Mid-Level Leadership

Use assessment to find the right people   

By Noel Sitzmann – Originally published in the July 2009 edition of Leadership Excellence

The headlines remain gloomy: “A deepening leadership crisis;” “President blames ‘failure of leadership’ for auto crisis;” “Leadership center feeling effects of meltdown;” “Trust erodes daily”.

Both during this turmoil and well beyond, the need for good leadership will be important. But how do you identify good leadership? What role does fit play in a selection process for a manager or leader position?

Often there are leaders in place, but their effectiveness is less than stellar, and we wonder why. Remembering some hard lessons in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, our country found that the head of FEMA did not manage well in a crisis. There was heavy criticism from many sectors. But since the director was chosen based on his personal connections and never given an assessment or simulation test to discover how he responded under pressure during an extreme natural disaster, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that his performance was so poor.

The need to identify leaders impacts all sectors: government, public and private for-profit, and non-profit. Even with current consolidations, and people working longer or staying longer on the job, many thousands of new managers will be needed to fill in leadership gaps.

When organizations are under duress, it is difficult to make informed decisions around choosing the most effective leaders—those who can do more with less. It is possible to get a complete picture of employees hired for or moving into managerial, midlevel and executive leadership roles efficiently using advanced technology.

Utilize Smart Solutions
Many tools are available in the talent measurement arena. Most new assessments are administered online, making them more cost effective. Such assessments are built to evaluate multiple leadership competencies, including coaching skills, ability to prioritize, decision-making, thoroughness, and sense of duty; the more advanced ones also include critical cognitive and personality measurements and make use of the latest computer adaptive testing (CAT) technology, which adjusts to a candidate’s personality trait levels and abilities by asking questions based on the candidate’s previous responses. This method delivers a more accurate and secure assessment.

You need to know what success factors you look for in your leaders. It is easy to manage or lead during good times, but true leaders emerge during challenging times. Identify leaders with the skills and potential to perform under pressure, and carefully consider the processes and tools that will give the best answers to base decisions upon.

Use of newly developed simulations for front-line managers has proven to yield impressive results. In one recent business outcome study for a rental car agency, front-line supervisors who scored in the Recommended range on an assessment solution were nearly three times as likely to be rated effective performers compared to those who were in the Not Recommended range. Also, when the supervisors’ leaders rated whether or not they would rehire a given supervisor, 42 percent of those Recommended were rated as Definitely Would Rehire compared to just 28 percent of those who were Not Recommended.

The second example, from a national financial services organization, showed that Branch Managers who earned higher scores on a front-line manager assessment solution were four times as likely to be top performers, had 57 percent better future prospects as a leader, were 140 percent better at driving sales, and maintained 59 percent higher engagement!

Just how prevalent is the use of assessments? A study by Aberdeen Group, Assessments in Talent Management, reports the following use of assessment tools by best-in-class organizations:
78 percent for skills and knowledge; 69 percent for behaviors and attributes; 56 percent for cognitive/ critical thinking; 51 percent used a whole-person approach (bundled tests for specific jobs that combine behavioral/cognitive/skills).

The use of simulations is harder to track. More companies desire to use simulations for talent measurement because they have such a high level of predicting performance; however, few are yet using them. Delivering quality simulations in person has been a time consuming, expensive process. A technology solution can allow a close approximation of an assessment center experience at a fraction of the cost and time investment.

Science at Its Best
Relying on technology alone is insufficient. The content, what is being delivered, is the real key. All talent measurement, including that for leaders, needs to be based on organizational psychology best practices. Some of the latest techniques build in validated assessments presented more creatively to get specific results. Simulations have been used for decades, often termed "role-plays". Examples of these types of tests that can be delivered online:

• Video-based simulations used for measuring coaching abilities and managerial interactions are designed to show realistic scenarios that predict a candidate’s ability to listen, respond, probe, encourage, be directive and make accurate work demand judgments.
• Multi-tasking inbox simulations also present videos of staff interactions while emails, phone calls and voicemails must be handled. Together, these simulation components present an automated process for evaluating leadership competencies that are difficult to measure. Organizations seeking to increase the impact of newly hired leaders following assessment can reinforce leadership skills through education and training programs. Most organizations continue to invest in leadership development. But if you aren’t identifying the right people, you’ll waste money and time, and possibly kill the business.

Noel Sitzmann is CEO of PreVisor, the leading provider of technology-enabled tools for hiring, promoting and developing leaders. Visit www.previsor.com.

To view the full issue of the July 2009 edition of Leadership Excellence, including the above article on page 19, download the PDF here.