New Tailored Group DNA Feature Adds Personalization to Soft Skills Analysis
Talentoday is excited to announce the arrival of the newest feature of Talentoday Manager — Tailored Group DNA! In the last year, our team introduced Talentoday Managers to Group DNA. The idea was simple: Users needed to be able to make smarter HR decisions and maximize synergies within teams by leveraging MyPrint® soft skills data at scale.
Group DNA achieved this with two core purposes in mind: team profiling and talent matching.
- Team Profiling: Group DNA allows users to uncover the soft skills and traits that shape any distinct work group of three or more people. The result is a visual representation of what makes a group effective, and where there are skills gaps to fill.
- Talent Matching: Group DNA improves talent matching by determining the synergies within a job function by taking a sampling of members and allowing Managers to identify the predominant skills that contribute to that groups’ success. Based on that knowledge, candidates can be matched to the role against the Group DNA.
Tailored Group DNA takes this concept one step further by adding personalization options for our users. While Group DNA is a purely data-driven tool which compiles all dominant traits from a sample group of members’ MyPrint data, Tailored Group DNA allows managers to zero-in on the precise traits they may need to focus on for a particular hiring or management situation.
With Tailored Group DNA, you can now find solutions to the following questions:
- How do I leverage Talentoday’s matching algorithm without an ideal sample group to work off of?
- How can I integrate the soft skills that reflect my organization’s values into our selection process?
- How do I leverage my team’s MyPrint insights to create diversity of thought?
It’s time to put a human touch on the data that’s driving your business forward! From hiring to internal mobility, Tailored Group DNA will empower you to fill the soft-skills gaps on your team and put your expertise to good use while maintaining leveraging the scientific integrity of our Group DNA’s matching algorithm.
Interested in seeing Tailored Group DNA in action? Contact our team today to learn more about how our latest feature is changing the way teams visualize and act upon soft skills data!
Talentoday Launches New Website and Logo as U.S. Operations Expand
Talentoday is excited to announce updates to its brand, including the launch of a new website and logo, as operations expand to deepen our presence in the United States.
Talentoday was founded in Paris, France in 2012 to provide science-backed, data-driven talent insights to individuals and businesses. In 2018, Medix, a U.S.-based organization specialized in workforce solutions and recruiting skilled personnel in the Healthcare, Life Sciences, Engineering & Construction, and Technology industries, acquired Talentoday with the goal of enhancing both organizations’ service offerings. Since then, our team has grown to become a global leader in predictive people analytics, providing powerful career, team and workforce intelligence to the world.
“Talentoday has always been a purpose-driven organization, and since expanding into the U.S. market, our core purpose of empowering growth has only grown more important to the work we do,” said Talentoday and Medix CEO Andrew Limouris. “As we find new ways to help businesses and individuals unlock their true potential, our continued, strategic growth in North America will allow us to better serve our clients and community members.”
The completely redesigned logo, website and new brand elements align with significant expansion of Talentoday’s service and product offerings in 2021 and beyond, focused on supporting Corporate HR and Hiring Managers, Higher Education, HR and Coaching Firms and HR Tech Companies.
“The growth of our organization over the last few years has been invigorating, and the new look of our website and brand is designed to reflect and build upon the passion and energy that brought us here,” said Jordan McGuire, Managing Director at Talentoday. “Today, our people intelligence database includes 4+ million profiles from individuals in more than 160 countries. Despite the broad and expanding reach of our tools and technology, we are a company that measures success in people — the careers we support, the teams we build and the businesses we advise.”
Experience the new look of Talentoday and access our latest people analytics products and solutions at www.Talentoday.com.
Show Your Traits, Not Your Type
“What’s your type?” In the world of dating, this is the first thing people want to know. An easy answer, right? Intellectual, athletic, artistic — as humans, we typically begin with broad categories to describe ourselves and others. However, once you actually start describing what you’re looking for, you find yourself being more specific. “Likes to have philosophical conversations,” “enjoys outdoor activities in warm climates,” “likes to cook new recipes,” — in reality we are much more complex than those one word generalizations. The same philosophy should apply to soft skill assessments in the workplace. Instead of being bucketed into a generalized type, your traits are the best indicators of your unique strengths. Let’s break down the difference between types and traits.
Type Theory
Type theory is based around the idea that personality is a combination of qualities or dimensions that can be grouped together into a certain number of categories (or types). All people fall within one type based on which group they share the most specific attributes with. Think Myers Briggs or Enneagram, where you are one of 16 combinations of letters (ie, ESFJ) or one of 9 number types.
