VALIDATION and LEGALITY
- Has this assessment been validated?
- Has your assessment system ever been challenged?
- How does this system compare with evaluations done by industrial psychologists?
- How many years has the Assessment System been in existence?
- How many people, over the years, have been assessed on your system, and how many are currently being assessed on a monthly basis?
- How can I tell for myself that your results are accurate?
- Has this system ever been used by the federal government or in public or private schools?
BENEFITS
- Why do most companies use assessments?
- We survived for all these years without them, why add them now?
- Is there any advantage to using assessments in the legal sense?
- What are some of the other benefits of using assessments?
- Can I integrate on-line assessments with our present Internet Recruiting Strategies?
- What effect will a consistent assessment system have on our turnover?
- What costs and/or savings will a program like
this produce?
- How can we measure the effectiveness of this assessment system?
- Can this system be used for post-employment decisions, such as promotions, or is it only used for selection?
OPTIONS
- What are the options available to us if we want to implement such a system
- In what format are the assessments published?
- Are there any options in the purchase price?
- What technology do we need to utilize on-line testing?
- What types of assessments are available for different job levels?
THE HIRING PROCESS
- At what point in the normal hiring process should the assessment be given?
- For what job levels should we use assessments?
- How many people should be assessed for each job opening?
- How does the company know what traits are important in a particular job?
- How long do the assessments take, and what is the best way to administer them?
- How will you help us to understand the assessment results?
- How can we be sure if the applicant's responses are valid?
VALIDATION and LEGALITY
Has this assessment been validated?
The Achiever, family of tests, have been validated in accordance with standard psychological procedures. The collective assessments, then known as the Achievement Tec Assessment System (ATAS), have been validated in accordance with the construct validation process, which is considered to be the superior method of validation. This means that the ATAS assessments have been administered to people, along with other standardized assessments, such as the 16PF, MMPI, Wonderlic, Stanford Binet and other well-known instruments, and through comparison, have determined that this assessment system does measures what it professes to measure. Additionally, for the past 33 years, the assessments have been maintained with an ongoing procedure of concurrent validation for individual job categories within industries and specific companies. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance reviewed these assessments, and stated that they found nothing discriminatory about the usage of this system, nor is there a need for any individual company to separately validate for a job category. The reason behind this statement is that the reports do not offer a "hire / no-hire" decision, and we consistently suggest that the test results should be taken into consideration along with other hiring factors, such as interviews, experience, references, background checks, etc., before making the final hiring decision. TOP
Has your assessment system ever been challenged?
Yes, in Federal court in Tyler, Texas in the late '70's. Said challenge was administratively dismissed,
however, based on the evidence and data submitted by the court on behalf of Fikes Chemical Company.
On numerous occasions, when complaints have been filed, and were under investigation by the EEOC, the
assessments provided the respective construct and concurrent validation study data to establish that its
assessments were not discriminatory in the hiring process. This data has been accepted by the EEOC
repeatedly, with never an adverse finding or an out-of-court settlement against any employer for the use
of the assessment systems.
If there is a legal challenge, our parent company Candidate Resources, Inc. will involve itself directly in
presenting the appropriate evidence of validation. TOP
How does this system compare with evaluations done by Industrial Psychologists?
In our first twenty years, we were comprised of Industrial Psychologists who bought and administered the
standardized assessments, such as the MMPI, Wonderlic, Stanford Binet, The Thurstone, Strong Campbell, etc.
Our Psychologists administered the assessments, scored them, often interviewed the candidates, and then
dictated their reports, just as Industrial Psychologists do today. Many of our clients felt they needed
something quicker and more economical, but with the same accuracy and professionalism. As a result,
our parent company created, validated and copyrighted our own assessments to be job-related instruments. During that era,
most assessments available were either educationally oriented or clinically oriented. In fact,
we initiated and brought into the American marketplace the first assessment that combined mental
aptitudes and personality dimensions, written specifically for use in the business environment.
