The enemy within

Why assessment processes may be sabotaging

the candidate experience
March 2017
 If you are an HR or Talent Acquisition professional, the phrase ‘Consumer Grade Candidate Experience’ is
something you’ll hear more of in 2017.

Our experiences as consumers have been transformed by companies like Amazon, Spotify, Booking.com,
AirBnB & Uber. The way we acquire products and services from these companies has completely reset our
expectations of customer service and our on-line experience.

In many instances, the experience of a candidate (surely an even more important consumer of your brand
and services) falls substantially short of these user-centric consumer experiences. For many companies, you
can not even search to apply for a job on your smartphone or tablet, let alone take an assessment for a role
to establish your suitability and fit.

Rapid shifts in the demographic of the workforce and a growing shortage of skilled professionals who want
more flexibility and the option to move jobs more often, will quickly create a power shift towards candidates
and away from employers.

Expect increasing numbers of great candidates to vote with their feet if you make the process of applying for
a job more difficult and clunky than it needs to be.

In the last decade, so much of the Talent Acquisition agenda and budget has been focussed on the sourcing
and attraction of candidates, that assessment has often become something of an afterthought. Do the
assessments that you use actually establish whether candidates are a great fit for your business and the role
concerned, or are they out of date, psychometric tools with questionable relevance to the role you’re trying
to fill?

Even if the validity of your assessment is not in question, often the experience the candidate has to go
through is so cumbersome, they’ll be left with a poor perception of your business, or at worst, just give up
on the recruitment process (and your brand).

Pleasingly, after a period of significant hibernation, the assessment industry, particularly new industry
disruptors, is waking up to the possibilities of using technology to provide assessments that are more
tailored to the role you are hiring for and make the experience more engaging and valuable for candidates.

We have curated this white paper to share a number of terrific examples of how clients around the world
bring innovation, better candidate engagement and greater relevance to their assessment strategies.

We hope this provides you with practical and highly relevant perspectives on how to make assessment a
‘Consumer Grade’ experience for candidates and of greater validity to the roles and culture of your business.

Kind Regards,

Jeremy
Jeremy Tipper
Director of Consulting & Innovation, Alexander Mann Solutions

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 Executive Summary
Many organisations are now investing significant resources in the development and communication of their
employer brand. However, with relatively few significant exceptions, many are still failing to make the connection
between how the interview and assessment process impacts a candidate’s perception, and therefore, their
experience. This is essential not only to secure the right candidate, but also to provide a robust and positive
experience for all applicants. Consequently there is both anecdotal and statistical evidence that this unintended
sabotage of the candidate experience is negatively impacting on both employer and overall brands. Why?

How would you feel if you arrived at an assessment centre to find the exercises dated back to 2005? Would you
wonder how this assessment is in any way relevant for today’s role and its challenges? Or if you applied for an HR
Manager role and were asked to complete a numerical reasoning test which:

1. Do not bear any obvious relevance to the role

2. Did not get “positioned” or explained to you in advance, so you’re unsure how results are used, and
3. You never receive any feedback?

These are just some examples of how organisations not only risk making the wrong selection decisions, they also
fail to harness the power of how the interview and assessment process shapes the perception of the role and
organisations overall.

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It seems that individuals who are not briefed properly about
what to expect in the assessment process, who find it irrelevant A recent analysis by CEB
or patronising, or who receive little or no feedback in return revealed that nearly 1 in 5
for their time and effort do not simply shrug it off. Instead they jobseekers have stopped
disengage from organisations, not just as applicants but as purchasing entirely from a brand
customers and may even take to social media to incite others as a result of bad candidate
to do the same. A recent analysis by CEB revealed that nearly
experience (18%), with an
1 in 5 jobseekers have stopped purchasing entirely from a
incredible 83% sharing their
brand as a result of bad candidate experience (18%), with an
incredible 83% sharing their poor experiences with friends and
poor experiences with friends
family. Similarly, 72% of candidates surveyed by US job board and family
CareerBuilder indicated that a bad in-person interview would
likely result in a negative perception of the company as a whole. There is, consequently, a strong business case for
employers to question whether they are currently employing best practice in terms of assessment throughout the
hiring process and to seek expert partners to plug identifiable gaps and find innovative ways to give measurable
competitive advantage through better management of the candidate experience.

