Assess Don't Assume Article

8/14/2019 Assess Don't Assume Article

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2009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 1

Feedback from Hiring Managers

While this can offer insight into perform ance, it can be

a flawed data point. What if a hiring manager considers

great performance to be a recruiter who is a good order-

taker, or a strong coordinator? What about the hiring man-

agers with survey fatigue, completing the same survey over

and over as jobs are filled? How much accurate and action-

able information about your recruiters functional skills can

you really get from this?

Metrics

When the right metrics are obtained in

a timely and accurate way, this is a great

indicator of your recruitersimpact on the

business. But what if the metrics arent en-

tirely accurate, or measuring the right out-

comes? Most companies measure activi-

ty: how many jobs are filled, how much

time it took, at what cost, etc. But does this

information tell you how well the work

was done? H ow good of a match the new

hire is with the organization? How suc-

cessful they are a year later?

Self-promotion

Lets face it. Great recruiters are great salespeople. Andgreat salespeople are convincing, they know how to com-

mand attention, and are gifted at being in the right place

at the right time. But do your most confident, well-liked re-

cruiters have the best recruiting skills, too?

If youre troubled about the veracity of these feedback

sources, then what can you do? How can you determine the

strength of each individual recruiters ability to br ing true

value to candidates, managers, and H R partners?

In our work with talent acquisition functions large and

2009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 1

Staffing. Talent acquisition. Search. Or good old-

fashioned recruiting. Whatever you call it, the

function faces constant challenges trying to prove its

worth to the organization. Business leaders want staffing

partners who are savvy, smart, and suppor t their organi-

zations talent strategy. And for the most part, thats what

youre giving themright? Are you absolutely sure?

T he talent acquisition function is a com plicated beast.

And only those whove led it can truly appreciate that

unique nexus where technology, process,

tools, training, metrics, marketing, and

stakeholder experience come together.

And what if just one of those components

goes awry? T he result can touch leaders

throughout the business in a very visible

and disruptive way.

In an effort to meet the needs of talent

acquisitions key stakeholderthe hiring

managermost organizations have re-

cruiters spread out across the geography

of their business, often working virtually.

T he success of the function in these loca-

tions depends, in large part, on the skills

of the recruiter.

In such a structure, and with each recruiter playing such

a pivotal role, how can a talent acquisition leader accurate-ly understand the strengths and n eeds of each person on

their team? For that matter, whats the best way to accu-

rately assess the skills of the person sitting in a n earby cu-

bicle?

Getting Accu rate Feedbac k About Your Recruiters

Skills

To assess their recruiters skills, most talent acqu isition

leaders rely on three inputs:

RECRUITING TEAMS

How Good Is Your Team?Dont AssumeAssess

Face the facts about your teams performance instead of acting on assumptions.

By Linda Brenner, Managing Partner, inTalent Consulting

This effort isnt for

people who are OK with

the status quo. Its

only for leaders whoare willing to look

closely at each person

on their teamthe

talented and the

green and everyone in

between.


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20 Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 2009 ERE Media, Inc.

small, local and global, this is the most pervasive problem:

Leaders don t have an accurate u nderstanding of each re-

cruiters skills. And, compoun ding the problem, they are

often unable to assess the skills of their recruiting man-

agersto whom the recruiters report and rely on for coach-

ing and training.

T his, in turn, leads to other challenges: if you dont know

someones strengths and n eeds, you can t dr ive their de-

velopment. Nor can you leverage teachers or mentors on

the t eam if youre not sure who shou ld play those roles.You

cant effectively hold the team accountable for exhibiting

the right behaviors and developing skills that are critical to

doing the job well.You cant drive and sustain significant

operational improvements. Perhaps worse, high-potential

recruiters wont work for long around

middling performers.

To get around this dilemma, many

talent acquisition leaders take an old-

school approach: simply training everyone

in m ost everything. Team-wide training

(classroom, virtual or self-directed) on

topics such as behavioral-based interview-

ing skills, influencing skills, or Internet

sourcing are commonplace. But does

everyone need such training, and all at the

same level? Does everyone benefit from

it? Most importan t: does it really drive the

changes in behavior that are needed to

speed and improve recruiting and selection?

And in this econom y, are large-scale training program s

with nebulous outcomes even an option?

Assess ing Be fore Training

We suggest a different approach: assessing the function-

al skills of each recruiter and letting them know how theyve

performed.

An assessment center is a process by which a group ofpart icipants undert akes a series of job-related simulations

so that th eir skills and competencies can be evaluated. A

team of assessors observes and m easures the part icipants

performance using a set of structured evaluations.

With little upfront information, participants are typical-

ly asked to follow specific instructions and complete

tasks within structu red timeframes. T hey usually have to

deal with unforeseen challenges throughout the process. At

the conclusion of such a program, participants receive feed-

back about how well they performed.

Initially created in the 1950s by AT &T, assessment cen-

ters were originally used with external candidates as a way

for the company to identify those most qualified for selec-

tion. Over the years, theyve been increasingly used for de-

velopment too, and are embraced today by a wide range of

organizations such as G E, Home D epot, IBM, Pepsi, Hon-

eywell, and the FBI.They are often used for the development

of high-poten tial and front-line leaders, and for the selection

of entry-level or leadership program participants.

As one of the most respected methods for identifying tal-

ent, assessing functional skills and providing a un ique learn-

ing opportunity for participants, such a process is an excel-

lent way to ident ify and d evelop the skills of a large and far-

flung team, including a team of recruiters.

Whether you work with your in-house

OD or training team or use an outside re-

source to develop and execute such a pro-

gram, there are some recommended steps

and outcomes.

1. De veloping the Program

What Are You Assessing?

T he first, and most important, element

of the process is determining exactly

what skills need to be assessed.What are

the behaviors consistently demonstrated

by high-performing recruiters across a variety of companies

and industries? The center we developed and have cus-

tomized for clients began with a literature review of the core

competencies of best-in-class recruiters.We concluded that

in generalthe m ost critical recruiter skills are:

F inding Candidates

Engaging Candidates

Assessing Candidates Influencing the Hire

Managing Stakeholders

From there, we researched and identified the most im-

portant b ehaviors necessary to demonstrate mastery at

each of these five com petencies.

How Are These Competencies Assessed?

What is the best way to allow participants to showcase

RECRUITING TEAMS

ASSESSMENT

Many talent

acquisition leaders

take an old-school

approach: simply

training everyone

in most everything.


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2009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 22009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 22009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 2

their skills in each of these areas? How can simulations be

created that allow key behaviors to emerge in a way that can

be observed? How do you strike a balance between the re-

sources (i.e., assessors) needed to conduct a robust assess-

men t versus the costs inherently involved?

In our case, we brainstormed an d tested the best way to

assess each of these competencies. In the end, we landed

on a variety of activitiesthree of which involve live-act-

ing scenarios, and two of which are self-directed, includ-

ing a traditional in-basket exercise. Assessors play the role

of actors, observers, and/or evaluators throughout the

process.

What Does Great Performance Look Like?

Once the activities are created, evalua-

tion guides ensure that the right behaviors

are assessed. Each m odule m ay highlight

six or eight different behaviors, such as

communication, influencing, prioritiz-

ing, leveraging technology, time man-

agement, etc. A goal of assessment guides

should be to highlight the behaviors that

fall along the continuum of mastery to

unacceptable and provide rater consis-

tency regardless of which assessor is as-

signed the ro le of evaluator.

2. Comm unicating the Right Messages

Wha ts the Best Way to Tell Recruiters Why Were D oing This?

An intensive program like an assessment center requ ires

an accompanying communication plan that clearly explains

whats being done, and why.Weve coached ou r clients to

introduce the p rocess in face-to-face venues, and to be as

transparent as possible about the purpose of the program:

developing the team.

We also created a comprehensive comm unication planand the m aterials needed to execute itincluding a par-

ticipant preview presentation, an FAQ document to

proact ively answer questions, and an overview to kick the

program off.

We expect that recruiters will approach the assessment

process with some trep idation, so we do whatever we can

to assuage their fear and make them see the value of this

unique d evelopment program and the accompanying per-

sonalized feedback.

3. Drawing Conclusions Based on the Data

What Happens After the Assessment Center?

Typically, par ticipants receive feedbackeither written

or in-personwithin a month of an assessment p rogram.

T he par ticipant is usually encouraged to review the results

with h is/her supervisor, and incorporate the feedback into

an existing development plan.

We believe that immediate feedback has a bigger impact,

so we work through the night after the assessment center ends

to write both feedback reports and development plans for each

participant. Each assessor then sits down with a par ticipant

the next day for a one-on-one coaching and

feedback session. Some par ticipants have

told us that this is the most com prehensive

and actionable feedback theyve ever re-

ceived.

We encourage each participant to review

the feedback with their supervisor and

work the development suggestions into an

already-existing plan, or create a new, for-

mal one with specific goals and target

dates.

Does the Leader See Individuals Results?

Years ago, it was a common to have em-

ployees participate in development pro-

grams for their own benefitand results werent shared with

their supervisors. But those days are largely over and com-

panies, rightly so, demand accountability in return for their

training investments.While companies have d ifferent prac-

tices regarding who sees assessment center feedback,

weve adopted the practice of sending each par ticipants re-

port to the talent acquisition leader two weeks after the

event. T his gives the par ticipants time to let the feedback

soak in and, most importantly, gives them an opportu-

nity to t ake the initiative and review it with their boss first.

What Other Results Does the Leader Get?

While the learning and feedback the par ticipants receive

is invaluable, its the analysis of the team data that is the real

benefit to the business. Strengths and d evelopmental

needs among the team as a whole can tell a fascinating sto-

ry. And when the data is cut by position, level, business

group, location, tenure, etc., key conclusionsand plans

for next stepscan be made.

RECRUITING TEAMS

ASSESSMENT

Recruiters will

approach the

assessment process

with some trepidation.

Assuage their fear

and make them see the

value of this unique

development program

and the accompanying

personalized feedback.


4/5

RECRUITING TEAMS

ASSESSMENT

Summary Results by Division/Position (Sample Data)

Summary Results by Division/Position (Conclusion)

22 Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009/ January 2010 2009 ERE Media, Inc.


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2009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 22009 ERE Media, Inc. Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership | crljournal.com | December 2009 / January 2010 2

RECRUITING TEAMS

ASSESSMENT

In this economy, post-assessment data can bu ild a com-

pelling business case for investing in future, targeted

training and development for members of the team. Also,

assessment center results provide an importan t, addition-

al data point for evaluating the performance of each re-

cruiter.When used with other key measureslike perform-

ance reviews, hiring manager feedback, metrics, talent plan-

ning discussions, 360 feedback, etc.it can help build an

even more accurate picture of each per-

sons performance and potential.

T his process allows recruiters to expe-

riencein real timethe power of their

strengths and the limitations of their

knowledge gaps. By increasing awareness

in this way, they become more motivated

to drive their development.

In the words of Kim Rutledge, director

of talent acqu isition for D ell, Inc.:

Having a large number of remote em-

ployees, the assessment center veri-

fied som e of my teams key strengths

and n eeds.T he center also identified

a significant gap that might have taken me years to

identify on my own. Because of the assessment , I now

know who on my team excels at t he skillgiving m e

resources for training those who need to improve.We

can then include this in each team members target-

ed development plan.

Linda Brenner, Ma naging Partner, inTalent Consulting

Pr ior to star ting inTalent Consulting, Linda Brenner spent her professional career in human resources at leading retail a nd

restaurant companies. As director of retail staffing at The H ome Depot, she led the effort to centra lize the staffing function for the

first time in the Fortune 25 companys history. She oversaw the hiring of over 100,000 field hourly and management employees

annua lly. She joined the staffing team after working in the companys organizationa l development group. Pr ior to joining Home

Depot, she held leadership positions for The HoneyBaked Ham Company, Pepsi and Ga p.

[email protected]

If this all sounds like a big under taking, youre right

it is. Building and executing a recruiter assessmen t center

certainly requires the right resources but, most of all, it re-

quires courage.T his effort isnt for people who are OK with

the statu s quo. Its only for leaders who are willing to look

closely at each person on their teamthe talented and the

green and everyone in betweenand are p repared to act

on the results.

In this economy, post-

assessment data can

build a compelling

business case forinvesting in future,

targeted training and

development for

members of the team.

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Assess Don't Assume Article