Greenwood / Asher Forms Alliance With Devine Group

January 24, 2017 – Another boutique search firm is getting into the assessment business. Greenwood / Asher & Associates, a higher education-focused search firm, and The Devine Group, a behavioral assessment and development organization, have formed a strategic alliance to leverage and integrate the science of predictive talent analytics into the executive search and leadership development process. The partnership is designed to tailor an assessment to higher education position profiles.

Since 1970, The Devine Group has assessed over one million individuals according to company data and has helped over 5,000 clients worldwide strengthen their organizations through talent management assessment solutions that support objective, data-driven decisions in selection, onboarding, coaching, development and team building processes. The Devine approach uses psychometric assessments that begin with the development and refinement of required and preferred position competencies.

“The Devine inventory assessment adds another dimension to our portfolio of leadership solutions by elevating leaders and organizations,” said CEO Jan Greenwood. “It assesses candidates’ competencies against specific position requirements. The instrument also assesses their match to the organizational culture of the client, which provides a deeper evaluation of their suitability for the new employment position.”


Why Culture Matters

Focusing on culture and how a company brand is represented in the marketplace has a critical impact on attracting and retaining the talent that will drive business success. But culture shaping – the art of fine tuning a collective set of values and habits that condition actions of people within the organization – is not about providing a detailed list of actions leaders should take to effect change. Rather, it’s more about recalibrating how they think and behave, and in turn how everyone in an organization thinks and behaves ….. Here’s some further reading from Hunt Scanlon Media.

Company Culture Seen As X-Factor In Organizational Success
Culture is no longer seen as an afterthought when considering the business focus of an organization. In fact, some call it the ‘invisible glue’ that holds companies together and ultimately makes the difference between whether an organization is able to succeed.


“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with higher education’s leading executive search firm,” said CEO David Devine. “Combining their many years of experience and impeccable reputation with The Devine Group’s powerful suite of talent analytics will provide a tremendous positive impact to colleges and universities.” Greenwood/Asher was recently inaugurated into Hunt Scanlon Media‘s ‘Top 50‘ roster of academic-focused search firms, a national listing of leading providers in the field.

Assessment Tools Gaining Traction

A number of executive search firms have been stepping up with an array of leadership assessment services that are starting to make big strides in the field of predictive analytics.

In October, London-based advisory firm ALC launched a new assessment tool, ALC Insights. The offering is designed to fill a knowledge gap in the hiring process and, once employed, according to ALC founding partner, Tim Connolly, in just a matter of hours it could provide a more complete and dynamic profile of any candidate being screened.

The ALC assessment tool can be licensed by any search firm. That, its founder said, could level the playing field in the hotly contested area of assessment and leadership solutions services.

“ALC is in a uniquely privileged position in that its clients are search firms and this assessment tool is the only one of its kind designed for the industry,” Mr. Connolly said. The assessment tool can be tailored specifically for the use of a particular search firm or for a particular client of a search firm, or for the recruitment of a particular job function within a company, further increasing its hoped-for relevance.

Some search firms see it a different way, and are either partnering with analytics platform providers or designing their own custom-made assessment tools.

Caldwell Partners recently formed a partnership with Caliper, a research-based talent management consulting firm focused on assessment and leadership development. The agreement will integrate Caliper’s assessment and onboarding services into Caldwell Partners’ research-based executive search process in Canada. CEO John Wallace said that competency assessments performed by the firm’s partners “remain the most valuable aspect of our service,” and give them a “distinct advantage” in the marketplace.

Executive search firm Allen Austin recently partnered with ENGAGE, a sourcing intelligence platform that combines big data and predictive analytics to identify potential targets, to increase overall business intelligence, and enhance sourcing efficiency. The firm forged the alliance as it looked for productive technology to improve speed, execution and growth predictability, particularly one with advancements in analytics.

“Utilizing our proprietary Foresight (strategy focused on long-term relationships) process in combination with ENGAGE’s predictive analytics, we are potentially cutting our research and candidate development time by half,” said Rob Andrews, Allen Austin chairman and CEO. “These powerful analytics will enhance speed of execution and support our commitment of bringing our clients the best possible talent in the market, not just a suitable slate.”


Predictive Analytics

Organizations everywhere are looking for better ways to recruit and retain good quality people to drive effectiveness, and performance, in their business. Executive search firms are stepping up with an array of leadership assessment services that are starting to make massive strides in the field of predictive analytics. But not all of them have candidate assessment tools to offer clients. That’s about to change ….. Here’s some further reading from Hunt Scanlon Media.

Game Changing Assessment Tools Coming to a Recruiter Near You
One search firm that is making big investments in the sphere of candidate assessment analytics is global talent consultancy boutique Marlin Hawk. Here’s how it’s also moving headlong into all aspects of talent planning and candidate pipelining.


Russell Reynolds Associates, one of the ‘Big Five’ assessment providers, recently formed a partnership with Hogan Assessments, a global provider of personality assessment and leadership development. The alliance is designed to increase the success rate of executive appointments and accelerate the development of rising leaders. It combines Russell Reynolds’ expertise in advising senior executives and boards on executive search and succession planning with Hogan’s suite of assessment instruments, data assets and scientific acumen.

“The cost of betting on the wrong leader has never been higher,” said Reynolds’ chief executive officer Clarke Murphy. “That said, innovation in the executive assessment space has not kept pace with the rate of change confronting senior executives.”

Mr. Murphy said the initial stage of working with Hogan will be “sharply focused” on the creation of an assessment approach that is purpose-built to predict success (both short- and long-term) in senior executive roles. “For decision-makers, ‘increasing predictability’ really means ‘reducing risk,’” he said. “The risk associated with executive selection and hiring has always been high. But, as executive roles have become more complex, the risk of making the wrong hiring decision has increased meaningfully.”

Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media

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