• Department of Labor Guidelines on Assessments
• Four easy steps to reduce turnover
• Employers are hiring good candidates, not good employees
• Businesses find advantages in online Human Resource services
• Putting the Right Person in the Right Job Benefits Employers and Employees
• Hiring Sales Staff Who Will Be Top Producers Is Not That Difficult
• The Assessment Team Announces Pre-Employment Assessment Tool
• Employees don't Quit Companies, they Quit Managers

Department of Labor Guidelines on Assessments

The Department of Labor recommends a set of standards for behavioral trait, interest, and other employment or educational selection tools in the United States. Profiles International, Inc. focuses on these standards when developing its assessments.

Thirteen standards are referenced by the department and summarize the aspects of proper assessment development and usage. By considering these standards, Profiles endeavors to provide quality instruments that offer dependable and relevant results for our users. While the details associated with our tests’ quality are explained in each of the associated technical manuals for our products, the following summary helps to assure the user of our products’ dependability, utility, and overall quality. Each of the thirteen standards is referenced as follows:

1. Use assessment tools in a purposeful manner. While usage of an assessment may be seen as a consumer-related issue, we take seriously the guidance we provide to the user in ethical and relevant practices concerning our products. Such guidelines are found in the User’s Guides provided with our products, as well as in other customer-related literature. They include, but are not limited to, appropriate samples to population generalizability of each assessment (e.g. using a sales assessment for sales candidates) as well as building benchmarks and job match patterns based on the actual performance of a relevant sample group.

2. Use the whole-person approach. We utilize a wide range of assessment tools in our products. We assess in areas such as behavioral traits, occupational interest, and thinking style scales to measure the whole person.

3. Use assessments that are unbiased and fair to all groups. The large collection of data we have acquired for our assessments is analyzed on a regular basis to identify any impact that may be related to differences in gender, ethnicity, national origin, or age groups. As an additional feature, our benchmarking and job match pattern processes help to ensure that differences in scores are based on performance, not spurious individual qualities that are protected in our society.

4. Use assessments that are reliable. Statistical analyses of assessment scores and other data are conducted by our research team, in order to identify the reliability coefficients associated with this standard. Our products meet or exceed the standards for reliability of scores and are consistently reviewed to maintain awareness of the trends of scoring as time passes. Often our research yields advances that stimulate the creation of newer versions of an assessment and reliability is maintained in each new version as well.

5. Assessments must be valid for the purpose they are being used. As it relates to validity, it is not the assessment itself, but the results from the use of the assessment in a given application in which we are interested. The results of our assessments (the scores of a sample, for instance) have been collected and analyzed for various representative groups that use each of our assessments. Each assessment serves various applications and job types and this categorization is relevant when conducting validity studies. Our User’s Guides define the process each customer must take when developing valid job match patterns. This helps to ensure validity for each individual user while our internal studies used in the development of the products conform to these same guidelines for validity studies. For example, two important criteria considered in validity studies: the relevance of the sample group with the type of job that is intended to utilize the assessment for selection purposes, and the quality of the criterion with which scores are compared. We hold these criteria to be of utmost importance in our analyses, and have consistently seen results that emphasize the relevance and predictability of scores from our assessments.

6. Assessments must be appropriate for the target population. To help ensure the proper usage of our assessments and to enhance utility for our customers, each assessment is developed with sample research groups that reflect the kind of users for whom each assessment is intended to serve. For instance, the Profiles Sales Indicator was developed using a sample of salespeople from across the nation. This process ensures that reasonable assumptions and generalizations may be made concerning the scores of future users. This is also assured through our validation studies, as described in #5 above. Relevance and applicability of the results of an assessment help to ensure that generalizations may be made for practical use of each assessment.

7. The instructions and other documentation must be comprehensive and easy to understand. Being thorough while being easy to understand is a delicate balancing act that we strive to achieve in all of our documentation, including our Executive Summaries, User’s Guides, Technical Manuals, and other documents. This is achieved by maintaining an awareness of the needs of our customers, the requirements of ethical assessment development, and the awareness of feedback for those who use our products. This feedback has assured us that the information provided is both succinct and readable. We remain responsive to the feedback provided by the users of our products, making adjustments when warranted. The utilization of electronic documentation, including our User’s Guides for each product provided directly to the customer via our website, has facilitated this process phenomenally.

