One way to improve your odds of success is to use an assessment or two to help you learn more about the person, to get below the surface and to put unbiased and useful information into your hands before you make the critical decision to hire a candidate.

The assessment marketplace is a complicated one, cluttered with a dizzying assortment of tools. How do you find the right assessment for the job?

When we look at assessment tools we are evaluating them against five simple rules. The tools that we recommend for use in selecting candidates must meet ALL five of these criteria;

1. Does this assessment have a distortion scale that tells us clearly how confident we can be in the accuracy of the information we are reading about the candidate?  Knowing this score will give us perspective on what we are reading in the report.
2. The tool must measure what matters. This means that top performers and poor performers in the same job must consistently score differently.  One tool does not work for all jobs or all companies.  The tool selected must have some connection to the four critical aspects of fit – fit with the job, fit with the manager, fit with team and fit with the organization.
3. No tool must ever be used to pass or fail a candidate.  The assessment provides only part of the information you should consider when you are evaluating a candidate’s fit.  A tool, when used property, should tell you “if you hire this person this is what you are going to get”.  Beware of any assessment that automatically advances or disqualifies candidates, purporting to make the decision for you.
4. A tool is just the first part of the face-to-face interview. Assessments must provide the recruiter with an interview guide or placement report that is customized based on how the candidate answered the questions. A suitable report will not only give the interviewer information on what questions to ask, but should also tell them why to ask them and what to listen for in the response.
5. And finally, the information collected during the hiring process all too often ends up never being used again after the person is hired. A HiringSmart approved assessment tool provides a coaching report that can be used throughout the employee life cycle to assist with onboarding, future development and succession planning.

 

The Step One Survey - Canadian Edition™ is a scientifically designed assessment tool that evaluates job applicants for integrity, reliability, and work ethic. The SOSC II™ empowers you with a structured system to objectively obtain better information, identify the best candidates, and conduct better interviews.

 

The Profile XT is a multi-purpose assessment that is used for selection, coaching, training, promotion, managing, and succession planning. It is a powerful and dynamic management tool that employs 21st Century technology to put the right people in the right jobs. It is administered on the Internet and reports are immediately available.

The Customer Service Perspective is a tool for making sure everyone in your company is on the customer service team. Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a thoughtless remark on the phone or inattention to a customer's needs can result in the loss of business. Everyone needs to be concerned with customer service.