Assessments are frequently used to select call center personnel. There are several reasons for this. One is the sheer number of call center positions with some estimating that over 4 million people do this work in the US alone, not to mention millions more in offshore locations. Another contributing factor is the nature of call center work. On the one hand, a high level of customer service and accuracy is critical in addition to computer skills, attention to detail, problem solving, and multi-tasking. Complicating things, call center representatives are often asked to help confused, angry, or upset callers in a professional manner yet do so as quickly as possible because a frequent performance metric is number of calls handled.  However, since the work is often routine and repetitive, it can become boring fairly quickly and lead to absenteeism and turnover unless the right employees are selected.

Fortunately, there are a number of assessments that have been developed specifically for call centers (and pan is fortunate to distribute a number of them). Some look at personality factors such as conscientiousness, customer service attitude, and reliability. Others, which are designed to test an individual’s call center skills, actually  place the individual in the simulated  role of a call center representative.  

A dynamic to consider when selecting call center personnel is that given the substantial cost in reputation that negative client experiences can bring coupled with large number of people employed in these positions is that even relatively minor improvements in the hiring process can have a substantial impact upon the bottom line.  A final consideration is that unlike many other jobs, call centers can often readily provide accurate and meaningful metrics about call center performance with indicators such a number of calls handled per shift, sales, and caller satisfaction surveys. As a result, it often can become apparent quite readily if a selection system is working and how it might be adjusted to further optimize the process.

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This is something we are often asked. In answering it, the critical issue to bear in mind is that validity has to do with the conclusions, inferences, or decisions we want to make based upon the assessment, not the assessment itself. Consider a typing test.  If it is reasonably constructed, it is pretty likely that it measures typing speed and accuracy. However, is it valid? Without knowing what the test is going to be used for, we don't know. If we are using it to select administrative assistants, we are likely on the right track if we assume keyboarding is important for job success in this role. However, by the same token, it is likely to be invalid for selecting groundskeepers.

Commercially available assessments have technical documentation that details how the test measures what it is designed to measure.  And this is certainly something that enters into the validity equation. However, the key question about validity has to do with the intended use of the assessment. The underlying question really isn't whether a test itself is valid but rather Valid for What?

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When we help a client to implement an assessment program, we are sometimes asked to use a “profiling” approach which involves giving the assessment to handful of the best performing employees, look at their scores,  and then use this to create a benchmark for hiring new employees. While this model is intuitive, quick, and easy to execute, it has a number of drawbacks. From a measurement perspective, the first challenge is that it is virtually impossible to create norms that are stable and meaningful when they are only based on a handful of cases. Secondly, since most assessments employ a large number of scales and sub-scales, it is rather difficult to decide which scales are actually predictive of performance without additional analyses of the job at hand and what it requires. (Alternately, it is possible that the selected assessment many not measure what actually differentiates high and low performing employees unless when have a sense of what the job requires when we initially select the assessment.)  Another factor to consider is that an employee’s skills may change and improve as a result of on the job experience. That is, successful employees may look significantly different after several months on the job than they did when they were hired. Finally, unless we also make a systematic job task analysis, we may lose sight of the likelihood that there are several ways for someone to be successful in the job.

The take-away lesson is that while “profiling” may give us a sense of the competencies of some of our most successful employees, it is not a sufficient foundation upon which to base an assessment program. Unless we take additional steps to fully understand the requirements of a position, we are likely to implement a solution that is less than fully effective. In the final analysis, our task is to match individuals to a job, not individuals to each other.

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While there have been some slight improvements in the national employment rate (now down to 8.5% from a high of 10% in October 2009), millions of people are still seeking work. A study was recently released which examines the relationship between college major and unemployment. Recent grads with majors in healthcare, education, and agriculture/natural resources had unemployment rates at or below 7%. The major with the worst prospects was architecture with nearly 14% of its recent grads still looking for work. Also interesting to note is that individuals with graduate degrees tend to have very low levels of unemployment (though these folks almost by definition are older and more experienced). Finally, the study looked at long term prospects for income. Here, individuals who majored in the sciences, engineering, or business tended to do much better from a wage perspective than those with a background in the humanities, psychology, and education. 

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I just saw another round of discussions in the press as to whether student scores on standardized tests should be used to evaluate teachers. The debates often devolve into all-or-nothing propositions such as “yes, we need to fire teachers whose kids do poorly on tests” vs.  “only a teacher can evaluate another teacher and test scores don’t mean much of anything.” This also takes place in a context where some schools devote very substantial amounts of time “teaching the test” and searching for ways to improve test scores (which in a few unfortunate cases involve cheating). While some of this reflects the irrationality that often seems to emerge whenever public education policy is discussed, it also highlights the larger issue of what is known as the “criterion” problem in I/O psychology.

A topic I have written about previously, we face a major challenge (which is often ignored) in measuring work performance in a meaningful way, especially for higher level positions. We often lack good performance metrics and even these can be contaminated by a number of external factors. For example, sales revenue often reflects a number of things such as territory, market served, product mix, and tenure in addition to sales ability. (Also, consider the complexity of using student test scores when it is not uncommon in some urban districts for up to a quarter of children to change schools at least once during the course of a year.) As a result, we often need to use performance ratings which are prone to “halo effects” (e.g., if someone is liked, they are rated high on all attributes) and a lack of differentiation amongst employees (that is, other than a few exceptions, pretty much everyone tends to be highly rated).
 
In the case of education, it certainly seems reasonable that student test scores be considered as one factor in teacher evaluation but also indicators such as peer ratings, student input, and repeated observation by supervisors also taken into account. Just as we often advise that a single test score should not be used to ultimately determine whether someone should be hired or not, similar logic should apply the evaluation of job performance.

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The IPAC Call for Proposals has been posted and will be open until the end of January 2012 for its annual conference to be held July 22-25, 2012 in Las Vegas.

IPAC is an organization of applied personnel selection and assessment professionals to which a number of us at pan belong. IPAC focuses it efforts on increasing the awareness and application of empirically-based methods to HR practice. In addition to an annual conference, IPAC offers webinars as well as white papers on topics related to assessment and selection.

