Question: What's the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to have profitable, productive, and honest employees?
Answer: Hire profitable, productive, honest people! Unfortunately, managers often hire underachievers or losers. Fortunately, pre-employment tests give managers a simple-to-use, quick, customizable way to hire the best.
Only 1 Reason to Screen Applicants
The sole reason to assess applicants is to predict ? or forecast ? how an applicant will behave on-the-job BEFORE you hire the person. It proves crucial to prediction this before hiring an applicant, rather than finding out the expensive way after you put the person on your payroll.
The main methods used to predict if an applicant will succeed on-the-job are
1. Interviews
2. Reference Checks
3. Pre-employment Tests
Alarming Research
Large-scale research discovered most interviewers and reference checks make lousy predictions of actual on-the-job performance. Interviews and reference checks often are about as useful as flipping a coin!
On the bright side, pre-employment tests prove to be the best forecasters of actual on-the-job performance. Reason: Tests are developed with scientific research techniques so they objectively predict how an applicant will act on-the-job. In contrast, interviews and reference checks typically offer only subjective "guesstimates" of an applicant's work potential.
3 Types of Tests
Traits required for job success boil down to A + B + C:
A = Abilities ? mental abilities or brainpower to do the job
B = Behavior ? interpersonal skills, personality and motivations needed to succeed
C = Character ? work ethic, trustworthiness, and no substance abuse
As such, A + B + C = Success on-the-job. Importantly, you can use tests to predict an applicant's Abilities, Behavior, and Character.
A = Abilities Tests
Did you ever hire someone and, later, horrifyingly discover the person had the IQ of tire pressure? That person did not have brainpower to (a) learn the job or (b) solve problems on-the-job. Abilities tests help you avoid hiring people who lack brainpower to learn and do the job. Five abilities tests tell you how well the applicant handles
1. Problem-Solving
2. Vocabulary
3. Arithmetic
4. Grammar, Spelling, & Word Use
5. Small Details
B = Behavior Tests
Each job requires crucial behaviors. For example, my research shows superstar sales reps often are money motivated, optimistic, and assertive. Many jobs require teamwork, friendliness, and customer service. To help you, behavior tests forecast applicants'
1. Interpersonal Skills
2. Personality
3. Motivations
For instance, a behavior test predicts three interpersonal skills: (a) friendliness, (b) assertiveness, and (c) teamwork. Five personality traits assessed include (a) energy level (b) optimism, (c) objectivity, (d) procedure-following, and (e) desire to focus on feelings or facts. Motivations uncover if an applicant strives to do a good job to (a) make lots of money, (b) provide customer service, (c) do creative work, (d) exert power or control, or (e) increase knowledge.
C = Character Tests
Did you ever hire someone who had a lousy work ethic? Stole from your company? Abused alcohol or drugs? That cost you loads of money and time! Character tests help managers avoid hiring problem employees. Such tests predict an applicant's attitudes on work-related character:
1. Work Ethic
2. Trustworthiness
3. Substance Abuse
When you hire a "good apple" -- and avoid hiring a "bad apple" ? you make a big difference in productivity and profits.
Customize Tests You Use
It is highly recommended you customize abilities and behavior tests for each job in your company. Do this by conducting a benchmarking study.
Example: Let's say you want to hire profitable, productive sales reps. Start by testing some of your current sales reps. Statistically pinpoint your superstar sales reps' typical test scores. Then, when you test applicants, you quickly will see if the applicant scores similar to ? or different than ? your superstar sales reps.
You, of course, would prefer to hire applicants (1) whose test scores are similar to your superstars' test scores ? plus also (2) impress you in interviews and other assessments. However, you would avoid hiring an applicant whose test scores are much different than your superstars' test scores.
6 Steps to Hire the Best
You can hire the best using pre-employment tests by following these steps:
Step 1: Find a skilled testing expert with strong professional credentials and expertise. Just as you only want a skilled surgeon to perform surgery on you, you only want a skilled testing professional to help you, usually someone with a Ph.D. in testing.
Step 2: List jobs for which your company will profit if you hire highly productive employees.
Step 3: With your testing expert's help, find tests that are (a) job-related, (b) valid, (c) reliable, and (d) customizable for jobs listed in Step 2.
Step 4: Customize the tests with your testing expert's guidance. Statistically uncover test scores of your superstar employees in each job listed in Step 2.
Step 5: Test applicants ? and show preference for hiring applicants who score similar to your company's most profitable, productive, superstar employees.
