Welcome to our new series called Observations on Assessments. Over the next 10 weeks Chuck will dive into the in's and out's of the assessment industry. Stay tuned, we will have new posts up every Thursday!
Even old assessments look beautiful coming from a new printer. The terminologies all sound alike. The promises made by the salespeople all sound similar. The fact is that they all have some value, and even the oldest will seem accurate when you read your report. The important thing to realize, as the customer, is that the question is not one of working or not working. Payphones in glass and aluminum phone booths worked, but they did not work anything like smart mobile phones. Typewriters worked, but nothing like computers today. Technology is capable of quantum leaps in capability. That is exactly what has happened over the last twenty years in the world of assessments.
There is nothing dangerous with using older assessments. Similarly, you can safely use a typewriter or carry around some coins for pay phones (assuming one could be found). Their limitations are the problem. More advanced assessments give you extraordinary capabilities. The latest generations of assessment technology effectively make bad hires a thing of the past. They allow you to engineer better teams, which is light years beyond the classic team-building workshop. You can use the DATA to link the operational strengths of the team to the operational strategies of the business. With 7th generation tools, you can unlock the potential of every employee and contribute to the enterprise in ways you never imagined.
The challenge is to recognize the newest generations of tools amid the early ones dressed up in new marketing stories and websites. Read Part 4 of Changing the Game for simple clues to look for when shopping for assessments or to evaluate your current vendor.
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