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Key Design Decisions for 360 Feedback Success

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Many managers and HR practitioners are familiar with 360 feedback as a leadership development practice. However, no two 360 feedback experiences look alike.

That is actually a good thing. Most successful 360 feedback drives behavior change both for individual leaders and their employers because the process is tailored to the organization’s unique culture as well as the intended purpose of the exercise.

On the other hand, this need for customization means practitioners face an overwhelming number of decisions when designing a new 360 feedback assessment. For example:

  • Who should participate?
  • How many survey questions should we include?
  • Who should receive the report?
  • What kind of follow-up support should we offer?
  • Who should choose the raters?
  • What role should HR play in the process?

Fortunately, some 360 feedback implementation practices have become ubiquitous. That means some guesswork, research and debate aren’t necessary. For example, below are five must-haves for strong engagement and outcomes.

Five Design Factors for 360 Feedback:

1) Which groups should participate in ratings?

Anyone who has observed a leader’s on-the-job behavior can provide useful rating input. This could include the leader who is being assessed, as well as a combination of direct supervisors, secondary managers, peers, direct reports, customers, board of directors representatives, donors and even skip reports.

In some situations, it is helpful to include other groups to meet specific requirements. For example, if a leader is actively involved with strategic partners or other third-party groups, their voices could add useful context. 

While there is flexibility to customize the participant mix, 360 feedback assessments typically include these four core rater groups as a baseline:  self, peers, direct reports, and direct managers. In fact, according to soon-to-be-released research from our firm, 88% of organizations include these four core groups.

2) Who will select and approve raters?

Among 360 feedback experts, there is some debate about the best way to choose raters. Should assessment recipients choose their participants? Those who favor this approach say it ensures a sense of ownership and buy-in. Others say a third party (a manager or HR representative) should choose raters. This ensures that feedback is well-balanced and avoids a “friends and family” bias.

Most 360 feedback process owners agree leaders should choose their own raters to build trust and establish assessment process buy-in. On the other hand, 70% of organizations tell us they review and approve final rater lists.

We agree that manager involvement is a wise practice, and a leader’s direct manager should approve the final list. Over the last 20 years, we’ve found that this is the most common approach. And according to our new benchmarking analysis, 48% of companies continue to use this method.

3) How will we score surveys and generate reports?

As with many HR processes, technology has also transformed 360 feedback implementation practices. Now, most HR practitioners rely heavily on online tools so they can collect, organize, analyze and share useful feedback faster and easier.

In 2009, spreadsheets and even paper surveys were still popular ways to collect and report 360 feedback data. Today, those methods are all but obsolete. In fact, 91% of organizations now use a web-based reporting tool to manage surveys and generate reports.

Many practitioners are also choosing to outsource this task to specialized service providers. In fact, our recent research shows that 80% of employers rely on an external vendor or consultant to handle this aspect of the process. 

4) How can we assure rater anonymity? 

To encourage honest responses, employers must ensure that feedback sources remain anonymous. Therefore, it’s not surprising that 81% of employers tell us rater anonymity is essential to the success of their 360 feedback endeavors.

A common way to ensure anonymity is by requiring a minimum number of survey responses for any group specified in the report. For example, peer scores are displayed separately only if at least 3 peers respond. If fewer peers respond, then that data is included only in overall average ratings.

Most often, organizations require a minimum of three raters in a category. In fact, 83% of companies use this three-rater threshold rule. Very few skip this requirement altogether (3% require no minimum responses). And on the other end of the spectrum, very few require more than three responses.

5) How will we help leaders translate the report into action?

For best results, talent management experts agree that personal follow-up is essential. To optimize ROI, employers should avoid the “desk drop” follow-up, where leaders receive a 360 feedback report, but no direct support to discuss results, implications, or next steps.

Follow-up can include any number of supportive actions, such as:  Adding development suggestions to the report, offering action planning guidance, providing individualized 1-on-1 coaching, assigning in-person or online workshops, referring leaders to specialized resource libraries, and more.