Step 6: Benefit from increasing profits and productivity when you hire the best.
© Copyright 2005 Michael Mercer, Ph.D.
Michael Mercer, Ph.D., is a testing expert, conference speaker, and founder of The Mercer Group, Inc. in Barrington, Illinois. Dr. Mercer developed the widely used "Abilities & Behavior Forecaster?" Tests. He authored five books, including "Hire the Best -- & Avoid the Rest?." You can subscribe to Dr. Mercer's free E-Newsletter at http://www.mercersystems.com. You can contact him at (847) 382-0690
You, the Entrepreneur, are 'normally' a type-A individual. One who... Read More
This article relates to the Recognition competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More
What really amazes me, with all the personal and professional... Read More
Most people just want to be appreciated. If you're a... Read More
Nobody's perfect, including the boss. Managers, we polled recently, acknowledged... Read More
Can a person's behavior and values really determine if they... Read More
In these days of takeovers and mergers, of downsizings and... Read More
The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never... Read More
As a training manager, there are two important aspects to... Read More
In today's chaotic world and uncertain economic times too many... Read More
With the advancement of computer simulators, anybody can repeat all... Read More
Q: One of my key employees is giving me trouble.... Read More
Living in the 21st Century is truly marvelous, isn't it?... Read More
Data mining is the art of extracting nuggets of gold... Read More
You can't solve a problem with the... Read More
Project heroes. We've all heard of them. Some of us... Read More
I'm sure you've experienced those typical "headache" meetings! You know... Read More
We obtain strategic results by aligning HR mission, vision and... Read More
I heard this back a few years ago. The boss... Read More
In 1987 I sold my business, South Mountain Company, to... Read More
Whether you choose to do your own books and accounting... Read More
ACCOUNTABILITY: Delegation is not complete unless subordinates are held accountable... Read More
Every one of us, in reality, has two people inside:... Read More
WHAT MAKES A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW?Here is a tip for... Read More
With thanks to Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian who does the... Read More
If you want to ensure a steady stream of customers... Read More
How many times have you heard or uttered this phrase... Read More
I have been very fortunate to travel to several countries... Read More
Wow! You're brilliant! You have a great idea. You've looked... Read More
Do you ever wonder why people do not simply do... Read More
New York, NY, February 25, 2005 ? Employee retention and... Read More
Q: I am an executive at a large company and... Read More
Color is a big factor effecting all indoor... Read More
Picture the scene. Anthony pops down to the guardhouse, partly... Read More
So, you survived the downsizing. Your company did something that... Read More
It's all very well having a flashy (and expensive) advertising... Read More
Here's an easy quiz to check the health of your... Read More
Your people are invaluable to you. They are the lifeblood... Read More
I don't encourage managers to wear funny hats, appear in... Read More
When people or groups make a decision to purchase something,... Read More
THE PURPOSE OF SURVEY FEEDBACK:In globally competitive environments, organizations are... Read More
Unfortunately, there are managers who define public relations by its... Read More
How do you convert outsourcing leads into clients? You may... Read More
A paper manufacturer with over 300 employees once announced that... Read More
Accounting is one area which every company has to maintain... Read More
Do you manage by walking around? What do you see?... Read More
Did you know that maintenance accounts for 50% to 80%... Read More
Want to hear a fascinating story? Let's sit in at... Read More
Human beings and the way they interact are extraordinarily Complex.... Read More
The practice of outsourcing business processes has long been subject... Read More
Make Sure You Understand Your Motivation for SellingAre you thinking... Read More
A successful leader told me, "The biggest challenge I've had... Read More
Although there are real, external reasons for managerial difficulty ?... Read More
ACCOUNTABILITY: Delegation is not complete unless subordinates are held accountable... Read More
Many books have been written about managing people, and an... Read More
Do you have more projects than time? Help might be... Read More
Measure.The first key question to answer in starting a problem-solving... Read More
Succession Planning provides many valuable assets to your business. Yet... Read More
When you know you need to shift up a gear,... Read More
After a full week of training, you are still a... Read More
When asked what part of their job they find a... Read More
For centuries companies have used on-the-job training (OJT). OJT works... Read More
Six Reasons to K.I.S.S. "Very often, people confuse simple with... Read More
Increasing shareholder value is the most important driver for organisations... Read More
We have only one life, but we live in three... Read More
Conflict generally arises by having your needs, desires, perceptions and... Read More
Business Management |