Looking for Assessment for Selection?
Access information about Assessment for Selection here.
Getting the Process Started for Development
Request Submission
Complete the SKS Assessment Request form.
Send the SKS Assessment Request form, along with:
Participant’s resume (a link to their LinkedIn profile page may suffice if the resume is unavailable), a job description for their current role, and any other contextual information that it would be helpful for us to know to [email protected].
The Client Services Team considers the above submission email the green light to launch the assessment process.
Please ensure participant(s) are aware of our planned outreach. The Client Services Team will follow up with participant(s) with reminders until the assessment components have been scheduled.
In most cases, a discussion around the purpose and value of a developmental assessment is appropriate.
We encourage assessment requesters to discuss the assessment request, purpose, and process with the participant prior to submitting their request.
Fill out a separate Assessment Request form for each participant.
Introductory Communication
The SKS team reaches out to the participant via phone or email.
We walk the participant through the steps of the assessment process, answer any questions, and work with the participant to schedule their interview (and work simulation, if applicable) as well as their feedback session. In the case of a 360 assessment, we work closely with the participant to clarify their next steps and to provide any support necessary.
Email Communication to Participant
The SKS team sends an email to the participant containing links to the online assessments and work simulation portal (if applicable)
A Client Services Team member sends a confirmation email to the requester.
The email will contain the details of the scheduled components and offers pre and post call options.
Pre Call
30 minute call with SKS Consultant and key organizational stakeholders (hiring manager, HR representative, recruiter, etc.).
The purpose of this call is to discuss the upcoming evaluation.
In order to make the most of this conversation, take a moment to reflect on the following:
- Why is this developmental assessment being requested now?
- What do you hope to learn from this developmental assessment?
- How do you hope to use the insights gleaned from this developmental assessment moving forward?
- What efforts have already been made to support this participant’s development? What has worked well?
During the pre call, keep in mind the contextual specifics:
- What do you most hope to learn about this participant as a result of this assessment process?
- Are there certain questions that you are hoping to have answered via this assessment process? If so, what are they?
- What information will be most helpful for you to have as a result of this assessment process?
- Is there anything else that your SKS Consultant should know about this participant or their current and future organizational context?
If a pre-call is not possible, please complete a pre-selection survey found here.
SKS Interview with Participant
The SKS Consultant meets with the participant via video on the Microsoft Teams Platform.
Purpose of the Call:
This 60–90 minute interview is meant to arm the SKS Consultant with additional context around the participant’s job experience, academic experience, work and career related history as well as their self-insight and motivations around professional development.
Developmental Report Provided
5 business days following the completion of the participant’s last scheduled assessment component:
The SKS Client Services team sends the assessment report via email to all report recipients listed on the Assessment Request form (excluding the participant themselves).
Post Call
30-minute call with the SKS Consultant and key organizational stakeholders (manager, HR representative, etc.)
The participant is not included in this call.
The purpose of this call is to discuss the developmental report.
In order to facilitate a meaningful discussion during this call, take a moment to carefully review the report before this call.
Take note of the following:
- Any questions you may have regarding the qualitative report content, as well as the quantitative ratings.
- Any areas that confirm your observations regarding the strengths and development opportunities of the participant.
- Any areas in which the assessment feedback differs from your experience of the participant, or in which the feedback feels inconsistent or unclear.
During the post call:
Take note of the following:
- Ask any questions that you may have about report content or ratings.
- Consider how the strengths and development opportunities that are highlighted within the assessment report may manifest within the participant’s current or future roles. If you are not sure, ask the Consultant to explore any relevant scenarios that may come to mind.
- Consider the competencies and attributes that are most important for success in the participant’s current role as well as any potential future roles. If you do not have a clear picture of the individual’s presentation related to these competencies and attributes, ask the Consultant to share more detail and insight into these areas.
- Discuss how to support the participant in order to build on the strengths and manage the development opportunities that are highlighted within the assessment report.
Share your thoughts around the developmental feedback and invite all other meeting attendees to do the same.
Explore ways to continue to support the participant in their developmental efforts.
Enlist the assistance of the SKS Consultant and other meeting attendees in identifying near and long-term next steps.