Yes, type theory is helpful for an organization to get a generalized idea of a person, but does that mean that a company really understands who you are, and more importantly, if you will be successful in the role? For example, if an assessment identifies you as an introvert, the assumption may be that that you are quiet, would prefer to work alone, and you need time to reflect on your thoughts before speaking. It’s a generalization, and while some of those assumptions may be true, chances are not all describe you.
The concern with using types in personality assessments is that humans are much more complex. Instead of Introversion and Extroversion being a dichotomy, it is better understood as a spectrum. That is where trait theory comes into play.
Trait theory
Rather than using broad categories to define human behaviors, trait theory focuses on the individual differences between people and eliminates the ‘boxes’ that type theory tries to fit people into. Going back to the introverted/extroverted example: trait theorists will say that a large majority of people actually fall somewhere in the middle and show qualities of both introverts and extroverts.
Research over the years has shown that there is enough of a variation in human personality for most of the scientific community to favor trait theory. Additionally, the most widely accepted theory of personality, the Big Five Theory, is part of trait theory. The Big Five is a theory in which five broad categories are the building blocks of personality, which most people have heard of using the acronym OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Everyone falls on a spectrum in each of these categories, and sometimes these are broken down into smaller and more specific scales. This personality theory is the backbone of many of the personality assessments that are used today, like MyPrint® or the Big Five Inventory.
You are Unique!
Now that you understand the differences between Types and Traits, which theory do you prefer when it comes to showcasing your soft skills? The one that generalizes you in a standard box, or the one that lets you expand outside those walls to showcase your unique qualities? If you want to discover more about your soft skill strengths, take a free MyPrint® assessment today! Once you have completed the questionnaire, you can begin using your traits to be more productive, improve your interpersonal skills, and set your personal and professional goals specific to your individual attributes. Additionally, you can see how your personality radar and motivation scales show the special qualities that make you YOU!
Looking for additional resources and support? Email Talentoday at customer@talentoday.com to learn more about our assessment and services!
Harnessing the Full Power of People Analytics
We all know that recruiting has inherent risk. A CareerBuilder survey found that nearly three in four employers have hired the wrong person for a position. Bad hires not only have a negative financial impact, but can reduce productivity and be a blow to company morale. Even if your initial hire is spot-on, keeping talented employees on board can be extremely challenging. That’s where people analytics comes in. It’s likely you’ve heard or read this phrase before — but what does it really mean?
People Analytics — The Short Version
HR Technologist defines people analytics as “the deeply data-driven and goal-focused method of studying all people processes, functions, challenges and opportunities at work to elevate these systems and achieve sustainable business success.” Simply put, people analytics is:
- Data driven — you need to gather data and use it
- Goal-focused — you need to know how the data will be used and what you want to improve
For human resource and staffing professionals, people analytics has the ability to transform the entire talent lifecycle, from recruitment, assessment and hiring to team building and development. McKinsey data shows that people analytics can lead to an 80% increase in recruiting efficiency and a 50% decrease in attrition. It can also help reduce bias in hiring by bringing in a diverse slate of candidates and create more inclusive workplaces by identifying discrimination.
It’s Only as Good as the Data
As with all science-driven solutions, people analytics is only as good as the data it’s being fed. While certain hard skills and experiences are easy to quantify, understanding soft skills and behavioral factors that determine lasting success requires sophisticated technology.
To get good data, you first need to identify your priorities and objectives. Are you trying to reduce the cost of candidate screenings? Improve the quality of your hires? Create a more diverse workforce? Upfront planning allows you to develop a rigorous candidate assessment, including customized interview questions, that gets to the root of each individual’s personality traits and behavioral and motivational factors. Some data points you may want to consider include:
Once the data is gathered and analyzed, it needs to be compiled in such a way that is accessible to the people that use it. For most of us, visual data representation provides a clear and concise picture that captures our attention and allows us to process the information more quickly.
How Can it Help Your Organization?
People analytics is critical for making better, more informed hiring decisions. While intuition is a valuable tool during recruiting, it shouldn’t be used in a vacuum. Instead, combining your gut instinct with science that uses algorithms and predictive analytics to develop a more accurate and complete talent profile will yield greater success.
Beyond hiring, people analytics is valuable for any area where people are involved in your business, including how you can leverage employee strengths for both the organization’s advantage and the individual’s career growth. Here are a few common examples of areas that businesses can benefit from gathering and using data throughout the employee life cycle:
It’s also important to note that people analytics should never be static. It needs to be a dynamic activity that evolves with individuals and teams as they move through the employment life cycle. The more employees and talent leaders use it, the more value and insights it delivers.
