Case Studies
Assess Systems has decades of research and expertise in talent selection and people development. Review the following case studies highlighting just a few of the thousands of businesses across the globe our assessment solutions have helped.
American Airlines Empowers Leaders With Transformational Leadership Development Programs
American Airlines' progressive stance is not only reflected in its cooperative efforts with other airlines, but also in its leadership approach. Without strong, motivational leaders, American cannot deliver the high-quality customer experience that passengers expect. Therefore, American Airlines has placed a high priority on leadership development.
American Airlines had employed an informal leadership development model since 2001, but by 2007 it was clear that a more intentional approach was required. Two related issues had emerged: many leaders would retire in the next decade, and quick action was needed to develop capable leaders to step in.
Read: American Airlines Empowers Leaders With Transformational Leadership Development Programs
American Airlines Leverages Candidate Assessments from Assess Systems Integrated with Taleo Applicant Tracking
American Airlines' progressive stance is not only reflected in its cooperative efforts with other airlines, but also in its approach to its employees. Quality people are a critical asset in any business—particularly this one.
In 2007, American Airlines began an initiative to refine its recruitment process and outsource it to IBM™. Dramatic changes in interview processes for front-line employees were in order. For years, American Airlines had struggled with time-consuming phone interviews to screen candidates. The process required certifying recruiters for individual phone interviews, which took 30 to 45 minutes per candidate. Additional time was needed to interpret and evaluate the results. A recruiter could do 10 interviews a day at most.
Brinker International Improves Succession Planning and Leadership Development by Integrating Assessment Tools
Brinker hires and develops people with a passion for hospitality who give guests a warm welcome and a positive, enjoyable dining experience. Employee development is taken seriously, and Brinker often prefers to promote from within. Brinker emphasizes efficiency, a proactive approach and state-of-the-art processes in succession planning and the development of its leaders.
Brinker experienced rapid domestic growth in 2004. The company's strategy was to quickly speed the expansion of its brands. "Whenever you build five or six restaurants, you have to have an area director to supervise them," said Stan Fletcher, vice president of Executive Development and Succession Planning at Brinker. "We were growing regional directors from the area director pool. We needed to identify talent in the organization who could take on the challenges of growth."
Assess Systems Partners with CARQUEST to Improve the Quality of New Hires
Every year, CARQUEST hires thousands of teammates. The company requires excellence in every position to support its specialized model of sales, delivery and customer service. Each new hire must possess and demonstrate the potential for exceeding customers' expectations.
To hire the right talent quickly, hiring processes must be efficient and customized for both applicants and the organization. When CARQUEST began using non-exempt candidate assessments from an outside vendor in 2005, the company found they were too long for many candidates to complete. The costly Web-based personality and ability surveys often took 45 minutes or more, resulting in discouraged candidates who failed to finish the application process. Many solid, capable candidates were lost. Any completed assessments gave CARQUEST only general candidate descriptions without any concrete insights about the potential fit of the candidate.
Read" Assess Systems Partners with CARQUEST to Improve the Quality of New Hires
CTIS Sees Dramatic Workforce Transformation Using Assessments to Help Select Employee Base
Cable Television Installation & Service, Inc. (CTIS), is a thriving telecommunications contractor with an excellent reputation. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the company has served major cable companies for more than 20 years. CTIS provides residential installations, home networking, technical support and more. Current clients include Comcast®, Bright House Networks™ and Time Warner®.
Cable installers are in a critical, challenging role requiring both technical ability and people skills. Few people aspire to being "the cable guy", a job involving uncomfortable working conditions, the unknowns that come with handling a variety of issues and people, and fee-based pay. Telecommunications contracting is not immune to the quality and retention difficulties that exist in construction-type industries.
Read: CTIS Sees Dramatic Workforce Transformation Using Assessments to Help Select Employee Base
Farmers Insurance Leverages Assessments to Select Best Professional Candidates While Improving Hiring Efficiencies
Well known and highly respected for its brand, Farmers Insurance offers its customers not only competitive, innovative products, but also peace of mind. Part of this peace of mind comes from Farmers' top-quality employees. Outstanding expertise, professionalism and effective communication are essential ingredients Farmers seeks when selecting candidates.
