Bookmark – Adding Science to the Art of Hiring
Kent District Library, Mich.
Innovation Synopsis
Bookmark is a pre-hire screening assessment designed to assist libraries in identifying candidates who demonstrate qualities, characteristics and competencies most likely to lead to success and retention in public-facing library staff roles in a modern library environment. A recent study of Bookmark can be found at: bit.ly/2XDLuE1
Challenge/Opportunity
The initial cost of hiring is a significant investment and Bookmark helps increase the return on this investment. The average cost to hire an employee is $4,129 and it takes around 42 days to fill a position. It’s easy to see how hiring the wrong person for the job could be costly and frustrating. Bookmark now helps libraries choose the right person the first time around.
Key Elements of Innovation
With Bookmark, it's like having an extra HR team member on hand to identify the best possible candidates. It measures 12 competencies including communication, customer focus, adaptability and innovation. The assessment takes 20-25 minutes for candidates to complete and consists of 160 questions. To ensure it would be appropriate for use in virtually any library setting, information and data used to develop and validate Bookmark was gathered from more than 400 library staff members from libraries of varying sizes across the U.S.
Achieved Outcomes
Bookmark helps to make better choices when filling library staff positions. This helps reduce staff turnover, increase productivity, improve customer service and build a better overall workplace culture. Bookmark costs $20 per candidate assessment. This price point provides libraries of all sizes access to scientific aptitude testing that supports hiring decisions. When one library wins, all libraries win. Bookmark has already helped libraries across North America assess over 100 candidates for open positions.