Prepared by:Charles A. Handler, Ph.D.May 2, 2012

To provide information to support an understanding of what assessment is

To provide an understanding of the value prop for assessment’s impact on quality of hire

To boil success down to 4 simple steps

To discuss key trends

To be practical!!

Background on assessment- what is it?, what does it do?, how does it add value?

Implementing assessment- 4 steps to success

Trends in assessment

Q and A

A: Any method used to provide data/information about a candidate’s qualifications and potential for performing a job or his/her potential to perform the requirements of the job.

So, it’s a predictive tool to support informed decision making!

Believe it or not!- interviews, resume reviews, screening, and background checks all are considered to be assessments

FuturePerformance

Job Fit: What do they want to do?Environment Fit: Where do they want to work?

Personality MeasuresAbility Measures

“What canthey do?”

“What do they want to do?”

“What havethey done?”

Experience Measures

Information overload

Low quality information

No standardization

Not always job related

Process efficiency

Candidate quality

Own the employee lifecycle

Predict the “stuff” needed to fulfill business drivers

Invest in human capital

Provide legal defensibility

Provide extra data points about an applicant to help support the decision making process

Provide a standardized way to gain insight into applicant qualities that aren’t always apparent

Provide a way to support quality of hire

Provide supporting evidence for trends in an applicant’s data

Help identify developmental needs from Day 1

Weed out the worst applicants while focusing on the best

Provide real ROI

Tell you all you need to know about an applicant

Solve all your problems

Make decisions for you

Guarantee applicants will be successful

Be 100% effective

Take the place of an expert who can see the big picture

Dark and scary?

Using assessments correctly is a challenge that requires insight and wisdom

Matching tools

Qualifications screening

Biographical history data

Personality tests

Work values/ “fit”

Cognitive tests

Situational judgment tests

Simulations

Integrity tests

Structured interviews

Knowledge and skills testing

Assessment centers

Executive assessment

Jobs are complex and require many different traits coming together

A single test can rarely provide the whole picture

A single test is useful to ID on a key requirement (i.e., customer service)

The bigger picture requires the use of several data collection opportunities using different methods (a.k.a. the whole person method)

Determining how many, what type, and where are strategic decisions

Creating a process using complimentary assessments yields better predictive power than any one assessment alone

The right combination depends entirely upon the situation

A weak link can mean disaster!!!

Screening Out

Screening In

Science is your friend Helps screen out the bad, screen in the good The more applicants the more assessment

adds value Closes the loop- allows track back

to key outcomes

Information is power!

What or whom do you trust?

When you have an important decision to make what do you do?

Job PerformancePredictor Content

Zero Predictive Accuracy

Moderate Predictive

Accuracy (.3)

Job Performance Predictor Content

High Predictive Accuracy (.6)

Job Performance Predictor Content

0 value

useful value

strong value

Tangible outcomeso Reduced turnovero Reduced absenceo More saleso Increased customer sat

Less tangible outcomeso Bench strengtho Developmental planningo Brand buildingo Org culture

1. Define- Know what it takes, first!2. Measure- Use relevant assessments3. Decide- Choose the best applicants4. Evaluate-Close the loop

We must define job performance domain-first!

You cant measure what you don’t understand

This definition serves as a blueprint for measurement

What does it take?

Ad hoc (job description, hiring manager interview)

Job analysis Competency modeling Profiling (benchmarking using

incumbents)

Performance is described in several ways

•Business drivers

•Valued outcomes

•Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

•Competencies

•Behaviors

Interviews Observations Focus groups Surveys

Collecting input from experts

Clear understanding of what it takes as described by:

▪ Knowledges

▪ Skills

▪ Abilities

▪ Experience

▪ Competencies

Use results of definition process to select measurement tools

This is where one can build a strategic process

Selecting quality tools is critical

Supports informed decision making Provides clear data on relevant performance dimensions Is staged so information of most value is available at the right time

Cognitive Ability Test

Simulation Personality test

Biodata SJT Interview

Communication X XCustomer Service Skills X X XDependability X X XDrive and Initiative XInterpersonal Skills X X XLearning and Memory XProblem Solving and Decision Making X XProfessionalism X XSales Skills X X X XTeamwork X X X X

Look at all the data, provide systems to track and organize

Rely on the expertise of decision makers

Ensure buy in to assessment tools but discourage over-reliance on them

Be consistent

Example decision support tools

This step is where skill and experience of the recruiter and hiring manager shine!

