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SAMPLE
CANDIDATE ASSESSMENT REPORT
What
our Clients Say:
Cathy Psaros
Vice President of Human Resources
Staples, Inc.
"We feel Drake Inglesi Milardo's assessments are essential
when evaluating executive candidates for Staples. We need to know
how these executives operate and what their values are. Matching
up the evaluation with our internal process allows us to confidently
hire those individuals who will fit Staples' culture and who will
be successful."
| PROFESSIONAL
ASSESSMENT OF JOHN DOE |
POSITION
BEING CONSIDERED FOR:
Vice President,
Sales and Marketing
Mr. Doe spent
his early years in Illinois, and then Kansas City, Missouri. He
attended Kansas State University on a full basketball scholarship.
Sports and athletics have been and continue to be an important
part of his life. It is within the context of sports that he formed
his competitive and achievement-oriented nature. After graduating
from college, he accepted a position with Smith Corporation and
spent the next twenty-five years with this organization. Primarily,
Mr. Doe has been involved in sales and marketing and has progressed
to Vice President of Sales. His assignments have taken him to
Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, and other West Coast locales.
As a result of the restructuring of the organization, Mr. Doe
is being forced to either leave or take a lesser position within
the Sales Division. He also feels that the industry is not healthy
and that this is a good time for him to be looking elsewhere.
Mr. Doe brings
to the organization substantial experience in sales, developing
salespeople, and running successful offices and divisions. Mr.
Doe has excellent analytical ability, superb quantitative aptitude,
and solid verbal abilities. On the personal side, he is driven
to achieve, highly competitive, and a self-motivating individual.
He is a personable and likeable individual who will work well
with people at all levels within the organization.
There is a
question as to Mr. Doe's conceptual ability. The findings suggest
that Mr. Doe may be a "bit" short in his "big picture" thinking
ability. If the organization is not poised for significant growth
in the next three to five years, then certainly Mr. Doe has the
intellectual horsepower to run the organization, assuming, of
course, that he will have an opportunity to be eased into running
the business. Again, his whole professional life has been engaged
in sales and he has not really had the broad management experience
required to run a company. It is important to have a clear and
specific developmental plan that will allow Mr. Doe to "phase
in" gradually, and avoid surprise or failure.
1. Strong
analytical thinking aptitude.
2. Above average
numerical and quantitative aptitude.
3. High energy
and above-average drive and desire to achieve.
4. Confident,
self assured, and focused in his professional life.
5. Can function
effectively in a fast-paced and changing work environment.
6. Has an
excellent grasp of how to influence, market, and sell.
7. A bold,
assertive and "take charge" professional.
8. Emotionally
stable and solid in terms of his interpersonal relationships and
how he handles sticky issues.
9. Adaptable
to different situations and people.
10. Solid
vocabulary and verbal comprehension.
11. A likeable,
personable, and trustworthy individual.
1. Modest
conceptual thinking ability.
2. Sometimes
lacking insight into interpersonal dynamics.
3. Is not
always reflective in his examination of data.
Several aptitude
tests were administered to Mr. Doe, to include the Analytical
Judgment test, Verbal Comprehension and Numerical
Aptitude tests. These tests were administered under timed
conditions, thereby requiring Mr. Doe to work quickly and accurately.
Although these tests are not designed to measure intelligence
per se, the findings do in fact provide important data relative
to his ability to think through problems at the cognitive level.
The Analytical
Judgment test measures two important features related to Mr.
Doe' ability to perform critical thinking tasks. The first relates
to his ability to think analytically under pressure, and, secondly,
his ability to think conceptually, or from a "big picture" perspective.
Mr. Doe performed within the above average range with regard
to his analytical thinking when compared to a middle management
group and within the average range relative to a
top executive group. He has moderate conceptual ability, particularly
with respect to the top executive group. What this suggests is
that although his ability to analyze complex problems is quite
good, as the scope of the job grows in size, Mr. Doe may have
difficulty; that is, his ability to think strategically and, as
they say, "with vision", is somewhat limited.
