HR Technology and Innovation in Corporate

Assessment – A Cautionary Tale: An

Inside Look

HR Technology and Innovation in Corporate Assessment – A Cautionary Tale: An Inside Look Profiles International, a leader in providing talent management solutions to help organizations select and develop the right people for the right job, recently published a white paper titled “HR Technology and Innovation in Corporate Assessment – A Cautionary Tale: An Inside Look.” The document discusses technology trends as they relate to psychological assessments, specifically in the corporate realm.

Corporate assessments help determine which candidates are likely to succeed in a particular job within a specific industry. Each assessment instrument gauges a candidate’s skills and abilities for a given position. However, technological innovation can get in the way of creating precise, accurate, reliable and valid assessments. In other words, the science takes a back seat to “next generation” innovations like slick user-interfaces.

Why does such a disconnect exist between the science of talent assessments and the technology of “better, faster, easier” applications? A lot has to do with the culture of tech development. Companies expect the same rate of production from both assessment and tech development teams.

With tech development teams, the pressure for fast time-to-market creates a “launch now and fix later” attitude. Companies and their customers accept this mind set and apply bug fixes and patches regularly. Software developers have easy access to application code in order to continually fine-tune it.

But employment assessments are a different story. Hiring managers use assessment data to make crucial HR decisions. These assessments can be used to decide upon hiring, promoting, coaching, and leadership development initiatives. Many times, only a few points can separate who gets a job and who doesn’t.

The Issues with Large and Small Companies The 1990s were certainly the hay-day for start-ups. Back then, any start-up with an idea could be valued far beyond its current revenue stream. Those companies quickly came back down to earth, or went away completely, when the bottom fell out of the market during the tech bust.

The recent “Great Recession” created a necessity for lean and mean corporate structures in large companies. For cost efficiencies, some of these companies are buying start-ups instead of building certain competencies from within. The more successful of these companies will take a “hands-off” approach with the start-up rather than try to assimilate it. But, issues still exist.

When it comes to corporate assessments, the market has seen a flood of start-ups. This is a troubling trend. First, only a small number of people in the U.S. are qualified to develop corporate assessments. Second, when you pull back the curtain on these start-ups, many are actually tech firms that have purchased assessments from external sources.

This arrangement creates two distinct processes for a single product: one for HR technology and one assessments. Both are being developed in a vacuum without an understanding of their respective requirements.

Where’s the Sweet Spot?

So if both start-ups and large companies have issues when it comes to corporate assessments, what’s the best choice? Based on the author’s research, somewhere in the middle. The most qualified assessment companies fall in the mid-sized category and meet the following criteria:

• Strong global footprint • Strong scientific evidence • 20-plus years in business • Dedicated, on-site R&D team

Profiles International’s white paper delves into this topic in greater detail. The document covers a more in-depth discussion of HR technology and its impact on corporate assessments, including market dynamics, the confluence of large and small companies, the four primary approaches large companies use to innovate, criteria for successful assessment companies, how to ensure technology does not compromise product innovation, and much more. To download the white paper, visit http://info.profilesinternational.com/research/hr-technology/.

About the Author

Dr. Kurt Hulett is a highly regarded expert in the field of educational assessment and publishing. He is currently working with and advising myriad US and international organizations to create solutions, provide strategies, and develop new and innovative approaches to attack some of the most pervasive issues facing the assessment and publishing industry.

About Profiles International

Profiles International helps organizations worldwide create high‐performing workforces by specializing in a comprehensive suite of talent management solutions. Profiles’ clients gain a competitive advantage by understanding their people at the deepest levels. This helps them select the right people for the right role and manage them to their fullest potential.

Visit us at http://www.profilesinternational.com or call 866-751-1644 for more information on HR technology.