THE TECHNIQUES Fred Yetka described work in the real world, according to Steve Sill, president of Aspen Equipment, a truck equipment distributor in the Minneapolis-St Paul area.
“I wasn't all that great at looking at the person across the desk from me and deciding if that person was right for the job — without some help,” Sill said. “Now I am proud of the fact that we don't lose many people. That's because we are doing many of the things that Fred points out.”
One of those things is a personality assessment tool. Aspen Equipment uses one from Caliper (www.caliperonline.com) that costs less than $300 to administer. Considering the other costs associated with hiring and training personnel, Sills considers that a bargain.
“References are nice to have, but they are far from the whole story,” Sill said. “If the ex-employer gives a reference that is too good, he can be sued by the company that hires the employee. If the reference is too critical, he can be sued by the ex-employee.”
Sill recommends that distributors avoid assessment tools from companies that simply provide computer-generated results. Companies such as the one he uses also help evaluate the results of the applicant's assessment and give their opinion whether the applicant should or should not be hired.
“The thing I like about Caliper is that they give you a recommendation,” Sill said. “They tell you to hire the person, not hire him, or hire him with reservations.”
Sill told of an employee that Caliper recommended with reservations. In a follow-up interview, management asked the candidate to describe an instance where something went wrong. Knowing the candidate would either blame someone else or admit responsibility, Sill hired him after the candidate said he learned from the mistake. “I couldn't be happier with him,” Sill said.
Aspen uses the same assessment tool for every position in the company. Caliper was surprised to hear that the tool works for mechanics as well as white-collar positions. The tool, for example, assesses such traits as the candidate's sense of urgency, which Sill says is useful in determining if a mechanic has what it takes to get the job out on time.
“There are all sorts of personality traits that are required for different positions in the organization,” Sill said. “We use this tool on everyone, because any wrong hire is too expensive.”
Aspen Equipment has been using the Caliper system for about 10 years. Sill said that in the early years, he hired two candidates that were not recommended. In both cases, after going through their personnel files, management found that the reasons the employees were no longer with the company were the same reasons Caliper advised not to hire them.
“I am a strong believer in assessments that give you a recommendation and an explanation,” Sill said.