Workforce Management Community Center: Training & Organizational Development

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Training & Organizational Development
A forum for exchanging ideas about skills training, leadership training, management training, compliance training, e-learning, as well as organizational development and effectiveness. (Please note that this forum is dedicated to workforce-management professionals only, and not for employees.)

Workforce Management Community Center Forum Index � � Training & Organizational Development � � behavioral skills

Author	behavioral skills
trngbandit Joined: Jun 03, 2008 Posts: 3	Posted: 2008-06-03 02:33 Hi! I would like to get inputs on the design or framework for an assessment tool to measure behavioral skills of an employee. Most of the assessment tools we have focuses more on the technical skills. Thank you very much.
mfearrin Joined: Nov 07, 2007 Posts: 6	Posted: 2008-06-03 13:58 I don't know which behaviors you are interested in assessing, but most good personality assessments can predict behavioral tendencies. For example, if someone scores high on extraversion, you can expect them to be outgoing and people-focused. There are numerous personality assessments out there that measure a variety of traits. Some are good and some are not so good. If you find a valid and reliable instrument, then you should be able to predict behavior pretty accurately. You also could create your own assessment, but that is costly and time-consuming. Good luck! Matt www.dynamicmanagement.org
trngbandit Joined: Jun 03, 2008 Posts: 3	Posted: 2008-06-03 20:34 Thank you Matt. Am so sorry also for being too vague on the subject. The behavioral skills we want to evaluate are part of the present competencies on communication, customer focus, planning, organizing, etc.
timrc Joined: Jun 04, 2008 Posts: 1	Posted: 2008-06-04 01:12 Hi If you want to measure the behavioural aspects of those competencies, you could create a customised assessment, perhaps delivered by a 360 degree approach. Basically for each of the competencies, you will need to define 4-5 observable behaviours. Then get the following people to rate the frequency and/or effectiveness with which those behaviours are displayed by the person in question - their manager/supervisor, a few peers, a few direct reports and the individual (self-report). That is it in a nutshell. It is a fairly involved process, so you may want to consider enlisting specialist help. Tim
trngbandit Joined: Jun 03, 2008 Posts: 3	Posted: 2008-06-04 03:35 Thank you Tim. This approach will entail the involvement of the key people in our organization which I believe would create more impact to users and those being assessed.
mfearrin Joined: Nov 07, 2007 Posts: 6	Posted: 2008-06-04 13:58 Good point Tim. A 360 evaluation would definitely be useful, as long as you have the time/resources to implement it correctly. I don't know how many employees you will be assessing, but it can be very time consuming to create the assessment, gather and analyze the data, and then provide appropriate feedback. There are 360 instruments on the market, but generally it is more effective to create your own, so that you can customize it to measure the characteristics that you desire. Cheers, Matt
Priyamalhotra1 Joined: Jul 25, 2008 Posts: 1	Posted: 2008-07-25 01:59 Hi! Wanted to point out that most tools you will use (360 etc) usually focus on measuring the frequency of a behaviour, and not its intensity. Therefore, unless you are enlisting specialist help to get this tool developed, you will need to be careful about wording the behavioural indicator of a particular competency that you are measuring. E.g:for measuring leadership effectiveness you might have an indicator that states 'delegates tasks to subordinates'. In measuring that on a 360 degree instrument, if the statement is measured on a frequency scale (how often?) it will not give data on how well the person delegates. If the statement measures intensity (how well?), it may not indicate how often. This can be tricky when dealing with managers that may be delegating often, but may not be doing it effectively, or managers that are effective delegators but only do it once in a while. Good luck!!
zacantony Joined: Sep 24, 2008 Posts: 1	Posted: 2008-09-24 02:49 Hello Bandit:-) If you require somebody to carry on the 360 degree appraisal there, we can help -- we have been doing that for more than a decade now... Zach
predictiveassets Joined: Sep 11, 2008 Posts: 2	Posted: 2008-09-30 12:18 Bandit, we have a tool that measures 4 learning skills, 9 behavioral traits, and 6 occupational interests online. Results are delivered to you via email within 2 minutes of completion of assessment. The first step is to have your top performer take the assessment, which creates a job pattern of THEIR learning index, behavior and interests. The second step is to have candidates (or incumbents) take the assessment to determine how close they come to matching your top performers. For candidates you get Placement report showing % of match and interview questions. For incumbents, you get Coaching report showing % of match and coaching tips (think employee instructional manual). Top performeers can deliver up to 100% more productivity and have MUCH less turnover. Interviews only find top performers 15% of the time. If you use job matching tools, you can increase your success rate to 75+%. Please let me know if we can help! Regards, Dave PredictiveAssets (your company's #1 asset is it's employees; we predict their success) Chicagoland USA
sburkholder Joined: Oct 02, 2008 Posts: 1	Posted: 2008-10-02 13:57 We use a tool called the Birkman Method(R), that measures behavior in eleven different component areas. The assessment is occupational and relational. www.Birkman.com
jblock Joined: Aug 01, 2007 Posts: 5	Posted: 2008-12-15 16:36 Have you heard of DISC? It is a theory that dates back to the 1800s and has since been applied to the business environment to measure behaviors as they relate to the workplace. I agree with you, that there is much to know about an individual beyond technical skills and we have found that often times, we hire for skills but don't consider the importance of a candidate's behaviors. Our particular DISC assessment is one the leaders on the market because we not only have many distinct advantages in DISC alone, but we also have additional assessment tools that provide additional views of an individual, like values and personal, or soft skills. I would be happy to connect you with one of our coaches or consultants in your market or area, or provide you with more information personally. Good luck with your search! Jessi Block http://www.ttidisc.com/products.php?product=discassessment