PRE-EMPLOYMENT TESTING
WHY USE ASSESSMENTS?
Two out of three new hires will disappoint in the first year.
during the first five minutes of an interview.
employment issue.
Profiles International Products
AND.
You want employees who are dependable.
In 2002, absenteeism cost employers $789 per employee, according to
the CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey conducted by CCH Incorporated. This
was the direct cost reported by a survey of human resource executives
from organizations of varying sizes. The study found that absenteeism
cost some small companies as much as $60,000 a year, while the largest
employers ante up more than $3.6 million.
You can be held liable for employees' behavior on
and off the job.
You must know the nature of the people you hire because their criminal
behavior could cost your business millions of dollars. Every time you
hire without practicing due diligence, you may be accepting liability
for their actions — even when they are "off the clock."
You can be sued for illegal discrimination.
In the absence of objective data, you must demonstrate a hiring/promotion
decision was made objectively, without discrimination because of gender,
race, religion, etc.
Résumé writers write great fiction.
In a survey of recent college graduates, 95% said they would be willing
to make a false statement in their résumés in order to
get a job. Forty-one percent admitted they had already done so, according
to a report in Nation's Business.
Testing is acceptable, even expected.
Past surveys have shown that 92% of job applicants accept testing as
part of the job qualification process. Only 3% resent it, while 5% were
neutral.
Assessments offer a solution.
Historically, employers depend upon résumés, references
and interviews as sources of information for making hiring decisions.
In practice, these sources have proved inadequate for consistently selecting
good employees.
When training employees, a "one size fits all" approach has failed to provide the desired results.
When selecting people for promotion, otherwise excellent employees have too often been miscast into roles they could not perform satisfactorily.
Clearly, an essential ingredient for making "people decisions" has been missing from the formula.
The use of assessments has become essential to employers who:
The use of assessments has resulted in extraordinary increases in productivity while reducing employee relations problems, employee turnover, stress, tension, conflict and overall human resources expenses.
Several factors contribute to the failure of traditional hiring methods. Résumés often contain false claims of education and experience while omitting information that would help employers make better hiring decisions.
Business references are of little value because most past employers will tell you nothing but "name, rank and serial number."
These realities are the reason interviews have become the most influential factor in hiring and promotion decisions. However, experience shows only a coincidental correlation between the ability to deliver well in an interview and to deliver well on the job. Studies peg this correlation at 14% — one good employee in every seven hires. Even background checks don't help much. The success rate becomes 26%, but that's only one good hire in every four. Unfortunately, many employers have accepted these poor results and the high cost of excessive turnover as a business reality. They have flown the white flag of surrender.
Don't surrender! Assessments do help significantly.
