Managing for Success in the Current Economy
From the desk of Val Schoenherr
March 2009
For several years employers have faced hiring in an environment of low unemployment, which at times lead to a less than thorough review of candidates and staff. Now the tides have turned and many more employers are faced with the prospect of trimming staff to maintain costs. As difficult as this situation is for employees and employers alike, it also creates opportunity for businesses to refine their operations and position themselves for greater success in the future.
Frequently, the elimination of paid positions is viewed by management as cutting superfluous jobs. What many employers fail to do is evaluate all of their employees’ talents and characteristics to ensure that they are not losing a valuable asset simply because the individual holds a post that is on the chopping block. By evaluating staff with an eye toward staff realignment and maintaining an attitude of openness about the process, a company can retain top talent and coach employees to greater performance levels with more appropriate duties.
Putting the right person in the right job is good for business regardless of the economic climate. Job matching assessment tools provide insight for realigning people for greater productivity and offer coaching guidance to help workers grow and transition in a variety of circumstances. By focusing on staff development during difficult times an employer is sending a message to their high performing employees that the company is interested in maximizing talent and working for toward future success, as opposed to reacting to bad market news defensively.
Four ways to maximize talent during tough times
- Let technology help you develop a strong team by helping identify the right team members and provide them with online training tools.
- Cross-train your best team members so they can be moved around to the positions where they are most needed.
- Provide information that helps team members understand themselves better so that they can manage change better.
- Make the company’s own unique standard of top performance known to all. Make it a clear and present goal.
Tough economic conditions can influence employees to relate differently to their
Boss and their job in the short term. But both employees and employers should take this opportunity to maximize their relationship. It can pay big dividends in the long run. – Eric Bunton, Randstad USA, recruitment agency
Put your personnel work first because it is the most important. – Gen. Robert E. Wood, former president of Sears, Roebuck and Co.
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STRATEGIES FOR WINNING: The New Art of Hiring Smart*
CASE STUDY
PXT™ Helps Find Top Fire/Rescue Personnel
A fire and rescue department in a large city made an important and potentially life-changing discovery when it determined that using ProfileXT™ in its initial selection of employees would have helped it identify more potential top performers.
The story began when the department examined its own processes for selecting and placing firefighters. A sophisticated and effective model was already in place prior to PXT. This model consisted of a written exam, a physical abilities test and a psychological test conducted by an industrial psychologist. The department selected about 10 percent of overall applicants using this process.
But managers wanted to explore using PXT's Job Match system to further refine the department’s hiring processes, and to identify candidates and employees with the potential to become top performers.
Participants
The department chose 24 firefighters to participate in the study. Using its previously established performance evaluation process, managers identified 14 of the 24 as top performers. They considered the remaining ten good employees, but did not place them in the top-performing group.
Job Match
The Job Match Pattern was developed using the Concurrent Study method. The study determined the assessment results for the top group of 14, and then matched the entire group of 24 to the resulting pattern. From this, managers determined an overall percent match of 80 percent for each firefighter. This meant that a score of 80 percent or higher would identify a top performer.
By the Numbers
Eleven of the original 14 top performers, or 79 percent, matched the 80 percent or higher job match rate.
Two of the ten not identified as top performers scored 80 percent or higher. Thus eight of ten, or 80 percent, of the lower performers were NOT selected by the Job Match Pattern process as top performers.
Summary
If the fire and rescue department had used the ProfileXT™ in its initial selection of these employees, managers would have selected 79 percent of the original top performers and 20 percent of those not deemed top performers. This means the department would not have overlooked as many potential top performers if it had properly used the PXT matching process in a balanced selection method.
SUCCESS STORY
PXT Helps Idaho Agency Replace Boomers
Editor's Note: Idaho Fish and Game is responsible for the year-round protection and management of the state's wildlife. The retirement of Baby Boomers prompted the commission to seek help. Here, Jon Heggen, chief of the Enforcement Bureau, discusses the commission’s results after using ProfileXT™.
Q. Why did Idaho Fish and Game turn to ProfileXT™?
A. Baby Boomers within our conservation officer ranks are rapidly retiring. We have had to step up our recruitment efforts to fill our increased vacancies.
Q. How did the ProfileXT™ Job Match Pattern help you?
A. Recently, we began to notice a pattern of behaviors and skills among successful conservation officers, and we wanted to identify those behaviors in job candidates as well. We found what we were looking for when we were introduced to ProfileXT™. It helped us build our Idaho Fish and Game Officer Analysis and create a benchmark so that we could meet our needs by identifying the traits we wanted in our conservation officers.
Q. How did you quantify the results?
A. Two years ago, we hired seven officers who have become known as the "Magnificent
Seven." Each officer brings a unique personality that adds to our diverse culture, and each one of them exhibits the behavioral traits we identified in our Idaho Fish and Game Officer Analysis.
Q. Did the successful results prove to be lasting?
A. After two years, all seven officers continue to excel in their work and have set the bar higher for future recruits.
Q. What do you tell others about ProfileXT™?
We are pleased to add ProfilesXT™ to our assessment tools. It helps us meet our
needs as we hire Idaho's future conservation officers.
