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The Pendulum Swings: To Test or Not to Test, That is the Question

Many organizations are taking a close look at testing and assessment. Programs and methods that were often taken for granted are being reviewed with an eye toward their contribution to the bottom line. Organizations with a history of “traditional” testing and assessment programs are finding that they are very costly to maintain. Other organizations are looking at different uses for testing and assessment such as using testing to show the value of development programs. For practitioners, these changes present new challenges. These challenges include delivering high quality testing and assessment at a low cost, using measures that are described in the popular press, placing everything on-line and ensure that the necessary research is done to support the use of the test.

This session will highlight a series of changes and challenges faced by the presenters. The presenters represent a wealth of experience in the field of testing and assessment.

Seth Zimmer is currently Director-Capability Assessment at BellSouth Corporation in Atlanta. He has over 13 years of experience as an internal consultant in Fortune 100 companies. Until recently, Seth was responsible for the test development function at BellSouth. Over the past few years, there have been several reorganizations at BellSouth in the human resources function. As a result, he has responsibilities outside the realm of mainstream I/O Psychology. His current responsibilities consist of test development and administration, employment branding and advertising and the support of BellSouth’s applicant tracking system.

Seth received his Ph. D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Old Dominion University.

Wanda Hayes is the Manager of Leadership Development Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She joined Children’s in October 2002. Her primary responsibility at Children’s is developing an integrated leadership development program, including a leadership-training curriculum and 360-degree feedback.

Prior to joining Children’s, Wanda served as the Manager of Leadership Assessment at BellSouth Corporation in Atlanta. There, she was responsible for conducting developmental assessments for high potential managers within the company, as well as selection assessments for potential New Hires from director to officer level

Wanda earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

Dr. Markos is Executive Director – Leadership Development at BellSouth. Val addresses the assessment, selection and development of the future leadership of BellSouth. He is responsible for succession planning, high potential development programs, management education through the BellSouth Leadership Institute and staffing of the top 2% of positions in the company.

Val joined BellSouth in 1985 as Corporate Manager – Human Resources Research. He has served in various HR roles within the company. Prior to joining BellSouth, he worked as an internal consultant in the area of personnel selection and organization development in both the private (USX) and public sector (City of Miami, Florida).

His education includes an MS and Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Georgia and BA degree in Psychology from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where he grew up.

Dave Lux currently works as an Industrial Psychologist at BellSouth Corporation in Atlanta, GA, where he has dealt with selection, test validation, and test implementation issues for the past six years. Dave has extensive experience implementing web based testing solutions. He received his Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from Central Michigan University in 1996. Dave is a member of APA and of SIOP, where he has served as a reviewer for the past five years.

• PDF of Presentation #1
• PDF of Presentation #2