DON'T GET DISTRACTED
DON'T GET DISTRACTED
HR Tech is a tool, not a solution
I’ve every sympathy with frustrated and confused HRDs currently looking to source new Talent Assessment Solutions. The market is more diverse, exciting, fragmented, innovative and confusing than it’s ever been.
Up until about 5 years ago assessment solutions were largely produced by Occupational Psychologists, working for established players – when you bought a solution, you bought the consultancy know-how of a large organisation of experienced experts who’d been there, done that and bought the (slightly bland) t-shirt.
It was the simplest of times, but it was also the dullest of times. Buyers were rightly bored and uninspired. Their marketing, sales, finance and IT counterparts were benefitting from a myriad of innovative new tech whilst they still had a Psychologist rocking up to their office with a suite of norm groups, numerical reasoning tests and promises of a fun new training course with zany ice breakers.
Snore.
Enter gamification, VR, automation, immersion, machine learning and all things fourth industrial revolution. Finally, buying an assessment tool was an engaging and interesting experience. At long last, HRDs could go back to their CEOs and show them something genuinely fresh which promised an incredible candidate experience. All this new HR Tech comes with promises of epic candidate engagement, fantastic diversity and the use of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionise your process.
Brilliant.
And it’s true. I’ve worked in volume selection as a psychometrician for over 15 years, advising a range of FTSE 100 companies and Governments. And I’m perfectly happy to throw my hat into ring and tell you these tools can deliver all this.
But.
And there is a but. Don’t get distracted by the shiny tools alone. HR Tech is a tool not a solution. It’s not going to solve all your problems. The market typically underestimates the effort involved to implement assessment solutions and the bumps in the road you can, and will hit. A great tool alone is not enough. You need a trusted partner who can smooth the way. A partner who understands the complexities of your global market place and exactly how to personalise your assessment solution to account for this. They don’t need to have spent 15 years in psychology school. But they do need to be able to support you every step of the way, from sales, through to pilot, roll-out, stakeholder engagement, fine tuning, validation and be willing to get in a room with you and help you achieve stakeholders buy-in right across your business. The right partner will understand that a Solution needs to fit and be configured to all areas of your business, not just be a great piece of new kit. When a Tool or series of Tools are personalised across your business and rolled out with expert support, that’s when you have a great Assessment Solution.
When a Tool, or series of Tools, are personalised across your business and rolled out with expert support - that’s when you have a great Assessment Solution.
So in order to help navigate this brave new marketplace…
DO
- Look at all your options. Throw your RFP net wide, there’s loads of cool stuff out there right now
- Ask for examples of how your chosen partner has worked through client issues and build long term relationships. Pick up the phone to someone who will advocate for them
- Ask for evidence that the solution actually predicts performance, not just candidate satisfaction
DO NOT
- Accept a pitch team who won’t be delivering the solution – you should meet your account manager and technical experts, not the sales force. Buy the people as well as the product
- Be afraid to take risks, with the right partner in place this is how you break boundaries
- Be seduced by buzz words. The team in front of you should be able to explain exactly what they mean, in real- life terms