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There was a recent study published in Personnel Psychology looking at the development of executive leaders. The research question examined the relative roles of cognitive ability, personality factors, and work experience in predicting strategic thinking (which was measured by a series of five assessment center exercises). Based upon a sample of over 700 executives at an international consulting firm, it was found that cognitive ability (incidentally assessed by the Watson- Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Wesman Personnel Classification Tests, both published by Pearson and available on pan) was by far the best predictor of strategic thinking. Second most important was work experience. More specifically, it was found the broader the experience, both in terms of range of work activities and level of leadership, the more beneficial it was. The personality factors, openness to experience and extraversion, also made statistically significant contributions but to a much lesser degree. The takeaway lesson from this study is that if you are looking to develop individuals who can become strategic leaders, it is most important to find the brightest people and then provide them with a broad array of diverse work experiences.

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Last week, I blogged about how people are prone to rely upon intuitive rather than more empirical decision making strategies. Another related issue has to do with the difficulty most people have in understanding statistics and what they mean. For example, we tend to be more biased by salient events and discount the actual underlying probabilities. A classic illustration is parents who are hesitant to fly on the same commercial flight for fear they might both perish in a crash and subsequently orphan their children but not think twice about riding in the same car on a daily basis. (For those interested in the math, there were no deaths on any U.S airline carriers in 2010 while there were nearly 33,000 automotive fatalities.)

This point was highlighted this morning when I was listening to sports talk radio show on the way to work. The hosts were debating a controversial decision by an NFL coach that past weekend that led to a loss. An expert on football statistics had written that while the coach’s decision was considered risky by traditionalists, it actually had a greater chance of success than the alternative course of action based upon actual game data (47% vs. 43%). One of the hosts (a former NFL quarterback and graduate of a Big Ten university) denigrated this thinking and complained that this was “only statistics and statistics don’t always work out.” He then went on to support this with his experience in playing blackjack in that even when he made the statistically correct decisions, he would sometimes lose several consecutive hands.

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One of the things that things that I-O psychologists stress is the importance of using consistent decision rules when making hiring decisions. While this message is sometimes well-received, a counter-argument often heard from hiring managers who feel most comfortable relying upon their “gut feel” about a candidate (almost invariably based upon an unstructured interview). These sorts of discussion about the relative merits of reliance upon intuition as opposed to structure decision rules has gone for decades in virtually every field that involves decision making, be it in medical settings or the HR office.

Something to be aware of is the growing body of literature that indicates that our intuitive decision making can often be prone to biases we aren’t aware of. For example, medical school applicants tend to be rated lower when interviewed on rainy days and judges are found to be stricter in their sentencing right before lunchtime. In both cases, these trends were statistically significant but neither the interviewers nor judges were aware of this bias.

Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist and Nobel Prize Winner, has written extensively on this. One of his many findings is that we tend to rely upon intuition out of habit and that it requires additional deliberate mental effort to not do so. As a result, we tend to rely on intuition by “default” and rely upon this automatic decision-making unless we make a conscious effort to not do so. As a result, it is critical for us as HR practitioners to collect good objective outcome data on the hiring decisions that we make. If we don’t, not only fail to learn from our mistakes but may not even be aware of the mistakes we have actually made.

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A few postings back, I made wrote about David Bracken and Dale Rose’s article on how 360s can be best used to facilitate behavior change. One of their suggestions was to train raters on how to use the rating scales.  In a follow-up piece entitled “What is a ‘5’?,” Bracken further develops this theme. His concern is that most raters use scales as they please which tends to strip them of much consistent meaning. He writes:

I have used a rating scale where “5” is defined as “role model, in the top 5-10%” that attempts to create a frame of reference for raters (and ratees) that does help reduce leniency effects. What if we defined “5” as “can’t get any better” or something equivalent to that? …. Some raters will undoubtedly ignore those directions, but rater training can help drill in the need for everyone to reconfigure their conceptualization of what optimal behavior is.

Another related approach that I have seen used successfully is educating both raters and subjects about how the results will be used. For example, I saw the entire room relax when it was stressed that the multi-rater feedback project at hand was being used exclusively for developmental purposes, that only a few individuals are expected to receive the highest ratings, and that it is highly unlikely that anyone will be exceptional in all areas.  Of course, the message needs to be seen as credible for raters to accept it. However, unless there is a reasonable level of trust within the organization, it is unlikely that a developmentally-based 360s project will be of much value for any number of reasons beyond inconsistent use of rating scales.

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I recently read a great article by David Bracken and Dale Rose (principal of the 3D Group, a longtime pan content partner) on how 360-degree feedback tools can be used to create behavior change. The entire article is worth reading but here are some key points that the authors stress are often critical in increasing the effectiveness of a multi-rater feedback project in affecting behavior change.

• Item content needs to be meaningful and relevant to both raters and subject. As a result, the assessment to be used should be carefully selected and/or customized.

• To influence behavior, the feedback data need to be credible. This includes using an adequate number of raters who have had a sufficient level of contact with the subject to be able to provide an accurate and meaningful picture. The authors also suggest that rater credibility is enhanced when they are selected by the subject.  Additionally, it is often quite valuable to train raters to avoid the pitfalls common in these exercises—rating too leniently and rating an individual at the same level on every item.   

• Accountability also helps to create behavior change. They stress the importance of subjects following up with both coaches and the raters to help facilitate development. It is also important for subjects to involve their bosses when creating an individual development plan.

As before, the article is definitely a worthwhile read because it is based upon both the authors’ extensive experience and reference to the research literature on the topic.  As a final endorsement, the paper also provides a good bibliography of the work that has been carried out in the area.

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An interesting question that often comes up is whether an organization should hire an individual who seems to be overqualified for a position. This perhaps has come up more frequently as of late as a result of the economic downturn where people are applying for a much broader range of jobs than they might have otherwise (though it should be noted that a late 1990s lawsuit ruled in favor of a Connecticut police department that declined to hire an applicant whose scores on a cognitive exam were deemed to be “too high.”)