In this white paper we have sought to establish what ‘good’ actually looks like in terms of striking an effective
balance between positive candidate experience and robust assessment through a series of in-depth interviews
with senior talent specialists at the likes of Barclaycard, Deloitte, Electrocomponents and Santander among
others. We would like to express our thanks to all those who supported, providing their time and expertise.

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 What is assessment? And why is it so crucial to the
candidate experience?
Assessment has come a long way in the hundred years or so since it became ‘professionalised’ by the introduction
of tests designed to measure the intelligence of recruits to the US military in the First World War. What was originally
a relatively simple tool focusing on verbal reasoning and comprehension, numerical ability and memory took a
massive leap forward in the 1930s with the development of psychometrics, which over time led to the range of in-
depth investigations of personality that we are familiar with today.

However the term ‘assessment’ now covers so much more than formal testing.
Assessment is no Although it is often still used as shorthand for the more automatic or functional
longer a test, it’s elements of candidate evaluation, our view is that assessment should embrace
an experience-led any tool, technique or activity which collects talent data as part of the recruitment
decision making process. In fact, assessment is no longer a test, it’s an experience-led decision
process making process. Consequently this could include the interview itself, whether
conducted face-to-face, by telephone or online, CV screening, psychometric testing,
SJTs and exercises such as cases studies, role playing and presentations. And because these are all key touch
points where the candidate is often highly engaged with the organisation, but where the organisation also need to
be making an important value judgement, then, it appears that there is an alarming amount of evidence that the
process is not being managed effectively.

Take, for example, the results of a global survey of successful and unsuccessful job
applicants carried out in 2015 by the specialist candidate experience researcher, less than
TalentBoard. Only around a third of respondents recalled being briefed about what sort 40% received
of assessment to expect during the recruitment journey, the rest apparently wandering
any feedback
blindly into the process with little to no guidance. Furthermore less than 40% received
any feedback after a formal interview. Perhaps not surprisingly then, a full 20% of
after a formal
respondents in such a key region as APAC scored their overall experience at less than 2 interview
out of 5.

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The impact of this can be significant because candidates form
impressions of an organisation at every touchpoint with it. And, 83% of job applicants
consequently, an outdated, drawn-out, irrelevant or ‘out-of-tune’ admitted being positively
assessment process has the potential to both wipe out the investment or negatively influenced
made to attract the applicant in the first place and to inflict much about a role and its host
wider harm – not just on the employer, but also on the overall brand. organisation by the quality
Virgin Media, for example, estimated that the company had lost
of interview experience
as much as £4.5 million in revenue due to dissatisfied applicants
choosing, or moving to, an alternative supplier. This is supported by LinkedIn’s 2015 survey of its international user
base which suggested that as many as 83% of job applicants admitted being positively or negatively influenced
about a role and its host organisation by the quality of interview experience. Furthermore, research by the talent
software company, Jibe, found that, while over 80% of candidates
Over 80% of candidates would not re-apply to an organisation following a negative
would not re-apply to an experience, 59% would consider telling others not to apply. And
organisation following a even more worryingly, half would not remain or become customers
negative experience, 59% of the business and over a third would ask others to follow suit.

would consider telling others

not to apply

Conversely, according to CEB, 15% of surveyed candidates expressed

According to CEB, 15%
that they would actively put more effort into the job following a positive
of surveyed candidates
hiring experience, with 38% more likely to stay with their employer. A
survey sponsored by Monster, also found that 88% were more likely to
expressed that they would
purchase from a company that gave them a good candidate experience, actively put more effort
irrespective of whether they were successful, and half would tell their into the job following a
social connections about a positive experience. It seems that rather positive hiring experience,
than being viewed as a threat, a positive candidate experience can be an with 38% more likely to
effective marketing tool. stay with their employer
So what can be done to ensure that assessment still accomplishes its key mission of delivering the right person for
the right role in the right organisation, but also provides an experience that is relevant, engaging and positive for
the applicant?

