Best Practices for Assessment Selection

Companies are starting to depend on assessments to help acquire, develop, and promote the best talent.  Assessment instruments are one of the best tools to support your hiring and selection processes, people development initiatives including succession planning,  and helping to define you high potential candidate or future leader.

The challenges facing companies today include employee turnover, lack of employee engagement in the work environment, recruiting the right person for the right job, and retaining the future stars of tomorrow.   These are the major issues that affect the bottom line of any company today.

Most companies understand the various costs involved when a bad hire occurs.  It is estimated today that the cost of replacing a high achiever in any company is between three and four times the individual’s annual salary.  Your company’s investment spent on recruiting, development and retention can be a significant portion of your budget. 

Cost savings and outcomes more than justify the cost of an effective assessment process.  Here is how that assessment process can make it happen:

10 Steps to a Sucessful Talent Management and Development Process

There is no cookbook or guarantee for success in business but everyone wants a recipe. Leadership is the competency most needed in any recipe designed around achievement. Teamwork should be viewed no differently than we view organizational effectiveness. This effectiveness, without question, always comes back to the leader. The development of the leadership within any company should be the goal of every executive team.

Companies talk a good game about the need for leadership and people development, but when the water starts getting a little rough, they start treating their people as an expense and don’t hesitate to throw them overboard. Yet, the employee is listing their development and the opportunity to participate in training programs as their number one reason for selecting companies for employment.

10 Steps in Talent Management and Development Processes

How to Plan for the Future of Your Business with the Help of Employees

The opportunity to change the structure of the company toward a more versatile or bureaucratic structure can now be determined by your management team. The importance of the way your employees perceive your company and the way they think it should be, cannot be denied. These gaps between the actual and the ideal should be given special attention, and can provide your management team with ideas that can be developed and expanded in strategic planning sessions. Assessments can provide a most valuable tool that puts the management team on notice and causes them to consider change within the organization. These changes may never be apparent without this assessment, because it is unbiased, confidential, and provides a comprehensive diagnosis of an organization.

This is certainly needed in our highly competitive environment. Isn't it about time you got your camera out and took a snapshot of your company?

Critical Business Success Factor

Many experts feel that even though every company is different, it is important for each to develop a succession plan that includes hiring from within, conducting a developmental opportunity or audition, providing a defined plan with time lines for anyone to assume a leadership responsibility, and disclosing the process or succession plan to the shareholders.

Most succession plans do not take into consideration that different environments require different leadership competencies or skills. So, if we narrow our development process than we may never have the right person ready to assume the leadership role in any company. Companies need to consider what most professional sports teams do as a major component for success and that is a strong bench. Most championship teams, whether it be in basketball, baseball, or even football have a great bench or understudy for their key positions. Companies, like professional sports teams, must have a strong bench of candidates who can lead or “step up to the plate” under a variety of scenarios.

Many companies use different forms of people development processes. Some companies call them Leadership Academies or Institutes, and/or High Potential Candidate Schools. Despite the different names, the end result is the same: development of people toward a higher level. As a business owner, you need to provide a constant flow of internal talent but you also must be aware that when people don’t get the higher position, they do have a tendency to leave the organization so the funnel better continue to be adequately filled at all times.

It is also important for companies to deliver some kind of transparency to their shareholders, customers, and internal personnel. The ideal succession plan should minimize uncertainty, which is not a bad thing in this economic climate, and continue to promote the “real” culture of the company. The depth of the company’s disclosure should be predicated by the need at the time and situational circumstances.

Also, many experts believe that the succession plan must take into consideration the corporate culture to the extent that every company should have a corporate culture that transcends the exit of any leader or person. Most companies do not really know what they smell, taste, and feel like to their internal and external customers. The best way to determine the current culture and the culture employees want is to conduct an Organizational Needs Inventory (ONI) assessment but most companies don’t do them.

So, succession planning is just a more formalized name that can be defined as a process to help companies develop their people to meet their future needs.It certainly sounds like it is time for a Leadership Program! Let's get started!

SUPREME COURT DECISION FAVORS TESTING

By Richard Hohmann Redeem 2 Free Assessments from Innovative Leadership

On Monday June 29, 2009, The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruling favored white and Hispanic fire fighters advancing the case for validated testing and assessments in the workplace in America.

In 2003 Lt. Ben Vargas was one of 56 New Haven, Conn. Fireman who passed the test for promotion to Captain of whom 15 were black or Hispanic. When the city discovered that only two out of the 56 were likely to be immediately promoted (due to lack of job openings) the city threw out the test for fear of being sued by minority candidates who might allege discrimination.

However, 17 white firefighters plus Vargas (a total of 18 firefighters) filed suit against the city for throwing out the test. The Supreme Court has now ruled in behalf of the 18 who filed suit against the city for throwing out the test . This ruling delivered the message that rejecting employment test results because of the lack of minority candidates eligible for promotion violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority, “Fear of Litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”

The 18 plaintiffs in the case studied intensively for the test, giving up second jobs and missing family celebrations. The lead plaintiff, Frank Ricci was dyslexic and had studied 8 to 13 hours a day, and had hired an acquaintance to tape-record the study materials for him.

In the case before the court, Ricci v. Stephano, No. 07-1428, the majority said there is no evidence, let alone strong evidence, of any problem with the tests. With this ruling, the Supreme Court has in reality sent a variety of messages to employers in both the public and private sector:

When using a validated job related test that has proven to be nonbiased by race and sex
that test or assessment may legally discriminate against minority groups who do not have the qualifications for the job. In this case black fireman who took the test failed to learn the necessary material to pass the test.

