Using Profile Assessments to Bolster Your Hiring Process

In an economy that has become increasingly competitive the ability to hire the right individuals, for the right jobs, can be the difference between a successful operation and one that struggles to maintain an efficient staff. Hiring the best service employees for your cleaning operation requires more than merely looking for individuals with cleaning experience. It requires an ability to conduct a more holistic assessment of the applicant and using the resulting data to make informed decisions.

Using profile assessments can provide the edge you need in your hiring process.

What are Profile Assessments?

Profile assessments are used to give a potential employer broader and deeper insights into a prospective employee’s personality, attitudes, experience, and skills. They provide the employer with information that would not ordinarily be obtained from a stand-alone interview process.

There are a wide variety of profile assessments available on the market today. Employers have the option of using traditional paper-based tools or they can opt for online assessments that are supported by sophisticated software programs.

There is also a wide breadth and depth of profile assessment types from which to choose. However, most assessments will cover some very basic areas. Those would include:

Personality

Using profile assessments can provide valuable insights into a prospective employee’s personality traits. The assessments are designed to reveal information related to an individual's temperament, engagement, reactions to conflict, loyalty, ambition, etc. The sum of this data can provide the employer with predictive information related to....

• Introversion vs Extroversion: Would the employee engage with others proactively or would he/she require prompting to participate within a team environment?
• Outlook and Temperament: An assessment can pinpoint potential malcontents. Those individuals that could have a poisonous effect on a cleaning staff. Conversely, an assessment can highlight those that would have a tendency toward high morale and positive attitude.
• Loyalty: Most profile assessments will be able to provide insights into an individual's level of loyalty and commitment. This can help avoid hiring those that are too likely to jump ship.

Skills and Aptitude

As a cleaning operation you will be looking for specific skill sets in your new employees. In most cases, applications and/or resumes will provide only a limited, and subjective, view of what the individual would bring to your team. A profile assessment can provide a much more detailed, and objective, view of an applicant’s skills and aptitude.

Questions can be tailored in a manner that will provide data-driven evaluations of skills and experience. An assessment can also provide insights that will predict an individual's ability to absorb and apply training.

In your attempt to maintain a competent and engaged cleaning staff it is important to use all tools at your disposal. Using profile assessments can help you identify those applicants that are most likely to be valuable contributors to your cleaning operation. They can also help you avoid hiring poor performers and misfits.