The most common step is also what talent management professionals feel is most critical for 360 assessment success:  Provide a one-on-one meeting with a trained 360 feedback coach who can facilitate action planning based on the results.

Historically, these sessions were conducted in person. However, in recent years, video meetings have become the dominant format. Also, reliance upon external coaches (rather than in-house staff) has become more popular.

Fortunately, 88% of organizations say they provide debrief sessions and one-on-one coaching, so feedback recipients can interpret insights and chart a relevant path forward.

Final Thoughts

Good leaders thrive on feedback. But for 360 feedback assessments to be effective, it’s important for leaders to understand the results and commit to improvement.

This means employers must take care to design and implement a valid, well-informed process from end to end. By addressing key design elements at the outset and by investing in ongoing leadership guidance, organizations can dramatically increase the likelihood of success.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE:
Want to learn more about the decisions talent managers make when designing and implementing 360 feedback assessments? Replay this recorded webinar, where the 3D Group unveils findings from its latest benchmarking study, Current Practices in 360 Feedback, 7th Edition. This analysis includes 20 years of data from more than 600 companies.

What To Look For When Hiring Entry to Mid-Level Employees

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It can be difficult to hire for entry-level and mid-level positions because candidates may not have a long list of former employers or jobs that can truly represent their ability to perform the tasks a new employer is looking for. In some cases a leap of faith is needed when hiring at these levels. Even so, this leap doesn’t have to be done totally blind. Employers can look for a pattern of ability and success in other areas and apply this knowledge to the current job opening.

So, what should companies be looking for when hiring new entry- to mid-level employees?

Are They A Good Culture Fit?

Culture is the environment created for (and by) employees in a workplace. A new employee should complement the culture of the organization, as employees who don’t fit into the work environment properly tend to leave to find an environment that is more in line with their beliefs. The average cost of a bad hire can equal 30% of that employee’s first-year potential earnings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics. Potential hires should have personalities that will mesh well with internal stakeholders (their co-workers) as well as external ones (clients or vendors). Potential employees who don’t display the values and characteristics within the current culture may not be the right choice for the organization. Employers can assess a job candidate for culture fit during the interview process by learning how they have handled different work situations previously.

Do They Have Previous Achievements?

Entry-level candidates may not have a long list of professional accomplishments, so it’s important to think outside of the box. Look at what these candidates have achieved in school, internships, extracurricular activities, or hobbies. Companies can identify candidates that have taken projects or assignments in these arenas from start to finish successfully and with positive results. About 60% of college graduates can’t find work in their chosen field, according to an article from Forbes. With so many potential candidates having unrelated experience it is important to understand how previous achievements line up with the new responsibilities.

How Do They Handle Behavioral Questions?

Determine the must-have abilities, qualities, personality traits, and skills that are necessary for the position and create a series of questions designed to detect whether or not the candidate has them. During the interview process ask candidates these questions and ask them to provide examples of a time in the past when they used these skills. Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions as they will help you dig deeper into a candidate’s past experiences and abilities. Go beneath the surface of the candidate’s answers to learn how he or she thinks and will likely react in work situations.

Can They Do The Work?

Even the most detailed interview process can’t replace actually seeing the applicant do the work. Companies can ask entry- and mid-level job candidates to complete a work-related project or exercise that mimics some of the tasks they’ll be performing on the job. These can be especially helpful when video interviews have been the main mode of contact with candidates. The results of these exercises can give hiring organizations insight into how candidates will work on the job and can help to differentiate between two candidates to determine who would be stronger.

The level that a candidate is at will not matter as much as if they have the skills the company is looking for and their overall ability to do the job. Some of the best qualities for a candidate at any level to possess are professionalism and an eagerness to learn. While some job-related tasks can be taught, others (particularly personality traits) cannot. Companies would be wise to hire candidates who will be good for the future needs of the company, not just what is needed today.