With our years of experience, and the breadth of information for which we assess, our assessments are
considered to be one of the most professional business-environment assessments on the market today.
Our client quality surveys have graded us to be 92.4% accurate. TOP
How many years has the assessment system been in existence?
For over forty years, operating the first twenty as Industrial Psychologists using standardized tests.
And since the late 1990's, SelectionResources.com has harnessed the power of the Internet to become
a leading on-line personality testing company. TOP
How many people, over the years, have been assessed on your system, and how many are currently being assessed on a monthly basis?
Since we have been using automated computer scoring over the last twenty years, we have assessed somewhere in excess of two million candidates. Currently, our representatives across the country assess thousands of candidates per month, depending on the time of year and hiring mode. TOP
How can I tell for myself that your results are accurate?
We suggest you assess two people whom you know well. Allow us to review the results with you and compare what we determine to be their personalities with your knowledge of the two individuals. TOP
Has this system ever been used by the federal government or in public or private schools?
The Achiever Assessment System has been used by the US Naval Weapons Control Centers for downsizing career personnel back into the public workplace. We have also provided assessment technology to state governments for welfare-to-work programs. In the last three years, we have begun providing assessments to trade and vocational schools for their use in determining what courses of study their students should pursue and, subsequently, choosing a career path for which they are best suited. Through this technology, they are compared to proven successful people in the same job types. Most recently, we have begun to install a Career Direction program into the Dayton, Ohio public schools, to assist the counselors in determining more reliable college and career choices for graduates. A Texas independent school system is currently using the Achiever in their hiring process for senior level educators. TOP
BENEFITS
Why do most companies use assessments? We survived for
all these years without them, why add them now?
First of all, the job applicants of today are quite different than
they were a generation ago. The advancement of technology is increasing
the need for skills that were not required of a generation ago. Thus
the incompatibility between job and worker has become more pronounced and
most organizations now realize that people are actually extremely valuable
"intellectual capital". The penalty for hiring the wrong person, or putting
a good person into the wrong job inevitably results in turnover, at a very
high cost. For instance, the cost of turning over a commissioned sales person,
who makes $50K, is somewhere in the vicinity of $25K - $100K. Therefore,
it has become very important to determine if a particular applicant is well
suited for a position and your company culture. Secondly, it has become perilous
to dismiss employees in today's litigious society. The best answer to that
problem is to hire the right person for the job in the first place.
Finally, assessing all applicants will contribute to lower turnover, higher productivity
and morale, and higher bottom line profits.
TOP
Is there any advantage to using assessments in the legal sense?
Often during the screening process, personal observations and feelings come into play.
Many hiring discrimination lawsuits have been filed simply because a hiring decision was
made on a purely personal level. The business environment values a non-discriminatory,
totally unbiased procedure to help remove the threat of discrimination litigation. Using assessments
that incorporate a sampling method such as Stanine scoring, and comparing your candidates to the general
population, reduces the subjective approach to hiring, and minimizes the threat of litigation. In addition, your
candidates will be compared directly to your most successful performers, further minimizing subjective decisions.
Remember, litigation commonly evolves from hiring the wrong person, putting them into the wrong job, and
then treating them differently! TOP
What are some of the other benefits of using assessments?
Because you have improved your ability to identify the right applicants with validated testing,
your overall morale and productivity will grow commensurately.
When you are not spending time and money on hiring and training the wrong people, and your productivity
improves, there should be a corresponding carry-over to the bottom line.
In addition, you can use the assessment results to improve correct job placement, train the
new employee more specifically, and properly identify a potential career path that an individual should
pursue. TOP
Can I integrate on-line assessments with our present Internet Recruiting Strategies?
Yes. Seamless integration into your company's Internet, Intranet or Web Site strategies can be easily accomplished through hot links.
What effect will a consistent assessment system have on our
turnover?
