Introduction
The Internet has radically changed how
individuals find jobs and how companies
find employees. Consider the following
recent research findings1:
 The Internet is one of the main
ways that people look for jobs.
As of July 2002, over 52 million
Americans have used the Internet
to find job-related information.
On a typical day, more than four
million people go online to look for
a job. A single Internet job board
reported being visited by over 18
million people in a one month
alone.
 All types of people use the
Internet to look for jobs. Around
51% of job seekers report using the
Internet as part of their job search
strategy. This number increases to
61% for job seekers between the
ages of 18 and 29.
African
American and Hispanic job seekers
are more likely to use the Internet
than Caucasians. Internet usage is
also higher for jobs seekers at
higher income levels or with
greater levels of education.
A
survey of managerial candidates
found that approximately 40%
landed interviews through the web,
regardless of their salary level.
 Companies are embracing the
Internet as the preferred way to
attract and manage candidates.
The number of Global 500
companies with career web sites
went from 29% in 1999 to 89% in
1
Findings are from studies conducted by Pew Internet and American Life, US Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Monster.com, iLogos institute, and Lee Hecht Harrison.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
1
2001, and is projected to be 100%
by 2003. Many of these career
sites receive over 250,000 hits per
month.
 The use of the Internet as a job
search tool is going to continue to
increase. The number of online
job hunters has risen by more than
60% since March 2000.
This
trend will undoubtedly continue
given the growing use of Internet
job postings by corporations and
the greater focus placed on Internet
job search methods by new entrants
into the workforce.
 Job seekers are willing to spend
time applying for jobs online.
According to a recent survey, over
90% of job seekers are willing to
spend more than 5 minutes
applying for a job online. 60%
indicate a willingness to spend 30
minutes or more answering online
questions about their skills and
capabilities assuming they are
interested in the job and feel the
questions are job relevant.
Research findings demonstrating the rapid
growth and acceptance of Internet based
recruiting are not surprising given the clear
advantages the Internet provides over more
traditional recruiting and job search
techniques. These advantages include:
 increased ability for candidates to
find and research job opportunities,
 increased
communication
between potential candidates and
prospective employers,
 more effective management of
candidate applications,
 faster identification of high
potential candidates,
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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 increased ability to monitor and
improve the effectiveness of
staffing methods by linking
selection data with other HR data
such as employee performance
and tenure, and increased ability
to automate processes for
enrolling newly hired employees
into company HR systems
(payroll, benefits, etc.)
One of the most significant advances the
Internet has brought to staffing processes
is its ability to help organizations rapidly
gather
in-depth
information
about
candidates in order to assess their fit with
key job requirements and demands. A
wide variety of web-based assessments are
available to assess and evaluate candidate
qualifications, knowledges, skills, abilities,
interests, motives, personality traits, and
experience.
For the purposes of this
paper, these tools will be referred to as
“online staffing assessments”.
Online staffing assessments are still a
relatively new phenomenon. Until just a
few years ago almost all staffing
assessments were delivered using a “paper
and pencil” or PC format that required an
applicant’s physical presence.
These
systems were characterized by long ramp
up times and labor intensive administration
and scoring processes. However, the
advent of Internet technology has made it
possible to radically alter and improve
almost every aspect of the staffing
assessment process. Some key changes
include:
 Matching job seekers with job
opportunities. Internet job boards
and the creation of online
employment portals have been
responsible for changing the entire
process by which people find jobs.
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It is now much easier for persons to
find employers of interest and vice
versa.
 Automating the application
process. Technology has provided
organizations with a set of tools
that can be used to automatically
collect applicant information and
screen out unqualified applicants.
 Managing the administrative
burdens of the staffing process.
The development of candidate
management and applicant tracking
systems have made it possible to
manage the data associated with
the staffing process at an
organization wide level.
 Providing
hiring
decision
makers
with
important
information. Internet systems are
built on databases. These systems
provide users with the ability to
rapidly collect and analyze the data
needed to make more effective
staffing decisions.
 Accessing state of the art
staffing technology and tools.
The Application Service Provider
(ASP) model supported by the
Internet makes it easy for
companies of all sizes to leverage
the advantages of technology to
increase the efficiency of their
staffing processes.
Staffing
assessment tools that were once
only used by large organizations
with extensive resources are now
accessible to any company with a
web connection. Many of these
tools are offered at highly
affordable prices.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
4
Despite their widespread application and
potential, online staffing assessments have
yet to be adopted by the majority of US
organizations. A 2002 survey of staffing
personnel suggests that one of the major
reasons that companies are not adopting
online staffing assessments is a lack of
knowledge about what these assessments
are and why they are effective2. This is
unfortunate as the proper use of online
staffing assessments can lead to major
increases to any organization’s bottom
line.