About the Author: Megan Ritter is a graduate student at USC and has worked for various financial institutions and marketing firms. Follow her @megmarieritter.

photo credit: Day 174 via photopin (license)

Applicant Assessments: Testing The Waters

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(Editor’s Note: We invite you to discuss candidate screening techniques in more detail with the entire TalentCulture community, this week at #TChat Events on Wednesday, February 19th. For details, see the #TChat Preview post: Hiring Great Talent: How Do You Decide?)

Can you tell from a resume if an applicant has the skills needed to succeed in a job? How do you know if someone is really the right fit for your company?

If you’re unsure, perhaps pre-employment tests should be part of your evaluation process. Knowledge is power — and assessments can be a powerful addition to any hiring toolkit.

Evaluating Job Candidates: A Smart Strategy

Increasingly, organizations are relying on screening tests to improve their hiring and workforce development decisions. In fact, in a recent survey by Aberdeen Group, 49% of companies said they have an assessment strategy in place — up from only 40% in 2011.

Infographic - How to select assessments for employee screening

See Details: How To Choose Job Candidate Testing Tools

Melissa Hulsey, president and CEO of Ashton Staffing, explains that, with the correct type of test, employers can evaluate candidates effectively across multiple dimensions, including job skills, professional  knowledge and cultural fit. It’s even possible to make behavioral predictions and gain insight into core values.

“Properly constructed assessments look below the surface information presented by applicants to systematically predict which one will be the best hire for a position,” explains Dr. Charles Hanler, president of Rocket-Hire, a consultancy that helps improve organizational hiring practices. He compares the resume review and interview process to the tip of an iceberg. The bulk of an iceberg is what remains below the surface — what you can’t see and touch.

Choosing Applicant Assessments

It’s essential to choose the right type of assessment for your goals. Tests can produce a mind-numbing array of candidate metrics — personality, cognitive abilities, professional knowledge, work skills, physical and motor abilities, emotional intelligence, language proficiency, drug use and even values like integrity. Yet, when evaluations are properly applied, employers can more quickly and confidently identify candidates who are best qualified for open positions and most likely to succeed in the organization.

As the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology explains, there are pros and cons to each of the many types of employment assessments. But before deciding how you’ll test candidates, it’s important to determine what kind of information matters most to you. Tests vary according to their mode of administration (web-based tools vs. paper and pencil), content focus (interpersonal skills, mathematical ability), level of standardization or structure, costs, administrative ease, and other factors.

Although there can be significant benefits from using tests in the employee selection process, there are also multiple issues to consider. In particular:

• Validity  Does the test actually measure the characteristic it is designed to measure? For example, does it actually predict future job performance or success?

• Reliability How consistently does a test measure the target characteristic? If an assessment tool isn’t highly reliable, it will be of little value in predicting a candidate’s future job performance. As with validity, a test’s reliability should be verified before it is administered.

• Legality Because employment tests are periodically challenged in court, employers must make sure assessments do not violate federal, state, or local EEO laws, including Title VII.

TYPES OF CANDIDATE TESTS
Assessment Centers Often used to assess interpersonal skills, communication skills, planning/organizing and analytical skills. Typically involves exercises that reflect job content and types of problems faced on the job.
Biographical Data Uses questions about education, training, work experience and interests to predict success on the job. 
Cognitive Ability Tests Assesses aptitude or potential to solve job-related problems by focusing on mental abilities such as verbal or mathematical reasoning, or perceptual abilities like speed in recognizing letters of the alphabet.  
Integrity Tests Assesses attitudes and experiences related to honesty, dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and pro-social behavior. 
Interviews The most common type of employment test. Typically assesses interpersonal skills, communication skills and teamwork skills, and can be used to assess job knowledge.
Job Knowledge Tests Typically uses multiple choice questions or essays to evaluate technical or professional expertise and knowledge required on the job.
Personality Tests Measures traits related to behavior at work, interpersonal interactions, and satisfaction with different aspects of work. 
Physical Ability Tests Uses tasks or exercises that determine ability to perform. Measures physical attributes and capabilities, such as strength, balance and speed.
Work Samples and Simulations Measures specific job skills or job knowledge, but can also assess general skills such as organizational, analytic and interpersonal skills.