This issue was discussed in a recent series of articles in the journal Industrial and Organizational Psychology where a number of well-taken points were raised. First, it should be noted that "overqualification" should be viewed as something to be understood from the applicant/employee perspective because there are substantial numbers of workers who consider themselves to be “overqualified” for their current positions even though an objective review of their background would not indicate this to be the fact. Additionally, even if someone’s overall educational attainment is greater than might be required for a job, they may not be overqualified in terms of specific skills (e.g., consider the individual with an advanced degree in English seeking work as an apprentice electrician). Another factor to consider is an individual’s motivation for seeking the position in question. Given the growing number of older individuals who are employed, there is also a subset of overqualified individuals who specifically seek such positions because they want a less demanding and more flexible work role that will permit them to pursue non-vocational interests and activities.

Looking to the research literature, there aren’t much data to suggest that hiring overqualified workers is necessarily detrimental to an organization. To the contrary, it is likely that hiring such individuals may actually bring benefits. Even while overqualified workers may not have long tenure in a position (which is often cited as a fear in hiring them even though it is not well-supported by research data), they may bring outside perspectives to an organization that are quite valuable. Further, overqualified workers may provide a pool of workers who are well-suited for promotion. Finally, there are data to suggest that these overqualified individuals may do better on the job than their peers.

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The program for IPAC’s 2011 Conference (promotional video) to be held in July 17 to 20 in Washington, DC has been posted. Presentations will cover a wide variety of topics related to assessment and selection including developments in testing methods, technological innovations, legal compliance, and leadership development. Of special note, pan’s Jocelyn Hays will speak on using assessments to identify high potential employees. As in the past, pan is pleased to support IPAC 2011 and is a Gold Sponsor of this year’s meeting.

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Collecting solid outcome data is a critical step in evaluating the effectiveness of an assessment program. Unless we have good data about employee performance, we cannot reliably or consistently differentiate between employees who are doing their jobs well from those who are not. Unfortunately, rather than using formal performance metrics, many organizations rely upon global impressions of employee performance. A typical response is "I have been running this unit for 7 years. I know who is doing good just by seeing their daily work." Unfortunately, decades of research indicate that such informal global assessments are prone to "halo" effects--meaning that if an employee is well-liked, they tend to receive good reviews while those who are not favored are judged more harshly. This becomes a problem when we need to evaluate the effectiveness of an employee selection program.  Simply stated, if there are not good data on actual employee performance,  we can’t determine who well the system works in selecting employees.

Indeed a recent survey by pan content partner, SHL, indicates that only half of all organizations actually collect formal metrics to support the value of their HR investments. Not surprisingly, over a third simply rely upon the belief of hiring managers that their programs are effective. Here, we see the same reliance upon global impressionistic data to evaluate the effectiveness of selection processes that is unfortunately often used to evaluate employees themselves. When we consult with clients to implement an assessment program, we also encourage them to create good metrics to evaluate their employees if they don’t already have a system in place. This not only provides critical data that will enable us to actually see how a selection process is working (and adjust it if need be), but it is also sound HR practice.

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First published in 1998 by the Department of Labor (DOL), O*NET (Occupational Information Network) is a framework and database of job characteristics for 956 occupations. It is used by a wide variety of professionals in domains including vocational guidance, education, human resources, and the determination of work-related disabilities.  It is most typically used in the HR community as a data source in carrying out job analysis and writing job descriptions. (It is also worth noting that the O*NET website itself offers a broad array of information and resources including tools for matching job titles with O*NET occupations, user guides, and a variety of career exploration assessments

Given its broad use, the DOL requested in 2008 that the National Academies of Science convene an expert panel to review the O*NET and consider its future directions. The result was a document of more than 200 pages that is available as a free download.  The report documents the committee’s findings and also provides a good overview of the O*NET’s background. Some the conclusions drawn are that despite its limitations, O*NET is used by a very broad array of individuals and organizations and continues to be seen as valuable resource.  One major suggestion is that the DOL focus its O*NET-related resources specifically on the continued development of the occupational database itself and defer to others the development of tools and other ancillary related products. To help maintain this focus, it was further suggested that an advisory board be created to guide DOL in these efforts. While lengthy, the report provides a good overview of where O*NET has been and a vision for its future.

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The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, known as the “Joint Standards” because they are a collaborative effort of the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education, were last revised in 1999. Since that time, much has changed in the world of testing to include the proliferation of web-based assessment, frequent high profile educational testing in schools, and a growing awareness of the complexities associated with fairly assessing individuals with disabilities and for whom English is not a first language.

Over the past few years, a number of committees representing a broad range of constituencies were convened to develop proposed revisions to the Standards. Their work was recently posted and comments are now being solicited from both testing professionals and the public. Providing input and review are critical because the Standards  (along with the SIOP Principles and EEOC's Uniform Guidelines) are considered the foundational documents that define accepted practices in world of assessment. Since the Joint Standards cover all forms of psychological assessment, they are somewhat broader in scope than the other two sets of documents, but are still critical in defining professional standards for human capital assessment.

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The Call for Proposals for IPAC’s 2011 Conference on Personnel Assessment (to be held July 17-20 in Washington, DC) is now open and will be until the end of the month. The program committee is open to proposals for symposia, panel discussions, tutorials, and workshops on topics related to talent management. More information on the conference is also available. Invited speakers include Wayne Camara (College Board), Elaine Pulakos (PDRI) and Eric Dunleavy, Mike Aamodt, and David Cohen (all of the Center for Corporate Equality which was blogged about earlier). A number of us at pan have been active in IPAC for the past several years and the conferences are notable for their conceptual rigor, practical applicability, and relaxed atmosphere.

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The Chinese Civil Service exam was administered to nearly over a million job candidates in early December and the topic of post last year. The National Public Servant Exam is required for hiring into many government jobs. Civil services examinations in China have a very long history and have always been the focus of much attention going back several centuries. Given the recent difficulties that young Chinese college graduates are having in finding work, it is a bit surprising that some 40,000 fewer people took the exam this year than last. Regardless, 1.41 million people applied for the exam, and 1.03 million actually took it. Since there are only 16,000 government jobs reported to be available at present, that means the selection ratio is 1:64.

