When used properly, employee skill assessments are extremely beneficial to businesses. According to Aberdeen Group’s “Talent Assessment Strategies” published in March 2010, companies that use assessments are generally more successful.

Aberdeen group identifies five valuable uses of employee skill assessments:

#1 Employee skill assessments drive performance

When companies use assessments in the pre-hire stage, they are better able to identify employees who have the skills needed to positively impact the company. Knowing an employee’s natural skills allows for proper job placement, which drives performance, makes your new hire quickly productive and positively impacts work performance across the board.

#2 Employee skill assessments show readiness for a particular job

Evaluating an employee’s skill set reveals competency gaps and his/her readiness for a particular job. Knowing where your employee lacks allows you to target development of the weaker areas and maximize their work potential.

#3 Employee skill assessments show how an employee could add value to a team

During the pre-hire or promotional state, companies that assess an employee’s skills based on the value they will add to an existing team have a greater success rate.

#4 Employee skill assessments play a major role in promotional decisions

Although a top employee may seem to be the head runner for a promotion, assessments reveal an in depth picture of whether or not current performance skills will translate at a higher level.

#5 Employee skills assessments create better teams based on fit

The best teams are comprised of people with complementary skills. Assessing employees before adding or creating a team will ensure team equilibrium, which means a more productive, diverse team.

Using assessments to evaluate the skills of future or present employees is what pushes a company from simply running to running smoothly and efficiently. What type of emphasis does your company place on employee skill assessments?

The majority of organizations use teams of employees to complete objectives. The idea behind the team construction is that different people with different strengths, weaknesses and viewpoints are more likely to successfully complete a task. If multiple elements contribute to an organizations success, why use that method only with teams of employees?

You know that one assessment tool can provide you with a great advantage when managing the talent within your company, but have you ever considered how multiple assessments can work together as a comprehensive talent assessment program?

The image below is the Solutions Matrix. This graph demonstrates which assessments can be used together to solve business objectives.

For instance, you may have encountered some trouble with improving sales performance. Naturally you would assume that the Profiles Sales Assessment would be a great tool to start with, but you might not have realized that the Profiles Performance Indicator and the CheckPoint 360 could align with the Profiles Sales Assessment to give you an all-inclusive talent assessment program.

The Profiles Sales Assessment will give you insight into how well a person fits specific sales jobs, while the Profiles Performance Indicator can show whose personality will impact their job fit. Adding the CheckPoint 360 to this program ensures that you will also be able to pinpoint any issues there may be with management.

Using multiple assessments to solve one problem ensures that you are looking at the issue from every possible angle, and that you will be able to easily identify where the problem originates. The objective of Talent Assessment Programs is to accomplish a particular business goal. Focus on one of your biggest business objectives, and then create a program based on what you want to accomplish.

If you are a baseball fan, you undoubtedly watched the 2010 Home Run Derby. The televised event is one of the most popular of the season, and featured eight players from different teams. The competition came to a close when David Ortiz (aka The Big Papi) and Hanley Ramirez went head to head for the win.

Who do you choose? How do you know who is right for the job?

Job skills assessments enable employers to determine basic facts about their candidates before making a final selection. These assessments can measure anything from  basic competency skills to specific personality traits that may impact a person’s job capabilities. Job skills assessments can make decisions easier because they are based on factual information, not just a gut instinct.

In the end The Big Papi won the Home Run Derby by a landslide. Consider using job skills assessments as part of your hiring practice, and let the results pick the best fit for you.

Image via CrunchBase

Facebook stalking is not uncommon to the average social media user. Entire groups on the social networking site exist to highlight overindul

gent members’ activity. Miraculously, and because of people’s lack of stalker-awareness, information that was once only attainable through direct conversation is now learned with a few clicks of the mouse.

Relationship updates, honeymoon pictures and favorite quotes are just a few things freely offered on this social networking site. But what happens when potential employers become the classic Facebook stalker? It doesn’t take a private detective to find the few pictures your distant friend forgot to delete from that one spring break vacation four years ago.

You know? The pictures that make you look like a complete, out of control, train wreck. Yes, those lovely images that you have hidden, but less-intelligent friends of yours have posted. This is a problem because, when applying for jobs, the average candidate wants to be perceived as a valuable competent member of society, not a raging partier or swimsuit-clad MTV contestant.

The average candidate wants to be perceived as a valuable competent member of society, not a raging partier or swimsuit-clad MTV contestant.

Although some organizations see “investigating” their candidates via social media sites as an advantage, some are wondering if taking this action is necessary.

Organizations may find a better use of their time engaging in face-to-face conversations with potential applicants, as opposed to researching them online. Utilizing tools such as pre-hire assessments can actually determine beliefs and attitudes that will directly impact job performance.

The volume of valid pre-hire assessments available today outnumbers the hours that would be required of each associate responsible for “investigating” potential candidates on social media outlets. Using pre-hire tools is a wise investment for organizations who want to hire people that will be successful in their position. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter may depict one side of an applicant, but only pre-hire assessments paired with interviews will show employers who is right for the job.

