Assess, Screen & Select
the Best Candidates

Retain Your Employees
and Develop Their Full Potential

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Work With the Employee
Assessment Experts
  • 10.23.2018
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : How to Expand Your Applicant Pool

We continue to hear from companies and the media that finding qualified candidates is challenging.  My first question is, what does it take for the candidate to be considered qualified and why.  Qualified is a relative term meaning different things to each company. 

For some positions we believe you can easily widen your applicant pool with a Cognitive Assessment in the selection process.  For seasonal hiring, it’s even more important to hire candidates that can be trained quickly.  Modifying your ad and changing your outreach programs may help as well. 

Cognitive Assessments are the simplest and most effective selection method for increasing your applicant pool with entry level positions that do not require prior knowledge or experience.  For some of you that believe the need to hire candidates with experi... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 08.29.2018
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : EMPLOYEE ASSESSMENTS FOR MANAGERS AND SALES PEOPLE

There are numerous books, courses, articles and daily tips on how to be a better manager or salesperson.  As evidenced with all of these theories and strategies, many of them will help yield success.  No one size fits all, although some are better than others.  One piece of that puzzle that is rarely discussed is how to better understand your prospect, client or employee.

Employee Assessments that measure impactful traits are of great value for either position.  In addition to using them for selection, they can make a large impact on helping the individual better understand their prospects, customers, direct reports and others.  This information is more widely used by Managers than Salespeople, but both can benefit.  Over the years, ... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 05.03.2018
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : HIRING AND RETAINING TOP PERFORMERS LETS YOU SMELL THE FLOWERS

Hiring a new employee or accepting a new position is a two way street.  We are in business to help both sides, the employer and the employee.  A good fit for both sides is a win-win!

Breaking Rules Outside of Work

I was driving to a school.  There is a long line to turn right on one street.  Invariably, you have a driver cut versus waiting in line like most of us.  This one morning the driver cuts, then drops his child off in the teachers’ lot which is off limits.  The last time I saw him, he was running a red light.   People like this are employed and applying for jobs at your company.  There are selection methods that are designed to help you reduce hiring candidates who will skirt the rules at work too.

Passion for the Position

On a recent trip, I had the opportunity to... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 03.15.2018
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : What will the next 50 Years look like with the Selection Process?

We are very proud to be celebrating 50 years in business in March.  The percentage of businesses that make it through their first two years in business is low, let alone making it to the second generation of a family business and 50 years. 

As we embark on our 51st year in business, we want to thank all of you that helped us achieve this monumental occasion in our business.  We thank all of our customers, vendors, advisors, employees and others who have worked with us for over the years.  Without all of you, I would not be writing this. *“From a purely practical standpoint, the value of a personnel selection procedure is best reflected by its operational validity.”  “The operational validity of a selection procedure is particularly important because it has a direct, linear relationship with the economic value of t... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 11.09.2017
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : DOES YOUR SELECTION PROCESS HAVE A FULL BAG OF CLUBS?

Tiger Woods, one of the greatest golfers of all time, would not enter a tournament with fewer than 14 clubs on purpose.  (14 is the max allowed in tournament golf) There is no reason for any competitive golfer to carry fewer than 14 clubs in their bag.  Otherwise, their competition would have a better chance of winning.  All 14 clubs serve a different purpose similar to each method in your hiring process.  If Tiger would have played with 9 or 10 clubs while his opponents were playing with 14 clubs, he would not have been successful.  

I recently read a research paper on selection methods.  They studied over 25 different selection methods including Employee Assessments, Unstructured and Structured Interviews, Education, Reference Checks, etc…. It’s no surprise that some methods were very predictive while other method... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 09.26.2017
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : 50% OF EMPLOYEES QUIT BECAUSE OF THEIR MANAGER – FROM A GALLUP POLL

‘Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen.  The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.’  Vince Lombardi 

Of all the reasons people leave companies, having a bad manager tops the list. According to Gallup polls, a full 50% of employees who quit cite their manager as the reason.    Don't Be Surprised When Your Employees Quit, Jack Altman         Forbes.com

This is not new information nor is it simple to fix.  The easiest solution for companies would be selecting candidates that are a ‘good fit’ to be a successful manager.  That alone would help reduce employees from quitting bosses. 

Based upon our conversations with clients and prospects over the years we see several approaches:  some are diligently working on it with good processes, others do not accept or ackn... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 01.16.2017

Latest Resource : Predicting Employee Performance

As the calendar turns to 2017, forward-looking HR leaders are focused on one question: How many of our employees will still be here next January?

High turnover, including voluntary separations, is a growing challenge. In the retail and food service sectors, two out of three hourly workers will be gone in a year, and the costs can be enormous.

That begs another question: Who should we hire to replace them?

More and more companies are now using employee assessments to help predict which applicants are more likely to succeed — and which ones to avoid. According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of large U.S. employers using pre-hire assessments has more than doubled in the past 15 years.

“Eight of the top 10 U.S. private employers now administer pre-hire ... FULL ARTICLE >

  • 12.15.2015
  • Carlsbad, CA

Latest Resource : Three Tips to Prevent New-Hire Surprises

Did you know that pre-hire assessments have been in use since the third century? According to a Harvard Business Review article, Chinese imperial leaders of the Han dynasty used them to assess “knowledge, intellect, and moral integrity when selecting civil servants.”
Today, 76% of medium to large companies use pre-hire assessments to evaluate job candidates. And this is much more than just evaluating someone’s knowledge or skill; this is about preventing surprises after the “honeymoon period” (the first six to nine months on the job, when the new employee is on their best behavior).

It’s at the end of that six-to-nine-month time frame that the real personality of your new employee starts to emerge. That’s when they feel settled in enough to relax and let down their best-behavior guard. And that’s when the su... FULL ARTICLE >

WHO WE HELP

“We knew that our employees would be the key to our success, and we knew what we had to do philosophically, we just weren’t sure how to get there. And that’s where we were fortunate enough to find Jim’s group to help us.

Plotkin helped us develop a tremendous culture of excellence in our organization. We had 3,500 employees, and we were able to reach every employee, top to bottom, and they all had a pride in the organization that we were able to instill in them with many of the programs that we worked with Plotkin on. As a result, all our business results were outstanding – profitability, awards and recognition, and brand building.”

Pete Davison, former SVP & COO for PGA Tour’s TPC Network.

“Turnover at our organization averages 65%, and 1/3 of our hires leave within their first 90 days. In 2014, after piloting the Stanton Survey for 9 months, we operationalized it across our company. The data we gathered during this period showed significantly lower turnover of new hires — approximately 17% at both the 6 and 9 month post-hire dates, respectively, within the pilot period. Improving our turnover rates was the reason we started using the Stanton Survey, but the byproduct is a better hire. The downstream effects of a good hiring decision are irrefutable and can last for years. Better people hire better people.”

VP of HR, Consumer Loan Finance Company; South Carolina

"The value of The Plotkin Group assessments has been twofold," explains Recruiter customer Dick Kopplin. "First, the testing process gives us increased credibility with our clients, and the assurance that we are evaluating candidates not only through our own process, but by using impartial experts. In addition, the testing often indicates that we should do some additional checking on candidates who have not tested well in certain areas. We would highly recommend the services provided by The Plotkin Group."

#1 Recruiter in his Industry

"The Stanton Survey helped us reduce workers comp by 75%!”

HR Manager, Printing Company  

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Please contact us with questions regarding finding the right solution for your company.