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The Partnership for Federal Service is rather adept at spotting trends in federal employment. Their most recent research is on the flight of younger workers from federal jobs. Of employees who joined the federal service in 2006, only 76% were still on the job on 2008, and some Departments such as Treasury and Commerce had attrition rates of over 35%. Given the downturn in the economy, the expected trend in retirements from the government has yet to occur but this is inevitable given that nearly 30% of the federal workforce is currently retirement eligible with this number expected to approach 50% in 5 years.  The report is full of information relevant to the topic and certainly worth a review. It includes data on employee feedback surveys and how organizations can develop a better understanding of their own attrition dynamics.

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Zappos is a large ($1 billion in revenue last year) online shoe retailer with a strong focus on customer service and innovation. Not necessarily a conventional organization, its Code of Conduct includes "create fun and a little weirdness" and "be adventurous, creative, and open-minded."

Zappos clearly has its own unique organizational culture, and one of the ways it fosters this is through its  on-boarding process.  One interesting concept is that all new employees (whether they work in customer service, IT, or administration) spend a week working in the warehouse. Another unique feature of the training program is what is called “offer.” Here, all new employees are offered $1000 to quit if they believe they won’t be able to fit into Zappo’s culture.  About 10% of new hire opt out after the first week, and Zappos sees this as a good way to bring on board only committed employees who are invested in their way of doing business.

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While those of us who work with assessments are well-aware of their limitations, research data have consistent indicated that well-validated personality and cognitive assessments are almost always the best predictors we have of future occupational success. This has been established repeatedly in the professional literature for the past 15 years.

While assessments are obviously not foolproof, the critical underlying issue is that we need to make hiring decisions based upon something. And in most cases, that best something is an assessment. In making this statement, we need to consider what the alternatives are.  This issue was recently highlighted for me in a recent series of articles about GPAs which employers often consider when hiring recent graduates.

For example, there are now high schools that name up to 30 valedictorians. Traditionally reserved for the student with the highest GPA, it is now seen an honor to be shared by all “top” students.  Apparently, many schools give extra credit for Advanced Placement classes so a 4.0 might be posted as a 4.5. Also, since some schools will cap GPAs at an arbitrary level, say 4.3, the result can be several students who all appear to have achieved a perfect record.  All that being said, while there may be sound reasons for naming multiple valedictorians, it obviously no longer represents the academic distinction it once did.

In a related development, some law schools are now increasing their students’ GPAs retroactively.  For example, a B- may become a B overnight, even though the student may have graduated some time ago.  The rationale is that some law schools grade on a curve (e.g., only permitting a fixed percentage of 4.0s to be assigned) whereas others do not or do so less stringently. The more stringent schools, being concerned that potential employers may not be aware of this, have taken the step of increasing all their students' GPA by .33--even if they graduated five years ago.  The point is not to argue the propriety of a school’s adopting this policy. Rather, it highlights the fact that when compared to other data that we have available, a well-validated assessment program often provides the fairest source of data about a potential employee’s suitability for a particular position within an organization.

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The EEOC just recently announced that it was suing FAPS, a New Jersey company that processes newly imported cars for sale in the United States. While we won’t know about the truthfulness of the charges until the legal process is completed, the allegations against FAPS provide examples of the sorts of things that employers clearly need to avoid.

FAPS was found to have a statistically smaller percentage of African American employees in entry level positions than would be expected given the demography of the area (northern New Jersey). First, it is alleged that the organization relied almost exclusively on word-of-mouth recruiting which led to limited number of African Americans applying for jobs. This recruitment model would likely be seen as having adverse impact because it in and of itself is not deliberately discriminatory but did result in decreased numbers of African Americans applying for work. (This also illustrates how the concept of adverse impact applies to the entire selection process, not simply assessments). However, it is also further alleged that when African Americans did come to apply, they were told that no jobs were available ever though they were. This would be considered to be discriminatory because the intent is deliberate. Making matters worse, the EEOC also claims that the company asked questions about physical impairments on the application form which is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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The program for the 2010 IPAC Conference has been posted. To be held July 18-21 in Newport Beach, CA, the meeting provides a prime opportunity to learn about the applied uses of personnel assessment tools in a friendly and collegial atmosphere. pan is proud to be a conference sponsor and several of us, including Nate Studebaker, Jocelyn Hays, and me, will be presenting.  Conference registration is still open if you are interested in attending.

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Likely as an early sign of improvement in the unemployment situation, organizations are seeing an uptick in the number of employees who are quitting on their own accord. Indeed, February 2010 saw more workers resign from positions than were laid off, the first time this has happened in 15 months. One contributing factor may be that workers are feeling less and less satisfied in their current jobs due to workforce reductions. However, it is also likely that individuals who are separating voluntarily either have new positions in the offing or are at least optimistic about their ability to find a new job in short order. On an anecdotal basis, friends who work in the recruiting industry report a very high level of pent-up demand of individuals who are quite anxious to enter the job market once they sense an upturn in hiring. Citing several months of very little job movement, they expect a groundswell of activity once things improve even marginally.

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I recently came across an interesting article about negative employee reactions to performance reviews (and some of the comments are a treat in and of themselves). On the one hand, when employee reviews are handled poorly, they can definitely have a negative effect. On the other, it is difficult for anyone to improve at what they do, no matter what the situation, if they don’t get accurate feedback—both positive and negative—on how they are doing.

This issue of not having good performance data often becomes evident when we are asked to validate an assessment. The basic strategy that we use is usually one of trying to see how well various test scores can predict how employees do on the job. However, a frequent situation is that organizations may only use overall performance ratings which provide no information about an individual’s specific strengths and weakness. Furthermore, it is often the case that employee performance data provide little basis to differentiate between employees either. (The prototypic “bad” scenario is one in which 15% of employees are rated as “exceed expectations,” 85% are seen as “meets expectations, and 5% “need improvement”-- and this is the only employee performance data that exists.) If this is the case, unless we ask supervisors to complete a more comprehensive evaluation that looks at several aspects of job performance, it is virtually impossible to learn how well an assessment program is working. In a similar vein, if employers fail to provide specific and meaningful performance evaluations, it is difficult for employees to know what they need to do in order to get better at doing their jobs.

