Approach
Hire Insight assessment programs are effective in large part because of the work that our consulting team puts into understanding your specific hiring situation. The following is an outline of the typical approach we take in developing and administering an assessment program:

Step 1: Needs Evaluation

A needs evaluation is conducted to review your hiring process and determine the qualities required for success in the position, team, and organization. This helps us to determine the extent to which we can help and the type of screening and assessment program that would be most suitable.

Some of the issues that we consider during the needs assessment include:

• Stakeholders’ level of satisfaction with various steps in your organization’s current hiring process.
• Team and organizational culture.
• Job responsibilities and objectives.
• Challenges that incumbents will face once hired, immediately and over the coming years.
• Impact of the hiring decision (i.e., risks and consequences of a hiring mistake).
• Characteristics of successful and unsuccessful employees in the role.
• Critical position competencies (either those already in place, or created with the help of Hire Insight consultants).

Step 2: Program Design

Once we understand your situation, needs, and the competencies to evaluate, we then choose a set of appropriate assessment methods, which may include:

• Behavioural styles or personality questionnaires.
• Ability tests (e.g., problem-solving, verbal and numerical reasoning, learning potential).
• Cultural fit and motivation questionnaires.
• Communication style questionnaires.
• Conflict style inventories.
• Technical knowledge tests.
• Work simulations and assessment centre exercises.
• 360° feedback surveys.
• Structured behaviour-based interviews.

The attributes measured by these methods are mapped to your specific competency model, or one that was developed in partnership with Hire Insight. For example, if Problem Solving is a critical competency for the role, we may map and assess attributes such as “inclination to think critically” (personality) and “inductive reasoning skills” (ability). Where applicable, we also choose norm groups appropriate to the job in question (e.g., Junior Managers in the Engineering, Science and Technology industry); this helps put the assessment results into context and ensures that the right type and difficulty of instrument is chosen for your particular candidates.

We also offer the option of having hiring managers, or a set of current incumbents, trial the program to ensure that the assessments are appropriate for the role and level, and that the process is a challenging yet positive experience for future candidates.

Step 3: Program Administration

After we discuss and verify the assessment mapping with you and other stakeholders, we then begin the process of administering the assessment program. This includes creating an assessment project on our online system, as well as calling and emailing candidates to ensure that they are well prepared for the assessment and have all of their questions and concerns addressed. It is very important to us that candidates view the process in a positive light and that the client is represented well to all potential employees.

Candidates then:

• Access the online project with usernames and passwords provided,
• Review instructions and practice questions for each instrument, and
• Complete the assessment instruments, either remotely or in a supervised setting.

Once completed, the results of these questionnaires are sent to a Hire Insight consultant for interpretation. Depending on the program chosen, candidates would then typically:

• Meet the consultant at the Hire Insight Group offices or client site,
• Take part in further exercises and interviews to verify and explore assessment results,
• Receive feedback on the results and their implications.

Step 4: Client Feedback

All programs conclude with a report that presents candidate assessment results in a format designed to help you make hiring decisions quickly and easily. These reports are written by the consultant based on questionnaire interpretation, interview responses and observations, and any other data gathered that would relate to performance on critical job competencies.

Features of these reports that clients have found most helpful include:

• Assessment results outlined in a standard structured format, allowing for a side-by-side comparison of individuals assessed.
• Comprehensive ratings and comments on each critical job competency.
• Graphs that represent assessment results in visual format.

A client feedback session is also scheduled, during which you can discuss assessment results with the consultant and ask any questions you have about the report and its implications.

Step 5: Program Improvement