Free Employee Assessment Study Now Available For New Employer Members

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By Rick Fromme

The right talent in today's complex knowledge-based job market has never been more critical to an organization's bottom line — or more difficult to obtain. Medical businesses are seeking better ways to secure a higher level of productivity, performance and profitability from their investment in human capital. However, many of them haven’t calculated the total costs of employee turnover, a major cause of which is hiring the wrong talent for the job from the get-go.

After working in the medical field for a combined 25 years, noticing the difficulty of finding, matching, developing and maintaining good staff over the long term, we decided to develop a tool that goes far beyond what you’ll find on the standard job boards. We wanted a comprehensive method that would enable employers to objectively identify and match key behavioral profiles, manage the recruitment/interview/decision-making process, and ultimately help them retain high-quality employees, thus saving the expenses associated with the hiring and training process.

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Special Offer for New Employer Members

To that end, MedMasters is now offering a complimentary online assessment for companies to compare its top-producing employees with potential job candidates. It's available to all employers who sign up with a new, one-year membership. Companies can use this assessment to compile a baseline study of its top performers in regards to their behavioural and motivational styles. This gives employers an objective way to assess and benchmark its top performers based on their behavioral and motivational skill sets. The companies can then use the assessment results to evaluate and compare its top employees  with candidates they’re currently considering for job openings.  The closer job candidates match the companies’ best performers on these assessments, the more likely they’ll succeed at the job.  The one page-study includes easy-to-understand graphs based on the study results.

Companies simply choose its top echelon sales performers and have them take the15-minute assessment. This data is combined to produce a summary that tells employers exactly what type of candidate they’re looking for, based on the results given to them by their top echelon people.

Advantages of Benchmarking

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Currently, many companies are evaluating talent strictly based on their experience, résumé, references, the interview  process and the soft skills he or she has. Those are all very important factors but hiring managers often fail to measure and identify what behavioural and motivational attributes the top performers possess. Assessing their best employees through benchmarking and then comparing candidates to that baseline gives them a much better chance of matching the right candidate to the job. Oftentimes they may think they’ve hired the right candidate for the job based on their history, skill sets, interview, and references, but how can they be sure whether the candidate matches their best performers? They can’t without studying their own exceptional talent and using those results to gauge potential candidates.

Consider this common scenario: Oftentimes there may be two or more highly qualified candidates.  And occassionally, the candidate who is hired was chosen on someone’s gut instinct or even by corporate nepotism.  Performing a benchmark study of the top performers and measuring potential candidates against those results can provide a more accurate and objective way to assure, with a higher degree of accuracy, the right candidate is offered the job. Assessment and benchmark testing are inherently more accurate and objective, thus assuring the absolute right candidate(s) are offered the job.

Another use of the study is to benchmark the bottom half of their sales performers in order to see how they differ from their all-stars.

These key tools offered by MedMasters provide additional ways assess and retain talent as well as
effectively diminish turnover by consistently helping identify the candidate who is the best fit for a particular job.  Great fits are highly correlated with low turnover — followed along with a sound management and development plan customized for each new hire, which also reduces turnover.

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MedMasters also offers various other assessment tools that measure sales skills, sales talent comparisons, sales DNA, leadership capabilities and coaching reports. The coaching reports are very effective because they provide managers with the ability to better communicate expectation in a language employees can understand.

MedMasters’ assessments and methodologies are based on 40 years of data and research, where employers can proactively optimize their investment in their employees. These human resources solutions are proven, measurable, and provide optimal results.

Individual Members Benefit, Too

MedMasters also makes the assessment available to all of our professional members to complete at no charge to take it and then post their results on their MedMasters’ profile page.  Employers can then source candidates based not only the skill sets and experience of the candidates, but also on how their assessment profile matches up with the results of its top performers. The closer the match, the more likely a new hire will succeed at the job. at the level of the company’s top performers. And incidentally, when employers locate a MedMasters member that has the background they're looking for, but hasn’t yet completed and posted an assessment, they can simply send that potential candidate a MedMail request to complete it.

