Employee Assessment - An Important Tool for Hiring and Managing Today's Workforce
When John Parretto, Executive VP at the University of Texas Health Science Center, determined that in order to meet the external challenges coming at them, a cultural change was necessary, he turned to Profiles International, a pioneer in the employee assessment field, for help. He says, "The best processes in the world will not work without the right people." The Health Center decided to invest in finding the right people.
The Health Science Center's personnel costs, a $300 million dollar payroll, accounted for more than 60% of the budget. It only seemed logical to make sure that they were getting the most from this investment. They used the Prevue testing program to establish benchmarks for all positions within their institution. All new applicants are now being assessed to assure that their motivation and personality, as well as their abilities, are a good match for the prospective position. If they are not, before the applicant is sent a rejection letter, their profile can be matched against other benchmarks to determine if there is a better fit in another position.
Parretto believes they were able to succeed in overcoming employees' fear of testing because they separated the compliance aspects from the services aspects of human resources. This enables them to mentor new employees according to their best fit pattern and re-deploy experienced personnel as the work force changes. "We are mentoring young people in the workforce to seek vocations rather than jobs," Parretto explains.
In addition to pre-employment screening, The Health Science Center is using assessments to promote socially responsible business practices. They are using 360° Checkpoint assessments, not as a way to determine supervisor and management compensation or to evaluate performance, but as a development tool. Their use of assessments "sends a strong message to our employees that we do care," says Mr. Parretto.
According to a recent study by the American Management Association, 28 percent of surveyed companies do personality testing, up from 19 percent last year. The Society of Human Resource Management says 20 to 30 percent of its members use personality tests for new and existing hires. According to Jeff Percival, area director of Profiles of Wisconsin, LLC, companies are supplementing their interviewing process, because only 14 percent of people hired by interview alone work out to the company's satisfaction. Overall, 20 percent to 40 percent of the workforce changes jobs each year.
"Jobs have changed so much that personality is more important than it used to be," says Joe Rosse, associate professor of management at the University of Colorado. "We've moved more toward service jobs, where interpersonal skills are important, along with integrity and dependability." And yet, Rosse, who recently co-authored the book High Impact Hiring: A Comprehensive Guide to Performance-Based Hiring, calls personality testing "sort of the latest silver bullet."
Rosse believes personality tests should only be one part of a total employee selection program. Brian DePonte, national sales manager at Municipal Services Group, a Littleton, Colorado company that specializes in lease purchase financing, agrees. He was worried when his company first began giving applicants personality tests. But Kellie Narde, was pleasantly surprised. "It showed what I've always suspected about myself—that I prefer to do rather than sit and think about it."
One of the biggest objections is that these tests invade privacy. Craig Cornish, co-chairman of an American Bar Association subcommittee on workplace privacy, believes tests should avoid intrusive questions about an applicant's sex life, political beliefs or religious beliefs. In fact, such questions would violate Wisconsin law.
There are over 2500 personality assessments on the market today. Some, like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), are designed for diagnosis of psychological disturbance and are not appropriate, or legal, work-place assessments. The publisher of the most popular personality test, the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), warns users that this instrument is not valid as a pre-employment screening tool
Charles Washington, of Advantage Consulting Enterprises, and author of Practical Management Principles, suggests that employers can use employment assessment tools if their validity and reliability has been established. "A valid test measures what it says it will measure. A reliable test has the same results over time when repeated on the same person. Superior tests have continuous validations studies in progress and their distributors will provide the technical manual to back up their claims."
Washington continues, "Tests used for selection of new hires are best when they are normative in design." National norms may not be valid in individual locations where the population differs from the characteristics of the study. Thus the most defensible norm is established by the employer using test results of successful people already in the job or by preparing a benchmark using a Job Description Survey that identifies the attributes required on the job. In addition, Mr. Washington urges employers to use only tests that meet EEOC employee selection guidelines and that adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for accommodation.
Hiring a new employee unless there is a clearly defined job description and job specs is taking a real gamble for the enterprise. The chances of high turnover are just about guaranteed. Screening techniques, which show an applicant's motivation, aptitudes and personal characteristics, help to validate or correct impressions obtained in the interview. They provide information for further exploration and consideration before the hiring decision is made.
The best assessments will provide job specific questions to help the interviewer pursue issues that are red-flagged and will provide suggestions for how to manage and develop the employee once he or she is hired. These assessments are user friendly and can be administered and scored on-site by the employer.
The cost of one of the leading assessments that meets these criteria is less than what it costs an employer to orient a new hourly employee for half a day. Computer technology has made pre-employment assessment a risk management technique available at every employee level.
