Employers in many areas are finding applicant pools sparsely populated if not completely void of the most desirable candidates because of record low unemployment. Plans for growth should include flexibility, not suffering. Unfortunately, many corporations have simply lowered their expectations and hiring standards.

Companies caught in this predicament should consider the use of skill, attitude, and personality assessments to measure employee strengths and weaknesses. The information gained from assessment tools can be used to:

· Assign work responsibilities to match employee strengths so that more work can be accomplished with fewer people.

· Assign people to jobs they like so that turnover, absenteeism, and tardiness are minimized.

· Build models identifying the personal traits necessary to succeed on specific jobs and hire with that model to prevent hiring mistakes.

Mason Duchatschek is the president of AMO-Employer Services, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri, and co-author of the book Sales Utopia: How to Get the Right People, Doing the Right Things, Enough Times. His phone number is 1-800-245-0445, and his company's website is amo-es

Copyright 1999 Mason Duchatschek

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