About Assess Systems

We are an international company that provides state-of-the-art products, services and general consulting to meet the selection and development needs of organizations. Our focus is on the people – which ones to hire or promote and when – how to train and develop them to their fullest potential – and how to organize them and the systems around them to maximize their collective potential.

Our people are organizational psychologists, management consultants, software designers and service professionals working together to serve the business needs of our clients.

Featured Testimonial:

 

We’ve worked with Assess Systems for 2 years, and have found them to be one of our best vendors to work with. They provide exceptional customer service and are very responsive to our requests. Assess Systems helped us get tailored assessments targeted specifically to our job roles up and running and integrated into our recruitment management system in under 30 days. The reports are easy to use and deliver real value to our hiring managers in the field.

-Don Evans, Director of Talent Acquisition, General Parts, Inc., CARQUEST

History

Bigby, Havis & Associates, Inc. began as a part of a general management consulting firm, Lifson, Wilson, Ferguson and Winick (LWFW) that was founded in the 1950's. When LWFW merged with Towers Perrin at the beginning of 1988, we spun the Organizational Psychology practice off and formed BHA.

Since then, we have diversified our practice into a range of products, services and broader organizational consulting. We have grown ten-fold in fifteen years and expect to continue to grow at this rate in the future.

In 2001, we made a commitment to develop a global business and began forming relationships with international partners who had a similar emphasis on quality and value to the customer. In 2005, we solidified this commitment by creating a new company, Assess Systems. Beginning in 2006, we have re-branded as Assess Systems, both domestically and worldwide. We now have partners in Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

In order to accelerate our status as a leading provider of Human Resource selection and development solutions in 2008 we combined forces with Merlin Technologies. Merlin’s mission is to create recruiting and development solutions of indispensable value for its clients by combining high-quality providers like Assess Systems into a seamless suite of integrated offerings. Assess Systems is now the foundation and flagship division of Merlin as we move to execute this vision.

Vision

Combine the highest quality psychology with superior technology and exemplary design to be a world-class provider to our client companies and other consulting professionals.

Philosophy

Serve The Business Need of the Client

Client companies cannot exist without making a profit. They cannot make a profit unless they use and develop their resources - time, money, and people - in sensible and effective ways. Our advice, services and products are useless if not crafted from the perspective of the realities of the client's business - business concept, technology, competitive environment and profit margins. The better we learn and understand our client's business, the better we can perform and the more valuable we will be.  

Selection Solutions

Our selection offerings vary from tools such as associate level tests to services such as executive assessment to general consulting around strategic human resource issues. We can provide focused support for your internal initiatives or we can provide broader, more comprehensive offerings. Our objective is to provide world-class solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of each client company.

Competency Modeling

Competencies clarify work expectations and focus individuals on what is most important to achieving business success. Competencies have become widely popular in recent years for their multiple advantages. Through their use, organizations are able to align human resource processes with organizational strategy and values. Competencies clarify work expectations for individuals and create a shared understanding of expectations by using a common language across jobs and the organization. Assess Systems has expertise in developing competency models for all levels in the organization. For example, our Strategic Success Modeling Workshop (2-1/2 days) is a comprehensive but efficient way for job content experts to develop competency models that are immediately usable in HR processes, to include employment selection, promotion and individual coaching and development programs using our ASSESS System.

Assessment

An in-depth evaluation of a candidate for a leadership, managerial, supervisory or professional position. Our assessments are designed to assist the organization in making employment or promotion decisions. They provide a comprehensive view of the candidate's intellectual abilities, work approach, emotional makeup, interpersonal style, and leadership abilities.

For leadership positions, our executive assessment goes deeper to evaluate the candidate's ability to direct and lead a major business unit. It measures elements covered in standard assessments (intellectual abilities, work approach, emotional make-up, interpersonal style, and management style and competencies) as prerequisites, but focuses on business leadership qualities. These qualities include business vision, drive for execution and leadership values.

Custom Test Development and Validation

Developing custom tests is a major practice area for Assess Systems. Frequently, off-the-shelf tests are the best and most cost-effective solutions. However, for some jobs, new tests should be tailored or developed to best measure the characteristics and abilities needed. In addition to our standard offerings, we regularly develop and validate new tests and other selection processes for our client companies.

Web-based Assessment Tools

We offer off-the-shelf and tailored versions of our ASSESS, SalesMax and SELECT systems to assist you in hiring candidates who possess the innate and learned capabilities needed for job success. These web-based systems administer, score and evaluate on-line surveys validated for use in the selection of associates, professionals and managers.

Total Selection Process Design

We can help you build or refine each of the parts of your selection process and help integrate them into a well-coordinated and efficient whole. Consistently good employment selection decisions are usually the result of a well-orchestrated process that includes recruitment, application screening and background checking, testing for abilities and personal characteristics, structured, behaviorally-based interviews, and a decision process that effectively integrates information from all sources. We can wrap all of these tools into a custom designed website to ensure consistency of use throughout the organization.

Selection Process Training

The best tools and processes are ineffective unless those that use them are trained to use them well. We offer one to two-day, small group workshops, to train managers in effective selection procedures, behavior interviewing skills and assessment interpretation.  

Development Solutions

Our development offerings vary from small group workshops to executive coaching to general consulting around strategic human resource issues. We can provide focused support for your internal initiatives or we can provide broader, more comprehensive offerings. Our objective is to provide world-class solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of each client company.

Coaching

An investment in key individuals. We provide personal, one-on-one coaching to enhance current job effectiveness, to prepare the individual for new or future assignments or to avoid derailment. Our approach to coaching is data-driven. We utilize a battery of assessment tools including individual inventories and 360 degree feedback to help the participant to take stock of their personal strengths and weaknesses. From this foundation of understanding, and with support and input from the Assess Systems coach, human resources and other organizational sources, the participant constructs a detailed action plan that focuses on sustaining or improving job effectiveness and personal value to the organization.

Group Workshops

Cost-effective alternatives to one-on-one coaching. These career development workshops for groups of ten to twenty people provide confidential developmental feedback in a supportive setting. Using our ASSESS System, participants receive detailed personality assessment feedback, 360-degree feedback and developmental action planning in a structured workshop format which can be tailored to specific organizational needs. Our ASSESS System also provides comprehensive group-level results to assist in your training and development planning.

Web-based Assessment Tools

We offer off-the-shelf and tailored versions of our ASSESS and SalesMax Systems to assist you in developing professionals and managers in your organization. These web-based systems administer, score and evaluate on-line personality and 360 degree feedback surveys for use in development programs.

Development Program Design

We can help you build or refine each of the parts of your development program and help integrate them into a well-coordinated and efficient whole. We can assist you in designing an assessment-based development and coaching program including competency model building, assessment tools and coaching training. We can wrap all of these tools into a custom designed website to ensure consistency of use throughout the organization.