The Power of Assessments and Training for Organizations

More and more organizations are using employee assessments and training for all parts of the employee lifecycle. Employee development has become more quantitative and metrics-driven than ever before, which puts assessment methodology at the forefront of workforce investment.

Assessment effectiveness is hindered, though, without an ongoing training system to boost engagement and create lasting effect. Training and assessments, especially for those based in development and skill-building, must be used in conjunction to achieve maximum value. Unfortunately, in a tough economy, training is often cut, even as assessments continue to be used. The benefits that assessing employees yields—increased knowledge of the ways employees work, insight into employee behaviors and helpful understanding of communication and work styles—is at best limited without increased training and at worst creates a dangerous foundation of superficial assumptions. Cutting costs in the name of increased efficiency and bottom-line training could actually limit the results an organization intends to achieve.

For companies to maintain their competitiveness, especially in an increasingly global business environment, training is a must. This IBM white paper citing HR Magazine states that companies who spent more time and money on employee training actually saw significantly increased profit:

• Companies in the top quarter in training expenditure per employee per year ($1,500 or more) average 24% higher profit margins than companies that spend less per year.

If the benefits of training are put into a quantitative, profit-driven framework, shouldn’t every company be pursuing this? With assessments, particularly with complex thinking and behavioral psychometric tools like the Emergenetics Profile, the answer could lie in finding ways to drive efficiency in training. Candidates can’t be trained into perfection, but they can be trained into utilizing a unique preference set that builds into application through daily work.

The question is then how to conduct training in a way that is both effective and efficient. One key to training is to actually use an assessment to bolster the training; an understanding of the thinking and behavioral profiles of the employees being trained can actually accentuate the efficacy of the assessments.

Through a deep and detailed understanding of the trainees, HR and training managers can craft training in a way that takes into account and builds upon the inherent strengths of their employees. This strength-focused training has several advantages and can greatly help reduce inefficiency in employee training. Specifically, focus training on:

Playing to individual learning styles: Training focused on employee strengths takes into account the ways in which individual employees learn best. This pinpointed focus also helps training and development professionals to craft the message of the training in a way that resonates with each specific audience.

Understanding challenge areas: Strengths-focused training also allows employers to understand the inherit challenge areas in their staff on a thinking and behavioral level. In this way, they can work around the ways that employees and teams may not function as readily.

By focusing training on employee strengths, companies can reduce waste in training and take corrective action to address issues raised by assessments. Additionally, it creates an environment that allows for employees to understand themselves and how they do their job, ultimately creating a stronger and more confident workforce.