Pavle Budinčević, Managing Partner, Assessment Systems Adria

Assessment Systems has a client portfolio that includes an impressive list of multinational companies as well as some of the most successful Serbian and regional companies.

Your company’s core business is focused on increasing efficiency in people-related business. What are the most frequent challenges companies face and you help them overcome?

We help companies make better people-related decisions, based on hard data and scientifically validated methodologies. The most frequent request would be to help them assess the leadership or managerial potential of their candidates in succession planning or talent management.

Recently we are receiving more and more requests to provide assistance in making teams more efficient, collaborative and coherent.

It is an accepted fact that poor selection usually costs a company 150% of the employee’s annual salary. The cost of hiring the wrong person at a managerial position is much higher

In order to achieve these goals, we use proven and renowned metrics and standardized approaches, but they are always tailored to the specific needs of each client. We usually start with assessing the potential and identifying the development needs of each participant in the project. It is only when you are absolutely sure where and what the issue is that you can implement an efficient developmental program.

Have the economic crisis and ongoing economic reforms resulted in Serbian companies seeking your assistance more often?

Absolutely. The fact that more and more talented people are leaving this country, and that companies’ priority has shifted from attracting to keeping key people, is leading to an increased interest in leadership and management development programs.

On the other hand, it is hard to make significant and observable progress in this field, and our unique approach quickly became well known on the market. This has also been due to our team building programs that are not only fun but also bring changes in business approach and can lead to increasing the efficiency of organizations.

Where do you see free space for a greater role of Assessment Systems and other similar companies in the Serbian economy?

In many, many fields. In SMEs – because making bad hiring choices in a smaller system has even more dramatic consequences. In public companies – to put a stop to any political or nepotistic approach in their hiring procedures.

The same would go for all the governmental institutions. It is a good sign that more and more public companies are contacting us and using our services, but even more, so that the Serbian Government contacted us. Hopefully, we will move from contact to the delivery phase.

To what extent can the assessed leaders that you recommend improve the efficiency of operations, when compared to employees who were hired through ‘normal’ hiring processes?

It is an accepted fact that poor selection usually costs a company 150% of the employee’s annual salary. The cost of hiring the wrong person at a managerial position is much higher. Companies that use reliable and validated assessment tools (such as Hogan tools) dramatically reduce their chances for disappointed with their hiring choices.

Placing the right person in the right position improves the efficiency of company operations and the satisfaction of all employees. Unfortunately, the majority of companies in our region do not use assessment tools at all!

On the other hand, some companies use psychometric tools that are cheap or free, but that has not been validated or, more importantly, are not properly standardized in Serbia. We insist on using the methodologically correct approach to each and every task, and therefore organizations that use Hogan and Assessment Systems tools achieve better results, especially over the long run.

The fact that more than 70% of Fortune 500 companies are using Hogan tools in their selection and development processes speaks volumes.