It’s Getting Better All the Time

In addition to providing its new one-year employer members with the assessment, MedMasters will also provide them a free copy of Dr. Charles Coker’s newest book, “Profit Through Your People: How the Human Factor Can Impact Your Bottom Line.” The book, written by the nationally published, multi-award-winning Coker, is currently available at Amazon.

For those who didn’t catch our previous blog in March, “You Must Assess to Recruit & Retain the Best,” Dr. Charles “Chuck” Coker, SPHR, PhD, who wrote that article, serves as MedMasters’ Vice President of Human Capital Strategies. He holds professional designations as a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst, Certified Professional Values Analyst and is Certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  Harvard University, Florida State University and Westminster Theological Centre (in the UK) have hired Dr. Coker and/or used his methodology for the basis of specific courses and academic studies.

Having Dr. Coker on MedMasters’ executive team assures we’re providing cutting-edge, proven research on assessment and behavioral testing. Such organizations as Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic, Medco, AT&T, General Foods, Harris Corporation, Sprint PCS and MecLabs Group have all retained his expertise to guide them through the recruitment, acquisition and retention of high-value employees.

Especially with our detailed assessment testing, and our new Groups platform in our social media side, MedMasters provides professional members and recruiters/employers with a broad set of applicable tools that are unique to the health care industry.

In our ongoing quest to provide be the best job board and social networking site available to the health care industry, MedMasters will continue to incorporate added value for hiring companies, recruiters and medical professionals who join the site.

If you found this article useful, please leave a comment below and also feel free to share and repost it.

Rick Fromme combines entrepreneurial enthusiasm with an insider's knowledge of the medical industry to co-found MedMasters.com. Both his drive and perspective helps provide health care professionals with a superior mechanism with which to communicate, network and market their strengths. Prior to founding MedMasters.com, Rick operated a highly successful medical device distributorship. Other milestones in his 12-year career in the medical industry include a key position at a medical device start-up company that was later sold to the Ethicon Endo division of Johnson & Johnson. You may reach Rick by connecting with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube.  

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You Must Assess to Recruit and Retain the Best

By Charles Coker, PhD, SPHR

There are several critical elements as to why assessment testing is really the only way to ensure employers recruit high-level performers.

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First, many years ago, “Psychology Today,” and couple of other research organizations joined up and conducted a study. It showed that reviewing résumés and interviewing a person only proved to be 14% 

effective in hiring an employee that lasted more than two years. Job benchmarking, with its 79% accuracy rate, remains the best way to evaluate potential employees, versus basing a decision solely on résumés and interviews.

The percentage increases based on skill sets, competency tests, but the highest level of success is obtained through a battery of assessment tests. One assessment test can give you a 60% efficacy rate.     A second will provide an employer with a 75% to 80% success rate. But three potential candidates’ assessments can give you up to 90% ability to identify candidates of lasting value.

Three Types of Assessments

Research has indicated there are specific types of assessments that have proven most effective for employers when evaluating potential recruits. The first are the basic Behavioral Assessments, which most people are familiar with, such as the ones created by Meyers-Briggs and DISC. They help you better understand the job, and the behavioral requirements for that job itself. Behavioral assessments help determine how a person acts, which is often the way they’ll do a job. If you have someone who, according to the assessment results, indicates they’re a fast-paced, extroverted person, you’d be much better having them in a sales position than you would an introverted, analytical type of person.

A good example of a basic Personality and Behavioral Assessment is one that asks a series of questions that help determine:

• How someone projects his or herself to others in multiple dimensions
• How they approach life in seven different categories
• The areas in which they have important strengths
• How their beliefs, as well as their objective and subjective mindsets, impact their life
• Identify any internal conflicts (if apparent) that impact their decision-making process
• Sites areas for their personal attention



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• Ten specific word descriptions that define their approach to people and processes

Ideally, at its conclusion, the assessment also offers some personal training and development programs that could help them by providing suggestions and resources for improvement.