How Do You Evaluate Job Applicants?

Do you use pre-employment tests to screen applicants before they’re hired? Has this been effective for your organization? How does this help or hinder your company’s candidate experience? Share your experience in the comment area.

Image Credit: Stock.xchng

Hiring Great Talent: How Do You Decide? #TChat Preview

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(Editor’s Note: Want details from this week’s #TChat Events? See the Storify slideshow and resource links and more in the #TChat Recap: “Hiring: A Winner Every Time.”)

Think back for a moment.

What factors tend to drive your organization’s hiring decisions? Impressive candidate credentials? Hiring manager preference? Behavioral interviews? Gut instinct?

Now tell me — how successful has that method been?

Studies indicate that hiring by intuition fails as much as 75% of the time — so clearly there’s no easy answer. However, a more deliberate, structured approach can significantly improve the odds of finding a long-term fit.

What approach works best? That’s the focus of our conversation this week at #TChat Events. Leading the way are two HR professionals who understand the value of a solid hiring methodology: Chris Mursau, Vice President at Topgrading, and Jean Lynn, VP of HR at Home Instead Senior Care.

Sneak Peek: Smart Ways to Hire Better Talent

To frame this week’s discussion, I briefly spoke with Chris in a G+ hangout — where we talked about why it’s so tough for companies to find and keep the talent they need…

This topic touches all of us in the world of work, so we hope you’ll join the #TChat crowd this week and add your perspective to the conversation!

#TChat Events: Smart Ways to Hire Better Talent

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Tune-in to the #TChat Radio show

#TChat Radio — Wed, Feb 19 — 6:30pmET / 3:30pmPT Tune-in to the #TChat Radio show Our hosts, Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman talk with Chris Mursau and Jean Lynn about how companies can be more effective at hiring top performers. Tune-in LIVE online this Wednesday!

#TChat Twitter — Wed, Feb 19 — 7pmET / 4pmPT Immediately following the radio show, Meghan, Kevin and our guests will move to the #TChat Twitter stream, where we’ll continue the discussion with the entire TalentCulture community.

Everyone with a Twitter account is invited to participate, as Dr. Nancy Rubin moderates a dynamic live chat focused on these related questions:

Q1:  How do we identify and attract high-performing employees?
Q2:  What processes and technologies impact quality of hire?
Q3:  Hiring via “gut” feel alone usually fails, so why do we keep doing it?
Q4:  Do reference checks really influence a candidate’s viability?
Q5:  How should employers communicate their culture to candidates?

Throughout the week, we’ll keep the discussion going on the #TChat Twitter feed, and in our new TalentCulture G+ community. So feel free to drop by anytime and share your questions, ideas and opinions.

We’ll see you on the stream!

Mobile Hiring Hits The Fast Lane #TChat Recap

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Several weeks ago, we started a #TChat discussion about the rapid increase in demand for mobile recruitment. Why?

Meeting Talent On Talent’s Terms

Smartphones and tablets are now essential tools for many of us, and statistics reveal just how prevalent mobility has become. For example, a report by Marketing Land indicates that nearly 40% of Internet use is driven by mobile devices. And Jibe found that, despite perceived obstacles, 86% of job seekers with a smartphone want to use that device in their search.

Recruiting consultant Michael Marlatt says the staggering pace of mobile adoption shouldn’t surprise us, because mobile devices offer a very personal connection. “It’s one of three things we carry. We never leave home without it. It’s the keys, the wallet or purse, and the mobile device.”

Mobile Hiring: Moving Beyond First Impressions

In this landscape, it makes sense for employers to offer mobile-optimized career sites and application management processes. Mobile-friendly recruitment enhances the candidate experience and gives employers a competitive edge in the quest to find top talent.

