Welcome to the January 26, 2005 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts. 

**EXTRA! EXTRA!** SPS founder interviewed by NY Daily News

What's next for Carly Fiorina, dubbed the most powerful woman in business, and CEO of Hewlett Packard? Will she retain her position of power over this computer giant or will her leadership style do her in?  Read all about it and what Ira S Wolfe, founder of Success Performance Solutions, feels Fiorina needs to do differently if she and HP are to survive in this January 24, 2005 column published in the New York Daily News.

What's Inside:

1. Personality Test Expert Answers The Most Common Questions About Employee Assessment

Wouldn't it be nice to give a single test to job candidates that could instantly gauge their reliability, honesty, aptitude, and social skills?  What would it look like?  What questions would it ask? These are just a few of the questions we are commonly asked. What follows are a few of the most common questions - and our recommendations and advice - about personality tests.

If personality tests are used, can they replace the interview?
Definitely not. The U.S. Department embraces the "whole person approach" for all employment decisions. The "whole person approach" encourages the manager to factor in the results of a variety of accepted tests along with prior actual performance and interview results, to get the most complete picture of an employee or candidate.

Why not just improve the interview process?
Research has shown time and time again that the traditional interview alone is barely predictive of success. Compared to flipping a coin or rolling the dice, the interview gives you just slightly better odds. The structured behavioral interview improves reliability up to about 75 percent. But its success depends on the abilities of the manager to ask the right questions, and observe, listen and evaluate the answers without personal bias. Few managers are trained to do this and candidly, don't have the time or interest to invest in structured interviews for all the candidates.

Aren't personality tests considered risky in today's litigious environment?
To the contrary. In fact, according to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, any inventory or procedure utilized during an employment decision is considered a test. Much to the surprise of many managers, the interview must meet the same validity and reliability standards as personality tests, ability tests, and even background and resume evaluations. Taking that into consideration, an objective assessment like TotalView Assessment System offers an unbiased third-party validated evaluation of candidates and when used properly may protect the employer from claims of personal bias.

How do you choose the right tests?
There are literally thousands of tests available. Not all of these tests are recommended for use in the workplace. To be deemed acceptable, it must meet three basic criteria:

Are tests approved by the EEOC?
The EEOC does not validate pre-employment assessments. Neither does the Office of Federal Contract Compliance. Their authority extends to auditing or investigating unacceptable procedures when a discrimination charge has resulted from adverse impact.

When do I need to be concerned with the validity and reliability of a test or interview?
Any time there is a change of job status or the opportunity for multiple people to apply for a position. To legally discriminate between one candidate and another, you must have documented job-related criteria.

Can't personality tests exclude qualified candidates?
That's true if the personality tests are used incorrectly. The best and fairest results occur when a personality assessment is used in conjunction with the interview, work experience, reference checks and background checks. By choosing the right pre-employment test and job-related interview questions, employers can quickly screen out high-risk candidates and select the candidate that best fits the job.

Can't candidates and employees fake their responses?
Absolutely, yes. Well....they can try. That is why it is critical that the personality test you use has what we call a "fakability" scale. Job candidates are asked a series of questions that determines the reliability of their responses. If their responses are too good (or too bad) to be true or inconsistent and random, a good personality test will flag the results. The fakability scale, also called social desirability and good impression, details how reliable the rest of the report will be and how much credibility you should give it when evaluating the candidate.

What's most important in choosing the right assessment for your workplace? Follow these four steps to improve your results legally and reliably.
a. Establish how the assessment is related to the job.
b. Test for critical job related activities.
c. Don't rely on personality test alone to hire or promote.
d. Evaluate the effectiveness of the test over time.

Need help in hiring or promoting the right employees? Success Performance Solutions provides behavioral interview questions, pre-employment tests and background checks for all size businesses and all employee positions.

More about understanding online personality tests.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #336 to #340
http://www.perfectlaborstorm.com/facts.html

Don't miss day-to-day updates on Perfect Labor Storm. Save the Perfect Labor Storm blog to your favorites.

