October 30, 2002

Published by Success Performance Solutions.

Observation: The Best Pre-Employment Test of All?

Sometimes, managers overlook the obvious in search of the obscure. Take these real-life scenarios when a candidate refuses or resists completing a pre-employment test.

Just this past weekend, I received a 3-page email from an employee who completed a personality assessment for a client. He wrote:

For the record, I absolutely despised section one. For one, my way of thinking made it very difficult to process the ALWAYS and NEVER questions.” He continues, “I do not intend any disrespect to the layout of your study, only concern about the accuracy of its format as it pertained to me.

Didn't he just say that if he forced to make a choice, he'll argue why it's unfair. And if asked to do something out of his comfort zone, expect pushback and defensiveness. (I'll comment more on this later in the column.)

“We have a really good candidate who refuses to take your test. What should we do?”

This is likely what is going through the mind of the hiring manager.“I really like this person. He has the experience, good references and made a good impression at the first interview. I don’t want a stupid test to stand in the way of us hiring him.”

Much to the surprise of the manager, I totally agree. A personality, abilities, or interest test should never – yes, N-E-V-E-R – stand in the way of hiring or not hiring (or promoting for that matter) a candidate. Testing should be weighted approximately one-third of the total evaluation process. That’s what the Department of Labor refers to as the “whole person approach” and what our program CriteriaOne:The Whole Person Approach is based upon. Experience, education, skills, and the inteview should all play a part in making a good hiring decision. Pre-employment assessment tests just increase the reliability of your hiring generation up to 50 percent higher.

This is what SHOULD be going through the mind of the manager: Observing how an individual handles the whole assessment process, including the interview, is more important in predicting how they will fit the job and the culture than what he or she says. That sounds rather obvious and trite. But let's say you have a candidate applying for a position in your company. The hope is that he or she will be on his or her best behavior. Although the world is changing, you would hope that the candidate would make a best-effort attempt to present a good impression.

So what does it say when a candidate refuses to follow your selection protocol? What if he refused to send a resume, complete the application or provide references? What if he refused a drug test? Those answers may be rather obvious. They don’t get the job, right? They might not even get an interview.

But what if you were looking for an employee who would challenge the status quo, who asks why first before following orders blindly? Wouldn't a candidate who questioned your selection process fit that requirement? It's important to observe the behaviors of an individual who is not afraid to question the established rules and protocol, doesn’t accept information at face value, and is willing to challenge the system if they go against his or her beliefs.

Managers must be clear about the behaviors that will drive effective performance in a particular position. The candidate who questions the process might reveal the independent-thinking yet cautious employee you seek. If so, he just “passed” the assessment without even taking it!

Then again...his behavior could mean trouble - behaviors that will disrupt the team and challenge management? If that's the case, you have likely saved yourself a lot of time and money and even saved the cost of an assessment! That's why it's important to use the results of pre-employment screening to interview and check references - to carefully assess whether this candidate is a skeptic or dissident.

Regarding the individual who completed the test but responded with a 3-page email. This individual, as opposed to the candidate who refused to take
the assessment, will comply with the established rules and procedures but voice his displeasure. He says no, but still gets his work done. While outspoken, he will more than likely deliver his objections in written form to management with lengthy, detailed, and very researched dissertations. Fearful of looking less than perfect to others may also slow his decision-makings and the solutions he's expected to present.

If this individual’s job is to ensure accuracy and thoroughness while minimizing risk, he is the man (or woman) for the job. If the company is looking for an individual who accepts orders without questioning authority and plays dead for the good of the team, you might want to think twice. Co-workers and management will likely see him as disruptive, resistant to change, and nit-picking.

Isn't this mission critical information to know, and yet it's overlooked by most managers? And if hired, shouldn't this information be used to help shape and create a development plan?

Observable behavior is information that is willingly (although sometimes unknowingly) provided by the candidate and employee. Pay close attention to the way a candidate handles himself. Don't focus only on the answers he or she gives to questions you ask. This observable information is very often ignored, missed, or taken out of context. Even the reaction to completing a pre-employment test reveals a lot about the candidate. And except for the few moments required to administer or deliver the instructions to complete the pre-employment assessment, the cost for this information is zero.

While looking for alternative methods to hire, promote and retain the right individuals for a job, online personality tests used for screening candidates are one of the best sources available. But the insight available from the testing goes far beyond what is delivered in written form. Sometimes the best information about how an individual will perform in the job is FREE and right in front of you.

Unfortunately, managers overlook the obvious in search of the obscure.

CandidClues™:  The Pre Employment Test System Designed to Curb Absenteeism and Employee Theft

Most organizations have serious problems of pilferage, absenteeism, tardiness, employee disagreements that lead to violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and computer misuse. The annual loss from these counterproductive behaviors is estimated in the billions of dollars. There was a clear need for a brief assessment that could be used as part of the pre-employment screening process. CandidClues was developed to meet that need.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

We've all heard the excuses:

"My computer is down."

"We're short-handed"

"I'm all by myself."

"The salesperson didn't give me the right information"

"I've been off work. Please bear with me."

"I'm just filling in."

Customers are tired of the excuses employees give instead of delivering excellent customer service. "Excuses, Excuses, Excuses....For Not Delivering Excellent Customer Service - and What Should Happen!" is an excellent pocket guide for every employee. This book highlights 117 excruciatingly-painful-but-all-too-common Customer Service Excuses followed by common sense recommendations and insights to delivering exceptional customer service.

This book is for any company, business, or organization that deals with customers and has a passionate desire to survive. We've all been customers ourselves, and we're tired-tired of inadequate service, a lack of concern, and a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. We're tired of being told everything under the sun except that which we long to hear, "How may I help you?" followed by the appropriate action. This book is about excuses we both hear and use for not giving excellent customer service and how to shoot those excuses down.

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