Fernald’s pre-employment screening tools add penetrating objectivity

to employee selection. Hiring has a lot in common with dating—everyone wants the ultimate choice to be “the one.” The closer employers get to a final decision, the more at risk they are of making a faulty selection based on how much they “like” the candidate. This bias is often compounded by a limited candidate pool and an urgent need to fill a position. Fernald & Co. helps hiring managers to see beyond their own biases and the candidate’s interview mask to better predict future performance—3, 6, and 12 months down the road.

The main component of our selection assessment tool is web-based, expediting the testing process and saving your organization time and effort. We can also set up additional on-site testing to help evaluate a candidate’s intellectual abilities, including verbal comprehension, mental alertness, and abstract reasoning.

No candidate or professional is perfect. We take an eyes-wide-open approach to assessing a potential employee’s natural suitability for

a particular position and the areas where they will need targeted coaching and oversight.

Common wisdom and research indicate that effective on-boarding programs significantly enhance productivity (for both new hires

and their co-workers), employee retention, and most importantly customer satisfaction. Fernald & Co. offers a powerful on-boarding program to complement your organization’s new hire practices.

In the first phase of the process, the new employee engages in a

series of workstyle review sessions with a Fernald & Co. coach.

This professional development experience yields several

important outcomes:

• the employee develops an objective understanding of specific strengths and weaknesses in a framework that is common with peers;

• the employee is guided to create a professional development

plan that is in alignment with their workstyle characteristics and structured to ensure accountability for achieving measurable goals;

• the employee appreciates the investment in his or her success,

in turn fostering commitment and loyalty to the new employer.

The second phase of our on-boarding process involves a coach-facilitated workstyle review session with the new employee and

his or her manager. Team charts are used to illustrate workstyle similarities and differences, and to highlight areas of potential conflict and/or stress in an objective and constructive manner. Formal team agreements are created to support each individual’s communication and workflow needs.

The third phase of the process involves mapping the workstyle characteristics of the new employee against those of individuals

with whom they will routinely work. Fernald & Co. coaches then

lead a team session to explore the practical implications of style similarities and differences. Team agreements are captured to prevent costly trial and error when integrating the new

employee(s) into the team’s processes and practices.

With penetrating accuracy, Fernald’s talent development program identifies the professional strengths, weaknesses, and preferences

of individual team members. Key benefits include:

• introducing an objective third-party voice into employee development dialogues (especially in situations where an

employee may be highly sensitive about core weaknesses); and

• customized reports containing practical tips, in-depth strategies, and a list of books, seminars, and other resources that address the individual’s professional development challenge.

As in the new hire integration process described above, the

employee meets with a Fernald & Co. coach to integrate insights about workstyle into a professional development plan. The plan is then reviewed in a joint session with the employee’s manager. Agreements are made to establish an accountability framework for the employee’s stated objectives and to define the manager’s role in supporting and evaluating the employee’s development.

Just as a great golfer can benefit from a swing coach, senior managers can benefit from leadership coaching from time to time. Using the workstyle assessments as a foundation, Fernald & Co. can help executives improve their performance in key competencies

such as:

• Visioning,

• In-Depth Problem Solving and Analysis,

• Driving for Results, and

• Coaching & Developing Others.

Fernald & Co. coaches are practiced at creating customized leadership development programs for individuals and teams.

Business professionals are required to work in teams—whether management, project-based, production, or virtual. Through our

team development programs, Fernald & Co. helps reinvigorate

team productivity and cohesion by improving communication

and workflow processes, interpersonal relationships, and morale.

Our time-tested programs highlight how team members can:

• adapt their approach to individuals with different workstyles

to create positive outcomes;

• align workstyles in projects or processes to yield the greatest bottom-line results; and

• mediate and resolve conflicts within the inevitable challenges

of daily work life.

Fernald & Co. offers customized programs for organizations that seek to become self-sufficient in the use of our assessment tools for hiring, on-boarding, and team and/or individual talent development.

Having a skilled coach is like having a wilderness guide when heading into new territory.  Coaches at Fernald & Co. leverage their diverse training and experience to help professionals achieve ambitious goals. We assign coaches and customize our programs to best support the unique needs of the individual.