Unlocking Success: Real-World Benefits of Hiring Assessments

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Rising Importance of Hiring Assessments

In the intense talent marketplace most companies find themselves in today, securing and keeping exceptional employees has evolved into a critical competitive key. And it's not easy. While frustration with hiring and recruitment is down from a high of 92 percent in 2022, a solid 75 percent of organizations felt frustration with staying fully staffed in 2024. For restaurants, and the service sector at large, staffing and recruiting remains one of the top three challenges and barriers to achieving results.

This is coupled with an increased need for talent through retention and development: maximizing the most of existing talent pipelines. This is why smart hiring assessments have transformed from a nice-to-have into an essential strategic tool. They allow us to replace nagging gut feelings with solid evidence-based data points that lead to strategic and dramatically more accurate hiring decisions. In addition, they can educate and engage candidates, earning their commitment and setting you apart from your competitors (which increasingly live outside your industry).

These assessments not only identify the right competencies— they measure cultural alignment, educate and attract candidates, and streamline what was once a lengthy, inefficient process.  When SHRM drilled down to what's causing talent acquisition leaders and hiring managers the most pain, both differentiating the organization and opportunity as well as mitigating ghosting were the greatest challenges. In contrast, companies implementing intentionally built hiring assessment tools are filling seats faster while seeing tangible improvements in employee retention, culture building, and performance metrics that directly impact the bottom line.

To explore how hiring assessments translate into real-world benefits for companies, we're going to highlight applications and outcomes from our own case studies. 

How Wright's Gourmet Enhanced Their Hiring Standards

Wright's Gourmet House, a family-owned business, has been a staple in the food industry for over 13 years. With the help of Corvirtus, Wright's Gourmet has successfully documented the vision, culture, and values essential for their hiring process. By conducting subject matter expert interviews, surveys, and job analysis, Corvirtus built an engaging and predictive hiring assessment tailored to Wright's needs.

The results have been impressive. Candidates who scored above average on the assessment were 91% more likely to exceed performance expectations in the first six months on the job. This structured approach to hiring has not only improved employee performance but also strengthened the company's culture. Additionally, the realistic job preview (RJP) experience created by Corvirtus allowed candidates to understand the job's demands and culture better, leading to a more informed and committed workforce.

Keep reading the full case study here. 

PDQ's Journey to Finding High-Performing Candidates

PDQ (People Dedicated to Quality) also faced the challenge of identifying candidates eager to grow and develop who fit their unique culture and customer service expectations. Corvirtus stepped in with a ready-to-implement assessment and development solution that quickly showed promising results. However, PDQ wanted a more customized approach, leading to a validation study where assessments were tailored to their specific needs.

The results were nothing short of remarkable. Managers who passed the Corvirtus assessments were 10 times better at problem-solving and 5 times more likely to build high-performing teams. Similarly, operating directors were 16 times stronger innovators and 14 times more likely to provide clear leadership. This tailored approach not only streamlined the hiring process but also ensured that PDQ could confidently select candidates who would excel in their roles, saving time and money.

Learn more about PDQ's journey over the past decade here.

Krispy Kreme's Shift to Digital and Its Impact

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, undoubtedly an iconic brand, sought to modernize its hiring process to keep pace with its growth. In 2010, the company transitioned from manual, paper-based applications to a streamlined digital process. This shift allowed Krispy Kreme to implement pre-employment assessments that focused on performance, cultural fit, and longevity.

The impact was significant. Krispy Kreme saw a massive increase in the number of applications, averaging 80,000 annually with assessment completion rates over 90 percent. The assessments also positively influenced background checks and drug screenings, ensuring a higher caliber of candidates. By automating the hiring process and focusing on critical candidate qualifications, Krispy Kreme improved its overall hiring efficiency and employee retention, positively affecting the company's bottom line.

Read the full case study here. 

Royal Caribbean's Strategy for Leadership at Sea

Royal Caribbean Group, a global leader in the cruise industry, faced the challenge of identifying and retaining top-tier managers capable of thriving in a demanding, always-on environment. With rapid expansion, the need for a consistent and validated hiring process became evident. Corvirtus collaborated with Royal Caribbean to recreate their talent selection process, incorporating realistic job previews and assessments tailored to shipboard management roles.

The strategic hiring initiative proved invaluable. Candidates were given a thorough preview of the job demands, allowing them to self-select out if they felt unfit for the role. The assessments measured various competencies, including leadership skills, drive to serve, and adaptability. As a result, Royal Caribbean improved its success rate in hiring senior shipboard leaders, promoting from within, and enhancing guest satisfaction. This approach not only built better-performing teams but also aligned employee values with the company's mission, ensuring a consistent and exceptional guest experience.

Gain takeaways for our hiring process from the full case study here.

Assessment and Hiring Best Practices from Corvirtus Case Studies

The experiences of Wright's Gourmet, PDQ, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, and Royal Caribbean Group highlight a few key benefits:

1. Evidence Based Decision-Making: Hiring assessments should be selected to measure the core competencies provide valuable data that help organizations make informed hiring decisions, leading to better employee performance and retention.

2. Culture Fit (with fairness, not bias): Assessments tailored to a company's specific culture and values ensure that new hires are not only skilled but also align with the organization's mission and vision. Culture-fit is often rightly called-out as a proxy for bias with likability and job-irrelevant factors swaying decision-making. We talk in more detail about hiring for that culture thing here, and the cases we shared illustrate the power of articulating culture first and then building a process that measures the precise qualities that support it.