Where do I start?
If you’re looking to make a better placement, team building, and development decisions for employees and teams, assessing soft skills using people analytics software is a great place to start. To learn more about our scientifically-backed assessments, including MyPrint® and Talentoday Manager, email us at customer@talentoday.com. We believe that once you have more information about the personality and motivations of your employees, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions grounded in science.
Introducing the MyPrint® Assessment
Think about your first cell phone. What features did it have? What technology has remained consistent, and what has evolved over time? Would you prefer to be using that same technology today?
Just as our cell phones change over time, other things in our lives evolve as we grow in our abilities and develop as a society. Among those is our soft-skills assessment here at Talentoday!
mYti© to MyPrint®
If you have been a member of our Talentoday community, then you’ve probably experienced the mYti© assessment, our original personality and motivations questionnaire. If you visit our website today, you will see the latest innovation in Talentoday’s science, MyPrint®, our brand new soft skills assessment. MyPrint® still measures personality and motivations but in an even more accurate way than before!
Theoretical Background
The theoretical background of the MyPrint® assessment is based on long-standing theories of personality and motivations within the psychology community. The personality dimensions are based on the Five-Factor Model of personality, which is considered the standard in personality trait measurement across cultures and has been proven reliable by more than 40 years of research¹. Our motivation dimensions are derived from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs² and the Self Determination Theory³, both of which left a strong legacy in the definition and measurement of motivational factors⁴.
Our Dimensions
Think back to our cell phone analogy. Your first phone probably had a lot of the same features that your phone has today (such as texting and calling capabilities) but they might look a little bit different; for example, now most cell phones have the ability to voice text or video call.
In the same way, the MyPrint® assessment has a lot of the same features as the mYti©. These features may look different, however. For example, we are still measuring personality and motivations and providing information about professional behaviors. Some of our scales have remained the same, such as Patience, and others are simply represented in a new way. For example, the Creativity scale is no longer a part of the personality radar, but it can still be found in our professional behaviors. With this change, we have been able to simplify our personality radar and motivation chart, without compromising member results.
Our Science
In addition to the scales and dimensions that we have updated, you might also notice that the questionnaire itself has changed. This is because we have updated the “behind the scenes” statistics and calculations for the assessment to use cutting edge technology, a lot like what happens when your phone receives a software update.
Just like the mYti© assessment, the MyPrint® uses “forced-choice” questions. This format provides two statements that are equally desirable, so it takes away what is called the Social Desirability Bias of trying to find the “right answer” to the questionnaire and gives the user the freedom to answer in the most truthful way possible.
The MyPrint® questionnaire takes the forced-choice question format one step further to not only have the user choose the statement that fits them the best, but to indicate to which extent that statement better suits them. This concept is called “multidimensional binary forced-choice with graded preferences” — one of the most recent and useful innovations in psychometrics⁵. More importantly, this is how Talentoday is able to achieve greater accuracy through developing our new MyPrint soft-skills assessment.
Experience the MyPrint®
The best part about a new phone is getting to try it out and see all of the new features! Now that you know more about our updated product, try it for yourself! Visit www.talentoday.com and take the MyPrint® assessment. If you want to learn more about our science click here and download the MyPrint® Technical Manual!
If you’re interested in your own one page report, premium report or in learning more information about Talentoday, please visit www.talentoday.com or contact our experts at contact@talentoday.com.
¹ Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44(1), 1–26.
² Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370‐396.
³ Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
⁴ Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1985). The NEO Personality Inventory manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
⁵ Brown, A., & Maydeu-Olivares, A. (2017): Ordinal Factor Analysis of Graded-Preference Questionnaire Data. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 25(4), 516–529.
Talentoday Manager updates
We’ve improved a few core features that we hope you’ll love. Our biggest updates are improved candidate communication, report file transfer, and Talentoday Analytics changes. Here are the headline features in the last month:
- TM analytics is now available for all Talentoday managers.
- Talentoday account owners can now see individual details by the manager to help monitor usage and results.
- Managers are now able to send a reminder email to all candidates who have not completed the personality assessment.
- Managers can now send the personality report directly on the platform.
- Lastly, we have now extended our Snapshot report to all users including those who do not have a Talentoday Manager account.
TM Analytics
Talentoday Analytics allows managers to monitor their usage on the Talentoday portal. Managers are able to easily keep track of the number of individuals they have assessed, the number requests they have sent out and the reports they have downloaded. This feature also includes analytics on the Target Profiles that managers have used and created to match people against a profile.