Mr. Doe performed
quite well on the Numerical Aptitude test, showing himself
to have above average ability in quantitative thinking.
The third
and final aptitude test, the Verbal Comprehension test,
placed Mr. Doe within the average range relative to a middle
management group and at the below average range relative
to a top executive group from a cross section of Fortune
500 companies. The findings suggest that his verbal abilities
are certainly adequate and should serve him well at a senior level
position. As was evident throughout the interview, Mr. Doe is
articulate, communicative, and easily conveys his opinions and
thoughts.
In summary,
Mr. Doe performed reasonably well on the aptitude portion of our
assessment. He is analytical in his thinking, which will enable
him to scrutinize complex issues easily, and he has good, solid
verbal skills as well as an ability to do quantitative thinking.
The only serious question that remains is, "Can he provide a high
level of strategic leadership to the organization?" It is our
assumption that given his background and twenty-five years with
Smith Products that he has not had the opportunity to provide
the type of strategic and visionary leadership that will be asked
of him.
An important
skill is the ability to influence people at every level throughout
the organization. "Selling" one's idea to a group or being responsible
for leading a group requires that the manager understands the
"psychology of influencing" which results in getting people to
make a commitment to their job and responsibilities. Oftentimes,
managers fail in their leadership role because they are unable
to build strong support for their programs. More managers are
realizing that they need to develop skills in this area if they
are to be effective in leading their people and providing clear
direction and developmental support.
Mr. Doe performed
exceptionally well on this testing, probably not a big surprise,
given his twenty-five years in sales. However, it does show that
he has a superb grasp of the principles and practices associated
with influencing and being persuasive. Not only does this data
suggest that he can be effective in heading up a sales and marketing
group, but it does show his knowledge of how to have an impact
on his colleagues and superiors as well as his ability to get
"buy in" and commitment from them.
One is impressed
with Mr. Doe' ability to "connect" with people as he did so well
in our office throughout the day. His personable down-to-earth
nature adds to his ability to build support from those individuals
he engages with on a regular basis.
In this phase
of the assessment process several questionnaires were administered
to examine his basic personality traits, characteristics, and
attributes, as well as Mr. Doe's temperament and communication
style. It is important to understand that each individual
is unique in terms of personality make-up, and, therefore, there
is no "right" or "wrong" personal style. However, an individual's
style can certainly have a bearing on their effectiveness and
ability to interface with different people in the organization.
In examining
a good deal of data from the questionnaires and tests in this
section, one of the critical findings is Mr. Doe's ability to
engage with a wide range of personalities. That is, he is adaptable
and flexible. This allows him to be effective in his leadership
initiatives as well as in his day-to-day interactions with people
at every level. One has the impression that Mr. Doe is very approachable
and goes out of his way to be accommodating and reasonable with
others.
At the same
time, he has strong personal qualities: the capability to take
a "tough stand" and deal with the difficult issues associated
with leadership and management, and the ability to quickly initiate
and activate change within the organization.
In his leadership
role, one can expect him to be attentive to his staff's needs,
and to be cooperative and friendly. He is not the type of person
to become easily rattled or upset by external activities. Rather,
one can expect Mr. Doe to be persistent and "even keeled" in his
relationships with others as well as in his problem solving processes.
Mr. Doe, like
many executives, is a bold and "take charge" individual. He is
not intimidated by difficult challenges. In fact, he is likely
to take initiative and act on issues without any real hesitancy.
In general,
he tends to be forthright and direct in his communication style.
At the
same time, he has a high degree of self-assurance and self-esteem.
Mr. Doe is
an enthusiastic, spontaneous, and upbeat professional manager.
People will enjoy working with him and for him, and it is likely
that he will maintain a rather consistent level of positive and
constructive energy and enthusiasm.
Mr. Doe's
energy level is comparable to other high-level professionals,
particularly those individuals within the marketing and sales
arena. This means that he can easily withstand the physical demands
of a challenging leadership position.