Recruitment certainly is a logical starting point. However, it’s only the first chapter in a much larger employment story.

What happens after a candidate is selected? In the critical timeframe between recruitment and onboarding, how can organizations leverage mobile tools to streamline hiring steps? And along the way, how can mobile engagement continue to solidify an employer’s relationship with new recruits?

Ignoring those questions can have costly consequences — for both employer brands and employee retention. So this week, our community expanded the recruiting discussion to look at how mobile technology can transform the entire transition from candidate to employee. To guide our conversation, we invited two experts in hiring process innovation:

• Todd Owens, President and COO at TalentWise, a next-generation hiring platform provider, and:
• Kyle Lagunas, Talent Acquisition Industry Analyst at Brandon Hall Group.

What’s At Stake For Employers?

Why is mobile increasingly vital for the hiring process? As Kyle recently noted, 22% of U.S. turnover occurs within 45 days of employment. If organizations aren’t fast and efficient at bringing new hires up to speed, they’re at risk of adding to those statistics. And with the average cost of turnover at about 20% of an employee’s salary, failure at this stage can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

So, how can HR organizations leverage the immediacy and reach of mobile to make the entire hiring process more efficient and effective? For wisdom from the crowd, check the resource links and highlights from this week’s events, below. Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas and opinions!

#TChat Week-In-Review: Mobile + Hiring = Good Match?

Todd Owens #TChat Preview Video - Mobile Hiring

Watch the #TChat Sneak Peek Video

SAT 11/9:

#TChat Preview: TalentCulture Community Manager Tim McDonald framed this week’s topic in a post that featured brief “sneak peek” hangout video with one of our guests, Todd Owens. Read the Preview: “Hiring: Moving Forward With Mobile?”

SUN 11/10:

Forbes.com Post: TalentCulture CEO, Meghan M. Biro offered 5 guidelines for business leaders who want to make the most of mobile recruiting and hiring. Read: “Leadership Is Catching a Mobile Recruiting Wave.”

MON 11/11 + TUE 11/12:

Related Posts: Two guest bloggers offered related insights:
Read: “Mobile Hiring: A Smarter Way to Seal the Deal.”
Read: “HR Flashback: The Way We Worked.”

WED 11/13:

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Listen to the #TChat Radio show now

#TChat Radio: Our hosts, Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman spoke with guests Todd Owens and Kyle Lagunas about the business benefits of extending mobile recruiting strategies to the entire hiring process. Listen to the radio recording now!

#TChat Twitter: Immediately following the radio show, Meghan, Kevin and guests joined the entire TalentCulture community on the #TChat Twitter stream, as I moderated an open conversation that centered on 5 related questions. For highlights, see the Storify slideshow below:

#TChat Insights: Mobile Hiring — HR Evolution or Revolution?

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Closing Notes & What’s Ahead

GRATITUDE: Thanks again to  Todd Owens and Kyle Lagunas for sharing your perspectives on the increasingly vital role of mobile strategies throughout the employment lifecycle. We value your time and expertise.

NOTE TO BLOGGERS: Did this week’s events prompt you to write about hiring or mobile workforce issues? We welcome your thoughts. Post a link on Twitter (include #TChat or @TalentCulture), or insert a comment below, and we’ll pass it along.

WHAT’S AHEAD: Next week we celebrate “community” in a big way — as we look back on 3 years of #TChat at a very special anniversary double header with Hootsuite VP of Talent, Ambrosia Humphrey.

Meanwhile, the World of Work conversation continues. So join us on the #TChat Twitter stream, on our LinkedIn discussion group. or elsewhere on social media. The lights are always on here at TalentCulture, and we look forward to hearing from you.

See you on the stream!

Image Credit: Pixabay

Hiring: Moving Forward With Mobile? #TChat Preview

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(Editor’s Note: Looking for a full recap of the week’s highlights and resources? Read the #TChat Recap: “Mobile Hiring Hits The Fast Lane.”)