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Most everyone who works in HR is aware that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers need to make reasonable accommodations for individuals who happen to have a disability. For example, I once had a blind co-worker who had a “reader” provided by our employer to help him with work tasks that required sight. In the world of testing, providing reasonable accommodations often involves things such as permitting extended testing time for persons with a  learning disability or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In these and most other cases, the accommodations can be relatively simple to identify and provide.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. Here is an interesting case about a workplace accommodation for an individual who developed a food allergy to paprika. Her reaction is sufficiently severe to induce anaphylactic shock and can even be triggered by the aroma of co-workers’ food. As a safeguard, the employee obtained a service dog at her own expense that was specially trained to detect paprika. Unfortunately, upon bringing the dog to work, one of her co-workers had an asthma attack due to dog allergies. There is now a dispute with the city about how it handled the situation involving the needs of both employees.

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One of the major reasons to use an assessment is to ascertain if a candidate is actually capable of doing the job. While there other ways to accomplish this, such as reviewing references and resumes, these approaches can fall short. Unfortunately, employers often do a poor job of actually checking references and many of us don’t verify a candidate’s educational history. (There haven been some well-documented cases of people in high profile positions who don’t have the background they claimed. For example, there is the former director of admissions at MIT didn’t have any of the degrees listed on her resume and George O’Leary who was the head football coach at Notre Dame for 5 days until it was discovered that both his claims to have played college football and having a graduate degree were false.)

Another challenge in credentials verification is the apparent growth of degree granting universities that may not have particularly stringent academic standards. There is growing concern  about U.S. military personnel getting degrees (almost wholly paid for by the government) from propriety, for profit institutions. While the students who enroll in these programs do so with good intentions, they often discover their degrees are not well-regarded by employers because of the nature of the schools. In a similar vein, there is a physics professor at the University of Illinois who has essentially been on a crusade against diploma mills, businesses often based outside the United States where one can essentially purchase a degree without fulfilling any requirements at all. When it comes to vetting a job candidate’s credentials, it is important the employers have a way of verifying that an individual actually has the qualifications to do the job well. Whether it be with looking into a candidate’s credentials or using an assessment, this is critical information to have before making a hiring decision.

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While yesterday's post looked at where the jobs are anticipated to be in the coming decade, it is also helpful to see what happened over the past 10 years in terms of employment. Overall, the picture was not rosy. Indeed, the past decade saw no net job creation. In a similar vein, many households are making less money now (when adjusted for inflation) than they were 10 years ago. While the pain this has created is real, it also should be noted that some of this is due to measurement issues as the late 1990s were times marked by economic growth largely fueled by an investment bubble that subsequently burst while we are currently working through some economic issues that haven’t been seen since prior to the Second World War. As a result, the past decade is bracketed between a high point and what is an historic low.

All that being said, one can only hope that the early signs of improvement in the job picture continue to emerge. Additionally, the trend toward workers returning to school for additional training as well as the emergence of specialized training programs can only lead toward increasing the overall value of the pool of human capital that is available.

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Best wishes for 2010! The past several days have been an opportunity for many to take some time from work and enjoy family and friends. The end of the year (and, in this case, what is arguably the end of a decade), is also a time for reflection and anticipation.

In turning attention to human capital and workforce development, one topic to consider is where job growth will be in the coming decade. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the high growth positions will be in professional/business services, health care, and service industries while manufacturing will continue to dwindle. The positions with the highest growth potential are seen to be in the management, scientific, and technical consulting services while the greatest anticipated losses are expected to be in textile and apparel manufacturing. Here is a nice graphic representing the BLS data.

While unemployment still hovers around 10%, there are some recent signs of improvement. However, there are concerns that much of the job growth is in lower skilled positions, especially in home health care, customer service, and food preparation as well as the realization that the days of well-paid factory work largely may be a thing of the past. Interestingly, the best-paying positions in which there is substantial growth but require limited training is long-haul truck driving.

Reid Klion

There is an old saying that an economic downturn turns into a depression as soon as you lose your job. With the current unemployment rate now at 10% (and down a bit from October’s high of 10.2%), there are substantial numbers of people who are  unable to find work. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll documents some of the common issues faced by the unemployed ranging from the obvious financial hardships to mental health issues and family conflict. Consistent with other reports, a healthy number are considering job re-training or a return to school.

In terms of the future, Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner for economics, is concerned that job creation efforts have not gone far enough.  (He also makes tthe interesting point out that the economy needs to add over 100,000 jobs a month simply to keep up with population growth.) While he believes that the government did the right thing in stabilizing the banks last year, efforts have not been sufficient on the job front. However, rather than viewing the cup as half-empty, others see some positive news on the horizon. For example, unemployment claims are edging downward, there are increases in productivity, and seasonal hiring is at its highest level since 2004. Regardless, it is clear that the current economic situation has created substantial difficulty for millions (as well as for the business who want to thrive). We can only hope that these early signs of improvement are a signal of things to come.

Reid Klion

In the past, I have blogged about testing in China and Korea.  While we often thinking of standardized testing as a Western phenomenon, it really has its roots over 2000 years ago in the Chinese imperial exam system with the concept later being adopted in the East in the 19th century.

The scale of some of these Asian programs is quite impressive (as well as is the potential for high profile problems which I will blog about tomorrow in regard to recent issues in India with delivery of their equivalent of the GMAT). At the end last month, nearly a million candidates took the Chinese Civil Service Examination. Attributed to the economic slowdown, the number of test takers (photos) has increased by a factor of 15 since 2003. Given there are only 15,000 openings for a million test takers, the stakes are impressively high. These government positions are often coveted for their stability and are sometimes referred to as the "Iron Rice Bowl."

Reid Klion

I read an interesting article the other day on the psychological challenges faced by financial professionals in light of the investment market plummet of the past year. Written by a gentleman originally trained as a clinical psychologist who has spent the past 25 years as an investment advisor, he outlines a number of stressors and dynamics facing this group of professionals.

• Loss of faith in the fundamental investment  theories that underlie the models followed by investment professionals which completely failed to predict potential losses of this speed and magnitude.
• Subsequent revelations about the investment industry have also proven unsettling, leaving professionals to doubt the credibility of their own organization.
• Guilt and helplessness about the losses faced by clients
•  Personal losses in investments and retirement plans (with the latter often being in parent company stock).
• Concerns about the future in a profession and industry that suddenly became wholly unpredictable.