If anyone is getting this absolutely right, please get in touch! But in our interviews we did speak to people who, we
believe, are making significant progress to the goal of effective balance and who have some valuable lessons to
share.

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Balancing robust
assessment and a positive
candidate experience –
lessons from the front line
The Santander experience
Hema Bakhshi
Head of Resourcing – Strategy and Innovation Key takeaway

Although, like many if not all of her peers, Hema Bakhshi regards the If the assessment process
‘prime directive’ of assessment as objectively putting the right person in can help individuals to
the right role in the right environment, she also believes that it is vital that enhance their skills it will
any assessment tool or procedure is directly relevant to the individual and, demonstrably enhance
crucially, that candidates receive positive and useful feedback in return for the candidate experience
their time and effort.

“Companies too often forget that candidates are consumers and vice versa and will take to the internet if they aren’t
happy with the way they are treated. That means the evaluation experience needs to be as good as it possibly can
be. And that’s particularly important where you have a workforce like ours where more than half are millennials who
expect a high level of interaction and engagement as a matter of course. With a demographic like this what you do
today in an interview might consequently influence an individual’s relationship with the business in a whole host of
ways over a very long period. These are people who have grown up expecting to get feedback.”

In an attempt to tackle this, Santander with support from

Alexander Mann Solutions is implementing a mobile-friendly “If we can help people to
assessment suite which eventually will provide all users with enhance their skills then
a tailored feedback report, which can help them with their we will be demonstrably
personal development either within Santander or elsewhere. improving the candidate
experience”
“If we can help people to enhance their skills then we will be
demonstrably improving the candidate experience,” she says.

Hema is a great believer in embracing technology, but also in combining it with the ‘human touch’.

“For example, again with Alexander Mann Solutions’ help we have developed an internal talent spotting system based
on Rolepoint, which has helped to improve internal mobility by a third so far. However, because this often means we
have approached someone about a new role and they are an existing employee that we already have lots of data
about, we need to take that into account in the assessment process. It means
having more informed, non-transactional discussions with people, and more
guiding of individuals about what training or development they need to be
ready for a particular role. And I think our move to bring learning, talent and
resourcing all under one umbrella will really help us to achieve this.”

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 The Deloitte experience
Jessica Jones
Senior HR Business Partner Key takeaway

With over ten years specialising in the field of assessment and selection, one Technology can be the
of Jessica Jones’ key focuses at present is to redress any mismatch between key to improving both
what hiring managers expect in terms of a candidate proving themselves the effectiveness of
and what is actually necessary and reasonable. In her view this is key to assessment and the
creating a positive and relevant candidate experience – a major concern in individual candidate
a sector where the right talent is keenly fought over and where candidates, experience
both successful and unsuccessful, regularly go on to become potential
clients.

Working with Alexander Mann Solutions she has subsequently launched a programme to teach all new hiring
managers, not just interview skills, but also how to best use the complete range of commonly used evaluation tools
such as case studies and presentations. Current hiring managers are also put through a refresher course covering
the same ground. She has also instituted a presentation assessment guide for both hiring managers and candidates
which gives advice on preparation time, appropriate subjects, structure and length.

“It helps to deliver a more consistent experience for hirers because it increases their chances of being able to compare
like with like,” says Jessica, “and it saves the candidate the worry or embarrassment of turning up with either a single
slide or War and Peace.”

Jessica is also a keen supporter of the idea that technology can be the key to improving both the effectiveness of
assessment and the individual candidate experience. Consequently she is running a trial programme to get case
study assessment online where it can enable applicants to take this evaluation off-site under full test conditions
and is also experimenting with video interviewing, which she believes has the potential; to make a role
‘come alive’.

However, one of the projects she is most passionate about is an assessment

suite designed for the firm’s practice which allows hirers to easily generate clear,
practical feedback for applicants with the aim of providing something positive
and useful even if the answer is no.

