Employers are increasingly using assessment tools in their hiring process.
Gone are the days when great local candidates littered the streets and high-tech startups could go through them like napkins at a barbeque. Employers also have become savvier--and more wary--about employee replacement costs, which can reach six figures in some cases. They are determined to do it right the first time and are utilizing skills tests and assessment tools to identify the perfect candidates. They don't want to end up hiring people who look good on paper, but cannot function effectively as a member of their teams. Essentially, these new assessment tools enable an employer to identify job success factors with greater precision than ever before--helping them find people who best meet these requirements.
Consider Kevin Kelley, CEO of a new company, DUX>AREA, Inc., which deals in advanced research of environmental atomization. He needed to hire five regional directors and about 50 district managers across the country for his Seattle, Wash.-based business.
There were plenty of resumes and headhunters to help fill these slots, but Kelley knew that once the product was ready for market, he had one initial shot at getting it in front of the right people quickly, which meant he needed to be sure his new employees were up to the task. He chose to include an online assessment tool as a mandatory step in the hiring process, administering it to the three finalists for each position.
"Our introduction of an innovative and market-changing technology into an existing market required us to prove market acceptance quickly. Using an assessment tool was critical to comparing and sorting the large number of qualified sales candidates--and we hired only the best," Kelley says. "As a result of using this tool from the beginning, we now have a profile database of the most successful traits of our employees. We believe this is another competitive advantage."
"I believe we have the best trained, most highly skilled workforce in the industry and our continued use of the information obtained in the assessments has built a very strong team," Kelley adds.
Beware of overpriced pre-employment assessment tools. These are a few of the more affordable, yet robust, examples of assessment tools:
TotalView by HRD Press (www.hire1-2-3.com)
TotalView also measures thinking ability, specific behavioral traits, and motivational interests.
ASSESS by Bigby, Havis & Associates (www.bigby.com)
ASSESS measures thinking, how the candidate works with tasks, and how they work with people.
Source: Monster HiringCenter, FastCompany, June 8, 2006