8. If the assessment requires proctoring and/or administration, those performing this function must be properly trained. One of the most attractive aspects of Profiles International’s assessments is the ease with which each assessment is administered, thanks to the online availability of each assessment. Minimal instruction is required to have a candidate or employee take an assessment. coaching is provided to customers in our literature and through training to help ensure appropriate testing conditions.

9. It may be necessary to provide consistent and uniform testing conditions to obtain consistent results. As with #8, coaching provided in our literature and by customer service personnel helps to assure that companies and consultants are providing their candidates and employees with optimal testing conditions. Additionally, our products have been modified over the years to exclude timed administration, traditionally a source of error in administration of assessments.

10. Provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. As the Profiles International range of assessments is available online, the issue of user accommodation becomes minimized. The responsibility for comfortable and non-distracting testing conditions is dealt with by each individual company that uses the assessments. We have provided support to our clients for assessing those with special needs, for example, becoming Bobby AA Approved for use with the visually and mobility impaired. As with our internal policies, we encourage customers to aid in any way possible those who require additional adaptations to the testing environment.

11. Assessment security must be maintained if the results are to be useful. The anonymity of the test taker is assured, since results are computer-processed and reports distributed by the user. In no case may a user acquire results from any test taker for whom they are not authorized. The assessment administration software created by Profiles International assures this condition. Specifically, our database storage is protected by firewall technology and backed up hourly.

12. Assessment results must be maintained in a confidential manner. While it is up to the client company to maintain appropriate security for assessment results in any on-site documentation after testing is completed, we take seriously the need for privacy in results stored in our databases. In no case may an unauthorized individual acquire this information out of the database. Appropriate securities are in place so that this is guaranteed.

13. Accurate interpretation of results is necessary. Another benefit of using our products is the various reports available – with various versions provided to accommodate the needs of the management team, the individual and a development team, or other authorized entity within the user’s company. While the reports are computer-compiled, all interpretation has been done by appropriately trained professionals. The reports are then written in business language so that the reader does not have to interpret what is being said. This ensures a balanced description of the test taker, based on their responses to the items on the assessment.

Ensuring that these standards are met is important, for each is significant in assuring quality assessment development and accurate measurement. These standards were not established by the Department of Labor lightly, nor have they been lightly interpreted by our research staff. We take pride in the efforts of our team to ensure quality products and continue to strive for excellent results.

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Four easy steps to reduce turnover

Companies either struggle with employee turnover reduction plans or, worse yet, do absolutely nothing to reduce it. The Assessment Team suggests how to correct this problem in four easy steps, that companies can implement immediately.

Would you like to reduce employee turnover, who wouldn’t? Google “reduce employee retention” you will get lots of advice, 32,600 pieces of advice, to be exact. To do is it is actually a lot simpler than what many of the articles prescribe. The solution is simple, place the right people in the right job, recognize their performance, reward them occasionally, and treat them with respect.

So why does this not happen? There are lots of reasons I hear but frankly they all amount to weak excuses. Take a look at the companies in any industry and you will find a number with high turnover and some with low turnover. The difference is caused by just subtle, but very effective, differences in their hiring and retention strategies. We have studied them and suggest the following four steps to get your employee turnover lower

First, use an effective, validated, and legal pre employment test to screen out people with a poor work ethic and bad attitude. They typically take about 20 minutes and they reveal more about that candidate then you will ever get in an interview, job app or background check. Average cost $20.

Second, use a job fit assessment to match the right people to the right job. A person may interview well, have the right education and background, but doesn’t mean they fit the job. Find out if they have the same profile as your top performers. To do this is very simple with the employee assessment tools available. They are easy to use and understand, and provide you with a simple to understand report that says the candidate fits the job or doesn’t. Average time is about 30 minutes with a cost under $100.

Third, do employee evaluations regularly. People need feedback, good or bad. How can we expect change if we don’t communicate? Use a simple online system, so administration is a snap and there are no excuses for not getting them done. Remember, people leave supervisors, not companies. They take about an hour to prepare and about the same to present, with a cost of about $25.

Finally, implement an employee recognition program. Reward employees with gifts on service anniversaries or to recognize significant achievements. People need this recognition and, once again, there are all sorts of online employee recognition programs that are easy to implement. You control the budget but a nice $25 gift says a lot and only takes a few minutes to do.

So for a modest investment of around $150 and a few hours time, much of it the candidates, you can reduce employee turnover significantly. That will give you a substantial return, given the high cost of turnover. If you are a company suffering from high turnover, take a look at these four easy steps and get on the road to improvement. All of them can be implemented in 24 hours.