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The Global IT Services experience
When we spoke, this Global IT Services firm was in the middle of Key takeaway
implementing a new internal recruitment solution in conjunction with
Alexander Mann Solutions designed to increase internal mobility. Internal candidates
Consequently, it was focussed from an assessment point of view on may have a higher
evaluating competencies, behaviours and the potential to upskill, rather expectation of the
than hard, technical skills. The new system would be supported by a candidate experience and
range of assessment tools ranging from formal interview to case study assessment must reflect
presentations and online testing. As hiring managers had the final choice as this
to which of the tools to employ with an individual, they would be trained in
their various uses and candidates briefed in advance on the type of assessment they would be asked to undertake
and why, as well as being supplied with feedback and advice on any further skills development they would need to
further their careers.

As at Santander there was an acute realisation that any system which

approached candidates about a prospective move rather than simply reacting
to their own action would need to provide a particularly good candidate
experience if it was to prove effective long-term on both an employee and
organisational basis. “If you are tapping people on the shoulder then you have to
accept that their expectations may be higher than if they self-nominate and that
needs careful handling,” said this Global IT Services organisation.

“If you are tapping people on

the shoulder then you have to
accept that their expectations
may be higher than if they
self-nominate and that needs
careful handling,”

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 The Electrocomponents experience
Iain Hildyard
VP, Group Talent Management and Organisational Development Key takeaway

The rapidly expanding electrical and industrial products distributor had While assessment must
worked with Alexander Mann Solutions to create a rigorous assessment always be thorough and
process focused heavily on the interview. Hiring managers are equipped demanding, it must also
with an online support tool which helps them to generate a tailored, retain the ‘human touch’
relevant script based around desired competencies and expertise for
telephone and face-to-face interviews and which also provides a platform for recording notes and questions. Hiring
managers are also provided with training materials on such key (yet often overlooked) basics such as the purpose
of the interview, its structure, how to make evidence-based decisions and, crucially for the candidate experience,
how to have a great conversation. Hirers also get specific ‘prompts’ to
“It’s OK learning
maximise candidate experience such as reminders to keep their LinkedIn
to play the guitar,
but it’s how you profiles up to date (to aid applicant research pre-interview) and answer all
actually go on to questions satisfactorily. As Iain puts it, “It’s OK learning to play the guitar,
play it that really but it’s how you actually go on to play it that really counts.”
counts.”

While anecdotal evidence suggests that HR professionals in many organisations struggle at senior levels to convince
of the desirability of rigorous, data driven assessments - often because there is a perception that it might deter the
best candidates – the very opposite is the case at Electrocomponents because hirers of this level have seen how it
takes the leg-work out of the recruitment process and minimises risk. “If you build something that works for leaders
and managers then they will use it,” says Iain. “It really is as simple as that.”

“I think what has paved the way for all this is the fact we are undergoing a significant cultural change from being a
product to a solutions focused business and it’s consequently been relatively easy to show that candidates deserve
just as good an experience as our customers and suppliers do.”

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The Barclaycard experience
Chris Smith
Head of Resourcing Key takeaway

Barclays uses a wide range of assessment tools across its various operations, Always ask what the
tailored to the needs of individual business areas. In Barclaycard and candidate is likely to
Barclays UK, for example, all applicants take a situational judgement test be familiar with, what
online to assess their alignment to their Values and Competency framework will feel relevant and
via a mix of text and multi-media scenarios. This generates both candidate engaging
and hiring manager reports which enable the hiring manager to progress a
candidate to a face-to-face interview, at the same time guiding the hiring
manager on areas of strengths or weaknesses that they can then probe further at interview. In areas such as
investment banking and group functions where we see less volume hiring candidates do not take this test but hiring
managers are guided by interview packs to cover the alignment to the values and competency framework relevant
to the grade of the role. But why the difference of approach?

“We work on the basis that candidates in the first two areas will be used to this type of assessment and that it
provides a positive hiring manager experience when recruiting in volume areas, but not in the others,” says Chris. “The
evaluation experience must primarily be right for the business but also for the candidate. We need to always ask what
they are likely to be familiar with, and what will feel relevant and engaging. We want candidates to feel a connection
to the assessment process and the role that they are ultimately applying for wherever they are in the hiring process.”