Several weeks ago at #TChat Events, our community discussed the rapid rise in demand for mobile recruiting.

The statistics are mind-boggling. Already, it’s estimated that 1 billion job-related searches are initiated each month from mobile devices. That kind of volume means organizations everywhere are racing to make their candidate experience more mobile friendly.

Mobile Recruiting Leaps Forward: Can Hiring Keep Pace?

These explosive mobile adoption figures lead us to wonder — what happens after the recruitment phase?

Are HR organizations committed to mobile-friendly hiring processes — from the offer letter to onboarding — and beyond? What will it take to connect the mobile workforce dots across the entire employee lifecycle? And how can we get there from here? That’s what we’ll explore this week at #TChat Events, with two talent acquisition experts:

• Kyle Lagunas, Talent Acquisition Industry Analyst at Brandon Hall Group and
• Todd Owens, President and COO at TalentWise, a next-generation hiring platform provider.

Todd took several minutes to help frame this week’s issues in a “sneak peek” hangout with me:

This is an important issue for talent-minded professionals everywhere. So we hope you’ll join the conversation this week. We look forward to hearing your ideas and opinions!

#TChat Events: Mobile Devices + Hiring = Good Match?

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Tune-in to #TChat Radio

#TChat Radio — Wed, Nov 13 — 6:30pmET / 3:30pmPT

Our hosts, Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman talk with Todd Owens and Kyle Lagunas about how mobile hiring processes extend the candidate experience and improve HR effectiveness. Tune-in LIVE online this Wednesday!

#TChat Twitter — Wed, Nov 13 — 7pmET / 4pmPT

Immediately following the radio show, we’ll move this discussion to the #TChat Twitter stream, where Dr. Nancy Rubin will moderate an open chat with the entire TalentCulture community. Everyone with a Twitter account is invited to participate, as we address these questions:

Q1: What exactly is mobile hiring, and how it is being applied today?
Q2: What are the advantages of hiring anywhere, anytime?
Q3: How can mobile hiring showcase an organization’s corporate culture?
Q4: How can companies get all generations to adopt mobile recruiting/hiring?
Q5: Is mobile hiring a revolution, while mobile onboarding is an evolution?

Throughout the week, we’ll keep the discussion going on the #TChat Twitter feed and on our LinkedIn Discussion Group. So please join us share your questions, ideas and opinions.
We’ll see you on the stream!

Employee Superpowers Assessment For That? #TChat Preview

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Discerning employee and prospect superpowers for hiring and retaining your best people talent. Is assessment the key to a happy and content workplace and retaining your best people? As a leader, sometimes you need to recruit talent, and sometimes they are right there in your own organization, staring you in the face.

Although many people are looking for jobs, most companies–especially those in the technology sector–demand very specific skills, attributes and capabilities. This is still a tricky combination of factors that many companies are stugggling to get right.

If you’re a recruiter or hiring leader, the task of selecting the RIGHT talent becomes more difficult: you need to quickly screen all candidates and somehow find the hidden jewels of talent. If you’re a job seeker, it’s doubly difficult: first you must parse increasingly arcane job descriptions, then you must run the gauntlet of phone screens, spam-email-style responses to online applications, and interviews, all to get to the aptitude tests and puzzles today’s hiring managers are so fond of. Well, some are not really fond of them at all…

We are well beyond the time when a hiring manager asked, “What is your greatest strength? How about your weaknesses?” And we are past the question Microsoft made famous in their hiring process: “Why are manhole covers round?” Today, leaders and hiring managers use HR automation software and social media to flesh out the talent they’re looking for. Then come the assessments: self-assessments, personality tests, skills inventories and more.

But which deliver the best results for hiring and retaining your talent? Are any of these automated processes more effective than a face-to-face interview? Why, at a time when we most need to understand what makes a candidate tick, are we pushing human interaction so far down the list of to-do’s?

