The baseline group for this case study consisted of the last 100 employees hired prior to the beginning of the assessment program. In this group, failure rates were compiled for 30, 60, and 90-day cumulative failure rates, as well as total failures over the study period. Failure was defined as leaving employment with the operation for any reason.

Beginning with the study period, every applicant selected as eligible for an interview completed the Step One Survey II, an honesty-integrity assessment which measures attitudes on four scales:

Integrity, Substance Abuse, Reliability, and Work Ethic. The SOS2 also includes a measure of distortion—exaggeration in the positive direction.

Hiring procedures were modified and a criterion level was adopted, based on research using the SOS2 assessment in similar employment settings. A distortion score of one or two, or any two scale scores of three or less, were considered a negative factor in the total employment decision, much as a negative reference or unexplained gap in work history would be. Managers who chose to consider a candidate who scored below criterion level could do so and could hire, but were required to provide reasons for their decision. The interview guide produced by the assessment was used in the interview to investigate any negative indications in the results.

Over the six-month study period, 302 assessments were administered and 155 hires were completed. The relatively high 50 percent ratio reflects the shallow nature of the applicant pool in this setting. Presumably, managers were forced to balance the desirability of individual candidates with the necessities of the operation and the reality of the pool.

Further indication of the dilemma managers faced is provided by the nature of the failures—less than 10 percent of the people who left were under involuntary terms.

Results of the study are summarized in the table below. Surprisingly, 30-day failure rates nearly doubled with use of the assessments, but overall hire failures dropped in every other category and were reduced by 33 percent overall.

Based on a cost-per-hire of $3,000 (frequently used in the hospitality industry), this represents an 855 percent return on investment.