Fact #336:  Since 1970 the percentage of U.S. households containing five or more people has fallen in half. In 1970, 21 percent of households had five or more people; in 2004 the number has dropped to 10 percent. (Source: US Census Bureau)

Fact #337:  Since 1970 the percentage of U.S. households containing one or two people has increased from 46 percent to 60 percent. (Source: US Census Bureau)

Fact #338:   The number of households consisting of single women 30 to 34 has tripled since 1970. (Source: US Census Bureau)

Fact #339:   Mother's are juggling work and family: 5.5 million stay-at-home parents, 5.4 million are women and only 98,000 true stay-at-home dads. (Source: Current Population Survey)

Fact #340:  20 percent of stay-at-home moms lived in households earning $100,000 or more, while 2.3 percent were in households earning less than $10,000. (Source: Current Population Survey)

Don't be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Order your copy today - Only $7.95.

3.  NEW Book! The Leader Within
by Ken Blanchard, Michael O'Connor and others.

Best-selling authors and Fortune 100 consultants, Dr. Drea Zigarmi, Dr. Ken Blanchard, Dr. Michael O'Connor and Dr. Carl Edeburn reveal the results of an in-depth, seven-year statistical study of leadership in Corporate America. Their new book, The Leader Within, Knowing Enough About Yourself To Lead Others, shows how leaders exert influence and how disposition, values, beliefs, and persona contribute to their very success—or failure.

The Leader Within explores the following:

Which of the four unique management styles of
Situational Leadership® II: directing, coaching, supporting,
deleating—is most—and least effective.

The difference between being a manager and a leader—and how
one cannot fundamentally lead unless he or she knows what his or
her values are.

Identifies the 4 classic DISC dispositions for a boss—direct
controller (D), direct acceptor (I), indirect acceptor (S) and
indirect controller (C)—and shows us the guiding principles that
govern all bosses.

Contrasts how famous leaders compare with one another, based on
their values-inspired leadership styles: traditionalists;
challengers, in-betweeners, and synthesizers.

Order "The Leader Within" and save 25%.

4. New! Webinar - Automate Candidate Screening with Online Interview Questions and Resume Submission.

A Perfect Business Solution for the small and medium sized business.

The Resu-mess is back!   If piles of resumes and crowded email in-boxes have got you frustrated, you NEED to attend this webinar about Total APS.

What is Total APS? It is an applicant tracking and assessment system that puts your recruiting and selection efforts on auto pilot.
Total APS frees up your time to communicate with only QUALIFIED candidates and helps you ensure a good job fit between a person and the job.

The best way to fully appreciate how much time, money, and frustration Total APS can save your company is to experience the system in action. We are offering a 35-minute, no-obligation online webinar demonstration of the Total APS system on Thursday, February 3rd, 2005 at 2:00 P.M. EST.

This webinar is complimentary. The only requirement is that your company has at least 20 employees ( and, of course, a regular phone line and a high speed internet connection).

Enrollment for this webinar will be capped at 10 participants to ensure efficiency. Register here
by completing contact form.  Type "APS Demo" in the Comment Box.  You will receive email instructions on how to access the webinar (so please make sure our email address is whitelisted).

Can't wait until February 3rd? View our new online presentation - ,
How To Sift Resumes Automatically and Screen Interview Questions, too.

Remember, this Total APS demo WILL be capped at 10 participants -- so register today to ensure your space and stop the resume madness.

5. NEW! Customer Service Skills Profile

This easy-to-use assessment solves one of your biggest headaches in customer service - ensuring consistency in your staff's performance.

How? By giving employee a clear picture of their unique strengths and areas they need to work on - and the motivation to acquire all the skills of an all-around good customer service giver.

Employees can rate themselves in seven competency areas widely considered to be critical to the ability to provide exemplary service:

More about Customer Service Skills Excellence.

We now offer Pre-employment Online Background Checks.

Syndication available - call us.