In most industries, there is a standard accepted turnover ratio. For
example, in the retailing industry, 100% turnover at the store level is
fairly common. Over the years, our clients from all industries have indicated
that a comprehensive hiring process which employs performance or behavioral
assessments over a period of time, will inevitably result in a turnover
rate lower than their industry average. The assessments, however,
have to be utilized in concert with other important parts of the due-diligence
hiring process, such as interviews, reference and background checks. No single instrument
is intended to be used as the exclusive decision-maker in the hiring process.
TOP
What costs and/or savings will an on-line assessment program
like this produce?
If you are presently using paper and pencil or computer disk tests,
SR.com's on-line assessments will bring significant time/cost efficiencies
to the testing process. Secondly, when you consider that SR.com has
on-line testing capabilities for all levels in the organization, the benefit
of consistent use of the assessments could substantially impact the bottom
line. Remember, the cost of turning over any employee (the US Dept. of Labor
estimates the cost of turning over an hourly person at $3K to $6K, and a
salaried person between 30% and 150% of their annual salary), makes the
cost of an assessment program quite low. Progressive companies are staying
ahead of their competition by implementing technology driven assessments to
help select high performance employees. In other words, your return on investment
is substantial.
TOP
How can we measure the effectiveness of this assessment system?
One way to measure the effectiveness of an assessment is to compare
the assessment results with the annual performance reviews of those previously
assessed. Usually, if someone is performing below standard, your assessment results could
indicate the reason. By comparing an individual's annual
review to the original assessment, you can also determine if the users of
the system are properly interpreting the assessment when they make their
hiring decisions. Remember, it is very possible to hire a good applicant,
but not using the training components of the assessment may result in the individual
not performing up to their potential.
TOP
Can this system be used for post-employment decisions, such as
promotions, or is it only used for selection?
With several different instruments developed for differing job levels, The Achiever has the
capability of being used whenever an objective measure is needed. All of the instruments can
be customized to fit:
- Selection
- Succession Planning and Promotion
- Training & Development
- Management
- Career Pathing
- Out placement
OPTIONS
What are the options available to us if we want to implement such a system?
- All instruments are available via the Internet, and are very easy
to use. Your website can be linked allowing your applicants or employees
access to a coded site at their convenience, anywhere, anytime. There
is very little administration time.
In what format are the assessments published?
The assessments are available in the following languages:
- All English Assessments are available via the Internet through a securely coded site.
- All Spanish assessments are available as pencil and paper tests. They can be scored via the Internet and are converted to an electronic document in English.
TOP
Are there any options in the purchase price?
Yes. Quantity discounts are applicable. When utilized as a fully self-service
assessment, the price is lower than when we score, analyze and assist you
in making a selection decision. However, the advantage of
asking questions of our trained personnel often makes up for any
cost savings, and allows for a consistent, professional analysis of an individual's
strengths and weaknesses.
TOP
What technology would we need to utilize on-line testing?
In order to execute any of SelectionResources.com's assessments, a computer with Internet access is needed. Your browser can be MS Internet Explorer 3.0 or better or Netscape 3.0 or better. TOP
What types of assessments are available for different job levels?
Your on-line testing options extend from top executives to entry level employees.
The Executive Assessment is a comprehensive
battery of tests designed for senior level decision-makers. This thorough
analysis will provide profile graphics and supporting information on intelligence,
special competencies, and a variety of personality traits. Our professional staff will
assist you in this evaluation.
The Achiever is a cost effective way
to assess other key positions, including all management, professional, sales,
salaried and some administrative personnel. It measures six mental attributes
and ten personality dimensions, plus a host of features, all designed to
help selection, placement, management and training of your key employees.
The Guardian, with three mental attributes
plus the ten personality dimensions and an honesty "admissions survey",
was created to evaluate mid-level employees; including administrative, first-line
supervisory, technical, skilled hourly workers, customer service etc. Where
the 'can-do' and the 'will-do' are vital to success, this is the pool of
employees from which most promotions are made.
