Psychometric Testing

The use of personality tests and aptitude tests to select both executive and staff level employees is quite popular. It is necessary to have reliable and valid tools that are able to discriminate between the most potentially-effective employee and the one who will not fit the job. Business Minds, Criterion Partnership, The Morrisby Organisation, Oxford Psychologists Press, Psytech International, SHL Group are the one of the best companies in Psychometric Testing. Many of the test companies offer ability tests, personality test, aptitude test which assess the specific tasks necessary in particular jobs. In India companies today use psychometrics for hiring junior management and middle management. In India this approach is mostly made use of by companies such as Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, i-flex Solutions, Raymonds, Ericsson and Thermax.

Psychometric assessment is an objective and scientific tool that is able to contribute to the validity and successful outcome of the recruitment, selection and development process. The Psychometric tests are developed for specific role. There are tests for MBA aspirations which assess verbal and numerical checking skills, for the clerical jobs there are test which is designed to check the verbal, numerical, office vocabulary, and the ability to plan and organise. The companies also have tests for technical jobs such as technical checking and faultfinding, knowledge of electronics, and the ability to comprehend diagrams. The other global firms in the field of Psychometric Testing are ASE, Development Strategy and Assessment, Knight Chapman Psychological, worldwide, Selby Millsmith, The Test Agency.

In the current recruitment scenario where attracting and retaining the right talent has become the biggest challenge, HR Executives are constantly on the look out for innovative methods to achieve their objectives. Psychometrics is the science of objective assessment of employees. It is one method mostly being employed by many Indian companies today to retain talent.

The key to Telecommuting

Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH), or working from home is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working locations and hours.
Many work from home, while others do that occasionally also referred to as nomad workers or web commuters. This lot utilizes mobile telecommunications technology to work from other locations.

Telework is a broader term, referring to substituting telecommunications for any form of work-related travel, thereby eliminating the distance restrictions of telecommuting. All telecommuters are teleworkers but not all teleworkers are telecommuters. Teleworking has numerous benefits. Some of which include increased productivity, retention and morale. A telework program can lead to problems if not executed correctly.

A formal telework program has a framework in place where organizations have thought of the various benefits and risks. Most companies don’t like taking any risks and prefer to supply the equipment, as it is easier to enforce the policy decisions on corporate equipment. If a teleworker is working three-plus days from a home office or other remote location, then the company should pay for everything. The equipments would include – the laptop, the printer, and the phone line as well.

IT support would also be required to be looked into. Occasional teleworkers can bring their laptop back to the office for IT support, but then they should also be provided with an appropriate level of remote IT support. Employers should put together policy guidelines and rules of practice about what they’re going to cover and not cover. They should also take care of another issue which is updating software and hardware.

Published by: http://hrcases.wordpress.com/ July 28, 2008

Google – Brain Drain

Google Inc. is an American public corporation. It earns revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, web-based e-mail, online mapping, office productivity, social networking, and video sharing services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the same technologies.
The company was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Bring while they were students at Stanford University. Its initial public offering made it worth US$23 billion.

Google has continued its growth through a series of new product developments, acquisitions, and partnerships. Environmentalism, philanthropy, and positive employee relations have been important tenets during Google’s growth, the latter resulting in being identified multiple times as Fortune Magazine’s #1 Best Place to Work.

In recent times, Google has witnessed a loss of high profile departures, including Sheryl Sandburg who moved to Facebook and Doug Merrill who joined EMI. Earlier, executives such as Ethan Beard and Chris Sacca also moved away from the Organization. However, over all Google still continues to suck talent with more than 6,000 employees joining it last year.

The company is now witnessing a drain of some of its entrepreneurial energy that drove its early growth. Some former Google Executives believe that the company has lost two vital ingredients of its culture: the anything-goes approach of a start-up environment and the chance to strike it rich. Thus, the fading of its start-up culture poses threat for Google’s ability to attract and retain the right sort of talent.

Published at http://hrcases.wordpress.com/ on August 5, 2008 by hrcases