Immediate results

Using on-line computer based assessment means that you can assess the development needs of someone before employing them or alternatively after they joined your organisation. On-line assessment enables a true picture of their knowledge and their training needs to be generated much faster and much more accurately than via traditional interview techniques. Our assessments only take a few minutes and the results are available immediately.

Support the selection process

On-line assessment can also be used a decision support tool. Rather than relying on a gut feel or a hunch based on a short interview or meeting, on-line assessment enables managers and employers to make informed decisions regarding the right candidate for their organisation. Knowledge of a person’s strengths and weaknesses will mean that you can focus their induction on the topics that require developing.

Effective Induction

Ultimately, knowledge of a persons training needs prior to them joining your organisation means that you can arrange the appropriate courses before they start their employment and increase the likelihood of a successful induction training program. In addition assessing the candidate during the induction period will enable managers to ensure that any gaps in knowledge can be dealt with before the 12 week induction for people working with Adults and the 24 week induction for people working with children is over.

In addition not everyone needs to go through the entire induction, but how do you find that out? Do you send everyone on the induction just to be sure? Our assessments will provide managers with the information they need to make informed decisions regarding the training required for qualified staff and new staff alike, without necessarily sending everyone on every available training course.

Employee Performance Management and Appraisal

On-line assessment can be used to measure and track an employee’s growth, successful development and progression through their career. Assessment enables the employee to see for themselves how they have improved since their first assessment.

Saves time and resource

On-line assessment saves time! Imagine having 100 staff and every year going through the appraisal process. CIS-assessment reports will mean that managers will have more information at their finger tips and reduce the need for long interviews to ascertain specific training needs. If that saved only 15 minutes per appraisal, that equates to 30 minutes saved every week for a whole year. Now imagine if you had 500 staff or even 1000 staff?

In addition it would be extremely difficult to ask every member of staff a specific question that relates to each and every outcome. For example within the Adults CIS there are 70 outcomes and within the Children’s there are 105, how long would it take to ask 105 questions and listen to the answers? One of the key benefits of online assessment is the ability to ask every staff member a specific question to test their understanding of every required outcome within each standard and because it is online, you could do it simultaneously.

Furthermore, CIS assessment and the reporting functionality means that Training Managers can more effectively plan what training is commissioned and when. CIS assessment will provide high level reports to line managers and training managers about their teams which will facilitate the accurate planning of training resource.

Supporting Evidence

Whether for NVQ’s or other qualifications an employee can use the reports embedded within CIS assessment to prove that they have been assessed against the Common Induction Standards and they achieved x percent correct answers. In addition the powerful randomisation engine that will be embedded within our software means that no employee should ever sit the same assessment twice and therefore managers can be confident that the training has been effective and the employee has gained an understanding.

It is all too easy to use e-learning packages that provide a “quiz” immediately after the “learning”, giving the candidate a high chance of remembering everything because they only learnt it five minutes beforehand! CIS assessment will enable an accurate measure of an employee’s knowledge to be taken throughout the year and on an on-going basis.

e-Learning

Some e-learning packages provide a "quiz" immediately after the learning, giving the candidate a high chance of remembering everything because they only learnt it five minutes beforehand!

However, as little as six days later a worker will have forgotten 90% of what they saw unless they are exposed to the learning again and again over a period of time. (Hermann Ebbinghaus, 1885)

However, according to research by Washington University assessment is a powerful method for improving the retention of information and is even more effective than repeated learning. (See Links page for full article) Therefore the combination of learning and assessment will not only enable an accurate measure of an employee’s knowledge on an on-going basis, but it will actually improve the learning overall.

Workforce Development and CPD

By using our on-line assessments throughout the year managers can track an employee’s development over time and as described earlier using the assessments as part of the appraisal process enables managers to spot potential weaknesses early on and address them.

Another of our customers who is responsible for Workforce Development commented that it is all well and good having new staff meet the new standards, but they were concerned that existing staff should meet the standards as well.

Using the assessments across the entire social care workforce and not just new staff means that you can identify gaps across the whole organisation and prioritise the required training. Furthermore, the reports that are generated at the end of each assessment will provide staff with the evidence they need to support their own continuous professional development.

Accreditation Process

Essentially, our assessments will enable Private, Voluntary and Independent organisations to prove to the Local Authority that their staff have attended the required training courses, but more than that, their staff have LEARNT and UNDERSTOOD what they were shown on those training courses.

Training Needs Analysis

Training Needs Analysis is the key to understanding what training is required and for whom. The beauty of on-line assessment is that managers can quickly and easily build a clear picture of exactly that, for every individual.

In addition to the reports generated at the end of each assessment, we have the ability to produce high level reports that will provide you with powerful information on the workforce as a whole, including the combined training needs of everyone within your organisation who has taken our assessments.

Evidence for Inspectors – How much is enough?

One of our customers commented, "My managers are concerned about the new induction standards and in particular how much evidence is enough?".

The Skills for Care Common Induction Standards - “Guide for those responsible for workers in an induction period” and the Children’s Workforce Development Council Induction Standards - “Guidance for those responsible for…. Induction” BOTH clearly state that “induction certificates of completion should not be signed off lightly”.

This is essentially the core function of CIS-assessment.co.uk, it enables managers to carry out an assessment of each worker’s learning needs, understand their individual training requirements and put in place the appropriate training to fulfil them, thus enabling them to sign the certificate of completion with confidence.

The additional benefits are; that the same evidence used to support the certificate of completion can be used to support, CPD, the Audit Commission CPA, OfSTED, Investors in People and ISO audits.