Given it is written for an audience of clinical psychologists, the article becomes a bit technical in spots. However, it provides a rather unique perspective on some issues that I honestly had not given much thought and is worth a look if it captures your interest.

Reid Klion

Since the economic crisis emerged over a year ago, there has been a rash of reports on the influx of students into post-secondary institutions, especially community and technical colleges. Here is the most recent from the Economist. In addition to citing economic factors, the article also points to a number of other dynamics that contribute to this trend. First, post-secondary enrollment rates have been going up for several years. Increasing the pool of potential students, the percentage of young people who fail to complete high school has shrunk from nearly 16% to less than 10% over the past 30 years. Additionally, the current economic woes have driven home the point that the availability of well-paying unskilled labor jobs has dropped precipitously over the past two decades marked by cataclysmic changes in the U.S. automotive industry as well as the trend toward the outsourcing of manufacturing

It is clear that the current upsurge of interest in training is in part influenced by the perception by many that they have no other viable options. However, it is hard to think there are not some silver linings in the grey clouds. First, while there are no guarantees that additional training will definitely lead to a job offer at the end of the line, it is hard to think that a broadened skill set will decrease an individual’s employability, especially if schooling is in a skill with high demand. From a broader societal perspective, there also seem to be few negatives in increasing the value of the nation’s human capital which will benefit us all in the long run.

Reid Klion

In light of all the current excitement in the world of professional sports with the World Series finishing up this week, the NFL heating up, and the NBA season starting, a frequent topic of discussion is player salaries. This seems particularly salient given that the New York Yankee’s payroll for 2009 tops 200 million dollars.

When I hear these numbers, it brings to mind a Sports Illustrated article from earlier this year documenting the poor job that most athletes do in managing their money. While many of us cast a bit of an envious eye on the salaries that some top athletes make (for example, Tiger Woods was estimated to have made $110 million last year), the statistics on athletes who wind up broke despite multi-million dollar paydays is staggering. Some interesting statistics:

• Within 5 years of retirement, 60% of NBA players are broke.
• Within two years of retirement, 78% of NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress.
• Divorce rates for athletes range from 60-80%. Emotional issues aside, this also tends to have a major negative financial impact, especially if there are children involved.

The article outlines a number of contributing factors. Some of the most common are naiveté about financial affairs (certainly not uncommon for most folks in their early 20s) poor decisions about whom to trust (especially when it comes to managing millions of dollars), and a desire for tangible investments in things like businesses and real estate that seem easier to understand (though are almost always riskier) than stocks and bonds.

Reid Klion

We are often concerned about the role of self-presentation during hiring situations. For example, much attention has been devoted to understanding hown “faking good” may impact personality assessments, the potential role of cheating on exams, and the fact that people tend to exaggerate their qualifications during interview situations. That being the case, at least the folks who engage in these behaviors are making an effort to present themselves in a positive light (and, as have some like Bob Hogan argue, the ability and willingness to present oneself positively is often a critical job qualification in and of itself).

In contrast, consider those individuals who fail to put their best foot forward when applying for a job (and the reaction this tends to elicit from hiring personnel). For example, virtually all of us can recount instances of job candidates who have multiple misspellings on their résumés, manifest a complete lack of phone etiquette, and the like.  To this end, a recent CNN article took an informal survey of hiring managers on some of the grossly inappropriate behaviors they have seen during interviews. These include job candidates answering cell phones during an interview, acting bizarrely, and being completely uninformed about the company or what it does. While it has been well-established that non-structured interviews are poor predictors of future job performance, it is also clear that certain interview behaviors are too salient and extreme to be ignored even by the most heavily research-based interviewer.

Reid Klion

Awareness and prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace has been a major concern for the past several years. In 2008, the EEOC received almost 15,000 complaints of sexual harassment with employers having to pay nearly $50 million in resultant benefits.

There have been growing concerns about the role of e-mail and text messaging in this, and a recent SHRM article outlines some of these issues. The piece makes a couple of excellent points about how social networking sites can lead to a blurring of the line between the social and work domains (where behavior acceptable in one’s personal life may not be appropriate for the workplace) and how the informal and spontaneous nature of texting may lead to types of communication that might not take place if a different medium were used.

The challenge for HR professionals lies in providing appropriate workplace training to educate employees about the potential negative implications of their behavior as well as of the appropriate use of company resources.  Employees should also likely be reminded that their workplace electronic communications typically can be accessed in the case of a complaint. For example, records of inappropriate text messages between the ex-mayor of Detroit and his chief of staff were one set of factors that lead to his eventual resignation. The bottom line is that employees need to be aware of policies regarding sexual harassment and that they still pertain whether an interaction is electronic or in person.

Reid Klion

Thomas Friedman, well-known author and columnist, recently wrote  about the workers he labels the “untouchables.” He argues that those individuals who have the imagination and drive to “invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies” are the people who are critical to organizations that want to be successful in today’s economic environment. As a result, these employees will always be of great value. In contrast, average workers who can only carry out routine work are becoming increasingly endangered because many of these tasks can be automated or outsourced. Friedman further points out how our educational system needs to find ways to increase the number of students with high level problem solving and analytic skills and have a spirit of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. However, until that day (and if it ever comes), it is incumbent upon employers to carefully select and build a workforce comprised of individuals who can truly create value for their organization.

Reid Klion

Back in August, Charles Handler of Rocket-Hire released his annual Online Assessment Usage Survey. Surveying almost 150 persons who work in the areas of recruitment and hiring, he found that approximately 2/3 of respondents use assessments. Of those using assessments, almost a third report using online processes exclusively. The types of assessments that are most broadly used are personality measures, tests of skills and knowledge, and cognitive tools. He has yet to release the full report but will forward a copy when it is complete. Charles is about the only the only independent source of information on online assessment  and is certainly one of the foremost experts in the area.

Reid Klion

A few months ago, I took on the role of mentor in one of the organizations that I participate in outside of work.  When I enrolled in the program, I hadn’t served in a mentor role before and sought the guidance of others to make sure my mentee had a positive experience.  Fortunately, the program had information and suggestions for both me in my role as the mentor as well as for my mentee.

