- October 4, 2005
- Posted by: Dave Kurlan
- Category: Understanding the Sales Force
I was as surprised as anyone when I learned about my unique assessment knowledge. Most in the assessment business know their own assessment and it’s competitive advantage. They know the category of assessment that theirs is a part of. But it tends to stop there. Most aren’t aware of of the best uses for each category of test, how to optimize the use of various tests, when to use the various tests, what to look for in most tests, etc.
This all began when a CEO phoned to inquire about my speaking availability. He had been looking for three months and was desperate to find someone who could speak intelligently about when to use a test and which test to use in the hiring process. Everyone he called in the assessment industry knew about their own test, but not objectively about the others. Everyone he spoke to in HR either didn’t have any assessment expertise or knew a little about only the one assessment they used in their company.
There is a tremendous amount to learn about any assessment and most are not motivated to learn everything there is to know about an assessment, never mind 5, 10, or 20 assessments. Here are some of the many things to consider:
1) What kind of assessment or screen should you use?
- Honesty & Integrity
- Intelligence
- Aptitude
- Personality
- Behavioral Styles
- Psychometric
- psychological
- Interest
- Background
- Drug Screen
- Criminal Check
2) Which ‘brand’ will you choose from each category?
3) What is the purpose of the assessment or screen?
4) Which candidates will it be administered to?
5) At what point in the process is it administered?
6) What are you looking for?
7) How do you interpret the results?
8) Will the assessment provide a recommendation or must you draw your own conclusion?
9) What are the EEOC Guidelines for use of assessments?
10) Has the assessment been validated, which of the varying methods of validation was used, how big was the sample, who was it comprised of and what was the conclusion?
Finally, there’s the issue of your company’s recruiting process. Is the process any good? That depends on how you measure it. If you are successfully attracting, hiring and retaining ‘A’ players, your process is probably a good one. If not, your process needs to be redesigned. An assessment won’t help too much if the process isn’t working.