Chris is also committed to maximising engagement and consequently makes

use of multi-media tests which use film studios and professional actors to create
something that looks and feels like a real working environment and that is
representative and accessible to all candidates, although he does highlight the
challenges inherent in making sure that the actors do not ‘lead’ the candidate in
any way.

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 The ‘Helicopter’ experience
Greg Jackson
Talent Acquisition Specialist at VP level Key takeaway

A talent acquisition specialist with over 20 years’ experience in the field, Only ask a candidate
Greg has worked at VP and Director level with such major employers in the what you need to ask,
United States as Cox Enterprises, Coventry Healthcare and BAE Systems. when you need to ask it
His view is that delivering a good candidate experience does matter, but,
like many of the other interviewees; he also believes that this must be
secondary to the goal of identifying and subsequently retaining high quality talent.

“It’s a delicate balancing act between assessing and candidate experience, what is really important is that
assessments are layered into the recruiting process and are appropriate to the candidate and the process stage,” he
says. “For example, if at the first stage of the recruiting process you require a candidate to complete a lengthy online
assessment without any advanced notice that, to me, would create a horrible candidate experience. We must always
ask ourselves if we are assessing only that which is essential to assess at a given time and stage and we must always
be clear about what we are assessing for.”

Like other interviewees, he also acknowledges the desirability of providing meaningful feedback to applicants
throughout the assessment process but remains apprehensive about how this could be effectively managed in
practice, particularly in the light of the tight regulatory framework prevalent in the United States.

“I understand how some candidates can be frustrated over the lack of specific
and personalised feedback but, most companies’ policies, processes, and systems
constrain recruiters from providing the desired level of detail. There is simply too
much danger of one straying from the truly objective to the subjective which could
lead to a whole host of undesired consequences for the employer.”

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The Financial Services experience
This US-based Financial Services firm has a long track record of using testing Key takeaway
models that assess the skills and competencies of potential hires for its call
centres, initially on paper and now online. The current model employs a Candidates need to be
range of questioning but also takes applicants through ‘real-life’, job-based communicated with at all
case studies to examine how they might perform in the actual workplace. stages of the assessment
While there is an aspiration to make such tests more mobile-friendly, the process, need to be clear
need to employ numerous screening processes in the case studies makes about what is expected
this a significant challenge. Applicants who pass the test phase move on to from them and need to
a telephone interview and then to an on-site interview conducted either by know quickly whether
two line managers or a line manager and a peer. HR’s role in the process is they have passed or
to provide guidance and support to line personnel, but no member of the failed a stage of the
HR team takes a physical part in any of the interviews. process

“I absolutely believe that the assessment element of the

“I absolutely believe that the
process should deliver a good candidate experience,” said
assessment element of the
process should deliver a good a member of the organisation. “But that doesn’t mean that
candidate experience” we should make it in any way artificially easy - a challenging
experience can still be a good one. And we have to assess
what we have to assess, because the most important thing is to ensure hires with a certain level of skill-set, ensuring
we reduce training time and increase retention.”

Although they recognise the need to provide applicants with feedback, in an environment where the company is
making around 2500 hires per year from an applicant base of nearly 65,000 they believe that the most important
factor is rapid communication of success or failure.

“The worst thing you can do is to let an applicant fall into a black hole where they simply don’t know what, if anything,
is going on. That’s the real definition of a bad candidate experience.”

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 Practical steps towards striking the balance
So what steps can HR professionals take to protect the employer and overall brand by improving the candidate
experience while still ensuring that assessment tools achieve their prime purpose of selecting the right individual?

We’ve come up with the following observations and suggestions based on areas of general consensus among our
interview panel and our own extensive experience with clients globally:

Assessment must be robust enough to provide the right people for the right role. Never
1 compromise on this. This is the ‘prime rule’.

