New technology alert: Checkster

What makes a person great at their job?

• A talent management system or online assessment provider might say it's the skills and competencies a person has, which can be validated by structured data formats, a bit of job-specific pre-screening, and a series of rigorous tests (that are primarily created for small sets of recurring positions in customer service, sales and retail or highly technical roles).
• An employee survey or learning management system provider might say that it's the engagement of that particular employee along several dimensions and the things they do to grow their career.
• A performance management  system provider might say that it's the collective opinion of the hiring manager or peers that drives improvements that yield higher performance.

Checkster, a new venture from former iLogos/Taleo Research President Yves Lermusi, is taking a new and refreshing approach to driving higher organizational performance.

I recently demo'd the Checkster product and was impressed at the thought process that went into its creation. The challenges they've chosen to help solve - how can individuals better recognize and grow their true talents (as validated by their peers); use them to ensure that they're in the right role and manage their own career success; and provide a window to companies on how individuals are progressing or when they're most ripe for promotion - are challenges that remain unsolved in thousands of organizations. In the process, they might have come up with a better way to automate reference checks in the hiring process.

Positioning their tool in terms of the benefits to the employee or candidate is another revelation here. Going a step further, Checkster allows certain developmental components to remain private to the individual. This kind of thinking will definitely help drive adoption within any organization without as much of an executive push, HR follow-up or the use of reward schemes - I think you'll see a lot more of this approach being used in our industry, from job boards to ATSes to true talent management systems.

I also found the output to the organization itself was relevant, actionable and an extremely valuable set of data that would be difficult to get any other way.

In short, I look at a lot of different technologies for the customers I work with. I haven't seen one that hit the market as well-developed and thought out as Checkster in quite some time. If you're hoping to find the sweet spot between organizational performance, internal mobility and employee engagement - while giving your employees tools to help them manage their own careers - Checkster is definitely worth a look. 

Comments

[Chad Sowash]

I have to commend Yves on his targeted email campaign..