South Sound Healers Network

In these challenging economic times businesses need to be looking for every advantage to become and stay more profitable. The amount of time, energy and resources that are allocated to employee development shows, without a doubt, that this is an area that needs its effectiveness to be maximized. In the employee development and selection process it is money well spent to utilize the best management tools available. One of the most important of these is the use of human behavioral assessments.

No matter what business cycle we are in, good times or bad, there is always a need to get employees to perform more effectively, promote from within and fill vacancies. During difficult times the number of applicants can be tremendous. Utilizing assessments is even more critical at these times because of the tighter economic environment. There are fewer dollars to be allocated and the evaluation, promotion and hiring cycle is a costly process. The employee development and selection method using behavioral assessments will help company management identify the ideal candidate.

Assessments in some form or fashion have been used for a number of years. With over 2,500 assessments available in the market place, much research and analysis has gone into their development. Why is it that organizations have set standards, policies and procedures to optimize the work environment but when it comes to the evaluation, development and selection process it is often left to the “tyranny of the urgent.” Just get a warm body in there and hope it works out. If these same standards, or lack thereof, were applied throughout an organization it would spell immediate disaster.

The most critical pieces of the puzzle include the people who keep it all together and their ability to add to success or failure to an organizations productivity, yet too often we just don’t take the time. A manager’s job is very difficult these days but a lot of this is directly related to poor employee evaluation or hiring practices and not identifying people who will be successful in the position being filled. The technical skills are not only to be evaluated but even more importantly is does their behavior fit for the work to be done and the organizational culture?

Without a doubt, poor evaluations, promotion and hiring practices affect profitability. And it is profitability of a company that affects an organization’s bottom line. It is imperative to have people who are competent and have the correct behavioral fit so that production in the specific area of expertise is seamless and without issue.

How much does it cost a company to not develop their employees, to promote the wrong individual or hire the wrong person? The cost in any of these three areas can be 1 to 4 times an employee’s annual salary and benefits. These cost are generally hidden that, unfortunately, are never addressed as far as their impact – they are just accepted as a cost of doing business. A Harvard University study reports 80% of turnover can be blamed on mistakes made during the employee selection and hiring process. Every employee you hire and manager you promote is a considerable investment.
“Behavioral assessments testing is the most objective, economical way of obtaining necessary information for predicating an applicant’s probability of success in any position.” Dr. Denis Waitley
Many business people are finding ways to increase their chances of hiring or promoting the right person for the right job at the right time. Consultants and industry experts are increasingly turning to behavioral assessments for many reasons.

The cost, in expense and heightened anxiety levels, of hiring or promoting the wrong person is rising relentlessly. Most information on applications for employment are predictably subjective. Resumes present only positive information, some of it exaggerated. Stricter EEOC regulations and the threat of lawsuits for discrimination make it difficult to obtain negative information from an applicant’s previous employers. Even former employers willing to comment on an applicant rarely give the real reasons he or she left the former organization. Experienced interviewers can often obtain
additional information, but many applicants are skilled at being interviewed and can mask their true personality. Behavioral assessment testing is the most objective, economical way of obtaining necessary information for predicting an applicant’s probability of success in any position.

The following points are a few more of the benefits of utilizing behavioral assessments:
• Match personnel with jobs where they will be successful
• Improve employee retention and reduce unwanted turnover costs
• Help determine which individuals are the best fit for promotion and leadership roles
• Coach for improved performance
• Improve morale and communications
• Improve selling skills
• Improve evaluation and coaching effectiveness to identify an individual’s strengths and weaknesses
• Develop training programs that are customized to an employee’s needs

Behavioral assessments look at an individual’s behavior style based on their personality and the situations they can find themselves in. Assessments provide an objective, non-judgmental analysis developed through research and repeated validation with the purpose of helping people to understand behavioral styles and personality types.

Behavioral assessment is a excellent tool for skill development, and very helpful to those who recognize that they must be lifelong learners. In leading companies, behavioral and personality assessments can identify employees skills and match them with jobs into which they can grow, helping to prepare people to assume key positions in the near or even the distant future. The idea is to assess personality and talent, then provide the coaching or mentoring to develop it. It is worth noting that personality assessment is primarily to help determine whether this person will be successful in that job.