to Assessment Translation
We partner with HR organisations, test publishers, and certification bodies to deliver a complete, high-quality translation process. This includes:
- Expert linguists trained in psychometric adaptation
- Ongoing translation support for updating item banks, assessments, surveys, and reports
- Consistency through translation memories and terminology databases
- Secure file handoffs in a wide range of formats (XML, JSON, Excel, Word, etc.)
- In-context review, layout checks, and other value-added quality steps
- Back translation, SME review, and linguistic validation where appropriate
- Multimedia localisation for video and audio content
Whether you’re localising a leadership framework, an aptitude test, or an onboarding survey – we’ve done it.
Ready to Translate Your Assessments?
If you’re developing or delivering assessments for a global audience, translation shouldn’t be an afterthought. Done right, it enhances candidate experience, improves data quality, and supports better talent decisions.
Submit a no-obligation enquiry or book a free consultation with us to discuss how we can help you create multilingual assessments that are both accurate and culturally fit for purpose.
