It’s 2016 and many companies are focused on increasing sales, saving money and improving profitability while finalizing budgets and plans for the year. They will spend a lot of time evaluating equipment and systems to ensure the best ROI. However, they will almost always fail to take the same amount of care when selecting and managing their most important asset—their employees! As a result, they’ll miss many opportunities to hire the right people, and often lose top talent and customers due to their mistakes, costing them time, money and market share. No matter the size of your company, the biggest mistake is whether or not you are using the right tools to hire the right people.
Cost of Poor Hiring Practices
Many managers know their turnover rate. And, many don’t. Some are proud that it is below industry standard. However, they may not have quantified the financial impact of turnover on their bottom line, or they may be in denial that they can do anything to improve it.
When you take the time required to actually see the real cost of a bad hire, promoting the wrong person or losing a talented employee, you will realize you must objectively assess potential job candidates for job fit, core values and required skills. Using qualified assessments (instead of hiring by gut alone) will significantly lower theft, cost of turnover, workers’ compensation, unemployment and other employment/liability claims when used appropriately.
Why Should You Select Qualified Hiring Assessments?
There are over 3,000 publishers of assessment products in the market. Most assessments do not comply with the Department of Labor’s guidelines for pre-employment use (See: Testing and Assessment: An Employer’s Guide to Good Practices, Department of Labor*). High-quality and qualified tools will have technical manuals (not just a letter from a law firm) to ensure each assessment meets the validity and reliability specifications for pre-employment and selection purposes. Ask for the technical manual and refuse to use an assessment for pre-employment purposes without one. This is one of the key factors in lowing turnover since using a less-than-qualified assessment rarely makes a difference.
Qualified Assessments Are Incredibly Accurate
Not only is using the right assessment of legal importance, using tools that actually have the highest validity and reliability will measure people accurately and objectively—a requirement for predicting future success. People are like icebergs: they only let you see what they want you to see – what you don’t see is more significant than what you do see! The best assessments provide you with the ability to become a laser-like coach while improving your selection process and reducing costs.
Remember, any tool, system or process used during the hiring or promotion process must comply with pre-employment requirements.
When you select the right qualified assessments and use them as directed, they work and will positively rev up your bottom line in 2016 and beyond.
©Jeannette Seibly, 2015-2016
*Contact SeibCo for a copy of the DOL regulations @ http://SeibCo.com/contact
Source: Hire Amazing Employees, Chapter 11, “Assess for Job Fit—Use Qualified Assessments,” http://BizSavvyHire.com
Jeannette Seibly has been a business advisor and facilitator for over 23 years; she guides the creation of new solutions for business challenges and is the author of Hire Amazing Employees (http://BizSavvyHire.com). Check out her website: http://SeibCo.com or contact Jeannette at http://SeibCo.com/contact.