Feedback to Participant
The SKS Client Services Team will work with the participant to schedule their feedback session at the same time that they schedule their interview.
The feedback session will likely be scheduled 2-3 weeks following the completion of all components of their assessment process.
During a feedback session, the participant will meet with their SKS Consultant to review the key findings of their developmental assessment.
- This feedback session is a 60-minute video call wherein the participant meets with their SKS Consultant to review their SKS feedback report.
- The participant facing developmental feedback report is slightly different than the organization facing assessment report. To this end, the participant facing feedback report contains an overview of the participant’s strengths, opportunities, leadership derailers and suggestions for development. Additionally, the participant receives their raw data – the actual score reports from the assessment measures that they completed as part of the assessment process.
- During the feedback session, the Consultant walks through the feedback report with the participant, exploring their reactions, prompting reflection, and working towards the identification of key next steps based on the insights provided.
- Following the feedback session, the participant is encouraged to engage in a discussion with their leader to review their findings and to seek both additional feedback and alignment regarding their professional development goals.
Choosing the Right Assessment Level
Talent Evaluations
- Include personality, problem solving, and critical thinking assessments, alongside an interview with a SKS Consultant to provide additional context regarding the participant’s experiences, approach to others, self-insight, strengths, and development opportunities.
- Talent evaluations can be used to provide insight around potential for growth and development and to assess a participant’s behavior and presence, in addition to their preferences and capabilities, in order to identify and target key strengths to leverage and opportunity areas to address.
- The time commitment for a participant is approximately 4 hours.
- This level of assessment is most appropriate for high impact individual contributors.
Comprehensive Talent Evaluations
- Include the same series of online inventories and interview as the talent evaluation, but also includes a work simulation exercise to assess a participant’s performance in the context of a simulated inbox exercise.
- Comprehensive talent evaluations can be used to provide insight around potential for growth and development and to assess a participant’s real-time reaction and responses in combination with their workstyle, behavior, preferences, and capabilities in order to identify and target key strengths to leverage and opportunity areas to address.
- The time commitment is approximately 6 hours.
- This level of assessment is most appropriate for leaders of people and is commonly used for those that hold supervisor or manager postions.
Comprehensive Executive Evaluations
- Builds upon the comprehensive evaluation process, by including a more in-depth interview experience, as well as a more substantial work simulation, including a planning exercise and role play component.
- Comprehensive executive evaluations can be used to provide insight around potential for growth and development and to investigate a participant’s strategic planning capabilities and their ability to coach and respond to conflict, in combination with an assessment of their workstyle, behavior, preferences and capabilities.
- The time commitment is approximately 7.5 hours.
- This level of assessment is most appropriate for leaders of leaders, such as those individuals in VP or director level positions.
Top Executive Evaluations
- The most thorough and robust level of evaluation and include the same level of assessment as a comprehensive executive evaluation, with an extra emphasis on strategic planning and intentional influence.
- Top executive evaluations are a thorough method of evaluating a participant’s workstyle, preferences, behavior, and performance from multiple perspectives in order to identify and target key strengths and development opportunities and to provide insight to potential for growth and progression.
- The time commitment for a candidate is approximately 7.5 hours.
- This level of assessment is most appropriate for C suite leaders.
360 Assessments
- Used in an effort to gather feedback directly from key stakeholders.
- These assessments create an opportunity for leaders to seek input from others around how they are experienced at work, including what they do well, and where they can make changes in order to increase their effectiveness.
- The time commitment for a 360 assessment varies, depending on the type of 360 assessment requested.
- For more information about 360 assessments, click here (link to 360 material).
Communication Best Practices: FAQ
Many times, candidates find themselves seeking additional clarity around the SKS Assessment Process; including what they can expect, what the process is for, and how they can best prepare. Below, you will find some frequently asked questions, as well as key talking points that can be used in response to candidate inquiries.
Participant Question:
Why am I being asked to complete a developmental assessment?
Assessments are frequently used to identify aspirations, motivations, strengths, and developmental needs. These attributes are analyzed with respect to the demands of your leadership role as well as opportunities for enhancing your job performance and professional growth.
