New York-based 20|20 Skills Assessment is part of an initiative developed by HVS International and is a major provider of skills assessment to the hospitality service industry. The company's President is James Houran, who holds a Ph.D.in Psychology and is an 18-year veteran in research and assessment on peak performance and experiences, with a special focus on online testing.

Accuvia caught up with Houran to discover what he believes are the major trends in Applicant Tracking Systems at the moment. He said that one trend he sees is for ATS providers to be a partner with their clients throughout the entire process, which is something 20|20 Skills does, and has grown to become an integral HR partner with their clients.

‘Many of our clients have chosen our services due to our unlimited coaching and technical support provided, 24/7,' noted Houran, adding that throughout the industry, the quality of help desk teams is becoming more responsive to customer issues. ‘Service is becoming a key differentiator,' he said.

Another key trend is that companies are now reflecting on what characteristics they are looking for in an ATS that will help optimize their talent management process; they want to realize the potential of their system. According to Houran, ‘customers want the ATS to better assess, compare and contrast candidates, and migrate this valuable data to hiring managers, to create individualized development plans.'

He told how 20|20 Skills Assessment provides idiosyncratic differences between candidates, which enables hiring managers to determine the best fit for a particular position within a specific culture. The solution also offers action plans to work with employees based on that individual's strengths and areas of development.

With reference to the restaurant industry, Houran believes that CEOs of foodservice operations are thinking about how to better utilize ATS to attract and retain talented employees. "Time to fill" and "cost per hire" are good measurements for evaluating recruiter effectiveness and trends, he explains, but a differentmeasurement is needed to improve the process quality that will positively impact employee retention and performance.

‘20|20 Skills partners with our clients to measure the performance quality of new hires,' he commented. This data is very useful to the HR professional and is easy to understand, so it can be acted on to improve the selection, retention and engagement of foodservice employees.

Houran then said that his company has stayed ahead of the competition by working with their client base to develop only new functionality that makes business sense. For instance, their system gives clients Action Plans that show how the assessment results should be applied for recruitment and training.

‘We are focused on enhancing the customer support around the application, as opposed to dehumanizing the ATS process,' he said. ‘Few, if any, of our competitors follow our philosophy in this age of high-tech "herding" of candidates. We help clients build relationships.' He thinks that foodservice operators understand that every applicant is a customer on some level, and that all applicants should take away positive experiences from the process so that they are motivated to communicate these to others.

‘Good grass roots public relations and advertising that helps foodservice operators build relationships with applicants serves to keep operators ahead of the competition – new technologies per se do not necessarily give a competitive edge.'

20|20 Skills Assessment

Orange Tree Employment Screening, based in Minneapolis, offers a complete line of background screening tools, as well as
their HireGuide Decisioning Solution software, which takes the time, energy and guesswork out of making hiring decisions.

HireGuide goes beyond the traditional background report by systematically making the right hiring recommendation for every applicant, every time. Its embedded technology system streamlines the hiring process and adds a dimension of
compliance designed for Sarbanes Oxley.

Then, Orange Tree's automated process instantly notifies the employer. Brad Carlson, Vice President of Sales for the company, spoke to us about what trends he's noticing, with relation to ATS. ‘We are seeing a very significant upturn in companies wanting to implement or develop ATS functionality,' he said. ‘It's clear that they are looking for ways to manage the hiring stream of candidates and shorten the process time to hire.'

What does the future hold for Hospitality? ~ You Tell Us!
20|20 Assessment and HVS need your expertise in evaluating various environmental features- amenities and services that help define the coming trends in new hospitality developments. This survey takes only 10 minutes to complete, and your responses are anonymous. 20|20 Assessment, HVS and 4hoteliers will publish the results early next year. Thanks for your help!

Click on the link below and let your opinions be heard in the 2008 Hospitality Future-Cast Study: http://hospitality2008.360test.info   (or copy and paste the URL in your browser)

About Jim Houran
James Houran holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and is President of 2020 Skills Assessment ( www.2020skills.com ). He is an 18-year veteran in research and assessment on peak performance and experiences, with a special focus on online testing. His award-winning work has been profiled by a myriad of media outlets and programs including the Discovery Channel, A&E, BBC, CNN, NBCs Today Show, Wilson Quarterly, USA Today, New Scientist, Psychology Today, Court TV, Forbes.com and Rolling Stone. For information on the Best Practice 2020 Skills assessment system and industry analytics, contact: James Houran, Ph.D. jhouran@2020skills.com  516.248.8828 x 264