Aberdeen finds high percentage of Best-in-Class hiring organizations among PreVisor clients

The current economic environment has significantly impacted businesses in many ways. As a result of massive layoffs, the unemployed labor pool has grown enormously. This situation has placed increased pressure on hiring organizations to filter through larger volumes of applicants to find the most qualified individuals for open positions. Aberdeen Groupís March 2009 survey measuring use of pre-employment assessments presented findings on Best-in-Class practices, published in the ìAssessments in Talent Management Reportî. A newly published derivative of this report concludes that PreVisor, the global leader in employment assessments and talent measurement solutions that connect employment decisions to business results, was found to have a substantial group of clients in the top performing assessment practices categories and that these organizations are more likely to achieve Best-in-Class gains.

Aberdeenís August Research Brief states that clients of PreVisor have experienced higher performance improvements than companies using another assessment provider across metrics that are critical to the recruitment process such as improved retention and increased hiring manager satisfaction. PreVisor clients are Best-in-Class among pre-hire assessment users. Compelling data shows these clients are very aware that the top pressure driving assessment use is the ability to drive business results. Of those companies using PreVisor, 65% rate consistency in measuring employee competence a top priority compared to 41% of those companies not using PreVisor. PreVisor clients respond that to improve critical post-hire metrics such as retention and employee productivity, putting time and focus on the pre-hire phase of the hiring process yields the highest results.

ìThe motivation to produce this derivative report, following our original survey in March, was the marked difference we saw among PreVisor clientsí responses. As a group, these clients saw better results than other users of other assessment vendors in eight out of nine key indicators that were measured in the study,î said Jayson Saba, Aberdeen analyst and author of the research brief.

While building a high performance organization may be at the top of the list of goals, other process improvement metrics are more easily gauged. In year-over-year comparisons, recruiting costs/cost per hire decreased 21% for companies using PreVisor compared to just 11% for non-users, and turnover went down 15% when using PreVisor and 11% when not.

One example was cited from PreVisor client Time Warner Cable, where an average of 16,000 candidates go through the assessment process every year. ìTalent management assessments are critical to the success of my company in order to save valuable time and money finding qualified candidates, as well as improve employee retention,î stated David Ivester, Manager, Talent Acquisition for Time Warner Cable. ìWe are very pleased with the results weíve measured with PreVisor.î

Sophistication of assessment types and frequency of use also vary between PreVisor clients and non-users. PreVisor clients use all types of assessments – skill-based, behavioral, cognitive and ëwhole-personí – more regularly than do other organizations. It is worth noting that nearly three quarters of PreVisorís clients use ëwhole-personí assessments (bundled tests designed for specific jobs) versus just 38% of non-users. In addition, PreVisor clients are able to use the ëwhole personí approach because all the test content is provided on a single platform enabling the bundling of the different test types into a single assessment.

Some fast facts from the report: 91% of PreVisor clients have achieved support and buy-in from organizational managers for the use of assessments in talent management – compared to just 68% of non-users. Sixty percent (60%) of users have identified business pain points which assessments are designed to address, compared to only 40% of non-users.

Noel Sitzmann, CEO of PreVisor, reiterated, ìWe know that the key metrics for our clients relate to quality of hire, employee performance and productivity, workforce retention and hiring manager satisfaction with new hires. We strive to help them achieve measurable business results that drive growth. The results from Aberdeenís study have provided us with additional data to see how we are doing and identify areas of opportunity to improve.î