Video Game Like Assessments

This is in response to Bryan Baldwin's blog of 2/18/2009

As Brian notes, the multi-media nature of video gaming is what candidates expect from an on-line experience. For that to work in an assessment environment there must be a low or no threshold learning curve on mastering the technology interface. Most gamers get better over time. Multi-media assessment must deliver a fair and consistent first-time experience on a level playing field. Second Life for example, requires about 20 hours of practice to become a proficient navigator. Candidates will not tolerate, nor is it fair, for that degree of learning commitment to get into a job application.

Over 90% of candidates completing the Virtual Job Tryout® state they will refer friends and family to this job opportunity based on the nature of the application experience. When your candidate evaluation experience creates viral attraction, that is employment brand power at its finest. In today’s economy, the experience is the marketing.

While video-game like qualities are a worthy target to strive for, Web 2.0 principles provide a framework for fast and cost effective custom on-line candidate evaluation experiences. The Virtual Job Tryout® platform and methodology has been developed to deliver a job specific, company branded, highly engaging and informative candidate experience. We deliver custom development and validation at or below the cost of many off-the shelf solutions. We know this because of the number of clients that have chosen the Virtual Job Tryout® in competitively bid projects.

Tom is correct, (and thanks for the mention), the validity correlations achieved by the Virtual Job Tryout® demonstrate next-in-class capabilities of robust measurement methods. This is due in a large part to two factors: 1. The multi-method nature of the approach taken for candidate evaluation. 2. The proprietary techniques used to capture a comprehensive data set of subjective and objective measures of on-the-job performance. When it comes to quality validation analytics, size does matter.

It has been well documented that using two or more evaluation methods increases the power of prediction. It has also been well documented that work samples are very sound predictors of on-the-job performance. The Virtual Job Tryout® seamlessly combines four to six experiences comprised of job-specific work samples, job- relevant work history, and performance-appropriate work style. The customized-content nature of these experiences embeds realistic job preview within the evaluation. The candidate takes the job for a test drive. The recruiter gains a work sample that predicts performance. It is a double win for the recruiter and candidate.

Companies are justified in expecting more from their assessment technology. It can no longer be about “the test”. Companies that obtain the best hiring results view candidate evaluation as a measurement discipline for the business process called staffing. With this end in mind, the staffing process is evaluated by statistically exploring the inputs (candidates and candidate data) value-add components (evaluation, decision making and on-boarding) and yields (staffing waste, staffing rework, new hire performance variation).

Companies that view staffing as a business process know that calibration is at the core of process improvement. In the field of assessment validation = calibration. The closed loop analytics deployed with a Virtual Job Tryout® implementation feeds a periodic recalibration which hones in on the performance drivers. The Virtual Job Tryout® gets smarter over time, learning from experience. The staffing process becomes a data source which documents how each hiring decision is contributing to the business.

Brian you are correct about the investment and cycle time for developing a new game. The cost and time to market would have to plummet for even the companies with the greatest appetite for combining the “way cool” with the “way effective.”

There are more lead-time reasonable and cost effective methods for highly engaging and measurement rich candidate evaluation available today.

I too am available for any reader wishing to learn more.
Joseph P. Murphy
Shaker Consulting Group, Inc.
Developers of the Virtual Job Tryout®
Joe.murphy@shakercg.com
www.shakercg.com