The owner of the Talentoday Manager account can also keep tabs on their other managers and see a break down of the requests being sent and the reports being downloaded by each manager. A number of other features are currently in the works and will be released in the coming months!
Candidate Communication
In order to save our managers time and improve communication between them and their candidates we have added a couple features to make life easier.
When managers send out a link for their candidates to take the test they expect a swift response. The last thing most busy managers want to do is keep track of who has taken the test and who has not. Talentoday does this automatically and now offers the ability to send a reminder email to the individuals who have not completed their test. This is a pre written email that can be sent and is automatically personalized with the click of a button.
In response to customer feedback, we have also made it much easier for managers to send reports on the platform. In the past managers would have to download the report as a PDF before sending out to candidates. Now on the platform you can simply click send and an email will automatically be filled and sent to the individual.
Snapshot Report
A few months back we launched our new Snapshot report, a 1 page report on an individual’s talents, development areas, professional behaviors and motivations in the workplace. It was created to help recruiters and managers understand their candidates soft skills quickly so they can spend more time speaking with the right individuals.
Although we have not changed the report itself, we have now made this available to all of our Talentoday users. Now when individuals take the test, they will have access to their personality radar & their snapshot report, for free.
For more information on other recent releases feel free to check out our blog. As always, your feedback is so important to us. If you wish to share and get in touch with us give us a shout out on social media!
The new Target Profile visualization
Talentoday has committed to its customers a digital platform that is current and dependable. In that spirit we would like to thank our 100+ customers for their loyalty and feedback over the past year. With input from our clients and hard work from our designers, psychologists and data scientists we are excited to announce our new visualization for the Target Profile. Here’s an overview of the headline updates:
- Analysis of the clusters is easier than ever due to the visual consistency between our personality and motivation radars with our Target Profile radar.
- Introduced a new color and increased contrast of the motivation cluster.
- Target Profile zones allow customers to easily draw conclusions about the results.
- Target Profile traits are now ranked by degree of importance. In other words, you now clearly know the most essential traits that contribute to a profile.
- To simplify the radar we have now made it standard to show 8 traits for a profile, no more, no less.
Visual consistency
Target Profiles empower our counselors and trained users to make the links between the personality reports and their decisions. We have changed the cluster colors displayed on the target profile to increase the visual consistency of all the radars we use at Talentoday. Why is this important? Our Target Profile technology matches personality & motivation radars against a profile from our library to create a Target Profile radar. The new visualization allows our clients to quickly analyze the results and make deductions from the data to make strong and confident decisions.
Increased contrast on Motivation Radar
We all know that keeping employees motivated is essential to fully functioning teams. This is one of the key features of our motivations radar and a big reason we have spent time on its look and feel. We have introduced the orange motivation color and increased contrast to ensure that our users do not confuse colors on the two radars.
Introducing: Target Profile Zones
Take a look at the graph below. See that yellow thing there? That is a trait. This new look provides a clear way to analyze the data. This “zone” shows us that a specific trait for this Target Profile must score between 6 and 8 to be a good match. Clients use this visualization to understand if their candidates’ scores are falling within the zone of the trait. In conjunction with these zones we have included a legend and explanation at the beginning of Target Profile reports. Our clients are now fully equipped with the training they need to read and analyze the report.
TP key traits are ranked by degree of importance
We have now added more information regarding ranking of important traits for each Target Profile. This new information helps you understand which traits are most relevant for a Target Profile. We emphasize the essential traits and motivators and list the additional traits we see as valuable for a given position. Customers are able to understand what is important within each profile and what traits to focus on while interviewing candidates for an open position or considering how to motivate/satisfy a current employee.
8 traits are displayed and ranked
Lastly, in order to standardize the Target Profile we now limit the number of traits shown in a Target Profile to 8. This allows for relevant comparisons between Target Profiles and makes drawing meaningful conclusions about candidates & employees quick and successful. Clusters are also ordered clockwise based on their accuracy. In the photo below, “CREATIVITY” is the most important zone, “EASE IN PUBLIC” the second most important, and so on.
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The Target Profile visualization is a free update for everyone with an active license. If you need to renew your license, you’ll get Talentoday Manager with this in addition to many updates we have released in recent months.
Do let us know what you think of this new visualization — we’d love to hear from you. If you have questions or feedback, you can get in touch with us via our support page or join in the conversation on Twitter, or on our Facebook page.
