Assessments

At ExactHire, we believe that picking the right employee for the right job is the most critical part of the hiring process. Making sure there is a fit can make the difference in whether you keep a customer or not. And, keeping the customers you have and gaining more leads to financial success.   While we all agree with this line of thinking, let me share a story as to how this has been statistically proven to be more than just a theory.  

In 1997, Anthony Rucci, then Chief Administrative Officer at Sears, wanted to test a theory. The theory was that the leading indicators that predict financial performance were employee attitudes and whether customers saw their stores as fun places to shop.

They went to Claes Fornell International Group, an organization made up of

econometric statisticians at the University of Michigan and asked them if they could help prove this theory. CFI took years of data that Sears had collected on customer satisfaction and work-place questionnaires and put it into their causal modeling technique. The result was that the CFI modeling told Sears that two key components, employees’ attitudes about the job and attitudes about the company, predicted their behavior in front of the customer. How employees behaved in front of customers predicted the likelihood of customer retention and customers recommending Sears to others.  In turn, this directly predicted financial performance. 

Here is the real key: They built an “empirical model that says unless you have a trained, literate, motivated, competent work force, and give them decision-making authority, you don't get satisfied customers no matter how good the merchandise is. The right work force creates customer satisfaction, and that produces superior financial performance.” (http://www.cfornell.es/resources/articles/sears.pdf)

Your chances of keeping these most valuable human assets begin with selecting the best ones in the first place. That means using the best applicant tracking tools, assessments for job fit and making the onboarding process as seamless and informative as possible. Visit: www.exacthire.com and learn how we can help you produce superior financial performance.

If you work in HR you believe, with all your being, that good human capital management leads to better productivity and better product quality. But, sometimes it’s so hard to prove, especially to a CFO who wants to see short-term financial improvements.   As one top HR professional put it, "A financial person is concerned with taking money out of the organization. HR should be concerned with putting investments in." Well, now there is some research to support the connection between successful applicants and product quality.

One of the leaders in this effort is Betty Lou Smith, the vice president of corporate HR at Hunter Douglas. She began investigating the connection between employee turnover and product quality. Divisions with the highest turnover rates, she found, were also those with damaged-goods rates of 5% or higher. And extraordinarily, 70% of employees were leaving the company within six months of being hired. 

Visit: http://www.fastcompany.com/node/53319/print . This is a fascinating article that also focuses a great deal on why others in many organizations don't care for human resource planning and talent management in general.  While most of us might disagree with some of the points made in the article, it is thought-provoking.  
 

Effective Applicant Tracking Software and assessments can be the first steps in finding those with the right Job Fit. Creating thought-provoking key questions right on the application can save a recruiter time and help focus the search on only those that meet the very highest standards. Using employee assessments can validate those first impressions.

At ExactHire, we love creative HR managers who are ready to use every resource at their disposal--Applicant Tracking, Assessments, Human Resource Management Systems-- to get to that perfect Job Fit. We believe, like you, that putting investment IN an organization will produce the value that makes taking money OUT possible. Check out our new website for more information: www.exacthire.com. 

The Magic of Applicant Tracking Software

All human resource professionals love it when they see the magic that happens when good candidates are matched with the right job. Everybody wins! The company wins because the new employee makes a successful contribution to the company, both in the bottom line and in the culture of the company. The employees win because they are happy doing the job, they stay longer, build history and success. 

Providing an applicant tracking tool and assessments gives us a way to contribute to that magic. We believe in our products and services, but nothing convinces us or others more than when we hear it directly from our customers.   Just this week, we received this email:

“We are really enjoying ExactHire and are now wondering what we ever did without it!  It has been a wonderful tool to use and is helping us do a much better job of managing applicants as well as our process.”

What a great feeling to know that customers are using our product in assisting them to improve the way they manage applicants and the hiring process. But best of all, it’s making life easier and more enjoyable in the ever changing and challenging field of human resource management. Come and start experiencing the magic for yourself……..www.exacthire.com.  It’s only a click away.

Every now and then, a conference turns out to be special – both good content and a good audience coming together to make the time worthwhile. That was certainly true at the recent IAHSA conference. We had a great standing-room-only session, with great, thoughtful remarks with ideas both from me and from the audience.

There were several requests for copies of my presentation, and you can click here for the download. While you’re here on my blog, go ahead and subscribe for more updates!

Again, thank you for your interest, and as an audience, you were the best I've had as a presenter. You made my work easy.  I appreciated the open discussion around challenges in using assessments, applicant tracking, and how to build a high performing culture.

I look forward to being of help in the future!!

Before interviewing, you researched the company, donned your best clothes and practical shoes the day of the appointment, planned your route to be early, tucked your updated resume in your portfolio and left for your interview with Human Resources.  

In the next hour, you do everything in your power to acquaint them with your skills, explain why you fit the job and why they should hire YOU!

But then, the regret letter arrives saying although they were impressed with your credentials, they have decided to go with another candidate.

You think, what could have I done better in the interview and why wasn't I hired?!!

Well if the company did its job right, it used applicant tracking software system to better refine candidiates and subjected you to taking some employee assessments so they knew more about you before the interview. So if they didn't pick you, maybe they did you a favor? If there was no job fit, how long would you have lasted.  Companies need to spend more time focusing on talent acquisition. 

On your next job interview if a company using applicant management and pre-employment testing make sure you ask them how they define job fit.  It will give you better insight into whether this is a good decision for both of you. 
 

"Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed tem-
porary jobs increased by 547,000 to 8.2 million in March.  This group has nearly 
doubled in size over the past 12 months."  Yikes.

So, which HR practices are helpers of lean success?

First is how performance is calculated, communicated and tied to incentives. Too often, staff go home not knowing (or caring) whether or not they accomplished their goals.

Next is team development. An organization that is based on individual performance will struggle to get the team behaviors needed for lean success.

Then, clarify roles and responsibilities.  The job description for a supervisor are different than those of an engineer.

Then, communicate. A lean communication plan must go beyond posters and newsletters into walking the talk and reminding everyone of their success.  When you feel you are over communicating, you have it about right.

Finally, celebrate success.   A lot of repetitive hard work follows.  Before enlightenment, there is chopping wood and carrying water.  After enlightenment, there is still chopping wood and carrying water.  It's an old saying, but it applies.

Over communicate, celebrate, and clarify roles.  Get Human Resources on board, using assessment tools, good HR Management, Human Resources software and a focus on job fit.

Then, and only then, will your Lean initiative survive over time.