The Performer Provides math and paperwork
aptitude measures, and also focuses on the personality of the employee and
the honesty "admissions survey". The entry-level, semi-skilled or unskilled
worker is often miss-hired. They are often applicants hired whether they
fit the job or not, creating the company's highest turnover problem. A matrix
score sheet allows the employer to determine the candidate's job stability,
dependability, work ethic, possible advancement and more.
TOP
THE HIRING PROCESS
At what point in the normal hiring process should the assessment be given?
In large companies that are constantly looking for high potential people, it
is more cost-efficient to assess the finalist candidates after the prescreening interviews. It
is more expensive to have an executive spend an hour talking with a prospective
employee that has not been tested. Also, the quality of the eventual interview
will be much improved, because the assessment results will help the interviewer
spend more time probing areas of obvious concern. In many cases, the assessment
may indicate that the candidate is not right, and therefore should not be
interviewed at all. For most small to mid-sized companies, assessment takes
place when the company has reduced the applicant pool to three serious candidates.
At this point, you would probably have conducted interviews, checked references
and considered their skill-experience. You are not obligated to evaluate
every applicant that applies, but you must equally evaluate those who are
seriously in contention for a job. Finally, pre-testing individuals who must travel
great distances is usually a cost effective technique.
TOP
For what job levels should we use assessments?
Our system can accommodate any level job from entry-level/hourly rate to professional,
sales, management and senior executives. The tendency is to start at the management level,
and gradually work down to the administrative levels
and below. However, most companies have their highest turnover on the lower levels, but do not see
the need to use assessments where they need it the most. We recommend testing for any "judgment" position in any
size organization. Most companies will assess
all final job applicants at all job levels.
TOP
How many people should be assessed for each job opening?
Usually the rule of thumb is that the higher the job, and the more salary you are going to pay,
at least 3 candidates should be assessed. If only one applicant
is assessed and otherwise evaluated, and something unfavorable is found, your second choice
candidate may have moved on and is no longer available. Also, the higher the level of the position,
the more you want to know about their potential, so be sure to check references and background checks.
TOP
How does the company know what traits are important in a particular job?
Each individual job has specific requirements and skills that are needed
for success. We will establish Core Competency Benchmark hiring patterns
based on two options. First, a rating questionnaire can create a success pattern
based on the job description. The manager, or group of key managers, can
develop the particular aptitudes and behavioral traits required for success
in the position. Second, Concurrent Validation - The most accurate
benchmark is to assess 10 or more of the best performers in any given job and complete
the ratings questionnaire.
This will thereby establish a hiring pattern, which not only reflects the
needs of that job based on your own successful people, but also reflects
the corporate culture and work environment of the company.
TOP
How long do the assessments take, and what is the best way to administer them?
Our Assessments very in length from 20 to 75 minutes. Most have several
timed sections dealing with mental aptitudes. By utilizing the Internet
each timed section on the assessment will be timed automatically and there
is no administration time required by your staff.
TOP
How will you help us to understand the assessment results?
We download the candidate's answers for scoring, match them with your custom
benchmark, then email the final
reports with an analysis of the candidate's strengths
and weaknesses. If you are scoring the assessments yourselves, we will provide
training in interpretation and provide a reference manual containing
all you need to fully understand the results. We are also available for interpretation assistance.
TOP
How can we be sure if the applicant's responses are valid?
The mental aptitudes are considered valid because they are timed accurately and the answers
are finite!
There are two built-in scales in all of our instruments to determine the
consistency of the personality assessments. One validity scale deals
with 'distortion' or 'exaggeration', which measures the candidness of the
applicant's responses. The other scale addresses 'equivocation', wherein
the applicant may select too many indecisive or neutral answers, thus 'diluting'
the results. These validity factors are included in each report, and are very valuable
in the reliability of the test predictions.
TOP
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