Does the information posted on a person’s social media profiles inhibit their ability to perform as an employee? Do pictures from several years ago determine a person’s character today? Many organizations have deemed themselves able to determine a person’s morale character strictly from viewing a few web pages, but is that really fair?

For related content, read Michael Schrage’s post “Should Honesty Be the Policy in Your Office?”

Baseball, the American past time, has a way of turning men into legends. Thousands of fans watched Sunday as Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Braden is the 19th pitcher in major league history to hold a claim to pitching a perfect game.  When asked about his accomplishment, Braden said, “I don’t know what to think about it just yet… I’d like to have a career more than today.”

Dallas Braden’s response to his victory also demonstrates what a member of a performance-driven culture believes. Personal gain is always exciting, but working toward a greater goal is the key.

When thousands of America’s Most Productive Companies were polled and analyzed, researchers discovered that they had ten particular attributes in common. Of these qualities, five can be classified as “people attributes.” The people attributes include: performance-driven culture, effective managers, high employee utilization, high employee effectiveness, and encouragement of innovation.

Business leaders of the most productive companies, tend to promote individual initiative and high levels of teamwork.

Performance-driven culture is one where the entire workforce focuses its efforts on achieving the results most important to the organization. When Dallas Braden pitched the perfect game, he was exhibiting the results of playing for a team with a performance-driven culture.

Baseball is a team sport, and although some positions get more play time than others, each person must effectively work toward the goal of winning the game in order for the entire team to succeed. Business leaders of the most productive companies, tend to promote individual initiative and high levels of teamwork, which, as in sports, are essential ingredients for achieving results.

A performance-driven culture is the perfect pitch for your organization.

Today we released the 2010 report of America’s Most Productive Companies, aka AMPC. You may be wondering why there is so much hype behind this study. Let me explain.

We grouped companies into 175 sub-industry groups to produce a more meaningful analysis. Our assumption is that companies competing in the same industry generally go about their business and recognize revenue in a similar manner, while different industries have differing degrees of labor intensity. It is therefore difficult to draw meaningful conclusions by comparing labor productivity across different industries such as retail and financial services. This means that the most meaningful measures included in the study are the rank orderings and comparisons within each sub-industry group.

How we measure productivity
In economics, “productivity” is a measure of output per unit of input. In order to calculate productivity, we analyzed financial data from over 1,666 publicly traded companies in order to determine a company’s revenue and number of employees. Once we had these two numbers, it was fairly simple to calculate a company’s labor productivity.

Attributes of America’s Most Productive Companies
Once we finished gathering and analyzing the data that allowed us to rank America’s Most Productive Companies, we completed some follow-up research on a number of the most productive companies. This consisted of a survey and interviews with select executives. Our follow-up research helped us identify a number of best practices that we believe explain outstanding productivity.  These ten key attributes can be further categorized into five “People Attributes” and five “Strategic and Operational Attributes.” Since we are a people-centric company, we only elaborate on the people attributes – because we can help you improve those factors.

People Attributes that Make a Company Productive
1.    Performance-driven culture
2.    Effective managers
3.    High employee utilization
4.    High employee effectiveness
5.    Encouragement of innovation

So what does this mean? It means that actions are valued more than words. It means that companies invest in information and tools to help front-line managers better understand their people and how they are motivated. And, it means that employees are in jobs in which they can naturally excel, and they have clear goals to help them focus on the outcomes that matter most to the organization. Failure is not discouraged and open communication, team work and risk taking help drive productivity.

The way people within an organization think and act has a tremendous impact on the overall productivity of that organization.

Culture is defined as, the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization.  Cultures worldwide shape societies and offer opportunities for different groups of people to find a common association. Business cultures are just as significant as societal cultures. The way people within an organization think and act has a tremendous impact on the overall productivity of that organization.

The culture of an organization is what differentiates it from its competitors, and other businesses. Cultural values form the founding principles of the company. The foundation affects every attitude and behavior built thereafter, and should be a reflective base for what the company stands for.
Although a strong organizational culture is generally considered a positive attribute, it is not adequate enough to enhance productivity on its own.
A culture can promote negative or positive behaviors that will affect employees at each level of the company. Although a strong organizational culture is generally considered a positive attribute, it is not adequate enough to enhance productivity on its own.

In order for an organization to maximize their productivity, they need to strive to promote a performance-driven culture. Creating an environment that promotes performance sounds easy enough, but most cultures are cultivated over time. How can an organization ensure that their culture promotes performance and efficiency?

The first step in creating a performance-driven culture is to create an understanding within the organization that the results of people’s efforts matter. The entire workforce should strive to achieve the results most important to the organization.

The leaders of America’s Most Productive Companies tend to have a consistent, shared understanding of both the company’s current culture and its future culture. These leaders tend to promote individual initiative and high levels of teamwork, both of which are essential ingredients for achieving results.

This helps them identify precisely the people for whom they are looking and then present their culture and values to potential hires in order to evaluate fit.

