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Inbox / In-Tray Assessment

Uncovering How an Employee Will Perform on the Job

You've got a job opening... again.

The last two hires didn't work out so well. Their resumes had all the necessary qualifications; and in the interview they gave all the right answers. They were both pleasant and appeared capable. You really believed that each of them would turn out to be a fabulous employee. But when it came time to actually do the job, they were both disasters.

The first one had no clue how to prioritize her activities and she ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to meet deadlines and failing miserably.

The second wasn't much better. He could organize his day but couldn't solve a problem to save his life. He was constantly at the door asking you to make decisions and tell him what to do.

You can't go through this again. You've now learned the hard way that what an employee says that he or she can do or will do is often very different from what he or she actually does do.

So you've got to find a way to assess how an employee will actually perform when faced with the reality of daily tasks.

What do you do? You use an Inbox or In-Tray Assessment.

Tip: The name of this technique could lead you to believe that this approach is only good for selecting junior staff. Read on, and find out why this isn't the case!

Candidates can tell you just about anything to get the job you are offering. In an interview, the person sitting in front of you is ideal. Well. maybe they tend to be "perfectionists who really want to do the job right", or they are "a bit too over-zealous at times". They assure you however, that they have "made great strides toward overcoming these weaknesses".

Seriously, though, if you want to find out how a person will perform, have them show you.

With an Inbox Assessment, you give candidates a real taste of "a day in the life of the role" and then evaluate them on how well they handled or managed the variety of directions, demands, requests, and questions that crossed their desk.

You're looking to see how well they:

• Prioritize
  
• Organize
  
• Analyze
  
• Plan
  
• Delegate
  
• Communicate
  
• Solve problems
  
• Make decisions

Essentially, an in-tray exercise is a simulation. You are simulating the types of things a successful candidate would encounter in his or her in-tray on a daily basis. Various types of correspondence, including faxes, emails, and memos, are given to the candidate, who is then required to sift through the information and decide what to do with each item — and then describe why they chose that course of action.

Examples might include:

• A variety of requests for service - how should they be prioritized?
  
• Memos from executives - what action steps emerge from the information obtained?
  
• Complaints or grievances - how are they handled?
  
• Conflicting schedules - which activity takes precedence?
  
• Directions or mandates - how is the work delegated and assigned?

Inbox/In-Tray Assessments are applicable to a wide range of positions and levels of authority. For administrative employees, the emphasis might be more on how the items in their inbox are prioritized. For customer service positions, you might want to evaluate how well the person deals with conflict and manages people's expectations. In management positions, the items presented will require actions and responses. And for professionals, these assessments may focus on their execution of professional skills, and on their ability to deal with clients in a way that reflects well on the company. Who are the tasks delegated to? How well is follow-up communication written and conveyed? While the different types of positions will have different items in their in boxes, the value of the simulation remains the same.

Creating an In Box/In-Tray Assessment Exercise

The trickiest part of using these assessments is deciding what types of item to include in the simulation. You want the items to be varied and have a moderate degree of difficulty attached, yet not be so extreme that they are not relevant.

Step One: Decide what items to include in the simulation.

A good place to start looking for items is with actual issues that have come up in the last six-month period. Look at job- and project-specific tasks as well as general items that pop up in organizations.

• Go back through the emails and memos you sent out and received, and decide which ones would have been handled by the person in the position you are hiring for.
  
• Ask people in your department, and others, to submit items they would work on with the new person.
  
• Use the job description for guidance when deciding which tasks to include.
  
• If there is a person currently working in the position, have him or her fill out an Activity Log for a week or two.

When you write up the sample items, be sure to include all the necessary information. Dates, times, deadlines, levels of confidentiality and the impact on the organization are all things that should be provided to help the person put the item in the correct context. The objective is not to trick the person. You want to simulate reality as closely as you can.

Step Two: Develop a scenario.
Before you can ask someone to decide what to do with a bunch of competing tasks, you need to give them sufficient background information. Look at the items you intend to use, and then provide as much information as the person will need to make the best decision he or she can.

Things that might be useful are:

• An outline of their role.
  
• A time frame.
  
• An organization chart.
  
• A description of ongoing projects.

Other detailed information can be included in the item description itself.

Remember, too, that you can create conflicts that are not immediately obvious. For example, if you provide dates for important events in your description for one item, you can then set up a conflict by introducing another obligation on that date. The challenge for the candidate then is to notice the conflict and schedule accordingly.

Step Three: Map out the "correct" course of action.
For a fair evaluation, you need to have a "correct" answer figured out. There will always be room for interpretation with an exercise like this; however, there should be an objective standard against which you judge the candidate's performance.

• With prioritization items, plot them on an Urgent/Important Matrix according to the scenario you set up.
  
• Determine whether the person should deal with the item themselves or delegate it.
  
• Should anyone else be consulted or informed?
  
• Should the item be referred to another person or department?
  
• Should a decision be made on the spot?
  
• What type of analytical process should be used?
  
• What is the importance of the item to the overall organization?
  
• How should a response be constructed and delivered? By email, by phone, or face to face?

Always ask the candidate for a brief explanation of their decision. Their rationale provides great insight into how they process the type of information you give them. Include notes on why you consider your action or response the best. Be prepared to accept answers different from your "correct" version if you're given solid arguments for why the candidate did what he or she did.

Step Four: Test your assessment.
When you have a final draft of your simulation exercise, have one or two people in your department complete it. Compare their answers to each other's and to yours. Talk about the items where you disagree and make adjustments where necessary. Perhaps you need to provide more details to prevent incorrect assumptions or you need to be more specific with your directions?

Tip 1: These Inbox/In-Tray Assessments can also be used for development and training. Use them to coach team members on how to prioritize and solve problems by having people complete the simulation and then share their answers. The differences in priorities and actions will provide lots of fuel for discussion. In the end, the team will have a much better appreciation of how other people perceive situations. This has the potential to improve team communication and reduce team conflict. Tip 2: Sure, this takes time to do. But think about the time wasted and the pain associated with getting the wrong person for the job. Do this right, and you'll be investing a few hours of your time in making a good decision. Fail to use the technique, and you risk spending months regretting that you didn't do the job properly.

Key Points:

Inbox/In-Tray Assessments are a great addition to your selection process. Use them to make final hiring decisions when you have narrowed down your candidates to the most qualified, in terms of ability and fit. By creating as realistic a "real life" situation as you can, you are in a good position to see how a candidate will actually perform in a work setting. This helps you get past all the interview bravado, and uncover the actual performance you can expect from the person you're interviewing.

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