A developmental assessment can be used for a number of different reasons:
- To identify potential for career progression and leadership development, and, further, to inform development and succession planning efforts
- To help leaders understand how they can best leverage their strengths, and areas of focus for their ongoing development
- To help key stakeholders understand how to best support the growth of their employees and to identify a targeted and individualized approach for participant coaching and development
Participant Question:
How will the organization use these results?
The results of the assessment will be considered by the organization in light of its own observations and with due consideration to your track record. Any developmental assignments or future promotion decisions are made by the organization, not by the SKS Consultant. SKS can, however, help to translate your insights into action via succession and development planning support. Find more information about our development planning offerings here.
Participant Question:
What will I do during the assessment?
The process includes one or more of several possible components. These components may include:
- An interview with an SKS doctoral-level consultant who has broad-based expertise in working with organizations at all levels.
- Inventories that provide information about your personality, interests, and work styles. The inventories yield profiles that are highly job-related and are not intended to search for personal information.
- Exercises that measure reasoning ability. These provide insights regarding your thinking style and how you solve problems.
- Simulations that place you into a mock “real life” work situation where you are asked to deal with the problems and challenges presented.
Participant Question:
What kinds of questions will I be asked?
Individuals usually find the interview to be thorough and thought provoking. Participants are asked questions about relevant developmental experiences, academic history, self-perceptions, motivations, and a great deal about work and career related history.
Participant Question:
How valid is this process?
These types of work-related assessments, along with the separate evaluative instruments we use, have been researched and validated to ensure that results are relevant to and predictive of job performance and leadership success.
Participant Question:
Is this information too personal?
The assessment is not a clinical evaluation but rather seeks to identify work-related insights. The interview does not involve strange or intimately probing questions. The consultants at SKS specialize in this type of assessment and have worked with thousands of leaders over the years.
Participant Question:
How should I prepare?
To best prepare for the online exercises, do your best to set aside uninterrupted time, and to complete the exercises when you feel well rested and able to focus completely. In regard to the interview, there is no need to worry unnecessarily. We hope you’ll find it an interesting, thought-provoking, and insightful experience. Be yourself, and participate in the process fully.
Participant Question:
Why not just use my track record and my manager’s appraisal of my performance?
The organization does use your track record and places a great deal of reliance on your accomplishments and on previous performance. However, since each person’s track record and accomplishments are unique and individualized, these sources do not always allow comparisons, nor do they necessarily provide consistent data about your potential or your fit with a specific future role.
Participant Question:
What if I need accommodations to fully participate in the assessment?
It is the policy of SKS Consulting Group to provide reasonable accommodations for employees or candidates for employment with an SKS client organization. If you need assistance or accommodations to fully participate in the assessment process, please contact SKS Client Services at 952.926.9852 or at [email protected].
Participant Question:
How is my background or identity considered as part of the process?
As a values-driven organization that applies the best available psychological science to benefit society and improve lives, SKS Consulting Group is committed to infusing the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion into all aspects of the work we do. SKS is committed to equal opportunities for all participants and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, number of dependent children or the ages of the children, physical or mental disability, genetic information, status as a protected veteran or any other basis on which discrimination is prohibited by federal or local law.
Participant Question:
Who receives the results?
The raw data are retained by SKS Consulting Group and are not provided to the organization. In most cases, a written report summarizing results will be sent to the HR department of the organization. If you are being considered for succession, it provides information about the probable match between your strengths and the requirements of future leadership roles. The report also addresses leadership development opportunities. The SKS Consultant may discuss results with appropriate representatives of the organization at the request of the organization.
Participant Question:
How will I learn about the results?
After all assessments are finalized, you can be expected to review the feedback with an SKS Consultant. If your feedback session has not already been scheduled, feel free to call SKS Client Services at 952.926.9852 or at [email protected].
Beyond the Development Assessment
Following a developmental assessment, a participant may benefit from additional support in identifying key development goals and in creating a plan for moving towards those goals. This support is available through the SKS Leadership Development Program – a structured and streamlined approach to leveraging data to enable meaningful and sustainable change. To learn more about the Leadership Development Program, click here.
Additionally, we offer ongoing support in the way of regular coaching sessions with an SKS Consultant. These coaching engagements are tailored to the participant’s specific needs and development opportunities. For more information, reach out to your SKS Client Manager.
