Outdated models and financial pressures
In 2012, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's Learning and Talent Development Survey picked out this theme. It found that the three most commonly used learning models were all more than 30 years old, and that practitioners had "low awareness" of more modern diagnostic tools from neuroscience, cognitive research and economics. John McGurk, a learning and talent development adviser, pointed to the ongoing popularity of models such as Myers-Briggs (published 1962), Belbin (1981) and the Honey and Mumford Learning Styles Questionnaire (1982).
McGurk estimates that - while awareness of other tools might have grown - there is still complacency among HR professionals to use what they know.
"One of the issues here is availability bias; people will use whatever's available until they know of something different," he says.
"It's not necessarily the models themselves where the problem lies - people use cut-down, unofficial versions of these tools and don't measure their employees against the full sample in the tool, so they draw their own conclusions. People can use Myers-Briggs online, for example, but it won't always be a truly psychometric test if it's not benchmarked."
Since the economic downturn, budgets have also been squeezed, so departments are often faced with measuring people using fewer resources. This can place a greater burden on tools to make the process more efficient.
"We get focused on tests because they're objective and fair, and they can make a selection for us. There's an 'everything will be sorted' attitude," says Binna Kandola, senior partner and co-founder of business psychology company Pearn Kandola.
He adds that even newer, 'fashionable' tools such as the nine-box grid [often used for talent management or succession planning] are "just a framework, and only as good as the person who's operating them".