The Benefit of the Benefit
As we near the end of the fourth quarter, it’s time to begin planning for the new year. Before implementing tried and true goal setting principles (e.g., putting SMART goals in writing), consider taking a more strategic approach.
Instead of focusing on a laundry list of goals or to-dos, look at why you want to accomplish a specific goal. In other words, what is the benefit of meeting that objective? And then, do it again. What is the benefit of the benefit?
Whether your goal is learning to kayak or increasing sales by 25% ask yourself “why.” What do you expect to get out of it? Once you’ve answered that question, ask “why” at least one more time (maybe more).
By digging down additional layers, it is likely that you’ll have identified a deeper purpose and reached a level of understanding that will help you sustain momentum when the thrill of the new year wears off and/or obstacles begin to rear their ugly heads. When you know (and actually feel) the benefit of the benefit, you can apply renewed energy and enthusiasm to your highest priority goals.
Pleae contact Kammy Haynes if you are interested in learning more about goal setting and defining expectations for you or your staff.
Revisiting Computer-Based Tests
The first newsletter article we published was on computer-based testing. As with all things, particularly technology, time and perspective changes how we view things. Since that article was written, many pre-employment test users have migrated to web-administration and nearly all test publishers offer their wares on-line. Three of the four points made still hold. However, a concern about test security is not one of them.
Recent research has shown that the scores of unproctored web-administered tests are the same as when the test is administered on-site in a proctored environment. There two hypotheses as to why this is true:
-
People are generally honest and don’t try to cheat on pre-employment tests.
-
The friends and relatives of people who do choose to cheat on tests are no smarter than the candidates and may share similar personality types.
Regardless of which one is true, there are two steps you can implement to ensure the people taking the tests are who they say they are:
- Emphasize the integrity of the process and the ramifications of cheating.
- Provide passwords that expire in a short period of time. This makes it tougher for a person to bring in other resources.
- Administer a second (but shorter) proctored exam when the person comes in to interview. If the scores are very different you will want to investigate further.
Research shows that the impact of cheating on web-administered tests is potentially non-existent at a macro level, so the costs of preventing it at the individual level should be allocated accordingly.
For more informaton about implementing on-line pre-employment testing, please contact Warren Bobrow.