   

3. Efficiency Gains: Streamlining the hiring process through an intentionally built and executed process with automated assessments giving your HR, recruiting, and operational teams greater bandwidth to accomplish great things. Solutions like assessments increase the quality of your applicant pool thereby reducing ghosting. More qualified and informed candidates makes the most of the one resource we can't purchase: our time.

4. Realistic Job Previews: Providing candidates with a clear understanding of job demands and culture leads to more informed decisions, reducing turnover and enhancing job satisfaction. Of course, there's no substitute for human connection and speaking with candidates about the rewards and demands of the position and company, but we can do a lot to prime candidates for those interactions - making them even more meaningful. Candidates can experience an RJP before the assessment, or even application, building trust while also highlighting key information and giving candidates the opportunity to think deeply about how the position will connect with their goals and day-to-day.  

    

   Making the Most of Hiring Assessment Results and Reporting

Using an assessment isn't about checking a box but understanding and growing potential. Corvirtus assessment reports provide insight into how the candidate will live and own your company's values and their probability for success in a specific role (whether that's cashier, server, salesperson, or manager, to speak to the cases we shared here). You're not just hiring a cook or a customer service representative; you're entrusting someone with your guest, customer, and team experience.

When examining the assessment results, don’t just check the overall result. Dive deeper into the specifics for each competency. These metrics are like the ingredients in a recipe—each is key to the overall profile of a candidate. Understanding these nuances helps in tailoring early experiences and support that cater to individual strengths, ultimately fostering a more productive and culture and mission-driven team.

Sample assessment report tailored to an organization's culture for a frontline service role.

Maximize the assessment feedback to set clear expectations and development pathways right from the start. Communicate with your new hires about their strengths and the areas where they can improve. This transparency not only boosts engagement but also connects personal growth to strengthening and building your culture—creating a win-win scenario.

Moreover, don't let these assessments gather dust post-hiring. How could you build a powerful constellation of touch points over the first six months to a year using key takeaways from the assessment and training? Imagine checking in with a new team member and debriefing on their progress and accomplishments reflecting on what was learned from that initial assessment.

Looking at assessment data at the macro-level, as the organizations we shared here, can also be helpful. Reviewing trends at the job-group level (e.g., cook, cashier, associate) can bring training needs forward, and support leaders in meeting the needs of their team. You might uncover needs and action areas that can improve training and the critical first few months post hire. When reviewed at the group level, analytics can lead to evidence-based action to improve training and the experiences of early employment at scale. For example, if we see that new hires consistently are scoring lower in team orientation, confidence, or verbal comprehension, we can tailor our programs, and their early experiences, accordingly.

Balancing Efficiency and Candidate Experience

We started here with a review of the tough environment for recruiting employers, and particularly the service sector, is facing. While the benefits of hiring assessments are clear, we won't achieve results without a positive candidate experience. Only with an experience that leaves candidates feeling connected, confident, and that they had the opportunity to perform can we stand out as a remarkable place to work. Lengthy, or poorly communicated and implemented, assessments lead to ghosting and getting lost in a crowd of lackluster opportunities. To stop this, we intensely focus on creating seamless transitions from application to assessments, and coupling communication with each step of the process. The proof is in the data: when we launch assessments we review key metrics like the completion rate and time-to-complete. 

It's no surprise that communication is key to the candidate experience. Adding new experiences for candidates like assessments makes this even more critical, but not difficult to execute. Most communication can be automated through your applicant tracking system. Here's what we focus on when launching assessments. First, communicating the purpose and benefits of the assessment to candidates can also enhance their experience. When candidates understand why an assessment is necessary and how it will be used, they are more likely to engage positively with the process. This transparency fosters trust and sets the stage for a more committed and motivated workforce. 

Next, we ensure candidates receive reminders to complete the assessment at key points in time. A simple reminder at 24 hours markedly increases completion rate while also improving the candidate experience: we've all been there where we didn't know we were missing a required step in a process and know the frustration when you realized 

Sample management assessment item. Note how the candidate time is maximized by asking multiple questions from one scenario. They also aren't forced to choose one course of action.

Future Trends in Hiring Assessments

The role of assessments in the candidate experience and assessments is poised to evolve even faster as labor markets shift and the demand for talent becomes more intense. As technology advances, we can expect more sophisticated and personalized hiring assessment tools. These tools will offer deeper insights into candidate potential, predicting long-term success and cultural fit with even greater accuracy. For artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive progress we must first start with an evidence-based approach: knowing the performance outcomes we're seeking to measure and analyzing how each step of the process contributes to those ends.

Moreover, the integration of gamification and interactive elements into assessments can enhance the candidate experience, making the process even more job-related and engaging. Companies will also increasingly focus on continuous assessments, using data to support employee development and career progression long after the initial hire.

In conclusion, hiring assessments are a powerful tool for transforming recruitment processes and driving business success. By learning from the real-world applications and benefits showcased in these Corvirtus case studies, organizations can adopt best practices and innovative solutions to attract, retain, and develop top talent. The journey to unlocking success begins with a strategic and thoughtful approach to hiring assessments, ensuring that every new hire is a step closer to achieving the company's goals.

Interested in becoming our next case study? Complete the form below to take the first step.