In sum, online staffing assessment tools
represent a cutting edge blend of
psychology and technology that offer
tremendous potential for improving the
staffing processes for organizations of all
sizes. However many organizations have
yet to adopt these tools largely because
they simply do not understand what the
tools are, how to use them, and the
financial benefits they provide. This white
paper is designed to address this by
providing a basic understanding of what
online staffing assessments are, why they
are effective, and how they can be used to
improve
staffing
efficiency
and
effectiveness.
The seven chapters in this white paper can
be broken into three general sections.
Chapter 1, 2, and 3 provide a general
overview of online staffing assessments
and their benefits. Chapter 4, 5, and 6
provides a more detailed look at online
staffing assessment tools and assessment
technology, and how they can be blended
to create high performance staffing
processes.
Chapter 7 discusses basic
operational and legal guidelines for
ensuring the effective use of online
staffing assessments. Taken together, the
2
Survey conducted by Rocket-Hire. Survey data available at www.rocket-hire.com
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
5
contents of this paper provide a detailed,
yet relatively high level, overview of what
staffing assessments are and how they can
be used to improve staffing efficiency and
effectiveness.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
6
Chapter 1: What are online staffing
assessments?
The term “online staffing assessment”
refers to a broad range of assessment tools
and technology. For the purposes of this
paper, we define online staffing
assessments as:
Any tool or system that uses the web or
Internet to collect information from job
candidates for the purpose of aiding
hiring decisions
We have purposefully defined online
assessment very broadly because there are
a wide variety of online staffing
assessment tools available on the market.
Additional assessment tools are literally
being released on an almost monthly basis.
The basic function of online staffing
assessments is to gather information from
candidates that can be used to predict how
likely they are to succeed in a particular
job or organization.
Online staffing
assessments range from things as simple as
pre-screening questions asking about
salary
expectations
and
schedule
availability to complex “talent measures”
that assess a candidate’s underlying
motives, traits, and skills. A sample of
the candidate characteristics that can be
measured
using
online
staffing
assessments includes work qualifications,
knowledge, skills, ability, interests,
motives, personality, prior or current job
performance or work status, and other
general life experiences both directly and
indirectly related to work. If effectively
measured and properly matched to the job
requirements, all of these things can be
used to make accurate predictions about a
candidate’s likely job performance and/or
tenure.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
8
Chapter 2: Why are online staffing
assessments useful?
Incorporating online staffing assessments
into the staffing process serve to increase
organizational performance through four
basic means:
Hiring more effective employees
Reducing turnover
 Avoiding
"catastrophic" hires
related to employee theft and other
counterproductive behaviors
 Increasing staffing efficiency


When used properly, online staffing
assessments greatly improve the quality of
staffing decisions because they have the
ability to make precise, data based
predictions regarding an applicant’s ability
to fit into a specific work environment or
perform specific job functions. Some of
the things that online staffing assessments
are able to predict include:
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Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
9
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Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
10
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Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
11
The ability to automatically gather
information that can accurately
predict job performance is what
sets online staffing assessments
apart from more traditional, labor
intensive recruiting methods (e.g.,
sorting
resumes
by
hand).
However the benefits of online
staffing assessment can only be
gained when they are used
correctly. A complete explanation
of best practices for ensuring the
effective
use
of
staffing
assessments is a complex topic that
is beyond the scope of this paper.
For more information on this topic
please refer to the US Department
of Labor’s Publication: “Testing
And Assessment: An Employer’s
Guide To Good Practices”. This
document can be accessed from the
following
URL:
http://www.uniformguidelines.co
m/testassess.pdf.
In order to provide readers with a
very basic understanding of best
practices for the use of online
staffing assessments, the text below
provides a short overview of 4
critical steps for the effective use
of staffing assessment tools.
Step 1: Define job
performance requirements
To ensure the effective use
of
online
staffing
assessments it is necessary
to clearly define and
describe the behaviors and
characteristics that drive
success in the job. A list of
job
performance
requirements should be
created that includes a
precise description of the
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
12
behaviors, skills, abilities,
traits, and competencies
that are needed to succeed
in the job. Job performance
requirements are usually
identified through a process
known as “job analysis”
that provides more detailed
information
than
is
typically found in most job
descriptions.
Depending
on the nature of the job and
the level of detail desired,
job analysis can take less
than a day to several
months
to
complete.