As the global economy pushes and pulls itself beyond the post-apocalyptic Recession, businesses big and small are looking inside as much as outside their organizations for the highest quality of fit and productivity possible with their full-time, part-time and contingent workforce. That means assessments galore measuring a myriad of hard and soft skills–superpowers, if you will–that will propel the business into the stratosphere.

In this week’s TalentCulture #TChat we’ll look at assessments and what they tell us about our organizations and employees. We’ll discuss which ‘superpowers’ hiring managers are looking for and how they dig out indicators of talent and culture fit. And we’ll weigh the balance between automated assessments and results. I can’t wait to see where this takes us. Always an interesting topic.

Join us Wednesday night, February 22 from 7-8 pm ET (4-5 pm PT, or wherever you are) for the next installment of #TChat Radio: #TChat Radio: Employee Super Powers: Is There an Assessment For That? This month, we’ll explore the topic of assessments vs. superpowers with Charles Handler of Rocket-Hire  – People skills coach Kate Nasser – and Julie Moreland of People Clues. We’ll assess assessments and dissect superpowers. In the process, we’ll reveal a lot about the true nature of today’s workplace and its concomitant hiring challenges. Please join me, Kevin Grossman, Maren Hogan, Sean Charles and Kyle Lagunas for a very special #TChat Radio.

Here are this week’s #TChat questions:

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A Good Detective Knows Emotional Intelligence Trumps IQ– Just Ask My Dad

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“In the fields I have studied, emotional intelligence is much more powerful than IQ in determining who emerges as a leader. IQ is a threshold competence. You need it, but it doesn’t make you a star. Emotional Intelligence can.”
–Warren Bennis, leadership pioneer, author and researcher


My dad was in the business of chasing bad guys across paper.

And he was really good at it; he had found his true passion in work and life — his groovy do-be-do.

As a detective in charge of forgery and fraud in the California Central Valley town I grew up in, chasing bad guys (and gals) across paper was how he always described it to my sister and me.

Dad’s passion as a young man was justice, maybe a little on the side of the professional wild west side of justice, but full of “to protect and serve” just the same.

After the Air Force and years of being a patrolman he found what we was really good at: finding the folks involved in check scams and credit card scams and embezzlement scams and identity scams and the like.

My dad was (is) smart — book smart and street smart — but he had an edge, the uncanny ability to empathically connect with anyone, anywhere at anytime. As the kids would say, he had the “soft skills” goin’ on.

He had organically developed the ability to lead “self” with lots of emotional intelligence, before emotional intelligence was truly defined and developed as it is today in the workplace.

Good guys, bad guys, in the middle guys (and gals) — it didn’t matter. He could immediately connect with them. Rapport and trust soon followed. His emotional self-awareness and awareness of others’ emotions and actions knew no limits. Some can counterfeit this behavior, but it can’t be sustained with any authenticity.

No wonder those he arrested couldn’t help but like him; he called them his “clients”.

That was all well and good, but from a police “business” perspective, he had a very high case-closed ratio and his arrests usually stuck and were prosecuted.

Of course, he had return customers, but he just kept doing what he did until he retired in early 1994.

During his career he had the opportunity for multiple leadership roles and was recruited by other city police departments and even the secret service, but he never wanted to leave where has was and the position he was in.

Thank goodness for that, because otherwise my mom and him maybe never would’ve met.

There are those who just naturally develop their emotional intelligence (EQ), who live a synchronous melody appropriate action and reaction, but most of us need assistance in the form of assessments, development programs and coaching in order to be better empathic leaders of self and others.  The good news is that we can develop it and sustain it.

Here are a couple of business examples of what developing high emotional intelligence (EQ) can do:

1) Fortune Brands saw 100% of leaders who developed their EQ skills through classroom training, coaching, and online learning exceed the performance targets set for them in the company’s metric-based performance management system. Just 28% of leaders who failed to develop their EQ skills exceeded their performance targets (Bradberry, 2005).

