Evidence Based Hiring
/in Assessments, General /by Phil DevendorfWe hear “evidence based” a great deal today, evidence based medicine, evidence based management . A main driver is the trend toward data analytics which helps us make evidence based decisions. We are now hearing the terms “evidence based hiring” and “evidence based selection” as a type of HR Analytics.
Evidence based hiring defined: Evidence-based selection is a process that leverages the use of highly relevant quantitative information about applicants to improve selection decisions. We are applying data-based decision processes to talent acquisition decisions.
Research shows traditional hiring methods that only include applications/resumes and interviews are ineffective and lead to gut-feel hiring. Hiring decisions, like many other decisions, improve significantly when based on objective evidence.
At PDServices, we have been in the evidence based hiring business for 25 years. We help clients create benchmarks of high performing employees and use the benchmark with our pre-employment testing tools to help identify candidates who display those same characteristics.
This type of approach helps:
Increase new hire productivity
Reduce turnover
Reduce bias in the hiring process
Improve employee engagement
Follow These 3 Steps to Evidence Based Hiring
Step 1 – Create a job benchmark
Our customers find great value in discussing and documenting the traits they are looking for in a specific job at the start of the hiring process. Stakeholders in this process include hiring managers, recruiters, and any others you feel should have input. We challenge stakeholders to identify objective, measurable traits as much as possible. We use this input to create a “benchmark” of traits that will lead to high performance..
The Harvard Business Review published research showing objective data that has a high correlation to performance in the job:
Reference checks & experience (past performance)
Other objective data that may have value in your specific job benchmark includes but is not limited to:
Skill testing for job related skills
Education level
Academic success (GPA, class ranking, awards)
Occupational interests (motivation)
Background Checks
Drug Tests
Certifications/licenses
The best benchmarks are created by gathering and analyzing data from your top performing employees. There are challenges to this approach. First, it is critical that top performing employees are identified by objective metrics to eliminate subjectivity and bias. Second, many organizations don’t have the benefit of having enough high performers in a given position to make a valid analysis. In those cases, PDServices can provide data based on multi-company research, for cognitive and personality traits which should be included in your benchmark. Other sources like www.onetcenter.org, industry organizations and your own experience may also help.
In our experience, the broader the net for objective data, as long as it is relevant to the job, the better the result. You may find it appropriate to use a weighting scale to show the importance of particular traits. It helps if you can identify “knock-outs” which may disqualify candidates early in the process. For example, if you know a mechanical engineering degree is critical to high performance, you can immediately knock out any candidate that does not have a mechanical engineering degree.
Step 2 – Gather the data
Determine the best sources for data and assign responsibilities to those involved in your hiring process.
Data can be sourced in a variety of ways. Generally, multiple data sources are needed. Candidate provided data may be inaccurate so it can pay dividends to compare results from multiple sources. Some sources include:
Be as objective as possible, recognizing that some traits in your benchmark may be hard to measure on a completely objective basis. For example, if you need to rely on an interviewer to assess certain skill sets, strive for objective questions and use a rating scale to reduce subjectivity as much as possible
Step 3 – Assemble the data and make a decision
Organize your data into a spreadsheet or some other grid to help you objectively evaluate how well candidates fit with your benchmark. This will help you drive your hiring decision by making it an evidence based hiring decision.
Take a second now to contact PDServices at info@PDServices.com or call 740-326-4494 to discuss this approach and to give job fit assessment testing a try in your organization. It’s easy, it’s inexpensive, it provides a great ROI, and you’ll be on your way to better hiring decisions!
How $30 Can Save You $5000 and Reduce Employee Turnover
/in Assessments, General /by Sue DevendorfA simple assessment during the pre-hire phase of your process can literally save you thousands of dollars and reduce employee turnover.
Did you know that over 50% of companies / organizations are using assessments and over 94% of top performing organizations use assessments? (as reported by Aberdeen)
Are All Assessments Valid for Hiring?
There are many assessments out there and too many to compare in this article. BUT you should be aware that many popular assessments should not be used in the hiring process. Many assessments measure what we call Adaptive Behaviors where a candidate rates themselves in different scenarios. These behaviors are learned and can change.
Current psychometric technology measures Core Behaviors (or behaviors that are inherent in the individual and do not change). This will give you a more accurate picture of how someone will perform.
Many assessments only measure personality traits. We recommend measuring cognitive or reasoning which tell us how quickly a candidate learns. This can be extremely valuable for onboarding and training and indicate if someone is a good fit for a job.
Honesty and Integrity is also a measure that is so important these days.
It is also advantageous to measure a candidate’s interests. Will they like the job?
Make sure your assessment is valid for hiring and that it has a validation study to show that it does what it is supposed to do.
The Harvard Business Review published a study that shows that an assessment that uses all of the measures mentioned above ( in one assessment ) has the highest correllation to job performance of any information available in the hiring process. (NOTE: A resume doesn’t even make the list!) Finding the right person for the right job can reduce turnover.
We offer a suite of assessments which are amazingly priced for entry-level / hourly, mid-level, and upper-level jobs. Compare candidates to a benchmark.
Find the right person for the right job and reduce employee turnover with our easy to use and affordable assessments.
So How Exactly Can $30 Save You $5000?
Let’s take a look at How to Estimate the Cost of Turnover.
Research by SHRM and by the American Center for Progress show that the average cost of Turnover is about 20% of an employee’s annual wage. This is a very conservative figure but this is what I will use for comparison.
Depending on the job, these percentages will vary and there are studies that quote turnover costs as high as 50 – 60%. Also, the type of job or salary range of a job can reduce or increase the effective cost of turnover. Workers making less than $30,000 a year may be 16.1 – 20% and manager and executive levels would be considerably higher.
Think about all of the peripheral costs associated with losing an employee such as:
Cost of Temp workers and lost productivity while they learn the job
Reduced morale and lost productivity from co-workers and managers covering for the lost position
Recruiting Costs which could include an outside recruiter, resume screening, background checks, reference checks, interviews, applicant screening, assessments, physicals, drug tests, travel expenses
Onboarding and Training Costs for the new employee which may include certifications and licenses, uniforms, training to learn company procedures and computer systems, etc.
The time it takes for a new employee to become productive
If you are not using assessments, or if you are currently using assessments and would like to compare, please visit our site at PDServices.com to learn more about our next generation assessments.
Call us today at 740 397-4928 to learn how easy and inexpensive it is to get started. You’ll be glad you did!
Thus the average cost of losing an employee who makes $30,000 a year is $6000 assuming a 20% cost of turnover and $4830 assuming a 16.1% cost of turnover… And that’s how $30 can save you $5000 or more and help reduce employee turnover!
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Cincinnati, OH 45241
Phone: 740-326-4494
Email: info@pdservices.com
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