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Talent Management Perspectives

Published May 2009

Tailor Talent to Fit Your Business

  Mark Rose

The economy has left companies with little margin for error in every area of their businesses. Human resources departments, specifically, face increasing pressure to pinpoint candidates that match their companies' business needs. With fewer positions to fill, tighter cost controls and a higher premium on performance, companies need to identify new hires who can hit the ground running and handle a steep workload.

For these reasons, many companies have begun to use comprehensive and sophisticated assessments to ensure every candidate closely fits a specific work environment and key job requirements. In fact, a recent survey from the media company Pearson found that as companies have reduced the number of new employees they hire, they increasingly are using assessment tools to select only the most qualified and skilled candidates.

Nearly one-fifth of survey respondents reported they are using assessments specifically to find people who can ease into a position and begin contributing without a long learning period. About the same number, 16 percent, said they rely on assessments to find candidates who can fit into the company's emerging strategy during the economic downturn.

Further, the staff reductions occurring at most companies today are resulting in additional job responsibilities for each employee, and16 percent of companies use assessments to identify candidates who are multifaceted and can wear several hats.

One such company is Farmers Group Inc., which sells insurance nationwide. Due to the struggling economy, the Los Angeles-based company opted not to fill slated positions for 2008 and 2009. As a result, the company asked existing employees to take on increased responsibilities, and it needed to find highly effective people to staff temporary roles.

To meet these challenges, Farmers Group administered three assessments to its actuarial job candidates: the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, the Advanced Numerical Reasoning Appraisal and Raven's Progressive Matrices. Until recently, candidates needed to score well on two to secure an interview. Today, they must score well on all three to advance, streamlining the hiring process.

Although many factors are considered in the hiring decision, Farmers Group and other companies nationwide are using assessments more often to identify quality candidates and control costs.

Economic conditions also have led to mergers between companies, divisions and departments, and the survey shows HR professionals and consultants increasingly use assessments, such as the Golden Personality Type Profiler, to help build successful new teams. These assessments help to identify people who will work well on a team by examining a variety of factors such as how in tune they are to their own thoughts and feelings, and how that affects others.

With the economy forcing changes in business practices from top to bottom, HR leaders also are seeking practical, cost-effective ways to identify the next generation of leaders to fill positions opening by retiring boomers. For example, assessments such as Watson-Glaser measure critical thinking by examining how candidates analyze and interpret information and how they draw conclusions. Companies can use this assessment to ensure individuals have the intellectual stamina and reasoning skills to successfully weigh their options before making a big decision.

As the few positions available today have grown more complex, requiring specific skill sets, companies are placing a particular premium on effective hiring practices that can pinpoint candidates' work, personality, team and critical reasoning styles. There is significant evidence that assessment tools give companies more efficiency, more value and more return-on-investment when making hiring and development decisions. As a result, more companies are turning to these tools to enhance their ability to intelligently identify candidates who will help to keep their companies successful in the most difficult of markets.     

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