2) Emotionally intelligent leaders are indeed more successful than their less emotionally intelligent peers. So are their companies. At PepsiCo, for example, executives identified as emotionally intelligent generated 10% more productivity and added nearly $4 million in economic value; for Sheraton, an emotional intelligence initiative helped increase the company’s market share by 24% (Freedman & Everett, 2008).

And the 2011 New Year episode 81 of HR Happy Hour featured author and consultant Adele Lynn of the Lynn Leadership Group who talked all about the value of emotional intelligence in the workplace.

There’s a lot more research out there to substantiate the value of assessing and developing emotional intelligence.

Groovy do-be-do intersects at Emotional Intelligence HQ. That’s hip Em-Tel worth having.

Assessments: A Satisfying Success! #TChat Recap

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I’m full, and Thanksgiving hasn’t even happened yet.

Full from the knowledge and wisdom shared from many fabulous participants and nearly 1,000 tweets in last night’s #TChat all about assessments.  You can see all the stats and transcript here.

The premise for last night was:

There are a variety of companies who provide a myriad of different kinds of assessments.  Many are reliable and valid. And some maybe not so much. The point being, we want to know what kind of analyzing techniques you and your organization uses, for whom, and why, and what results you’ve seen to date.

By no means was this valid scientific sampling of the workplace, but what was interesting was that for the most part, no one uses pre-employment assessments.  We saw Wonderlic pop up and maybe there was one or two others, but otherwise our participants use development assessments like DiSC and MBTI (Myers Briggs).

In fact, those where primarily the main two that kept coming up over and over (although StrengthsFinder came up a few times now that I’m reviewing). Considering the list I posted in the promo, even development assessments aren’t used much.

There was some confusion early on in #TChat about whether or not folks used the DiSC and/or MBTI for recruiting/hiring, which is a no-no, but I’m pretty sure it was clarified that they were not.

When I asked about emotional intelligence assessments, I received nothing but crickets chirping.  That bummed me out.

Here’s a sampling of the questions we asked (although not all were numbered):

  • Q1: Does your org use assessments for recruiting, hiring and developing employees? Why or Why not?
  • How do you screen when hiring? Only interviews and reference checking? Industry and position specific?
  • Q2: What other types of assessments do you use? (emotional intelligence, personality, talent and skills-based, etc.)
  • Any job seekers on this chat who have recently taken a pre-employment assessment? If so, what?
  • Q3: Assessments a money sink? What’s the ROI and do any of you measure?
  • Are there internal assessments to measure first 3-6 month productivity/development?
  • Q4: Besides mainstream assessments already mentioned, why aren’t many others used in hiring and development?
  • Since last week was about emotional intelligence, anyone used MHS EQ-i, TalentSmart, etc.? Results?

Most everyone was in agreement that “retention” is the primary measure of ROI on any type of assessment. But what was resoundingly clear (and probably because we had a lot of recruiting folk on the #TChat), was the fact that face-to-face interviews were preferred when making hiring decisions.  That could be the topic for the next #TChat — the in’s and out’s of interviewing candidates for roles? We think yes.

A special thanks to Dr. Charles Handler from Rocket-Hire for joining us and sharing his assessment insight (@RocketHire).  I learned about face validity again, something I haven’t heard since my college psych days.

Also, thank you to @HRMargo, @LevyRecruits, @IanMondrow, @sbrownehr, @CyndyTrivella, @jkeithdunbar, @KateNasser, @ValueIntoWords, @AliciaSanera, @tlcolson, @BillBoorman, @AvidCareerist, @heatherhuhman, @dawnbugni and everyone else who participated!

TalentCulture captain Meghan M. Biro and her savvy team, the TC community and little ol’ me, are very grateful for you all.  Thank you again for participating. We look forward to next week already!

Here are some insightful #TChat tweets from last night. Have a bite! Happy Thanksgiving!