PreVisor’s award winning solutions are trusted by more than 25,000 organizations worldwide, including half of the Fortune 500. Grounded in the science of industrial/organizational psychology, and verified by the results of more than 50 million applicants, PreVisor’s predictive tests and assessments enable employers to take the guesswork out of employee selection. We collaborate with clients to design an employee selection system that is relevant to a position, accurately predicts on-the-job performance and promotes objective hiring practices. Employers see measurable returns, such as increased sales, decreased training costs, improved retention and higher customer satisfaction ratings.

“The launch of the PreVisor brand begins a new era in employee selection that combines selection content and professional consulting services to produce predictive solutions for positions at all levels of every industry,” stated Kurt Ballard, chief marketing officer for PreVisor. “With our new capabilities we are uniquely positioned to deliver comprehensive solutions to an even broader range of employers.”

This breakfast seminar will be conducted by Mike Gordon, Chairman PreVisor Inc USA and Emma Lee, Director, PreVisor Australia.

Venue    : Carcosa Seri Negara (Langkasuka Room)
Date    : Thursday 3 July 2008
Time     : 9.00am – 12 noon (Breakfast starts 8.30am)
RSVP    : Sharma Lachu at 03-21625159 or 012-2280455 or e-mail to sharma@arcanesolutions.com.my

Position Description:
This is a full-time position based in Kuala Lumpur with travel opportunities to Australia and U.S.

Consultant Psychologists are responsible for:
+ Job analysis: conducting focus groups; analysing data collected from job analysis questionnaires; recommending appropriate assessment content; and contributing to the creation of online assessments.
+ Assessment for selection: administering psychometric assessments (ability, personality, role-play); interpreting psychometric assessments; writing assessment reports; providing feedback to candidates and managers.
+ Assessment centres and development centres: designing assessment and development centre programmes; project management; assessor training; facilitation of centres; and feedback.

Please check out the Career page for more info on the available position.

Percentage of respondents who said “Yes” to these statements:

We development people effectively 3%

We hold line mangers accountable for their people 7%

We retain good people 10%

We use job assignments as a key development lever 10%

We know who our key performers are 16%

We attract highly talented people 23%

Our mentoring is good 25%

HR is a partner 27%

We’re good at coaching and feedback 30%

HR should be a partner in growing the talent pool 78%

Source: McKinsey & Company In, 1998, ‘Winning the War For Talent’, p67 Top 200 survey.

Pfeffer offered a compelling case for this in his book The Human Equation. In a study of nearly 200 banks, Pfeffer found that ‘differences in the practices are associated with rather large differences in financial performance. Financial performance was estimated to be approximately 30% higher for banks over one standard deviation above the mean, than it was for
those banks of the mean (Source: Pfeffer, J 1998 ‘The Human Equation’, p30-63).

Huselid studied 1,000 publicly listed US firms and found that a one standard deviation increase in people practices resulted in:

• An increase of US$27,044 in sales per employee
• Almost US$4,000 in profit per employee
• US$18,641 in market value per employee
• 7.05% decrease in employee turnover

(Source: Huselid, Mark A, 1995, ‘The impact of human Resource Management Practices on Turnover, Productivity, and Corporate Finance Performance’, Academy of Management Journal, Volume 38, No. 3, p635-672)

A later study by Huselid found that a one standard deviation increase in these practices resulted in:

• US$41,000 increase in shareholder value per employee

(Source: Huselid, Mark: Becker, B 1997, ‘The Impact of High Performance Work Systems, Implementation Effectiveness and Alignment of Strategy on Shareholder Wealth’, p18-19)

Pfeffer studies a wide variety of US organisations and found that all of them reported impressive numbers after they adopted people practices.

Challenges:

Imagine the challenge of processing 100,000 job applicants annually to find the top few to best represent your company in interactions with approximately 16.3 million customers. That is the challenge that faces one of the leading U.S. wireless communications providers.

Solution:

The carrier turned to the PreVisor staff of Organizational Psychology experts to conduct a detailed job analysis using one-on-one observations, focus group discussions, and call center personnel to determine the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics of a successful call center agent.