Checklist in hand, I set up the “get to know you” meeting.  We met and learned the basic facts about each other (jobs, families, hobbies, etc.) and then I spent some finding out what she wanted to know, learn, or walk away with from the experience.  Since this mentoring experience was through our golf organization, I assumed that her goal was to improve her score.  But I was wrong; she wanted to learn some basic rules, how to set up a tee time, how to keep score, and other etiquette so she would be comfortable playing with friends and colleagues.  

We spent some time on those goals the first night and I could tell she really wanted to learn and grow, based on the types of questions she asked and the enthusiasm she showed.  Our next meeting happened to be during one of our league nights where we were paired with two others from the organization. I could tell she was nervous, but as the round progressed she put into action the items she learned and saw that she was not out-of-place at all.  In our other meetings since then, her confidence has only continued to grow as she becomes more and more comfortable on the course.

I was able to see what my mentee learned from the experience, but I’m not sure she realizes the impact she had on me.  I already knew the skills she wanted to learn, but realized that I took them for granted.  I found myself stopping and explaining my automatic movements such as where to park the cart or where on the green to lay the flagstick.  I would see her excitement when she hit a good shot or made a long putt and realized the simple joy the game can bring for people at  different levels of experience.  As a single mother of three (all under 5), I realized the sacrifices she made in order to achieve her goals.  Outside of our time together, I found myself playing with a slightly different perspective; not as concerned about my score and instead appreciating the good moments in the round and trying to help others as they needed it.   

Reflecting back, mentoring was definitely a positive experience for me. I am certainly interested in doing it again, especially now that I better understand the impact it can have on others.

Jenni Ginsburg

John Callender (Biodata Online) and Jack Smith (Kingwood Group), two respected testing and assessment experts and long-time pan content partners, will  discuss how the current economic climate impacts recruitment and assessment strategies.  Some of the topics to be covered include how investing in assessments makes economic sense and the potential benefits and consequences of shifting to a lower cost assessment program. Please join us!

Thursday, September 17 @ 1PM ET     Register

Reid Klion

IPAC (formerly known as IPMAAC) will be holding its annual conference in conjunction with IPMA-HR on September 12-16 in Nashville. IPAC is comprised of individuals who are interested in public sector selection and assessment. As it has for the past several years, pan is pleased to be a conference sponsor. Additionally, Nate Studebaker will present on his work with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services that helped to streamline their assessment process while I will participate in panel discussion on technology trends in assessment. We hope to see you there!

Reid Klion

Despite months of gloomy financial forecasts, the bright light at the end of the dark and dreary economic tunnel has consistently been that “things can only get better.”  Although no one knows when, we all know that things will start to improve eventually.  Organizations need to be ready for this economic turnaround so that they can ultimately prevail in the talent war that will most certainly arise.  To obtain the best and the brightest, as well as retain existing talent, they will have to become creative in offering up various incentives.  

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), for example, has already initiated activity to enrich the array of work/life balance program that are currently offered.  For starters, they have begun surveying existing federal workforce employees to determine which programs will be most beneficial to them in the future.  In addition to more traditional offerings such as child care centers, they are considering adult care centers to provide coverage for the aging parents of today’s workforce.

For organizations that currently have few if any work/life balance programs in place, they need not be intimidated by the prospect of raising the necessary funds to implement them from scratch.  Following the lead of several federal agencies, private organizations may be well-served to consider partnering with other organizations to capitalize on sharing existing benefits.  For instance, an organization that already has an in-house fitness center could consider offering access to the employees of another organization in exchange for a benefit that they currently provide (e.g., in-house daycare).  Alternatively, an organization in need of benefits such as fitness center access could offer to contribute funds to hire additional staff or to expand the size of the facility so that their employees could jointly utilize the center.

In sum, as the hiring cycle begins to pick back up and candidates have more and more employment options from which to choose, organizations are going to have to present prospective employees with work-life balance options that “sweeten the employment offer” if they intend to remain viable and emerge from this recession potentially stronger than before.

Lori Ferzandi

Coping with stressful situations in the workplace can be a challenge for us all. While the role of exercise in managing stress are well understood, I was intrigued by a recent study by the Center for Creative Leadership that identified an additional benefit of exercise—leadership effectiveness. In a rather unique approach, researchers took a sample of 360º multi-rater feedback data and compared the results of those leaders who exercise and those who don’t. They found that the exercisers were rated higher than non-exercisers on their overall level of leadership effectiveness. Those who exercised also scored higher on behaviors including inspiring commitment, credibility, leading others by example, energy, calmness and resilience. While starting a workout program won’t necessarily lead to a direct improvement in leadership skills, the importance of exercise in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and increasing overall effectiveness at work can’t be minimized.

Reid Klion

A few weekends back, I was at home watching a golf tournament on TV.  As I’m sitting on the couch, I see the familiar faces of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Anthony Kim making their way around the course.  But during one stretch of action, something caught my eye – player after player wearing Nike apparel.  I thought back to my junior (pre-Tiger) golf days when Nike had a limited golf line with just the basics – shirts, shoes, socks, hats, and the like. Now, though, you can head to your local sporting goods store and pick up Nike golf balls, bags, headcovers, and even clubs.  It is amazing what one endorsement contract has done for that company.

Thinking about what Tiger Woods did for Nike Golf, I wonder if organizations encounter the same situation. Can one superstar employee make a huge difference to a company? Probably so – a story in Inc. cited a case where a programmer at a technology company developed an idea that eventually became a seven-figure revenue generator. In light of stories like that, you have to wonder, What could the one right person do for my company?  And more importantly, how do you find that employee who can help take your business to another level?  

I think there are multiple answers to that question. First, organizations should use the right pre-hire selection criteria. Utilizing valid pre-employment assessments, behavioral interviews, and situational judgment tests can help you to identify high potential job candidates who possess characteristics such as diligence, creativity, and ambition. Once employees are on the job, it is important to foster an organizational culture that encourages idea sharing and open communication. You could host an online discussion forum for idea sharing or sponsor idea generation drives to motivate employees to “think outside the box.” Finally, it is important to invest in employee professional development. Providing opportunities for individuals to grow and learn may lead them to develop ideas they never would have thought of otherwise. In addition, investing in your employees’ development is likely to increase their organizational engagement and may motivate them to contribute at an even higher level to the overall success of the business.