In summary,
Mr. Doe's personal profile is a healthy one, and he appears to
have many of the qualities that would allow him to be successful
within the Smith culture. He will bring a personal style of leadership
and a genuine commitment to developing his people to the maximum
of their abilities.
The
Emotional Intelligence test used in this section is an ability
test of emotional intelligence. The test taker answers questions
that have correct and incorrect responses and the estimate of
their ability is based on the number of correct responses they
produce compared to national norms. Test results are best used
for developmental purposes as opposed to hiring decisions because
this is a relatively new test and extensive validity data is not
yet available.
Ron scored in the competent range in all areas of emotional intelligence
tested with the exception of his ability to identify emotional
expressions accurately. This may have to do with his overanalyzing
facial cues or a bias towards seeing positive emotions. At the
same time Ron has above average ability to understand emotions
at a conceptual level. He is likely someone who can predict how
someone will react emotionally to various circumstances or actions;
he will also be adept at anticipating how an emotion will evolve
in terms of blending with subsequent emotions and changes in circumstance.
Ron has a good sense of how emotional states facilitate or hinder
certain types of cognitive performance, and has some ability to
change his emotional state to fit a given task. Ron has a solid
ability to manage his own emotions and those of others. He can
remain open to feelings when warranted, but can also move away
from certain feelings if they are counterproductive.
Several tests
were administered to Mr. Doe, which included the Preference
Index test, Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI),
and Sentence Completion testing in an attempt to better
understand his underlying needs and motives.
Mr. Doe has
a high level of drive that is comparable to other senior executives.
Coupled with this is a high need for change and an ability to
function in a reasonably fast-paced work environment. And, as
noted above, he tends to be a person who will take charge and
"jump in" to the most difficult situations. He is also the type
of individual who looks forward to having a certain degree of
autonomy. These motivational elements are fairly typical of successful
executives at the more senior level. Mr. Doe is a person who is
not motivated by external factors, but, rather, is internally
driven to succeed. The external factors only tend to reinforce
his own values and principles about being successful as an executive.
These strong qualities, although typical of executives, in Mr.
Doe' case are somewhat tempered by his good-natured disposition
and genuine interest in working with people in a helpful, yet
leadership manner. Although strong willed, he is not one to create
conflict or be contentious in his demeanor. Other executives will
find him approachable and relatively easy to engage with, even
under the most trying of situations.
A couple of
interesting observations that should be noted from the testing
include his low perceptivity scores in interpersonal dynamics.
This is an interesting finding because he performed so well on
the "Influencing" testing and his personal profile is so strongly
oriented toward people. If the finding is accurate, it simply
means that he sometimes is not "tuned in" to the subtler nuances
associated with interpersonal behavior. It is suggested that further
discussion take place with Mr. Doe regarding this finding as it
relates to his ability to provide strong leadership.
The second
element of his "Motivational Profile" is his low need for order
and structure. Chances are that in his career he probably has
compensated for this by having solid administrative support. This
particular finding is not terribly out of sync with many sales
professionals. In general, sales professionals tend to focus more
on the sales transaction, the human transaction, as opposed to
the administrative or organized aspects of the business.
As noted above,
a work environment where he can experience a good deal of change
and variety motivates Mr. Doe. He probably would be bored if he
were performing tasks that are mostly repetitive. The finding
does suggest, however, that he may not always bring closure to
his tasks. Again, this requires further discussion with Mr. Doe
about the position in question.
In summary,
Mr. Doe's "Motivational Profile" is certainly appropriate to leadership
of a sales division and providing sales professionals with the
support necessary to be successful. In other words, he is self-motivated,
highly driven, has a high need for change and variety, and can
function autonomously.
| AREAS
FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
1. It is
suggested that Mr. Doe be given more exposure and opportunities
to demonstrate his capability to perform strategic thinking exercises.
As noted in the body of the report, there is some question about
whether he indeed has the ability to create a long-term vision
for the company.
2. If he
is to provide consistent leadership at the top, it will be necessary
for him to develop a higher level of perceptivity, particularly
in terms of his ability to "read" situations with his superiors.
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