Additionally, these leaders are likely to have defined the types of people who fit the company culture. This helps them identify precisely the people for whom they are looking and then present their culture and values to potential hires in order to evaluate fit. They are more likely to say “no” to a highly qualified candidate who does not fit into the company culture.

Consider someone from the Mid-West being thrown into the middle of a busy street in China. This American is probably used to personal space, friendly greetings, and strangers willing to give directions in his native language. But in China, he is likely to experience people invading his personal space, and very few people speaking English. The Chinese also associate facial expressions with different meanings. If the Mid-Westerner was to smile at someone, it could be misconstrued as offensive.

The same concept applies in the workplace. People who do not immediately fit the work culture face a learning curve of how to fit in and become a productive part of the team. This person is also more likely to feel the need to spend time adjusting to new people, rather than focusing solely on productivity. If organizations match their people to their culture from the beginning, they are already taking steps to create an effective performance-driven culture.

Managers should keep in mind that they can act as an example.

Creating performance-motivated business customs can take time if the organization has never focused on this aspect before. Managers should keep in mind that they can act as an example. The way a manager leads their team inevitably affects the overall office culture. If a manager prioritizes results and productivity, employees will begin to adapt their habits to match their manager’s expectations.

Business leaders strive for companies that are productive, effective and efficient. The only way to ensure that your company is going to exceed its own expectations is to instill a performance-driven culture. Create a workforce that matches the culture the organization admires to avoid productivity gaps. Organizations should be mindful that a culture is a foundation, and that each portion of the business is built upon and around it.

A large emphasis was placed on the fact that over 65 percent of Wal-Mart’s hourly workers are women, where only 33 percent of the store’s managers were female.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made history this month, as they affirmed the largest class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart. The mega-retailer is facing over 500,000 women who wish to pursue injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and back pay.

The lawsuit originated in 2001, and accuses the retailer of continually paying women less than men, and offering women smaller raises and fewer opportunities for promotion. A large emphasis was placed on the fact that over 65 percent of Wal-Mart’s hourly workers are women, where only 33 percent of the store’s managers were female.

Although the evidence in this case is staggering, some hiring managers may be making similar mistakes without realizing it. Research indicates that people are prone to select hires based on their own personal preferences and similarities. A male manager is more likely to hire males, and vice versa for females. When an organization relies on its managers to hire new employees, there needs to be a way to obtain information objectively in order to ensure fairness and equality.

Had they executed fairer practices and implemented a standardized succession planning procedure, they would not be facing the largest class action suit in history.

Pre-hire assessments provide employers with a way to gain information from potential employees that is gender neutral. The assessments are gender neutral and can accurately demonstrate who has the strongest potential to succeed in a position. These assessments are also beneficial in terms of promotions. They can highlight which employees should be groomed for advancement by using the succession planning report – which is also gender neutral.

Studies show that having a mixed gender workforce is optimal, and more productive. Wal-Mart is stuck in an unfortunate and potentially expensive situation. Had they executed fairer practices and implemented a standardized succession planning procedure, they would not be facing the largest class action suit in history. Don’t let your company suffer for mistakes a few hiring mangers make. Use assessments to create an objective and fair talent management system to ensure that you have the right people for the job in all of the right places.

In these economic times, it can be difficult to retain superstars. Superstar employees are often valuable enough that they can afford to leave one organization for another. How do you keep superstars in your organization while maintaining morale and productivity?

Enlighten yourself with “How to Keep Your Star Performers in Trying Times,” by the Harvard Business Review, and read “Five Lessons for Upgrading Talent with Outside Superstars,” to ensure that your organization retains productive employees.

The entertainment industry produces an estimated 2,000 films per year. Of those films only around 600 are released into select theatres all over the globe, and of those 600 only a handful are captivating enough to leave a lasting impression on audiences and the academy. This year’s 82nd Academy Awards nominated a whopping 10 films for the honor of Best Picture. These nominated films were recognized for their ability to tell a story unlike any other film, but at the end of the night “The Hurt Locker” beat out blockbusters like “Avatar” and “Precious” for the award.

This scenario could be likened to the surplus of American talent currently seeking employment. The job market is still recovering from the recession. The ratio of those unemployed to available jobs is dramatic. Companies are struggling to process the volume of applications received per available position. Like Oscar Night, only a handful of applicants will impress enough to be considered. Choosing Best Picture is simple. The Academy simply votes. But how do you ensure that of the handful of qualified applicants you choose the best?

Pre-hire assessments enable hiring managers to narrow down their list of applicants and select the applicant most appropriate for the job. If two applicants have identical resumes, it can be difficult to decide which one looks better. Assessments provide results that match each applicant to the available position. This information can determine who would be the overall best fit based on their skills, personality and job fit.

Use assessments that measure skills, aptitude, behavior, thinking style and personality to gather as much information as possible so that you can make informed decisions about who is the best fit for the job. Placing people appropriately the first time saves time, money and energy and that calls for a standing ovation.

For related content see: “The Hurt Locker Dominates Oscars,” and “Reports Evidence Job Growth About to Begin.”