Jenni Ginsburg

I recently came across an article in which an HR director was lamenting the suitability of a rather large candidate pool for a single casino maintenance position.  While numerous applicants appeared well-qualified on paper, in-person or phone interviews revealed that many of these folks were just not willing to play by the hiring organization’s rules. They wanted things like smoke breaks, medical benefits, and vacation time--all on their terms.  If the organization could not provide these things exactly as they wanted, then they were no longer interested in the position.  

Needless to say, the HR director was dumbstruck by this brazen, egocentric, “it’s all about me” attitude, especially in light of current economic conditions.  In the end, though, human nature is still human nature.  Economic crisis or not, personalities do not suddenly change overnight.  An individual who lacked drive, initiative, and motivation at this time last year, is unlikely to have transformed him or herself into a highly motivated, reach for the stars kind of team player simply because the security of the financial system came crashing down.  The fact remains that most people continue to manifest the same personal competencies (or lack thereof) this year that they always have. As a result, HR directors are finding themselves faced with having many more candidates, but not necessarily more talent.

One of the implications is that behavioral assessments may be even more viable than ever as HR tools to be used in weeding out those individuals who possess the required skill-set on paper but lack the “will do” attitude. While it has always been critical for organizations to select candidates who have the required competencies, it has been decades since organizations have found themselves faced with such large candidate pools for so few positions.  Even the largest of organizations simply do not have the resources required to screen each and every candidate with in-person or telephone interview.  Online behavioral assessments offer a potential solution to this employment paradox.  With the capability to administer hundreds of online assessments (in the same amount of time required to administer a single interview), HR directors can accommodate larger candidate pools in an efficient manner to find what may be a needle in the haystack in terms of exceptional talent.  

Lori Ferzandi

Sarah Palin’s recent decision to step down as Governor of Alaska made headlines as  many were surprised by her decision to leave the post.  Regardless of your feelings about this, chances are good that Alaska will be just fine in the wake of her departure.  By the time she leaves her job, Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell, should be ready and able to steer the ship. Although he was not elected to the post, it is likely that he will be up to the challenge of leading the state until the next gubernatorial election.

For elected officials, there is often a second in command ready to take the reins when needed. This long-established public sector practice is an example of succession planning that private sector organizations can learn from.  Too often, organizational knowledge and strategy are in the hands of a few people at the top.  Regardless of industry and mission, companies should spend the time and effort needed to prepare the next generation of leaders for the tasks that await them. Succession plans that are thoughtfully developed and implemented can ensure that the organization grows effectively over time, regardless of who is in charge.  In addition, by engaging top performers in succession planning activities, organizations can retain their superstars and take full advantage of their capabilities and talent.

Jocelyn Courtney-Hays

Given one of the things we do here at pan is to help employers to select and develop  people, I pay some attention to the larger labor market. As we all know, hiring is down and unemployment is now around 9% according to May 2009 reports from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, one of the things that I find interesting are reports of industries or occupations that continue to do well despite the overall economic situation. For example, there is still a strong demand for positions such as critical care nursing, electrical linemen, and welders. A couple of commonalities among these positions is that they require significant technical skill and require work that is physically demanding. (If you don’t think bedside nursing is physically challenging, just ask a nurse!)

A somewhat similar story can be found internationally. According the Manpower’s recently released Talent Shortage Survey, the most difficult positions to fill globally are skilled manual trades, sales representatives, and technicians who work in the areas of production, operations, engineering and maintenance. The Manpower report goes on to indicate that in down economic times, employers need to do more with less and that workforce planning and selection are even more critical because every employee needs to make a difference.

Reid Klion

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the Partnership for Public Service report on the human capital challenges facing the federal government. One of the takeaway messages was the consensus that the federal HR system is in need of major overhaul. Today, there was an article in the Washington Post about John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, and his plans to revamp federal HR management practices. His key initiatives are to reform the government's recruiting and hiring practices, improve the federal workplace, and increase federal work opportunities for veterans.  Consistent with the Partnership's report, it appears there is broad recognition that the federal hiring process is need of major reform. It is also heartening that Berry appears to have President Obama's support in doing so though the real challenge will come in his ability to affect change at the agency level.

Reid Klion

A pan team member recently sent me an online Pepsi commercial that got me thinking that many organizations likely find themselves facing philosophically similar hiring issues.

The current economic conditions have resulted in increasingly larger candidate pools. In turn, hiring managers have found themselves up against the wall with not enough time to thoroughly evaluate all candidates. Fortunately, there are solutions. pan has assisted numerous organizations in creating more efficient and reliable employee selection processes.

pan’s solutions are scientifically-grounded and are available to all types of organizations, private, public, or public sector. Furthermore, each and every solution is customized to meet the client’s needs, which ultimately ensures that solutions are never hampered by job type, candidate pool size, or other challenging workplace situations.

In a recent pan case study, our client, PDS, was challenged to research and develop an employee selection process that would lower worker compensation claims and costs. pan worked with them to assess the most qualified candidates based on a set of criteria.

Rest assured, you don’t have to settle for leftovers. A pan-based solution will free up valuable time and resources and ensure that only the best and the brightest find their way into your organization.

As always, please feel free to post your comments - we would love to hear your interview stories, learn more about your current selection process, or share with you more information about pan.

Sarah Lacey

I recently had the opportunity to hear John Palguta of the Partnership for Public Service speak on the federal human resource challenges faced by the Obama administration. (This was at the May 2009 luncheon meeting of the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington, DC sponsored by pan.)

Some of John’s key points were:

• The average federal worker is about 47 years old.
  
• Despite the economy, it is estimated that over 384,000 workers will leave federal employment within the next 4 years.
  
• Coupled with expected increases in federal employment due to economic recovery efforts, it is anticipated that nearly 600,000 federal jobs will need to be filled by 2013. 

On the positive side, there is an almost unprecedented level of interest amongst young people in federal service with millions of applications already having been received. Unfortunately, there is broad consensus within the government that many aspects of the federal HR system--to include recruitment, selection, and compensation--are broken.

John’s presentation was based upon a recent survey of high-ranking human capital officers working for the federal government. The report contains additional detail as well as several suggestions for improvement.

Reid Klion