DecisionWise Announces Release of Healthcare Talent Assessment Process

Provo, UT November 10, 2009 -- DecisionWise announced today the formal release of its Talent Assessment Process (TAP) for the healthcare industry. Although DecisionWise has been conducting talent assessments for over 10 years, yesterday marks an important milestone in the company’s line of healthcare services.

TAP is a process through which employees are assessed on operational skills (day-to-day, job-specific performance), interpersonal skills (communication, leadership, emotional intelligence, etc.), cognitive skills (problem solving, reasoning, etc.), and growth potential. Its primary use has typically been for succession planning. However, the past few years have brought significant growth in use for general employee development and even appraisal.

The Talent Assessment Process has five major components: 1) Psychometric assessments; 2) Behavioral interview; 3) Talent Review Meeting; 4) Participant Debrief; and 5) Development Planning.

"It is critical that the right assessment instruments are used," states Kristin Chapman, DecisionWise Director of Assessment Services. She adds, "The assessments should be aimed at measuring what is most critical to the company today, as well as in the future. An off-the-shelf process will typically not measure those elements most important to the organization; it must be customized," states Chapman. Due to the educational level and experience of the DecisionWise consulting team and staff, DecisionWise Industrial Psychologists are able to administer a wide range of assessment not typically available to most organizations.

The DecisionWise TAP Team also has extensive training, education, and experience in conducting Behavioral Interviews, which generally consist of one to three hours of extensive dialogue. Participants are evaluated on many different levels, based on their responses. These results, as well as the results from the psychometric assessments are then combined into a Talent Inventory Profile, or "TIP," which is a two-page summary of the results. The TIP is then reviewed with HR or the executive team through a Talent Review Meeting.

One of the key components of this process is the Participant Debrief. During the first half of this session, a TAP consultant meets with the participant and reviews the results of the assessments. He or she then works with the participant to discuss key areas of strength and potential development. The participant’s supervisor is then brought in for the last half of the session.

"This is one of the most important parts of the TAP," states Paul Warner, PhD, DecisionWise Director of Consulting Services. "During this session, the participant and his or her manager are able to have an open discussion, using real data as a base for evaluation. Working in tandem, participant and supervisor then begin work on a development plan, with specific goals and follow-up."

Although the DecisionWise Talent Assessment Process has been a major part of DecisionWise’s services for over a decade, yesterday marks the final step in joining the TAP with the core of DecisionWise’s Leadership Intelligence® healthcare services.

"Succession and development in healthcare is unique," states Dr. Tracy Maylett, Ed.D., President and CEO of DecisionWise. "While many organizations struggle with measuring the elements of performance that are not directly tied to job-specific skills, this is perhaps even more prevalent in healthcare than in any other industry. Organizations tend to promote the best clinicians and expect them to be good leaders. However, as many healthcare organizations are quick to point out, this practice often results in poor leadership and dissatisfied employees and patients. The DecisionWise Talent Assessment Process is designed to identify not just job-specific skills, but the other non-operational components of performance so essential to healthcare leadership today," Maylett adds.

DecisionWise, Inc. is a management consulting firm specializing in leadership and organization development using assessments, feedback, coaching, and training. Our Leadership Intelligence® process leads to more effective working relationships, higher levels of employee engagement, and increased business performance. We provide our consulting and survey services to organizations throughout the world, including many Fortune 500 companies, government organizations, and non-profits. Our mission is simple and straightforward: "To help people work more effectively by turning feedback into results." DecisionWise was founded in 1996, is privately owned, and based in Provo, Utah.