However almost all job
analyses include some
mixture of the following
steps:
1.interviewing incumbents
and their supervisors to
develop a preliminary list
of important competencies,
behaviors and attributes.
2.verifying the information
on this list using a series of
questionnaires that are
distributed
to
job
incumbents
and
supervisors.
3.analyzing the results in
order to create a well defined list
of job performance requirements.
There are some newer job
analysis techniques that use
technology to shorten the
process required to identify
job
performance
requirements. While many
of these techniques can be
quite effective, it is
important to ensure that the
end result of whatever
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
13
process is used provides an
accurate picture of job
performance. If the results
are not accurate, the
effectiveness and legal
defensibility of your online
staffing system will be
compromised.
Step
2.
Choose
appropriate online staffing
assessment tools.
After the job analysis has
been completed, staffing
assessment tools should be
chosen based on their
relevance to the skills,
competencies,
qualifications, etc. found on
the list of job performance
requirements.
Step
3:
Create
a
standardized
process
for
collecting information from
applicants
Online staffing assessment
tools should be integrated
into the staffing process to
ensure that all applicants
are asked to supply the
same kinds of information
under similar conditions.
The process should treat all
candidates in a consistent
manner regardless of how
they
contacted
the
organization. For example,
“walk-in” candidates might
be asked to apply for a job
online instead of simply
handing in a paper copy of
their resume.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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Step 4: Effective use of
assessment information in the
decision making process
The final step for using
online staffing assessments
involves interpreting the
information provided by the
staffing assessment tools in
a consistent and effective
manner to help guide hiring
decisions.
Individuals
responsible for making
hiring decisions should be
provided
with
similar
information on all the
candidates for a given
position. Care also needs to
be taken to ensure hiring
decisions
makers
understand how to interpret
and
evaluate
the
information provided by
staffing assessment tools.
Following the previous 4 steps will
help ensure the integrity of your
online staffing system.
Online
staffing assessments that are
deployed using a plan that carefully
follows all 4 steps should provide
excellent ROI because they will be
able to identify candidates who are
most likely to succeed on the job
while screening out candidates who
lack critical qualifications and
capabilities.
Chapter 3: Do online staffing
assessments really work?
Online staffing assessments have
only come into widespread use
within the last 5 years. However
the content and methods used to
create them are based on over 50
years of personnel selection
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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science and research.
Data
gathered from staffing assessments
can significantly increase employee
performance
and
retention3.
Detailed estimates of the financial
benefits associated with the use of
staffing assessments are often well
over a million dollars per year
depending on the nature and hiring
volume of the thousands of
employees from across a range of
positions and organizations clearly
shows that properly designed and
deployed job. The following are
some real world examples of the
results that have been obtained
through the use of properly
deployed
staffing
assessment
systems.

A study conducted
by
RadioShack
found that the use of
staffing-assessment
tools for hourly
workers
was
associated with an
increase in revenue
of about $10 per
hour per employee.
This translates to an
annual
revenue
increase of over
$12,000 per parttime
hourly
employee.
Given
that Radioshack has
well over 1000 part
and full-time hourly
employees, the total
ROI
from
this
assessment system
3
Hunter, J.E., & Hunter, R.F. (1984). Validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance.
Psychological Bulletin, 96, 72-98.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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easily exceeds $12
million a year.

"Luxottica
Retail
Group
integrated
drug screening and a
30-minute
workstyle
assessment
into
the
hiring
process
for
its
LensCrafters stores.
The implementation
was associated with
a
50
percent
decrease in turnover
among
hourly
associates. A similar
system is currently
being piloted at
Sunglass Hut." -Mike
Vacchiano,
senior manager -recruiting, Luxottica

"Neiman
Marcus
integrated
Webbased
assessment
tools into its hiring
process for sales
associates and saw a
substantial drop in
average turnover of
new hires and a
major increase in
average
new-hire
sales per hour.
These
changes
translate into several
million dollars in
annual
revenue
gains." --Lee M.
Roever,
vice
president -- human
resources, Neiman
Marcus
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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
Sherwin-Williams
estimates that its use
of
automated
assessment
tools
reduced the number
of
employment
interviews
conducted each year
by more than 5,000.
The consensus is that these tools
really do work. They increase the
effectiveness of staffing processes
because
they
systematically
measure things about a candidate
that are documented to be critical
for job performance.
They
increase the efficiency of staffing
processes because they can be
administered
and
scored
automatically,
thereby saving
hiring managers and staffing
personnel
time
that
would
otherwise be spent gathering
candidate information or meeting
with unqualified applicants.
Copyright: Steven T. Hunt & Charles A Handler. March, 2003
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