For example, at MedMasters, our Basic Personality & Behavioral Profile assessment helps serve as a tool for personal development and life application. It was designed as a preview of something deeper and richer to help you better understand your potential.

Among myriad other aspects, it deals with how you project yourself to others in multiple dimensions, how you approach life in seven different categories, helps you identify several areas where you have important strengths, helps you address internal conflicts that may impact your decision-making abilities, and much more.

Here’s the Catch-22: Almost 80% of marketing and sales companies utilize assessment testing, but they don’t utilize them to the fullest potential. In other words, the basic Behavioral Assessment is just the first step.

The second step, which most companies overlook, is what, in the human resources assessment field, is known as a “Mind Set” assessment.That is the way a person mentally approaches a given job. Are they very objective? Are they very subjective? And what are their beliefs about themselves and the system that they work in? Without conducting this type of assessment, a company can hire the most confident person based upon their Behavioral Assessment, but the employee won’t last because their mindset is not in line with the corporate culture, mission, vision and values. So the second assessment makes certain you have the right person in the job, after the Behavior Assessment measures whether or not they can do the job well.

“Research has indicated there are specific types of assessments that have proven most effective for employers when evaluating potential recruits.”

The third type of assessment employers should use to ensure they have the top level performers, is the “Motivational Screen.” This identifies how a person achieves success. There are four different measures of an individual achieving success, and they also relate to how a job is conducted. So when you measure an individual’s motivations, if they already have established habit patterns in a successful mindset that fits with the job, their chance of learning the job — even if they’ve never done it before — is extremely high. This is where you can get good talent who may not have been in your industry, but they’re easy to cross train and extremely valuable for long-term ability to succeed in that particular area.

The assessments on MedMasters were specifically designed according to the results of a five-year study at the University of Chester Academics at Westminster Theological Centre in the United Kingdom, entitled, “The Foundation for Personal and Professional Development.”

"Free personality testing" sign.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Similarly, the assessments on MedMasters were specifically chosen because they cover all aspects of an individual’s behaviors, mindset and motivation. Therefore, I can identify and determine their success plausibility with any type of job under any type of circumstance.  

MedMasters’ Sample Assessment Reports:

• TTI Success Insights – Sales Skills Index (SSI) Report
• TTI PTSI – Leadership/Management Report
• Trimetrix Sales Talent Comparison Report
• Trimetrix Coaching Sales Report
• Trimetrix Coaching Executive Report
• DNA TTI PTSI Sales – Coaching Sales Report
• DNA TTI PTSI Sales Management – Coaching Executive Sales Report

Corresponding to my discussion above, the pre-employment assessment utilized by MedMasters includes three levels to assist hiring managers in the employee selection process. Our system compares the candidates’ key attributes against the position’s benchmarked performance profile to develop a comprehensive employment assessment report and developmental information employers can utilize to improve employee recruitment, performance and tenure.

Dr. Charles “Chuck” Coker serves as MedMasters’ Vice President of Human Capital Strategies. Such companies as AT&T, General Foods, Harris Corporation, Sprint PCS and MecLabs Group have retained his expertise to guide them through the recruitment, acquisition and retention of high-value employees. Dr. Coker holds professional designations as a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst, Certified Professional Values Analyst and is Certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Dr. Coker’s work is so accurate and effective that Harvard University, Florida State University and Westminster Theological Centre (in the UK) have hired Dr. Coker or used his methodology for the basis of specific courses and academic studies. Dr. Coker is also a nationally published writer and is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, “Profit Through Your People: How the Human Factor Impacts Your Bottom Line,” his second non-fiction title. In addition to working with MedMasters, Dr. Coker is the President of LifeThrive Performance systems, one of America’s most respected organizational performance consulting and training firms. You may also reach. You may also reach Dr. Coker by connecting with him on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube.  

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