IMMS is celebrating over 25 years of working with insurance agents to effectively market their business through newsletters, audio tapes, web site development, market-finding services and a variety of other products.

IRMI.com is a premier publisher of risk management and insurance reference manuals, books and newsletters. These references provide practical information to help underwriters, agents, brokers, attorneys, adjusters and insurance buyers interpret insurance policies and arrange comprehensive risk management programs. Their overriding editorial philosophy is to stay out of the ivory tower and give practical information that you can use. The President of Employer Advisors Network, Don Phin, was been appointed the co-editor of IRMI's Employment Practices Liability Consultant Journal. If you would like to view a free copy of EPLIC, please click here. To learn more about IRMI, please contact them at (972)960-7693 or visit their web site by clicking their icon above.

Sound Marketing, Inc. - Jack Burke, President of Sound Marketing is the voice behind much of the HR That Works! web site. We strongly encourage you to learn more about his services by calling (800)451-8273 or clicking the icon above.

Vistage International - In business for over 40 years, TEC Worldwide now Vistage International is the world’s largest CEO learning organization, with groups in the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, Japan, France and Malaysia. Combined, Vistage members run companies that total more than $150 billion in annual sales, and have more than 650,000 employees. Minimum criteria for membership are $3 million in annual sales and 25 employees. Membership is by invitation only. Over the last few years, For information on becoming a Vistage member or presenter, please contact Vistage at (800)274-2367, or visit their web site by clicking their icon above.

ZERORISK HR, Inc. -

Character Assessment Tools

We are great believers in the value of character assessment tools. According to the book Blink, there are some 2,500 assessment tools in the marketplace. The goal of these tools is to help determine a person’s natural strengths...and weaknesses. It’s our belief that the best assessment tool is the one that you use! The ZERORISK Hiring System is our favorite of those products. We have worked with its publishers, the International Risk Management Institute and its developer, Dr. Robert Smith, for more than six years.

We encourage you to contact their VP of Sales, Mike Poskey, at (800) 827-5991 ext. 347 or by clicking here. Try out the program for free on yourself. That’s what we had to do to find out which of the most common assessment tools we liked best. One reason we like ZERORISK HR’s assessment tool is it does a great job of helping you to ask questions during an interview.

When it comes to post hire improvement, we like their Clear Direction tool. The best way to use it is to have your managers take an assessment on themselves and then have their reports do likewise. The results will be a road map of how to better manage each employee given their unique character traits.

As with anything else, taking on a new process involves time and money. In this case, the time and money will be well spent. If it helps you to avoid even one poor hire, or the loss of one good employee, it will have paid for itself many times over. Of course, this is our opinion... and it’s a considered one. There are many other excellent assessment tools on the marketplace such as DISC, Profiles International, Kolbe, McQuaig, and so on. Again, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of them which is why we remind you that the best one is the one you use.

Note: Try a wide variety of these tools to find out which one most closely predicts good job performance. Remember that the EEOC’s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (designed in 1978) requires the use of the “four-fifths rule.” The rule provides that a “selection rate for any race...which is less than four-fifths (or 80 percent) of the rate for the group with the highest rate will generally be regarded by the [EEOC] as evidence of adverse impact...” More on that in the info below.

Additional information:

EEOC Informal Discussion Letter re Validity of Testing
EEOC Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
Promoting Diversity Mean Testing Employment Tests published by the AFL-CIO

WorkComp Professionals the premier program for insurance agencies looking to offer their clients the best coverage and risk management in worker's compensation.  

WorkLaw Network - Focusing their practices exclusively in the area of labor and employment law, Worklaw® Network law firms offer management high-quality, cost-effective representation. Worklaw® Network's rigorous membership recruiting standards offer employers a virtual "seal of approval."

If you ever have any questions or feedback about one of our partners, please contact us directly at don@hrthatworks.com or (800) 234-3304.