AlignMark Recruiting and Selection Blog

Success Can Be Predicted When Recruiting and Selecting Salespeople

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Validity is the indication of how much of a relationship there is between an assessment and on-the-job performance.  Obviously the greater the relationship the more return a company will see by using the assessment.  I realize practical considerations have to be taken into account.  A 3 day assessment to hire bank tellers or front-line sales people will not allow the company to fill its positions in a timely and cost-effective manner. However with the implementation of technology there is no reason a company cannot have both a highly predictive (valid) assessment and an assessment that can be delivered within the existing processes and time constraints set by the organization.  So why don’t all HR professionals ask for validity evidence or if they do ask, why don’t they put the highest priority on the validity coefficient when recruiting and selecting?

What we find is that there is always someone in the organization concerned with validity and/or the legality of the assessment but that doesn't always get communicated to all other HR personnel involved in the decision and implementation of an assessment.  Often times individuals don’t really understand how an increase in the validity translates to a geometric increase in the ROI a company will realize.  I’ve heard numerous times that “our 60% turnover rate is just our cost of doing business.”  There is a lack of understanding that even a 10% decrease in that turnover rate will far outweigh the costs associated with a valid assessment.

Even high level HR professionals in the organization don't always treat validity as important once a minimum level of "soundness" in the instrument is met.  It's clearly not the primary factor that drives buying decisions.  With all that said, HR professionals should be concerned with validity since that's what drives making the best decisions and produces the greatest ROI.

You may also find the following blogs informative:

Using Predictive Analysis in Recruiting and Selection

Excellence in Recruiting and Selection through Six Sigma (Part 1)

Talent Acquisition: Measuring Quality of Hires Versus Quantity