Case Study: Leading Engineering and Environmental Services Firm

This client is a large, industry-leading, engineering and environmental services firm within the United States. They provide highly technical services and expertise in a variety of industries, including energy, environmental analysis and protection, and power generation.

The company has been experiencing excessive turnover in highly skilled engineering positions in recent years. While traditionally a low turnover position, increasing demand for engineers, and economic factors such as higher inflation have resulted in lower retention rates.

The client implemented a selection of HR Avatar assessments that evaluated a variety of characteristics and traits. The assessment was administered to all new applicants as well as all current employees. After an appropriate data collection period, the results were compared to retention rates at 12 and 24 months to identify characteristics that appear to correlate with higher retention / lower turnover. Several categories of engineers were evaluated, each including a cohort of 100 or more employees and candidates.

Results Part 1 - 12 Month Retention

Several categories of engineers were evaluated, each including a cohort of 100 or more employees and candidates.

For both categories, individuals scoring higher in “Leader Mindset” and “Integrity” within the measured personality scales experienced significantly lower turnover compared to low scorers during their first 12 months after joining the company.

Figure 1 - Turnover during first 12 months for low and high scorers on Leader Mindset and Integrity

Red = low scorers, Green = high scorers

Results Part 2 - 24-month turnover for Power Engineers

In addition to Leader Mindset identified in the 12-month findings, it was found that individuals in Power Engineering roles who scored high on the Realistic and Enterprising interest scales showed significantly less turnover at 24 months compared to low scorers.

Figure 2 - Power Engineers turnover during first 24 months for low and high scorers on Leader Mindset, Realistic, and Enterprising

Red = low scorers, Green = high scorers

Results Part 3 - 24-month turnover for Nuclear Engineers

For Nuclear Engineers, a somewhat specialized category, the characteristics correlating with lower 24 month turnover were lower scores in the Dealing with Uncertainty and higher scores in the Artistic, Investigative, and Realistic competencies. Given the risk avoidance requirements of nuclear engineering projects, having a lower tolerance for uncertainty seemed an intuitive finding.

Figure 3 - Turnover during first 24 months for low and high scorers on Dealing with Uncertainty, Artistic, Investigative, and Realistic

Red = low scorers on composite, Green = high scorers on composite (Dealing with Uncertainty Inverted)

Results Part 4 - Looking Ahead

Using the results highlighted above, the client has continued to test all applicants and utilize the findings to inform their decision tree. No firm cutoff scores have been implemented, as there are almost always numerous considerations when hiring for these very specialized roles. However, it is expected that both 12 month and 24 month turnover rates will decline materially as a result.

While the results collected in the initial study are statistically significant, there is much to be gained by continuing to collect data on new applicants. For example, many of the test scores were obtained from employees who were already onboard (already hired) rather than applicants. This can make a significant difference in the motivation level of the test-taker. For this reason, the full array of HR Avatar assessments will continue to be administered. At some point in the future, when enough data have been collected, it is expected that a streamlined version of the assessment will be created.