Would we allow Doctors to practice medicine who do not pass the medical exam? Lawyers who don’t pass the bar exam to practice law? or CPA’s who haven’t passed the CPA exam to offer their services as a CPA---Obviously the answer “NO”. Employers have the right to require people to be qualified for the jobs they are hiring them for or promoting them into and the Supreme Court has just upheld that right.

In this case the Supreme Court sent a clear message that being in a minority group who failed a validated job related test is not an acceptable basis to file a discrimination complaint.

The Supreme Court Decision further sent a message to employers that job related validated tests and assessments are usable and defensible in both the hiring and promotional processes and are clearly some of the most validateable parts of an employers hiring or promotional process as a result of the clear cut rules established for validation in the Uniform Employment Guidelines published in the Federal Register in 1979.

This Supreme Court Decision is a job win for companies like Innovative Leadership and its Achiever Series of Assessment Instruments. (www.ILDV.org), The Achiever Series are job related assessments that has been repeatedly proven to be validated and nondiscriminatory by race, color or sex which does identify individuals who do not fit the requirements of the job. The Achiever is now America’s premier job-related assessment instrument for use in both applicant selection and people development processes. There as never been an adverse finding, or settlement out of court, against any employer for its usage. Information on the validation of the Achiever and validation of tests and assessments in general and their optimum usage is available at www.whytest.biz.

Please call for more information on America’s Premier Assessment Instruments distributed by Innovative Leadership at 609.390.2830 or contact us here: http://www.innovativeleadershipdv.com/contact.asp

Richard Hohmann is the senior consultant/Vice President for Innovative Leadership of the Delaware Valley, LLC. He is a graduate of the Ohio State University and has over thirty years of Leadership and Management Development experience. His focus is on the effectiveness of the organization and the development of their people to enhance performance and improve productivity. He teaches managers and leaders to know what it takes to be successful and then uses a defined plan to teach them how to do it until they succeed. He has written numerous articles for national publications and speaks at many association meetings nationwide. He is very involved with his community organizations and professional affiliations.

Evaluate Talent from Day One

Where is Your Focus? on Your People or on Your Process?

In a recent article in the Investor’s Business Daily, Kevin Harlin points out that Employment consulting firms say it is vital to track and nurture promising leadership candidates even though the economy is sluggish. Steve Krupp, partner and leader of the executive talent management practice at Delta Organization & Leadership, asserts that if a company fails to engage and communicate its top performers, they might be inclined to depart.

Rather than focusing on your processes, focus on your people. They are your biggest asset. Remember that turnover can cost you double of just one employee’s salary. A survey from Delta found that most U.S. companies fail to monitor their best performers, even fewer communicate with these employees, and few top executives support such initiatives.

PPG Industries, a global glass, paint, and chemical firm, has been tracking its best employees for about a decade. Roughly 30 percent of workers are regarded as top talent, and just 1 percent is deemed suitable for the CEO position. Identified employees get first priority for training, special projects, and responsibilities. Executives also meet with these employees from time to time at informal settings like breakfast or lunch. Global business software firm SAP provides potential leaders with six-month fellowships in another division, typically in a different location, to ensure that these employees have adequate insight into the company.

The above synopsis of the article that appeared in Investor’s Business Daily demonstrates the need to evaluate talent from the first day of hire in terms of recognizing potential and people development as the priority for any organization. I really question whether companies today are focused on their future leadership and understand the need to develop people’s potential.
Innovative Leadership offers an Assessment Process called the Achiever Series that can assist you with people development and also compliment certain aspects of succession planning, downsizing or transformation.

We are a company that is focused on helping companies develop their potential of their people that will result in organizational effectiveness. Please call us at your convenience to discuss our Assessment Processes that can make the difference in the future of your company at 609.390.2830.

Where is your Focus? People or Process

In a recent article in the December 22nd issue of Investor’s Business Daily, Kevin Harlin points out that Employment consulting firms say it is vital to track and nurture promising leadership candidates even though the economy is sluggish. Steve Krupp, partner and leader of the executive talent management practice at Delta Organization & Leadership, asserts that if a company fails to engage and communicate its top performers, they might be inclined to depart.

Rather than focusing on your processes, focus on your people. They are your biggest asset. Remember that turnover can cost you double of just one employee’s salary. A survey from Delta found that most U.S. companies fail to monitor their best performers, even fewer communicate with these employees, and few top executives support such initiatives.

PPG Industries, a global glass, paint, and chemical firm, has been tracking its best employees for about a decade. Roughly 30 percent of workers are regarded as top talent, and just 1 percent is deemed suitable for the CEO position. Identified employees get first priority for training, special projects, and responsibilities. Executives also meet with these employees from time to time at informal settings like breakfast or lunch. Global business software firm SAP provides potential leaders with six-month fellowships in another division, typically in a different location, to ensure that these employees have adequate insight into the company.
The above synopsis of the article that appeared in Investor’s Business Daily demonstrates the need to evaluate talent from the first day of hire in terms of recognizing potential and people development as the priority for any organization. I really question whether companies today are focused on their future leadership and understand the need to develop people’s potential.

Innovative Leadership offers an Assessment Process called the Achiever Series that can not only assist not only with people development but also compliment certain aspects of succession planning, downsizing or transformation.

We are a company that is focused on helping companies develop their potential of their people that will result in organizational effectiveness. Please call us at your convenience to discuss our Assessment Processes that can make the difference in the future of your company at 609.390.2830.