The resulting PreVisor Selection System evaluated characteristics such as resilience, friendliness, focus, sustained energy, and high tolerance for repetitive problems. PreVisor designed a battery of tests and an interactive simulated collections scenario assessment built to the carrier’s needs. The self-explanatory test requires no supervision. In fact, if an applicant requires assistance with the test, the struggle becomes an indicator in and of itself.

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Challenges:

A leading global credit card company was investing too much money and time training newly-hired call center agents who where only staying with the job for less than 90 days. Further, the call center associate selection process did not clearly assess new agents for sales skills or sales aptitude. Additionally, a recently-announced corporate initiative was calling for a boost in customer satisfaction.

Solution:

The credit card provider engaged PreVisor to audit the company’s applicant selection process for ways to redefine the quality of new hires, reduce turnover, increase sales and improve customer service. Using surveys, interviews, observations and measurements, PreVisor’s team of Organizational Psychology experts conducted research to determine the knowledge, skills, abilities and other attributes held by its highest performing agents. PreVisor recommended various skills tests and behavioral assessments to best measure these attributes. After 21 months of the pilot program, PreVisor conducted a validation study to correlate actual performance with the assessment scores.

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Challenges:

The holiday season is like show time for BJ’s Wholesale Club®, one of the leading U.S. member-based retail chains. To support increased sales, the company must hire thousands of seasonal associates. Having top-performers on board from the beginning of the season through January can generate huge payoffs in revenue. BJ’s turned to PreVisor to determine an assessment solution that would identify the best candidates to hire for this fast-paced seasonal work.

Solution:

PreVisor first determined several valuable traits, including being reliable, friendly and solution-oriented, as predictors of on-the-job performance. Next, they created a customized selection solution that would accurately measure these attributes in candidates. PreVisor then tested the selection solution on existing employees to validate their efficacy.

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Challenges:

The second-largest low-fare airline in the U.S., AirTran Airways®, receives more than six million incoming calls annually. So when it was reported that it was taking newly hired call-center agents longer than 90 days to achieve optimum performance standards, management took notice.

Solution:

AirTran looked to PreVisor to help develop a selection solution that could accurately predict on-the-job performance in a call center environment. After conducting an analysis of the AirTran Call Center agent’s job, PreVisor recommended that candidates be put through a battery of three assessments. The first assessment would measure basic skills, such as math and reading comprehension. The second assessment would evaluate soft skills, such as trustworthiness, conscientiousness and cooperation. The third assessment would be an actual call center scenario, using the pressure of a telephone call to test emotional intelligence, listening, computer aptitude, and problem-solving skills.

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Challenges:

Many government entities react slowly to the world around them. Riverside County, California, defies this stereotype. In fact, the county enjoys a reputation as a responsive employer & is ranked among an elite group of 150 U.S. companies chosen as “Great Places to Work.”1 But, it wasn’t always this way. For years, the HR department depended on paper-based testing to process up to 200 applicants a day. Manually rating, ranking & processing candidates was time intensive & cumbersome & the time that passed between a candidate applying for a position & the candidate being hired took too long.

Solution:

Using PreVisor™ skills tests and psychometric evaluations, candidates looking for work can now take a series of online assessments. Results are available instantly, and recruiters can immediately determine a candidate’s qualifications. The online testing solution also helps Riverside manage the candidate screening process by comparing applicant scores, delivering comprehensive reporting, conducting background checks, and storing applicant data for later reference. This is a great benefit to the County, because they need to process a high volume of job seekers to sustain a list of qualified, multi-skilled candidates to 50 different departments and agencies. The County also routinely uses the assessment center to allow current employees to test their own skills and certification knowledge in the areas of clerical, IT, public safety, technical and inspections expertise, trade, craft, and professional knowledge.

1. Herman Miller and Context Research conducted a two-year ethnographic study in 2002 to achieve it’s list of “Great Places to Work.”

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We measure our success by yours; so every day when our people go to work your success is our priority. Arcane Solutions is a HR Advisory specializing in organizational selection, development and retaining talent. With our team of experienced organizational psychologists with specific Malaysian market expertise we offer proactive, flexible, pioneering solutions and all with business results in mind.

Our expertise at using innovative technologies and seamless system integrations to streamline people process allows HR professionals and managers to make superior, quicker and more decisive decisions.