However, without compromising the prime rule, providing the candidate – external
2 or internal – with a positive, professional, relevant/appropriate and understandable
experience is very important for the brand, both as an employer and as a product
or service provider. Relevance and appropriateness are of particular importance.
Many of our interviewees, for example, were interested in or attracted to the idea
of ‘gamification’ within assessment - the use of game-based tools to enhance
engagement levels. However, few if any had experimented with it outside of the
graduate recruitment process due to worries some current game-based tools could
appear in some way patronising or irrelevant to more experienced candidates.

Given this, assessment will need to both be, and feel, fully and logically embedded
3 into the overall candidate experience and not like a distinct, standalone ‘part of the
process’.

Yes mmm...

Gamification

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 Candidates need to know why they are being asked to do something. Any assessment
4
content (interview questions, cognitive ability questions, motivational/personality
questions, etc.), which is not directly relevant to the role/organisation in a way that the
candidate understands and buys into will be, at best, considered a waste of time or, at
worst, acutely damaging to the brand.

Assessment should be a two-way process, not just a proving exercise for the candidate.
5 Providing personalised, relevant and, perhaps most importantly, useful feedback is
consequently essential. And this feedback should ideally provide guidance on gaps in
skills-set and how to address them with the view to finding a target role in the future,
either within or outside the organisation.

External and internal candidates should enjoy the same high level of experience.
6 However, with internal candidates this may involve use of existing data on individuals if
assessment is not to be seen as patronising, bureaucratic or unnecessary.

Internal External

Assessment
Experience

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 Candidates should be asked about their view of their experience at all points of the
7 assessment process. However, how to do this effectively by generating sufficient
responses from both successful and unsuccessful applicants is still seen as a challenge.

Know what you want to assess and why – not just technical skills, but core
8 competencies and values. Don’t assess (or innovate) simply because you can, but do so
for a purpose. And this must be clearly communicated to hiring managers.

Following on from this, all hiring managers need to be trained and supported in the
9 use of assessment materials. And, above all, they should, always be reminded that
they need to engage with candidates as people, in the same way they would wish to be
engaged with themselves.

If a genuinely effective and easy to use, data driven system can be built then, as the
10 Electrocomponents example shows, even those traditionally wedded to ad hoc,
qualitative assessment can be won over.

Robust assessment that generates a positive candidate experience requires investment

11 and therefore requires the buy-in of senior organisational leaders. To achieve this
a strong business case must be made as for example highlighted in the positive
experience of Iain Hildyard at Electrocomponents.

The imaginative use of technology is key to striking the assessment/experience

12 balance. Mobile enablement is a basic requirement and both online and video
interviewing, as well as automatically generated feedback can also be extremely
impactful tools. However, there should always be room for some healthy scepticism
about ‘shiny new things’. Any provider of technological tools will need to be able to
clearly demonstrate their effectiveness. And, above all, any new tool must always
provide an experience that is relevant, clear and not in any way patronising.

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Kirstin Schulz
Global Head of Assessment at Alexander Mann Solutions

In 2017, we hope to see more innovation in the assessment space enabling the full
embedding of “assessment” into the end-to-end candidate experience. Making
assessments streamlined, personalised, and an enjoyable experience for ALL
candidates (successful and unsuccessful), while still offering deep and accurate
insights into their capabilities and potential. Given the impact we know it to
have, this should be high on the HR priority list. As we will see richer evidence
and research being undertaken and published on this topic, we expect to see the
significant return on investment this has the potential to yield. We are delighted
that organisations are starting to see and realise this – and are excited about the
opportunities that lie ahead.

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Kirstin Schulz
A / 7-11 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 3AR
M / +44 (0)7920 010 880
E / kirstin.schulz@alexmann.com

Susan Cooksey @weareams

A / 1301 E 9th Street. Suite 1200, Cleveland, OH, 44114, United States of America WeAreAMS
M / +1 301 580 4329
E / susan.cooksey@alexmann.com Alexander Mann Solutions

Caleb Baker WeAreAMS

A / 2 Shenton Way, SGX Centre 1, #16-03, 068804, Singapore Alexander Mann Solutions
M / +65 9247 4065
E / caleb.baker@alexmann.com WeAreAMS

www.alexandermannsolutions.com