Assessment is all about supporting decision makers with information that is reliable and accurate

It’s not about blindly looking at the results

The entire hiring process yields data that can be used to see the big picture when it comes to an applicant

Assessment reporting should be easy to understand, with only relevant info presented

This is a critical step that is often ignored Think six sigma This is the way to show ROI The value proposition for assessment lives here

Let’s look at how understanding the relationship between predictors and job performance can show us the value of assessment

300% Higher Performance Ratings

$55 MillionRetained Revenue

46% Reduction in Turnover

$78 Million in Reduced Shrinkage

$120 Million in Additional Overall Sales

Increased Successful Graduate Hires by 73%

Reduced Time to Hire by 3 Weeks

18 Additional Days of Productivity

Employees 4 Times More Reliable

$170 Million in Additional Collections Revenue

57% More Likely to be Promoted

Employees 3 Times More Client-focused

“ Is my employment brand competitive and attracting the right

candidates? ”

“Which recruiting sources are delivering the best talent”

“When do I lose the best quality candidates – offer or before?”

“Are my college hires the future leaders of my business?”

“Are any of my teams likely to put my business at risk?”

“Do I have the right talent on board to strategically change the

direction of our business?”

Assessment can help provide the answers to more macro level strategic questions such as:

This where the power of assessment lies We want to simultaneously screen out low

performers while screening in high performers We don’t have to be perfect to add value

Roster Output Average

Sally 421

Bill 402

Erin 389

Nichole 374 Top 80%

Jose' 370 347

Aundra 293

Cyndi 276

Emil 254

Yuliya 237 Bottom 20 %

George 229 233

Test scores can differentiate between high and low performers.

The higher the validity, the better job the test does at identifying top and bottom performers.

Test Validation is the most common method

Don’t stress- Validation just means the test is measuring what it takes to do the job

Validation takes many forms but the only one that shows us ROI relies on statistics

Validation =Study of Relationships & ROI

CandidateAssessment

Data

Supervisor Ratings and Job Performance Data

v

High

HighLow

Predictor

Criteria

Quantitative

Tracking back performance to source of hire

Evaluation based on identification of hi-pos

Organization level metrics

Qualitative

Candidate feedback regarding process

Hiring manager feedback regarding process

Benchmarking vs. industry and competition

The world of assessment is rapidly changing

We are at the beginning of the next stage of evolution

Key drivers include

Big data and analytics

Demand for quality

Demand for more engaging candidate experience

Streamlining via knowledge of what works

Part of Talent Management – technology backbone yields data from pre-hire to retire

Data shows key relationships across the entire cycle

Pinpoints the value of assessments

Vendors starting to build analytics platforms

Quality of hire does not seem to be something that is measured by organizations

Quality of hire lacks a standard definition and is not operationalized by most firms

Without some agreement and sync, quality of hire will remain a vague term that will not drive any specific value propositions

In reality, the specific metrics demonstrating quality of hire are something that is unique to each organization.

What is measurable (hard)?: demographic data, test results, certifications, degrees, in-role performance (i.e., productivity, sales, tenure, etc.)

What is subjective (soft)?: person-job fit, person-organization fit, competencies (i.e., communication, flexibility, decision making, leadership), supervisory ratings of performance

The way that people find jobs (and vice versa) is currently broken

Communication between job seekers and employers is not easy

We experience a lot of noise as part of the hiring process

Assessment and analytics are now focusing on this issue

Matching is a new hot area

Combining assessment with sourcing to “direct traffic” and increase the odds for success

Candidates are customers

Employer brand is key for differentiation

We are moving from “test” to “experience”

Traditional test items will be around for a long time

Currently limited by technology and resource requirements

51

Vendors have collected enough data to know what works

Off the shelf assessments are more accurate then ever

Off the shelf assessments available for most every major job or job family

Making assessment better, faster, cheaper

Assessment does not have to be a mystery

It is not perfect but it still has tremendous potential

It adds value as a decision support tool

Better more informed hiring decisions lead to higher rate of quality hires

Make sure any vendor you use supports all 4 steps

Quality of hire means ROI and more

Start small, pilot or POC

Fortune favors the bold!

Chandler@Rocket-Hire.com