1. Leading printing executives into the future
Would You Like To Win The Talent War?
By Jerry Scher
Published: September 21, 2012
It has been abundantly clear that selecting the right people and creating an environment that
allows for behavioral change and personal development requires unique insights about an
individuals' behavior as related to a specific job. We must consider the interests, work
preferences, behavioral competencies and tendencies that individual's exhibit in order to
appropriately predict future behavior and therefore impact performance levels. This is a tall order
but we believe the validated research and technology exists to accomplish this.
Benefits of Assessment
An accurate assessment will predict the degree of performance of new hires along with the
ability for an organization to effectively train, coach and develop their talent. Quality
assessment/recruiting technology should reduce recruiting costs, minimize selection mistakes
and reduce costs related to on-boarding of new employees.
"Quality assessment/recruiting technology should reduce recruiting costs, minimize selection
mistakes and reduce costs related to on-boarding of new employees."
While assessing the eligibility of candidates is fairly common, the traditional approach is to
determine if an applicant meets the minimum requirements for a specific job. Of course this will
eliminate those that don't meet your minimum expectations but tells you nothing about how
eligible the others are. It makes more sense to actually measure the level of eligibility so you can
actually compare one applicant to another. The process and the technology to do this are now
available at a relatively low cost.
Measuring Suitability
Suitability is more difficult to measure than eligibility; you must first review the specific job
requirements and determine which suitability factors are required to perform the job
successfully. You also have to consider what level of a suitability factor will enable an employee
to function at a high level of performance. Therefore, as you determine which traits are essential
and desirable you must also consider to what degree they will impact performance. For example,
if you want an employee to be self-motivated you really need to consider what degree of selfmotivation is required to impact their performance. An assessment tool that is based on
behavioral research and has the ability to compare current top performers to the various
suitability factors will allow you to align these factors to the specific job requirements.
2. "Suitability is more difficult to measure than eligibility."
Let's consider some of the suitability characteristics we may want to measure depending on the
actual job requirements:
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How will they communicate and interact with others; are they blunt, diplomatic or both
How do they make decisions, collaborate and pay attention to details
How will they handle autonomy
How persistent are they when faced with challenges
How organized or scattered are they and how well will they plan
How well do they work as a team member
A well-researched and validated behavioral assessment tool (not a personality profile) should not
only assess these characteristics (and many more) but should also assess to what degree they
exist. And they should also be thoughtfully aligned with the job requirements.
Another component of an effective assessment is to measure traits that you want to avoid for a
specific job. Some of the traits that you might want to avoid include bluntness, dominating,
defensiveness, skeptical, harsh and dogmatic. Consider what it is like to be on the receiving end
of these behaviors. Wouldn't it be helpful if you could predict this type of behavior?
Assessment Technology
Since we are focused on developing suitability tools for specific jobs (i.e. different types of sales,
marketing, supervisors, accounting, "C" level executives, customer service, manufacturing
positions and IT) and attempting to measure and predict job success, it is imperative that an
assessment tool measure at least 100 different traits. The goal should be to use one questionnaire
for all positions and utilize selected traits (25-40) for customizing specific behavioral job
templates.
"A well-researched and validated behavioral assessment tool should assess essential and
desirable traits as well as to what degree they exist."
The questionnaire must be work related and not made up of generalized personality questions. It
should utilize cross-referencing technology and have built-in lie detection to measure the
consistency of a candidate' answers. You should also be able to administer the assessment online in less than 30 minutes and the reports should provide an extensive narrative describing how
a candidate or employee aligns with the behavioral traits for the job. For recruitment purposes
the reports should score suitability (overall and for each trait) for the job as well as provide an
interview guide and plan for attracting the candidate.
When used for personal development the reports provided should identify the strengths and
challenges the employee is coping with and a customized coaching plan should be provided. If
the questionnaire assesses work preferences, job satisfaction as well as behavioral competencies,
it will enable management to determine if the employee is in "the right seat" and if not, what the
most appropriate job would be. Assessment information analyzed to coach, mentor and retain top
3. performing employees can be a very valuable way to increase job satisfaction, develop
individuals and teams and build a sustainable competitive advantage.
If you would like more information about assessing eligibility and suitability please contact Jerry
Scher at jerry@peakfocuscoach.com or 404-931-9291. You can also get information about the
Harrison Assessment at http://peakfocus.harrisonassessments.com/index.html
Stay tuned to this continual series – as we focus on how to design and implement an effective
interview program.
Jerry Scher has been engaged in the graphic communication industry for over 35 years, Jerry's
primary goal - make those around him more successful.
Jerry Scher has been engaged in the graphic communication industry for over 35 years, Jerry's
primary goal - make those around him more successful.
