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Prescription for the Bottom Line: Assessment is Good Medicine

The pharmaceutical industry continues to grow and morph at a rapid pace. A key driver of this growth is the need to bring new products to market quickly and successfully. Top organizations are investing nearly $1 billion in the hiring, training, and deployment of their sales forces. Competition is fierce and the margin for error is small. These organizations need to find the right sales representatives and managers, with the right mix of skills, motivations, and experiences in order to stay ahead of the competition.

DDI designed, implemented and supports the management of FastTrack Select ™ (FTS) in partnership with a leading pharmaceutical organization. FTS is focused on efficiently identifying, qualifying, assessing, and interviewing candidates to bring high quality new hires into the organization quickly.

This system has been in place for nearly two years and has provided a multi-million dollar return in the form of improved sales performance, time to contribution and fit with the organization. Managers also have increased skills in hiring and deploying talent. This session provides an overview of the business needs targeted by FTS, the ROI and business impact of the system and plans for the future to reap increased benefits from this approach to hiring sales professionals.

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Kevin joined DDI in 1996. He spent nearly two years with DDI-CABER (Center for Applied Behavioral Research), designing and conducting evaluation, validation, and other types of research studies. Kevin worked as a Selection Consultant from1998-2003. In this role at DDI he managed and delivered projects with various clients including Bank of America, Bestfoods, Florida Power Corporation, Titleist Golf, and the Whirlpool Corporation.

Kevin now leads a client implementation team based in Pittsburgh. This team is responsible for designing, implementing and refining new applications and solutions to effectively meet client business needs and provide a demonstrable ROI.

Kevin has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida. He is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, American Psychological Association, and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Michael Cummins joined DDI in 1994 and has worked with a number of large organizations, including AT&T, General Motors, Boeing, Pfizer, Union Carbide, Whirlpool, Merck, and Texaco.

Michael has had the opportunity to work overseas for DDI. He acted as the primary liaison for the human resource staff, as well as for various hiring managers to plan, organize, and implement an international recruiting campaign in Kuwait, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. He managed the Targeted Selection interviewing process, which included conducting interviews and facilitating data integration.

Michael earned his B.S. degree in human resource management from Saint Francis College. He is a member of the International Personnel Management Association and the IPMA Assessment Council. He is a DDI-certified Targeted Selection® Interviewer, Targeted Selection Administrator and Facilitator.