For more information on this critical business issue and the online solutions to handle it, contact The Assessment Team, Weston FL. They work with employers across the country to help them increase the effectiveness of their employee selection, hiring and development, and improve their company’s productivity and profitability. They can be reached at 954-385-8701, info@theassessmentteam.com or visit their website at www.theassessmentteam.com

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Employers are hiring good candidates, not good employees

Employer’s often use the wrong criteria to evaluate a job candidate. A survey showed the attributes of a good candidate aren’t the same as a top employee. The Assessment Team examines the problem and how to do a more effective job of pre employment testing. The Assessment Team examines the question “Do you want to select top candidates or top employees?” The answer would seem obvious but a surprising number of manager’s perform very poorly in this critical task.

Peter Drucker, one of America’s leading management gurus has examined this and says, "Executives spend more time on managing people and people decisions than on anything else, and they should. No other decisions are so long-lasting in their consequences or so difficult to unmake and yet, by and large, executives make poor promotion and staffing decisions. By all accounts, their batting average is no better than .333. At most one-third of such decisions turn out right; one-third are minimally effective and one-third are outright failures. In no other area of management would we put up with such miserable performance.”

Our expert reports “I see the pattern of poor hiring far more than what would seem logical. In fact I am frequently flabbergasted by the poor hiring practices I have observed.” He found some interesting facts that can cause this behavior. Research suggests the answer may be a missed point of focus. We are trying to find and hire top candidates rather than top employees. They are not the same.

In conversations with recruiters and employers across Canada, Tom Brennan compiled this list of the characteristics of top candidates and top employees:

Top candidates characteristics
• Good Résumé
• Good Skills
• On time for interview
• Prepared for interview
• Good communicator
• Enthusiastic
• Great first impression
• Aggressive jobseeker
• Interested in you
• Interested in company
• Good follow up

Top employees characteristics
• Highly motivated to work
• Competent
• Do More than required
• Do not make excuses
• Anticipate problems
• Solve problems
• Take initiative
• Learn quickly
• Committed
• Focused
• Consistent
• Poised and confident
• Strong team player

Clearly the criteria of a top candidate are different from a top employee. While both lists are critical, an employer needs an objective tool to bridge the gap and provide information to select the best employee. That tool is a validated pre employment employee assessment, modeled off their top performers. This will help you hire the best employees who fit the job as compared to hiring the best candidates.

For more information on this critical business issue and the employee assessments to handle it, contact The Assessment Team, Weston FL, a Strategic Business Partner of Profiles International. Mrs. Cameron works with employers to help them increase the effectiveness of their employee selection, hiring and development, and improve their company’s productivity and profitability.

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The Assessment Team launches a new website with new online solutions for solving employee selection, evaluation, and recognition issues.

Employers struggle with the issues of employee selection, evaluation, and recognition. Now there are complete online solutions to all these issues at www.theassessmentteam.com Businesses can improve their employee retention by using online employee assessments, evaluation and recognition programs.

The CEO of The Assessment Team recognized that employers struggle with employee retention and morale problems but are frustrated with antiquated paper based systems. He has put together three industry leading solutions for the convenience of companies looking for efficient online solutions to these problems.

Mrs. Cameron states ”In my over 25 years of hiring, developing, and retaining top performing employees, the keys to success have always been very straight forward. Hire people who fit the job, give them regular, objective feedback, and recognize dedication and success. Cumbersome systems that hamper these three basic needs are what prevent them from happening.”

By using web based solutions employers have efficient ways to meet these challenges. With the use of Profiles International online employee assessment program to select and develop employees you have achieved step one. Then you implement an online employee evaluation program from Appraisal Smart to provide feedback on their performance. Finally, utilize a web based gift album program that is easy to implement so the right people are rewarded at the right time.

The use of web based human resource tools makes implementation, administration, and execution easy. Consequently, Human Resource and line managers like it because they make them more effective in their job, and employee testing, evaluation and recognition gets done, on time. Employee morale improves because of this. People have a basic need to be recognized and rewarded for their efforts so it is imperative it gets done if organizations want to retain their top performers.

