Welcome to the March 19, 2008 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. 

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1.  The Use of Pre-employment Tests is Skyrocketing.

The popularity of pre-employment tests in the workplace is skyrocketing, thanks to advancements in employee assessment technology and the Internet. That's good news for employers--testing is now more accurate, more reliable, more competitively priced with real-time reporting.

But like nearly every other service available on the Web, easier access and convenience doesn't necessarily make decisions better. Finding the right vendor for this service can be difficult. Not unexpectedly, employers and human resources staff are struggling.  This week's column focuses on several guidelines every employer can use to help them select the right assessment for the situation.

For starters, let's get the biggest question of all out of the way.  Yes, pre-employments testing is legal!  In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor's best practice guidelines and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission place pre-employment tests in the same category as the job interview, observation, resume review, and reference checks - any process, technique, procedure, or assessments are considered tests. And any test used to screen and select an employee must be used consistently and meet the same criteria--validity, reliability, and job relatedness.  

Pre-employment tests add a significant improvement in hiring accuracy when used in conjuction with the time-honored method of scanning resumes, interviewing candidates, and checking backgrounds and references. Many studies indicate that when pre-employment testings is used in conjuction with a behavioral interview, the odds of hiring right the first time improves 50 percent or more.  

Assessments approved for the workplace fall into two categories: screening and selection.  

I like to use this analogy when describing the difference between screening and selection assessments:  Selection tools identify how well the square peg (the candidate) will fit, the square hole (the job) without pushing and pounding. Screening tools, on the other hand, easily identify all the non-square shapes that just won't fit at all but may not be as accurate at finding only the square pegs that fit the particular hole.  

Screening pre-employment tests therefore weed out high-risk candidates prone to counterproductive work attitudes such as absenteeism, dishonesty, aggressive tendencies, and workplace substance abuse. The newest generation of pre-employment tests like JobClues also measure a few basic personality traits. Selection, or job fit, assessments match a job candidate's abilities, interests, and more complex personality traits to specific skills and motivations required to do the job.   

One value added component of many online tests is the inclusion of personalized behavioral interview question guides.  Based on how a candidate responds to the test questions, a list of behavioral interview questions is generated, providing specific and structured interview guide.  

By choosing appropriate pre-employment and personality tests, a hiring manager can save time, reduce time-to-hire, lower hiring costs, and improve the success of finding candidates who fit the job and the organization. When combined with a one-to-one interview and a background check, a personality test increases hiring success from a 50-50 crap shoot to a 90% chance your choice is the right one.  

To learn more about "pre-employment testing", call us at 800.803.4303 or 717.291.4640.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

Every day I receive dozens of stories highlighting

another shortage of workers. Each week I'll post

one or two of the more interesting ones. In a

change of pace, this week's post focuses on a

change of attitudes. It comes from a good

friend and colleague Martin Gilligan:

Two Million Minutes

As soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking. From that very moment the child has approximately...Two Million Minutes until high school graduation...Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation...Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career...Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult.

How do most American high school students spend this time? Statistics for American high school students give rise to concern. Less than 40 percent of U.S. students take a science course more rigorous than general biology, and a mere 18 percent take advanced classes in physics, chemistry or biology. Only 45 percent of U.S. students take math coursework beyond two years of algebra and one year of geometry. And 50 percent of all college freshmen require remedial coursework.

Read more about Two Million Minutes

Read more about skilled worker shortages in the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)

Now on Sale!  Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)  

Order today and save 25%.

NEW Chapters!  Generational Conflicts in the Workplace, Managing the Future Workforce, Attracting Young Employees in a Seller's Job Market plus hundreds of new facts, trends and stats.

View Table of Contents  

Save 25% off retail by ordering now.

Hard Cover: $29.99         Soft Cover: $19.99  

Your Price: $22.49           Your Price: $14.99

To order Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, call 800.803.4303.  Discounts for orders of 10 or more.  Specify hard or soft cover.

3. Understanding Business Values and Motivators

What makes employees "tick?"  In "Understanding Business Values and Motivators". Ira Wolfe writes a book that translates motivation into an easy to understand, modern day version of "why we do what we do." This book isn't about hocus-pocus, rah-rah tricks and techniques to motivate others, but a down-to-earth approach for understanding how people are "wired" and how to tap into those motivators for their success and yours.

Order Understanding Business Values and Motivators.

4.  The Leader Within

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.

What's the difference between Managers and Leaders?  

Purchase "The Leader Within" Today.

5. Speaking Schedule: Ira S Wolfe

2008:

April 2 - Wachovia Bank, Philadelphia PA - Flashpoint: When Boomers and Younger Workers Collide  

May 16 - Sovereign Benefits Solutions HR Conference, Hershey PA

October (tentative) - American Staffing Association Annual Meeting - Workforce Trends That Change The Way You Will Do Business  

Call 717.291.4640 to schedule Ira for your next meeting or conference.

6. New Book: Coming Job Boom (Available April 2008)

Ira recently collaborated with Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder on a new book, The Coming Job Boom.  Bonnie is the author of The Public School Parent's Guide to Success. The Coming Job Boom is the "ying" for the "yang" of The Perfect Labor Storm.  While the Perfect Labor Storm is beginning to make managers feel like storm chasers looking for qualified workers, high school and college students must be smiling at this Upcoming Job Boom. For those young workers with the right skills and motivation, the job market will make these kids feel like  - well, like kid's in a candy store! The book release is scheduled for April 2008. Watch for more info in future newsletters.

7. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

Permission is granted to consultants, managers, business owners and HR professionals to reproduce content from this newsletter for your internal publications, or to distribute copies to your workforce, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2008 Ira S Wolfe."  We also hope you will forward the newsletter in its entirety and recommend to others that they subscribe.

Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission