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The Multitasking Ability test is a measure of one’s ability to adeptly work on more than one task simultaneously, while maintaining efficiency and effectiveness when interrupted or switching between tasks.

This test is a face-valid, split-screen simulation that is designed to assess multitasking ability. It captures the dynamic nature of the working environment by presenting the candidate with multiple types of items in a timed format. Candidates will be required to complete problem-solving items that are presented on one side of the screen, while at the same time attending to emails that are presented within an email inbox on the other side of the screen.

• Time Recommended: 15 – 25 minutes (for non-timed tests)
• Number of calls available: 6, 11, 12, calls and 10-minute timed versions
• Number of Sittings: One
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: Yes
• Question Format: Call Center

Continue reading »]]> The Call Center Basic Simulation tests measure a candidate’s speed and accuracy at listening and entering information in a simulated call center environment. It consists of two practice calls, and 6, 11, or 12 scored calls (depending on the version of the simulation). For each call the candidate must enter the appropriate information for 10 total fields. These fields include: first name, last name, company, address, city, state, zip, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Different actors are used in each call, and the accent of the caller is varied across calls.

• Time Recommended: 15 – 25 minutes (for non-timed tests)
• Number of calls available: 6, 11, 12, calls and 10-minute timed versions
• Number of Sittings: One
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: Yes
• Question Format: Call Center

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Competencies Measured:

The Basic Call Center Simulation tests measures the following areas:

• Calls Per Hour Rate
• Number of Repeats
• Number of Correct Fields
• Number of Incorrect Fields
• Average Errors Per Call
• Gross Keystrokes Per Hour
• Gross Keystrokes Per Minute
• Time Taken

Download complete information sheet & sample report on Call Center Basic Simulation

Continue reading »]]> Organizations today are driving ever harder to demonstrate value. Business cases are scrutinized and go-to-market plans, product strategies and sales channels are investigated in detail to ensure that organizations have managed the risk in their investment of time and money, and that they can measure a return on the investments they make.

People: the key to value

These decisions on ‘invest, not invest’ and the choices being made in company strategy and operational tactics are being made by people, for people and about people. They all concern where are we taking our employees and what do we expect them to deliver; and answering these questions well is increasingly central to success. In the media and from the business schools we read, see and hear more and more how it is the people in a company that make the difference. Terms such as human capital and human asset management have grown up around this “stated” belief, and management asset valuation, or MAV, has become commonplace in mergers and acquisitions. What’s the difference between an IPO realising only 50 per cent its original flotation price and one that exceeds it several times over? The answer often lies in the perceived value of the intangible assets of the company such as brands, but also in the belief in senior management and in the capabilities of the people in the organization.

Are you doing your due diligence?

Yet, with all the due diligence and the risk management that companies undertake in other areas of their operations, how much of this rigor do they apply to the screening, selection and promotion of their “most important asset” – their people? Well, studies show that practice is extremely variable. The obvious question is why?

Part of the answer must be to do with the belief that what a person offers in their CV (their education, training and experience) is enough. Assessment of “softer aspects” such as a person’s character or personality is not seen to add value to making decisions about potential and actual employees. Yet ask yourself some simple questions:

• Have you ever worked with someone who was technically brilliant, could dive into the detail and then soar with the most complex of concepts, but just did not deliver?
• Ever met a manager that was an excellent sales person, the most persuasive representative, yet could not get the best out of the team and often vented their frustration at internal meetings?
• What about the person who seemed great for a while and worked for a great boss for a great company and had a great home life, but then just dropped off in performance and became an absenteeism statistic?

Building on the last example, how often have you been confronted with the issue of someone who seemed great at the interview, but four to six months later you regretted making the hire? In our own lives, and using our own common sense, we all know that personality and personalities have an impact on the way things happen, and can often be the difference between success and disaster. So, why is it so contentious personality can have a significant impact on an organization’s success?

Consider these facts:

• 78 million days lost to the UK economy through unplanned absenteeism
• Only 28 per cent of managers are seen as having what it takes to deal with performance issues, absence and change
• Young applicants for jobs seen by industry as lacking the basic motivation and drives required for dependable employees

These impacts are huge with the absenteeism bill alone adding up to over £11 billion every year. There are many factors driving all of these statistics, but behaviors and personality are certainly key to understanding these pressing issues.

Measuring personality

It is possible to assess personality in a way that is meaningful for the world of work and for employers and managers to use. Admittedly, the psychology of personality is shrouded in various myths and ‘isms stemming from popular views of Freud, couches and psychiatrists. And, certainly, some of the instruments that have been constructed to measure personality have contained some very strange items, some of them highly inappropriate for use in employment settings (e.g. how many girls you think kiss on first dates; I would rather be a colonel, bishop or in between). While these questions may seem strange, they were constructed for a particular purpose, primarily for use in diagnosing clinical conditions rather than how a person would perform at work. But things have moved on considerably since the 1980’s when these questions were commonplace.

The questions used today are also more relevant to the workplace and more appropriate for applicants and employees to answer. US and UK research has shown that today’s job applicants actually expect and feel comfortable with personality questionnaires being used in selection. These ‘next generation’ questionnaires include questions such as:

• I enjoy talking to new people
• I like to keep things well organized
• I like to help others
• I worry about deadlines
• I tend to be assertive at work
• I work better alone

So the science is not in writing obscure or “interesting” questions, but in writing simple, straightforward questions that are tested to see whether they provide accurate assessments of different facets of personality, and that have sensible and meaningful relationships with how well people perform at their jobs.

It is a fact that many of the biggest companies in the world use personality assessments to hire and develop their staff. The reason that they do so is that they have seen that it is possible to prove scientifically the relationship between well constructed and job relevant measures of personality and performance. They have collected the actuarial data on good versus poor performance, and then tested whether there are significant and scientifically testable differences in personality between the good and poor performers. The level of prediction is sufficiently strong to deliver a true value-add to organizations time and time again. In fact, large-scale scientific studies show that personality, objectively defined and objectively assessed, accounts for around 35 per cent of the difference in performance.

The impact of personality at work

If we go back to the absenteeism issue, is it surprising that, if we measure the right facets of how conscientious someone is, we can predict whether they are likely to be dependable in turning up for work? Add assessment of the person’s orientation to co-workers (helpful versus aggressive) and how they handle their emotions (more relaxed and less worrying versus someone who is more emotionally reactive) and we get further insights. Research has shown that this combination can deliver up to 7 extra working days per employee per year and reduce accidents by up to 16 per cent and result in higher customer satisfaction in client facing roles.

This isn’t about cloning or stereotyping or fitting people to a template. Good and scientifically based practice means working out what facets of personality drive performance, which takes us back to due diligence. But, with 100 years of scientific research into personality and into assessment tools, this process can be systematic and efficient giving an investment that does pay off in real terms either through greater productivity (leaders leading and employees delivering) and reductions in costs.

It is also worth noting in today’s work environment that personality tests have been shown to be amongst the fairest as well as the most predictive of assessment tools. They have high acceptance amongst applicants and well-constructed personality tests can be delivered to the applicant simply, securely and conveniently in a range of formats including via the Web.

Assessing personality saves you time (and money)

Still not convinced? Well, there are hard cash returns that organizations can realise through well-designed personality tests, and we deal with these extensively in another article. But, in the meantime, let’s look at the time you could save by using personality assessments as part of the recruitment process.

How many interviews do you feel you can execute in a day? Three, four or, as one ambitious person I talked to recently, six? And how much time do you spend on average on an interview? Thirty minutes, an hour, perhaps longer? Then, of course, you have to consider time to weight up the answers and make a decision. Or have you already reached the point in the first few minutes where you are already writing the “Thank you but…” letter in your mind, but still continue for another 30 or 40 minutes? How many of those interviews do you experience on average? What if you were able to manage this personal investment in time; conducting fewer interviews but with a higher ‘strike-rate’? What if you were in the happy position of not having just one person you thought might fit but having two or possibly three people that you knew would work out and having to select one for now and have two to keep in touch with for the future?

Once you have made your selection or promotion decision, how long does it actually take to get to know the person you have selected: weeks, possibly months? Now, what if you had a good snapshot of what makes that person tick and how they are most likely to behave before you even met them for an interview, and what if you could now focus the interview on key areas to make that investment decision to hire or promote? This is the impact that assessing personality in a controlled and objective manner can make on your role as a manager. You can put your own figures on what your time is worth and then decide for yourself if it pays to assess personality at work.

Eugene Burke – Director of Product Innovation, SHL Group plc

Continue reading »]]> Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, which focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative treatments to serve high unmet medical needs. The company has over 2,500 employees and operative affiliates in 29 countries worldwide.

The company’s strengths in science and innovation, its leadership in addressing Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and its global presence have given Actelion a track record of superior value creation for its stakeholders.

The Challenge

Actelion’s search for new talent was placing a significant strain on HR resources. Alex Khatuntsev, Actelion’s HR Director, explains, “We wanted to improve our ability to acquire the best candidates before our competitors and to be able to predict future performance more effectively. That meant finding a more efficient and consistent way of assessing people against the needs of the role and the company.”

The company identified three key requirements:

Attract, identify and retain specialist talent. Actelion needed to hire and develop the right talent on a more efficient and objective basis.

Ensure a good fit to the company’s current and future needs. Actelion’s ability to recruit and develop people based on its core values and the skills required of its future leaders was critical.

Streamline its hiring process by implementing a single integrated process for recruitment, from identifying the requirement and sourcing candidates through to offer management and on-boarding.

The Solution

Actelion recognized it needed a global set of competencies, linked to its core values, to inform recruitment and development decisions.

An Actelion competency framework was customized by SHL from the company’s Universal Competency Framework (UCF), which sets out the key behaviors driving performance across a wide range of jobs and organizations and is based on extensive occupational psychology research. SHL aligned the UCF to Actelion’s company values of ‘Innovation’, ‘Trust & Teamwork’, ‘Open Communications’ and ‘Results Driven’. Alongside the values work, SHL also facilitated workshops to define the technical skills required for specific roles.

To enable the company to assess employees and candidates against the framework, SHL trained Actelion’s HR department in competency based interviews and provided a ‘selection toolbox’ of assessment methods that could be used by HR, line managers and agencies. This included tailored on-site assessment exercises, such as role plays, to test leadership skills.

Khatuntsev comments, “Our work with SHL has given us a much more streamlined, integrated solution that allows us to recruit and develop according to consistent criteria. We also have a fair and effective means of targeting critical management competencies in the people we think have real potential.”

The results

Improved candidate quality at lower cost

A much more streamlined process is helping the company identify the most suitable candidates more efficiently and at lower cost. Khatuntsev comments, “Not only have we improved candidate quality, but need far fewer of our people involved at interview stage.”

Improved perception of HR and the company

Khatuntsev highlights the positive impact the project has had on internal perceptions of his department. “We’re seen as more strategic and professional, so we’re finding they’re much more likely to listen to our advice in other areas.”

He also believes that the company’s more consistent and objective approach to selection benefits the brand. “Giving fact-based feedback shows it’s a fairer process, helping us attract more of the high quality candidates we need.”

A strong partnership

The results, and the credibility of the SHL solution with Actelion’s senior management, mean Khatuntsev is confident of a strong and building relationship. He says, “We have a lot of confidence in the partnership. We know SHL’s opinions and recommendations are always very strongly validated, which helps deliver results and win buy-in from our senior management.”

Continue reading »]]> In this cost-conscious environment high-street businesses are working hard to provide customers with top-notch service to engender loyalty. At the sharp end of delivering this strategy are employees; this makes aligning recruitment with the core values of the business a necessity.

Carole Donaldson, manager resourcing at John Lewis says ‘customer loyalty takes priority over customer acquisition because there are no new customers anymore. For us, a customer-centric resourcing strategy is critical. Our front-line staff hold the all-important relationship with our customer.’

Donaldson continues: ‘we have to ensure the tools we use in our recruitment process are aligned to our core principles and that all candidates receive a robust, consistent and fair experience, whether they are successful or not. We also strive to ensure they continue to shop with us if they are already customers, or that they start to, having learnt more about us.’

For John Lewis, the sheer volume of applicants is a challenge. It likens its recruitment process, which starts with a values sifting tool designed by SHL, like the journey from first date to marriage. Donaldson adds, ‘the aim is to identify candidates who have the best value match to our business rather than just skills.’ This, coupled with the Realistic Job Previews, helps John Lewis deal with over 360,000 applicants per year.

For HSBC, its distinct values define how it interacts internally, with customers and with the wider community. Working with SHL and Taleo, it has a fully integrated assessment and talent management solution so it can make informed recruiting decisions that drive business results.

Chris Yates, HSBC group head of organization development, says, ‘it was imperative we made better use of people intelligence. Now we do, we have a competitive edge because we employ higher quality candidates and we identify and nurture high-achievers. Plus we have gained time and cost efficiencies over the entire process.’

Donaldson and Yates were keynote speakers at the SHL inaugural client conference, LINK UK, jeld in London in October 2011. In attendance were some of the UK’s most senior HR professionals who debated improving business performance through People Intelligence.

From SHL Connect

Continue reading »]]> The Call Center with Sales solution is for entry-level positions in an inbound or outbound call center environment where selling is a component of the job. Sample tasks for these jobs include, but are not limited to: selling a product to customers over the phone, cold calling potential customers, explaining different products/services to customers, and suggestive selling after a customer service interaction.

• Time Recommended: 40 minutes
• Number of Questions: 164
• Number of Sittings: One
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: No
• Question Format: Multiple Choice

Continue reading »]]> The Contact Center Virtual Scenario (CCVS) is for entry-level positions in a contact center environment. Sample tasks for these jobs include: Interact with customers on the phone to provide information, take orders, and solve product or service issues; respond positively to difficult or irate customers; navigate within multiple open applications to find and view customer account details; and type information quickly and accurately.

• Time Recommended: 30 minutes
• Number of Questions: 4 simulated calls
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: Yes
• Question Format: Simulation

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Competencies Measured:

Navigation: This measures a candidate’s interactions within a realistic contact center environment by providing a workspace that simulates multiple customer service-based applications running on a Windows desktop simultaneously.

Service Orientation: This measures a candidate’s tendency to focus on meeting customers’ needs in a simulated telephone call context. This includes the tone and language used to respond to customers’ questions, apologizing when appropriate, and providing solutions that directly relate to customers’ requests.

Tactful Problem Solving: This measures a candidate’s tendencies to engage in problem solving with customers in the context of simulated telephone calls. This includes acquiring necessary information from both customers and systems to understand the nature of the problem, working through ambiguity to determine the correct answer, and tactfully explaining the resolution of the situation to customers.

Data Entry Speed: This measures a candidate’s ability to listen to and record information received from customers quickly.

Data Entry Accuracy: This measures a candidate’s ability to listen to and record information received from customers accurately.

Download complete information sheet & sample report on Contact Center Virtual Scenario

Continue reading »]]> The Programmer/Analyst Aptitude test measures a candidate’s knowledge of computer programming and ability to apply analytical skills to business requests.

• Time Recommended: 47 minutes
• Maximum Number of Questions: 30
• Number of Sittings: One
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: Yes
• Question Format: Multiple Choice – Adaptive

Continue reading »]]> The Programming Concepts test measures a candidate’s knowledge of the core aspects of good computer science programming that are valid across programming languages.

• Time Recommended: 30-90 minutes
• Maximum Number of Questions: 30
• Number of Sittings: One
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: Yes
• Question Format: Mutiple Choice – Adaptive

Continue reading »]]> The IT Professional/Individual Contributor Solution is for mid to upper level, non-managerial positions in an Information Technology environment.

• Time Recommended: 60 minutes
• Number of questions: 229
• Number of Sittings: One
• Designed for Unproctored Environment: No
• Question Format: Multiple Choice
• Product Category: Assessment Desktop: exPress v3.5

• Professional Potential
• Business Acumen
• Drive for Results
• Building Relationships
• Self Motivation
• Problem Solving