All these Human Resource tools are available online from The Assessment Team, Weston FL. They work with employers to help them enhance their selection, hiring and development of employees with the use online employee assessments, evaluation, and recognition programs. They can be reached at 954-385-8701 or visit their website at www.theassessmentteam.com

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“I think that there are not bad jobs or bad employees,” says hiring expert Bud Haney, “but there are bad job matches.” He goes on to explain that most employers use a thorough process to qualify job candidates for such things as education and experience, but fail to make certain that the people they select actually “fit” the work they are hired to do.

“It is called ‘job matching,’” Haney says, “and it is the overlooked factor that leaves employers wondering why so many of the well-qualified people they hire perform their jobs so poorly.

“There is a well-known study that was published in the Harvard Business Review that concluded that job match is the most significant indicator of job success,” says Haney. “Except for jobs requiring specific technical training, job match is more important than a person’s education, years of experience, age, sex, race, or any other factor,” he says.

Haney is the president of Profiles International, Inc. in Waco, Texas. His firm has just introduced a new management tool, The Profile XT™, that helps employers achieve job match when they hire and when they reassign and promote their present employees.

“The Profile XT gives employers a means of evaluating what we call “The Total Person” so they can obtain better information for making better decisions about allocating their human capital,” Haney says. “it is,” he says, “an extremely versatile instrument that has many valuable uses, such as providing a means of enhancing job descriptions, designing job performance benchmarks, making training programs more effective, and providing managers and supervisors with the information they can use to coach and motivate the people who depend on them for leadership.

“When people participate on The Profile XT, their thinking styles, behavioral traits, and occupational interests are measured and quantified,” Haney says. “These factors are the intangibles that answer the essential questions: Can the person do the job? Does the person want to do the job? And, will the person do the job?”

When asked how The Profile XT is different from other employment tests, Haney responded, “First let me say that The Profile XT is not a test. Calling it a test suggests that it is something you can pass or fail, which is not the case. It is more accurately called an assessment because it asses each person’s unique attributes, which are the positive factors he or she brings to the job. You can’t fail who you are.”

“The benefits of using The Profile XT for employers are fairly obvious,” Haney says, “but employees are really the big winners. When they are placed in jobs that fit who they are, they succeed. Nobody wins when a person gets a job they don’t like and in which they will ultimately fail.

Haney says everybody can use The Profile XT because it is available on the Internet so employers can evaluate job candidates anywhere in the world and have the results in about an hour. “We call ourselves ‘The Information Company’ because we have products that executives and managers can use to get the information they must have to make their most effective decisions,” says Haney.

The Profile is available in this area from The Assessment Team in Weston FL who works with employers in this area to help them increase the effectiveness of their human resources departments and improve their company’s productivity and profitability.

Profiles International, Inc. is the world’s leading publisher of employment-related assessments. Profiles International, Inc. has more than 800 representatives throughout the United States and in over sixty other countries. Its products serve the needs of business, industry, education, and government .by providing a means of getting the information employers can use to make better human resources decisions. The Profile XT and the company’s other assessments are used for hiring, training, evaluating integrity, teambuilding, and succession planning.

Sales assessments and job matching help companies identify sales candidates that match the profile of their top producers, before they hire them. That means less turnover because they fit the job. Increased sales is the end result.

“Every business owner and sales executive would like to have more top producers in their sales force, instead of the 80/20 rule where 80 % of the sales come from 20% of the sales force” says our hiring expert. He goes on to say’ “these same companies will often use a traditional hiring approach that is based more on “gut feel” than objectivity”. Do you see a pattern developing here?

The key to finding, identifying, and developing more sales people like your star performers is actually quite simple. “It’s called job matching” Cameron says. Take an in depth look, using behavioral based assessments, at what makes your top people successful and you will find a pattern. This is the key to unlock that problem of finding better sales representatives.

Mrs. Cameron is CEO of The Assessment Team, a strategic business partner of Profiles International. His firm markets a unique sales assessment product called the Profile Sales Indicator™. Cameron says, “by using this assessment tool to create a pattern of your successful people you gain a major advantage in selecting and developing better sales reps”. This simple on line process helps take the guesswork out of hiring and developing employees.

Sales force productivity is a constant struggle. And if turnover is high you have a double edged sword. Lost revenue and increased turnover expense. Cameron says, “the use of this assessment enhances your traditional hiring approach. It doesn’t change it.” Often the idea of “change” causes managers to resist a new process. Cameron’s approach is a simple to implement and guaranteed to provide valuable information you currently aren’t getting from traditional approaches.

