Case Study: Major Manufacturing Company achieves a more diverse, higher-performing workforce with Criteria Corp's CBST and WTMA

Manufacturing Company Hires More Diverse, Higher Performing Workforce

A major manufacturing company (1,000+ employees) wanted to add pre-employment assessments to improve quality of hire but was concerned that testing could create adverse impact and undermine efforts to hire a diverse workforce, particularly for female and minority applicants.

The company partnered with Criteria to study the Criteria Basic Skills Test (CBST) and Wiesen Test of Mechanical Aptitude (WTMA), administering them to 519 machine operators and 136 distribution employees. Both assessments predicted tenure, fewer terminations, reduced disciplinary actions and absences, and showed no evidence of adverse impact across sex, race, or age — for example, CBST passers had 17% greater tenure (operators) and 53% lower turnover (distribution), while WTMA passers had about 2x fewer disciplinary actions (operators) and nearly 4x greater tenure (distribution). As a result, the company adopted objective screening that supported hiring a more diverse, higher-performing workforce.