Pro Resource Systems Tom and Mary

"Why Can't We Hire More People like Tom & Mary?"

By Irwin J. Feigenbaum

How many times have you, as hiring executives or business owners, said those words or at least thought them. What is it about Tom & Mary that makes them so good at what they do and how do we get more employees like them?

One problem is that while you may be able to point to your top producers, it becomes difficult to specifically identify the traits or characteristics that these successful employees possess. For example, some managers recognize that their top sales person is assertive, organized, and sells more than the rest of their sales team but find it difficult to detect these traits in other people.

Oftentimes companies try to recruit candidates with similar backgrounds in education and work experience, even writing classified ads with Mary or Tom in mind. After many interviews and endless resumes, a prospective applicant catches your attention. She seems to meet the qualifications needed to perform the job, and has a work background similar to Mary's. She is hired with great expectations. Six months later she leaves, never coming close to the level of performance we anticipated.

We know that Tom is out there, but how can we find him? There is that one company recognized to be the best in the field. If a Tom exists he will no doubt be found there. We then engage a search & recruitment firm, providing them with the qualities required, along with the names of companies where such possible employees may be found. Then, after a few interviews, what looks like a winner is found. Salary negotiations begin, and it costs about 20% more than thought, to attract the candidate. Top dollar is paid, expecting to solve that nagging problem. However, after the first year "the star" is performing only at a satisfactory level, never really fitting into the corporate culture.

How do we clone our top performers or find the right candidate? How do we choose the next employee to be promoted? How do we identify the characteristics and traits that have been proven successful in our company? What are we to do?

There is an answer and it's as simple as identifying an assessment survey that can measure the traits of what makes an employee successful. A good quality assessment tool measures three important areas: critical thinking; occupational interests; and behavioral traits. The assessment company that you choose should have the ability to allow for benchmarking (a success pattern). To create a success pattern, we must answer some vital questions and understand the criteria for measurement.

Questions to be answered prior to benchmarking:

Do you want information about employee performance?
What do you know about the job?
Are there people now performing the tasks?
Are there individuals performing well or above expectations?
Do you currently have methods of measuring their performance?
If you get the information, what will improve?

Developing the criteria for measurement.

Can your goals be defined?
Outline the process through which the goal can be accomplished.
The best measurements are those that can be objectively listed numerically: dollars; tonnage; miles; yards; units per man-hour; percentage above budget, etc.
Measurement needs to be relevant to the job being performed, and if possible processed by the person responsible for the results.
A good measurement system requires an effective way of providing feedback to the person doing the work, as well as to management.

Once you have answered the questions about benchmarking, and decide on the standard for measurement, you now have valid criteria. You can then begin to assess those who you consider to be performing above average (minimum of three employees), even assessing some employees performing below expectations (to see what traits are lacking).

With this information, you can now benchmark your assessment tool, and measure future hires or candidates for promotion against the results you have found that are proven to be successful in your corporate structure.

How do I select the best Assessment Company?

There are many different companies that sell selection instruments, but they are not all equal. Here are some guidelines that you might consider when choosing a reputable employee assessment company and its products. Select a company that has been in business for several years, with a client base that reflects both large and small companies. Ask if the assessment company you choose can support your needs with a competent and knowledgeable sales staff, as well as on-staff psychologists in a fully functioning research and development department. Look for a company that has a customer service department that is easy to contact with any questions that you may have.

Find a company that can offer your organization a variety of testing and scoring methods that will allow you the flexibility of many methods of offering assessments to your applicants and employees. Ask the assessment company about the reliability scores of their individual tools. If they don't have them available, run! Reliability scores should be a minimum of .70 out of 1.0 to be considered reliable. Question whether the instrument has been validated for a business application and have been demonstrated to be valid for the specific purpose for which it is to be used.

The U.S. Department of Labor states that "the appropriate use of professionally developed assessment tools on average enables organizations to make more effective employment-related decisions than the use of simple observation or random decision making."

When you need to clone your top performers, maximize employee productivity, or choose the next employee for promotion, be proactive. Add the science of assessments to your art of hiring and you will be able to hire more people like Tom & Mary.

State-of-the-art assessment products for better hiring, placement, job fit, job, match, performance prediction, and competency. For information about products and pricing, please contact Irwin Feigenbaum.