Engaging workers starts with finding the right ones.

I am writing to comment on the article by Steve Bates, "Getting Engaged" (February).

Your article brings out some very interesting points around employee engagement. It gives very effective advice on how to implement engagement programs--a must if a company wants to keep and harvest

I'd like to expand on an area that was only touched on in the piece. Bates' statement at the end of the article--"the most crucial element in improving engagement is finding, training and keeping managers"--only partly sums up the article as Bates doesn't address the best way to find good people. It mainly addresses how to re-engage a workforce that has become detached, asserting that engagement programs can help people become star employees.

The truth of the matter is that there are average workers and above-average workers. And an average worker's attitude and productivity may not change regardless of better working conditions, more responsibility and praise from their superiors as the article emphasizes.

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In order to properly identify people who will go the extra mile in their job--above-average workers--you need to apply tools that assess whether that person is the right fit for the job. And if employees are the right fit for the job, they are more likely to be productive and successful--inspired by their job.

I would therefore argue that getting it right in the selection process is the most effective way to high employee engagement, and objective assessment paves the way.

Objective assessment can take a variety of forms, from aptitude testing to help confirm a person's claims about technical ability, to personality questionnaires created by leading occupational psychologists to help demonstrate how a person will react in certain work situations. Do employees thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment, or are they more suited to an analytical, routine role?

Research from Hunter and Schmidt shows that using some form of objective assessment can deliver a successful recruitment rate of 60 percent to 70 percent more than using an interview alone. And predictions from objective assessments have been shown to foretell career success as far out as 25 years.

Basically, objective assessment at the selection phase helps to weed out the average performers from the above-average performers. Anyone looking to implement an engagement program also should consider a well-thought-out selection program that reflects some form of assessment.

My advice is that you first need to apply assessment techniques that maximize the fit between the person and the job. Introducing an engagement program once you have found the right person is far more valuable and ensures that the individual will stay focused and thrive at your company.

Bruce Sevy

Cambridge, Mass.

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