Lancaster, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/03/2013 -- When companies think about hiring new front-line managers, only one in four uses management assessment tests, according to Ira Wolfe, President of Success Performance Solutions.

That surprises Wolfe because recent research seems to confirm repeatedly that the current practices many employers use to select managers is not working. Citing recent survey data provided from DDI, Wolfe says that ‘eighty-two percent of organizations do not feel they have a high-quality pool of leaders to meet their future business needs.’ Likewise, a McKinsey survey showed that ‘nearly 70 percent of senior executives are only ‘somewhat satisfied’ or ‘not at all satisfied’ with the performance of their companies’ frontline managers.”

One reason for the low success rates is that managers often rely more on manager recommendations and few use validated tools such as a competency assessment test for managers. “I’m not discounting that manager recommendations aren’t important,” says Wolfe, “but they should not be the primary criteria.”

Wolfe suggests that one challenge companies have in selecting front-line managers is that many of the candidates are inexperienced. Without utilizing some type of management assessment tests, new managers are hired or promoted based on previous experience or accomplishments, neither of which may be predictive of successfully managing larger projects or a team of people.

“That is we recommend a competency assessment test for managers to our clients,” says Wolfe.

“In predicting future success, it’s a manager's “soft” skills that count - motivating others, planning, time management, conflict management, communication, and delegation ability.”

A competency assessment test for managers sheds light on the following four questions every company should be asking before they hire a new front-line manager:

-How does this manager approach his job?
-How will the manager manage the job?
-How will this manager relate to others?
-Is this manager able to select, develop, and manage a high-performing team?

“It’s simple,” reports Wolfe. “How often have you heard about the troublesome manager who is great with the details and data but horrible with people? Those situations rarely end up productive or long-term.” “Soft” skills may not sound glamorous but they are a key differentiator between a successful manager and a mediocre or failing one. And validated manager assessment tests are highly predictive tools to gain insight into front-line management potential and competence.

For more information, please visit http://www.successperformancesolutions.com/.