Stay tuned for news about V2 of the Target Profile Visualization— we’re already working hard on it!
Talentoday Snapshot is now live
Since the recent release of our customizable personality report, our team has been hard at work with a brand new feature. Recruiters and managers have been asking for a summary report where they can quickly and efficiently get a high level overview of their candidates.
According to Forbes Magazine, 118 candidates apply for a given role. That is a lot of resumes. With more and more applicants coming through the system, less time is spent going through the details. In order to simplify the process of understanding a candidates personality and soft skills we have come out with Snapshot.
Snapshot is a 1 page report on a candidates talents, development areas, professional behaviors and motivations in the workplace. It was created to help recruiters and managers understand their candidates soft skills quickly so they can spend more time speaking with the right individuals.
For those who are new to Talentoday technology, we have a quick yet full scale personality assessment, based on psychometrics, that is sent from our online platform. Recruiters and managers can manage their employees and candidates from the platform and can leave comments, reviews, download a fully customizable personality and motivations PDF or the new 1 page Snapshot.
They can also create Target Profiles which they can then match a candidate against to see if they are a good fit for the open position. We have recently released new updates to our Target Profile technology and creating job profiles is easier than ever.
Stay tuned for more product news. In 2017 we have recommitted to providing our customers with a product of excellence.
Curious to find out if your candidates have what it takes? Start your free trial today and test your candidates quickly & effectively for free!
Fully customizable personality reports
We are pleased to announce that we have launched a time saving feature to our personality and motivations report. The report (scientifically formulated for managers, counselors, HR professionals, and recruiters) provides information to better understand the person you are assessing. It is an in depth look at the individual assessed with our science and contains insights on an individual’s personality, motivations and predictive professional behaviors.
In the past, downloading the whole report produced a lengthy document, which was great, but customers have been asking for the option to have a more refined document.
We seek to make your life simpler. So we have taken our in depth report and made it completely customizable. This means you can pick and choose the sections you would like to include in your download. If you only want to see the personality radar* then great! We will pop out a nice 3 page report for you. If you want the whole kit and caboodle, thats great too! Your wish is our command, in just a matter of seconds.
*personality radar: is a look at an individuals soft skills and is provided when someone takes our questionnaire.
This new feature also comes with a slick new design that is easy to present and easy for users to read. Kevin Lanceplaine US Engineering VP for Talentoday explains:
“By engaging with our clients frequently, we are constantly improving our products. Using cutting-edge design and internal communication tools we are able to translate this valuable feedback from our customers into actionable design changes, rapidly. The latest iteration comes with a sleeker design and next level customization”
This release is one of many updates our team has been working on early this year. We have also expanded our Target Profile Library and launched a new labels technology that allows you to easily tag and build large profiles in just a couple of clicks. Stay tuned for additional product updates and releases over the coming months. We are excited for what is to come.
Curious to find out if your candidates have what it takes? Start your free trial today and test your candidates quickly & effectively for free!
We Expanded our Target Profiles
We are excited to announce the addition of 25 Target Profiles to our growing library. For those of you that need a refresher, a Target Profile is the special sauce of our recruiting and HR management technology because it allows professionals to compare employees and candidates against a pre made profile. These 215 profiles range from Sales Associate to Graphic Designer and were created by combining an algorithm with our database of over 3 million individuals. The addition of the new 25 profiles means you can measure candidates against even more pre made profiles.
Want to see what one of these profiles looks like? Scope the picture below, it shows the Sales profile which was derived from all sales professionals in our database and then analyzed for similarities in personality and motivation. Sales people tend to have high determination, are at ease in public and have a lower* score in vision. (*At Talentoday there is no such thing as a negative score but rather a score that is going to help you do your job more efficiently) So when you are hiring someone to fit this role you want to be sure they have the essentials.
At the end of the day, our goal is to make your job easier so that you have time for the things that matter most. We have improved the project management process for our clients and using our science we have expanded the reach of the library.
The science behind the profiles is explained by Matthieu de Beaucorps, Data Scientist for Talentoday. “A profile is created by regrouping at least 30 customers’s assessment results that have the same job title. We then use this group’s data to train a binary classifier whose role is to distinguish, given some new questionnaire answers, this particular job from all other jobs. The two dozen profiles were built with our training algorithm which uses decision tree classifiers.”
All that to say that our Target Profile technology is constantly evolving and we are excited to continually add to the growing database. Want to learn more? Check out our science page to get the full scoop.
Curious to find out if your candidates have what it takes? Start your free trial today and test your candidates quickly & effectively for free!