3 Tips to Un-Suck Your Assessments

Talent Assessments are a process, not a single activity.

We had a situation recently where a help desk candidate took one of our Talent Assessments.  The results look good in the report, but the results were wrong.

We identified the contradiction and recommended the Client not hire the person.  They were very pleased that we saved them from hiring a great actor, instead of a true superstar.

If they had simply been buying the online assessment without our consulting service they would have made a costly mistake.

Do your DISC or other type of assessments "suck" but you put up with them?  Are they inaccurate, or do you wish they told you more?

How could the results be wrong?

Our online Dual Perspective Service assessments confirm a person's behaviors and driving forces / motivators, with a "Sales" version for sales professionals and another "General" version for other employees or job candidates. 

We also have a Triple Perspective Service that integrates confirmation of the person's work competencies to further increase the accuracy of the report from 80-85% to 90-95%. 

Probably 25-50 million people have taken these assessments that you can order on our website.  This is powerful validation of the different versions of our online assessments.

Yet in this case, the online assessment results were wrong.  To be candid, this is not the first time this has happened.  The good news is our proven process catches these errors and helps our Clients make better decisions on more realistic data.

The reason the online assessment by itself failed is that some people answer based on what they think they are, versus who they really are. 

Sometimes this is because the job candidate or employee is trying to manipulate the results of the report.  In the situation I mentioned above I believe it was simply the job candidate thought he behaved differently than he actually did.

Have you ever had an employee who thought he or she was better than they actually were on the job?

Yes, we have been there, done that too. 

Therefore we have a process to avoid repeating that mistake.  It hurt too much, and cost a lot of money and time when it happened earlier in our careers.

TIP #1

If you just order a DISC assessment to consider a person's behaviors, then you lack insights into the driving forces / motivators that make them behave that way.  You are actually missing the most important information.  You have to understand and appeal to what motivates a person for them to improve. 

Managing by reacting to their behaviors is significantly less effective than understanding and intentionally engaging them based on their driving forces / motivators / values.

It's like you are addressing the "symptoms" of a problem, rather than the "disease."

TIP #2

The power of assessing someone's work behaviors, motivations, and competencies is a combination of three activities:

1  -  Your online assessment is weak.  We are surprised at how many of our competitors' reports are incredibly generic and lack depth.  We are convinced the organization that provides us with our assessments is the best value in the world for a comprehensive, accurate report.

2  -  You have a weak or incomplete process for a job candidate or employee to complete the online assessment, and confirm its results.  Too many companies just have someone take their online assessment instead of follow a complete process to gain a full perspective on the person.

When you fail in this area it's like buying a new 3/8 inch drill bit because you need to drill 3/8 inch holes.  However, you only drill halfway through the wood each time you need a 3/8 inch hole.  The initial hole in the wood looks great, but because you do not complete the process it does not help you achieve your goals.  It is an incomplete hole that is not used.  It only provides momentary inspiration. 

3  -  You do not consistently apply what was learned in the assessment process after it is completed.  Too many people pay for an assessment and find the results interesting, but then do not ever look at them again, or apply the results to help individuals prosper.

TIP #3

The people who advise you on the results of the assessments are a key factor in whether the results you get are accurate. 

I encourage you to get real.  Most of you could be getting a lot more for the money you are spending for online assessments of job candidate and employee work behaviors, driving forces / motivators, and/or competencies.

If you are not are ready a Client of our Talent Assessments, then we are willing to give you one for free to experience the process.  Just email us at info@MANAGEtoWIN.com.

If you prefer not to use our assessments, then please consider my advice above to strengthen your process and achieve a much higher ROI from your evaluation of job candidates and employees.

I hope your 2017 is off to a strong start.