With the sheer volume, and increasingly complex nature of information presented to employees on a daily basis, a key element of success for the modern day employee is the ability to consistently make good decisions.

Especially in the new world of social media, where a company's reputation can be significantly damaged at the stroke of a key (just ask Airbnb).

So if good decision making skills are more important than ever before, how does a company know whether their employee’s (or potential employees) have this valuable attribute? Surely it is not something that can be measured or developed, right? Wrong.

In the US, the Department of Labor identified critical thinking as the raw material that underlies fundamental workplace competencies, such as problem solving, decision making, planning and risk management. It was also rated as the No. 1 skill of increasing importance over the next five years.

So what is Critical Thinking?

In short critical thinking is about better decision making. It is required when presented with complex information, and can be defined as the ability to:

• Think logically, with clarity and precision so you can recognise the difference between a fact and an assumption.
• Use an approach that is objective and accurate when weighing up different sides to an argument or different solutions to a problem.
• When inundated with data and details, the ability to focus only on the relevant information presented and draw conclusions from this.

The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal is an assessment tool that can help a business determine critical thinking skills in employees and candidates. It has a distinguished history, dating back to its initial development in 1925 by Goodwin Watson and E. M. Glaser, a professor and student at Columbia Teachers College.

Find out more about the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal.

By Andrew Shirlaw | Thursday August 25th 2011 - 11:32 am