Employee Assessments Are Key to Maximizing Talent Management Results

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - April 6, 2010) -  Talent Assessment Strategies, a recent study by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS) reveals organizations still have difficulty evolving pre- and post-hire talent decisions from an art to a science. However, when looking at top performing companies, not only do 67% have a standardized assessment strategy in place to inform those decisions, but 89% have clearly-defined core competencies for each job role. Analysis showed that assessments act as an important decision-making tool by providing real data and measurements and eliminating "gut-feel" conclusions. Furthermore, when this process is tied to carefully identified performance differentiators, or competencies, it can have tremendous results.

According to Mollie Lombardi, Research Analyst with Aberdeen's Human Capital Management practice, "top performing companies know that you need to look much further than just how well an employee performs. You need to consider their behavioral, ethical, and cognitive make-up. Assessments allow you to determine who has that ideal makeup, what role they fit best in, and will give you a means to reasonably predict how well they will perform in the future."

"Competencies give the employer an idea of what they are really assessing for. If you don't know what makes your top performers tick, you won't be able to replicate their success across the organization," said Jayson Saba, Senior Research Associate with Aberdeen's Human Capital Management practice.

By identifying the proven steps adopted by top organizations, this comprehensive guide will serve as a resource for any organization seeking to implement an assessment process that can lead to better decisions and significantly improve quality of hire, employee performance, and ultimately business results.

Aberdeen's report provides more detail about how top performing organizations carry out their assessment strategies in a way that allows for a holistic view of the employee and accurately reflects the needs of the business. Complimentary access to this report is available for a limited time at: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6336&camp2.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: CPP, First Advantage, Previsor Talent Measurement, and Profiles International. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:

http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6336&camp2.

Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Human Capital Management Research.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

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