Profiles International, Inc. is the world’s leading publisher of employment-related assessments. Profiles International, Inc. has more than 800 representatives throughout the United States and in over sixty other countries. Its products serve the needs of business, industry, education, and government, by providing a means of getting the information employers can use to make better human resources decisions. The Profile Sales Indicator and the company’s other assessments are used for hiring, training, evaluating integrity, teambuilding, and succession planning.

The Profile Sales Indicator is available from The Assessment Team, Weston FL. Mr. Cameron works with employers to help them increase the effectiveness of their human resources departments and improve their company’s productivity and profitability. They can be reached at 954-385-8701 or visit their website at www.theassessmentteam.com

The Assessment Team Announces Pre-Employment Assessment Tool

The Assessment Team announces a pre-employment assessment tool that evaluates integrity and work ethic.

How often have you hired someone only to find out they have a poor work ethic and a lousy attitude? This leads to morale issues with other employees, customer dissatisfaction, costly employee turnover, legal problems, and, often, theft of company assets. The Step One Survey ll pre-employment assessment will help you screen out those people, before you hire them.

The Assessment Team offers employers a pre-employment assessment tool called the Step One Survey ll that will help them screen out people with a poor work ethic and a lousy attitude. This scientifically validated assessment will pick out the “bad apples” that might otherwise slip through a normal hiring process. This remarkably effective employee assessment takes only 20 minutes to complete and reveals the true character of a job applicant.

Our hiring expert states, “It never ceases to amaze me how candid people are when they take this assessment. They will admit to stealing from employers, selling illegal substances in the workplace, getting fired and so on. They certainly wouldn’t offer up that information on their resume or job interview!” He goes on to say, “With the use of a distortion factor measurement we can even tell when someone is trying to manipulate the results of the assessment.”

It has become increasingly difficult to legally ask questions that help you evaluate a candidate’s integrity. The Step One Survey ll meets all DOL and EEOC guidelines and gets you objective information on the candidate. This ensures that you cannot be charged with a discriminatory hiring practice. The assessment generates a report that includes suggested legal questions to probe further in to problem areas.

The Step One Survey ll is available online from The Assessment Team, Weston FL, a Strategic Business Partner of Profiles International. Mrs. Cameron works with employers to help them enhance their selection, hiring and development of employees with use of a suite of employee assessments.

Employees don't quit companies, they quit managers. That is why it is critical to discover how a manager's perception of themselves compares to the perception their peers, subordinates, and superior have of them. Perception equals fact, but unless it is measured, it can’t be changed. The result of not knowing a manager’s perceived weaknesses is typically employee turnover, particularly within the ranks of your top performers.

An effective leadership development program should include an assessment of a manager’s strengths and weaknesses by the people they work with. Perception equals fact so knowing how others evaluate the manager’s skills helps bring focus to the leadership areas needing the most development.

The Assessment Team offers an innovative online leadership development program through Profiles International’s unique Checkpoint 360 Degree Feedback System. The program combines direct feedback by direct reports, peers, and supervisor, with a personalized program for developing specific leadership skills based on that feedback. By learning the perceptions of the people around the leader you can identify and capture both the leader’s strengths as well as areas that require development.

Deploying the 360 degree survey is very easy. Leaders and the people who they interact with the most participate in a 20 minute online survey that evaluates 18 critical skill sets. Anonymity is maintained by grouping the participants' answers. A powerful, full color report is created showing areas of alignment as well as gaps in the perception of their skills. This report provides tangible information to help the leader as well as the organization improve. From that point, leaders are able to participate in an individualized Skillbuilder series of programs to build on the area identified through the Checkpoint 360 Degree Feedback System.

Leadership skill sets assessed in the Checkpoint 360;
• Listens to others
• Processes information
• Communicates effectively
• Instills trust
• Provides direction
• Delegates responsibly
• Adjusts to circumstances
• Thinks creatively
• Builds personal relationships
• Facilitates team success
• Works efficiently
• Works competently
• Takes action
• Achieves results
• Cultivates individual talents
• Motivates successfully
• Displays commitment
• Seeks improvement

This validated assessment provides a very complete analysis as to where a manager's performance is rated by the people they work with, and by themselves. More effective managers will impact a business in a number of positive ways, most notably employee retention and the bottom line.

For more information on this leadership development assessment contact The Assessment Team, Weston FL, a Strategic Business Partner of Profiles International. They work with employers to help them increase the effectiveness of their employee selection and development.