Although Farmers had been using excellent selection techniques, filling product manager and actuarial positions required insight that was difficult to obtain without assessments. Often applicants were right out of graduate school, with little or no proven experience to evaluate. Intensely quantitative and analytical, the positions demanded a variety of innate capabilities, such as rapid compilation with accurate communication of highly complex information. Therefore, candidate potential was difficult to discern in interviews. Screening and interviewing was time-consuming, large numbers of applicants had to be interviewed, and it was a challenge to identify top-quality applicants.
First Citizens Bank Improves Candidate Experience, Candidate Quality and Time-to-Hire Using Assess Systems
As the banking industry continues to change, First Citizens Bank remains focused on its traditional values and high standards. The bank extends this focus to its employees by striving to hire and retain skilled, talented individuals who work with excellence within the company culture and team environment.
For five years, First Citizens Bank used manual assessments for high-volume positions that included tellers, call-center agents and check processors. In 2008, when its vendor announced a discontinuation of its assessment line of business, decision-makers at the bank began to seek an upgrade. The vendor's services and support were adequate, but the process was cumbersome and candidate-unfriendly. The assessments themselves measured basic skills and nothing more. An applicant had to drive what was often 30 to 45 minutes or more to a vendor location to take the assessment in a proctored environment.
Hyatt Improves Retention and Customer Service with Help from Assess Systems
Hyatt™ knows that customer service is paramount for success in the hospitality business. In 2004, the company began a powerful initiative to revitalize and upgrade its customer service with the goal of establishing a reputation for a distinctive brand of superior service across its North America locations.
To achieve exemplary customer service, Hyatt sought key individuals to serve as front-office agents, food servers, attendants, guest-services personnel and other guest-interfacing positions. Hyatt was already tracking job applicants within its Taleo® system. However, the high volume of candidates for front-of-house positions meant there could be as many as 200 online applicants for a single opening. With so many applications, hiring managers had difficulty knowing where to start. Hiring efficiency and accuracy were lacking. Hyatt's interview process was somewhat simplistic, and it varied widely from interviewer to interviewer and from location to location.
Read: Hyatt Improves Retention and Customer Service with Help from Assess Systems
Tarrant County Human Resources Improves Management Development Programs With Help From Assess Systems
Tarrant County Human Resources provides HR functions for the county government's 37 departments and 4,300 to 4,400 full-time employees. Due to varying degrees of decentralization, this HR group must supply the right level of involvement for each department and collaborate with department heads, elected officials, governing boards and employees. The HR department's management development efforts target ongoing career growth for effective long-term service.
Proactive about its aging workforce, in early 2007 Tarrant County Human Resources saw the need for a succession readiness evaluation across the county government. The HR department conducted a workforce analysis, completing a five-year workforce snapshot projection in which key leadership positions were identified and potential retirements forecasted. Although much training was already offered, the analysis that resulted from the evaluation revealed a need to groom leaders, address skills gaps—some of which were significant—and transfer critical knowledge from leaders and managers.
TTI Establishes Successful Talent Management Strategy by Partnering With Assess Systems
Global leader in the authorized distribution of passive, connector, electromechanical and discrete components, TTI, Inc., is the preferred specialist distributor for numerous OEM customers and electronics manufacturers worldwide. TTI provides a broad product line as well as customized supply-chain solutions. From its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, the company operates more than 50 global locations.
When one of the former vice presidents (VPs) of Human Resources at TTI sought an assessment solution in 1998, he didn't know it would lay the foundation for an American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) Excellence in Practice Award for TTI in 2009.
Read: TTI Establishes Successful Talent Management Strategy by Partnering With Assess Systems
The Assess SSM process has become a "go to" tool for our consulting practice. It is a practical, fast, and efficient process that we have used to create buy-in for leadership development, culture change, succession planning, and change management programs with a variety of international clients. 
