Case Study: Foundation Partners

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Foundation Partners Group provides innovative funeral and cemetery experiences and focuses on building strong relationships with Partners and Team members who care for their communities. With more than 140 locations across the country (and expanding), they seek exceptional Partners and Team Members who are ready to embrace the future of the profession.

Challenge:

Foundation Partners fills more than 350 positions annually and found that new hires did not possess the required skills, which contributed to 30% annual turnover in their workforce.

Solution:

Pre-employment testing to assess skill level and assure qualified new hires.

Results:

• Streamlined the hiring process
• Reduced turnover for the positions hired using assessments
• Benchmarked for assessment effectiveness

Foundation Partners Group manages more than 140 locations in 21 states in the US. Serving over 60,000 families annually, the Group also sponsors outreach events attended by more than 40,000 community members every year. With over 1,000 employees scattered across the country, recruitment and hiring effectively are key to the Group’s success. Jennifer Pitman, Talent Acquisition Manager, states the company hires about 350 new staffers per year and interviews at least twice that amount to fill vacancies. Pitman looked to EmployTest assessment tools to maximize the Group’s investment in the time and resources necessary to maintain staffing levels and ensure quality hires.

ANALYZING TURNOVER RATES

Pitman believes lack of candidate skills required for positions was a contributing factor to the Group’s high annual turnover rate. Foundation Partners isn’t alone in its challenge to identify qualified candidates. A recent study1 found 60% of job seekers claim proficiency in skills for which they only have basic knowledge. Another 42% admit they fabricated relevant experience on their resume. The challenge for hiring authorities is to ensure the talent they recruit has the skills necessary to fulfill the requirements of the position. Relying on resume and interview data often falls short.

“It’s a whole lot easier to identify the depth of a candidate’s knowledge with your assessments,” Pitman tells EmployTest. “Easier than guessing and/or trying to ask questions about an applicant’s skill set.” With preemployment assessments, the hiring team is assured that the new employee will have the necessary skills, while also saving time and resources by not interviewing those who don’t have these basic skills.

REFERENCES THE PROCESS

Foundation Partners typical hiring cycle includes posting on job boards and industry-specific sites. Hiring for mid- to senior-level positions involved phone screening, then in-person interviews with individuals on the hiring committee at the hiring location. For entry-level and oncall positions, the location management is solely involved in the hiring process. Their previously-used personality assessment tests were the only pre-hire evaluations in the process, other than reference and background checks. Unfortunately, at that point in the cycle, few reference checks provide an accurate assessment of the candidate’s skill set.

With EmployTest pre-assessment hiring tools, Foundation Partners is able to streamline the process, assuring that only candidates with the necessary skill set are scheduled to interview with one or more of the Group’s existing staff members. The time saving alone, based on 350 plus annual hires, is significant.

BENCHMARKING TO FIND THE RIGHT FIT

Hiring candidates who can’t perform the necessary functions of the role is a costly mistake for business. In addition to resources necessary to restart the hiring process, what were once promising new hires must be separated from the company. Pitman advises it’s imperative to find the right fit for the available position, but not to “over-demand”.

“It’s important to benchmark the assessment on your top performers and not to over-test a candidate,” she says. “For instance, we had our top performers complete the MS Word, Excel and Outlook assessment. We took the average score range and used that as our required score range for candidates.” Using these benchmarks, Foundation Partners is able to find the right fit for a position, rather than hiring under- or over-qualified candidates.

ADVICE FOR OTHER COMPANIES?

“Assessments are a great way to truly evaluate a candidate on skills that will be required in their position,” says Pitman. She added EmployTest’s pay-per-test option provides the most cost-effective solution, rather than other services’ monthly subscription requirements.

ABOUT EMPLOYTEST

EmployTest is dedicated to increasing productivity and reducing costly employee turnover through time-tested, customizable screening assessments. The company has worked with more than 7,000 corporate and government partners across six continents. Our customizable assessment platforms administer more than 60,000 tests to job applicants and help save millions of dollars of hiring mistakes annually.

“It’s a whole lot easier to identify the depth of a candidate’s knowledge with your assessments. They are a great way to truly evaluate a candidate on skills that will be required in their position.” Jennifer Pitman Talent Acquisition Manager Foundation Partners Group

“It’s important to benchmark the assessment on your top performers and not to over-test a candidate.”

-Jennifer Pitman Talent Acquisition Manager Foundation Partners Group