How can talent acquisition departments create value within their organization and gain the coveted seat at the table? Whirlpool, a leading manufacturer and marketer of home good appliances, achieved this goal by creating a world-class assessment program based on core leadership competencies. This program has successfully bridged the gap between talent acquisition and hiring mangers by aligning with business planning to drive strategic talent initiatives. As part of the 2006 Maytag acquisition, Whirlpool developed the Master Assessor Program (MAP) as a way to evaluate and assess talent for key leadership positions and new roles.
How Does the Program Work?
Whirlpool partnered with an outside firm to help identify four leadership areas that would determine the right fit for the organization:
o Thought leadership
o Extraordinary results
o Attracting, developing and engaging talent
o Driving change
Once Whirlpool defined these “Indicators of Talent”, they began sending hiring managers and recruiters through a series of training and coaching stages standardizing the way they identify and assess talent. Forty coaches (talent acquisition professionals and hiring managers who have successfully completed MAP) with demonstrated interview and exceptional assessment skills, help new recruiters and hiring managers become Master Assessors.
What are the Lessons Learned?
1. Evaluate the Process- Whirlpool evaluates the process on a bi-annual basis and seeks opportunities to clarify or expand its descriptions of Top Talent Indicators and create more robust coaching tools.
2. Create Consistency and Transparency- Not only is MAP visible to every coach, it is transparent to every employee in the organization. As a result, employees understand how they can improve in the process. Whirlpool also creates consistency by including MAP standards in other areas of the organization such as campus recruiting and talent pool calibrations.
3. Measure the Process-Whirlpool is starting to measure quality of hire and map this key performance indicator to the MAP program. Quality of hire is determined by referrability, promotability, talent indicators and performance results to-date.
Assessments are a critical component of the talent acquisition process. Whirlpool’s MAP has successfully improved the accuracy of their hires and provides consistency and transparency throughout the organization. We will be publishing a more in-depth case study on this program over the next few weeks. Stay tuned…