Press Room

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., January 16, 2002 — Spherion Corporation (NYSE: SFN), a Recruitment, Outsourcing and Technology services provider, today announced that its Assessment Group has expanded its product line with the development of SalesFit^SM, a Web-based assessment program that prescreens and identifies “best-match” candidates for sales positions and also evaluates the effectiveness of existing sales employees.

The interactive program, accessed through the SalesFit user’s Web site, measures dynamic candidate characteristics such as dependability, sales orientation, work ethic, flexibility and interaction with outside contacts, and returns a ranking on a three-point scale consisting of  “Ideal, Favorable or Poor Fit.” Candidates satisfying the client company’s eligibility standards can then be flagged for additional follow-up. In addition, company managers can use SalesFit to evaluate current sales employees to determine whether they are placed in a position that best utilizes their talents.

“The Assessment Group’s prescreening programs already offer companies a measurable edge in attracting and identifying qualified candidates,” said Pat Rowe, vice president of the Assessment Group of Spherion®. “With the addition of SalesFit, we can offer even greater value to our clients and expand our range of services to include the evaluation of existing employees as well as candidates in the sales industry.”

Developed by Spherion, SalesFit was specifically designed for use across many industry platforms without additional modification. However, at a client’s request, the program can be further customized to refine the prescreening program to a higher degree. 

“Traditionally, our programs are custom-designed for a specific position or industry,” Rowe said. “The SalesFit program is useful for many companies among multiple industries without requiring customization, which reduces the time and cost of implementation for the companies looking to use our products.”

Rowe noted that a key component of the program’s validation involved its administration to approximately 200 existing sales employees at Spherion. The performance ranking, as predicted by the program, was then compared to actual job performance as evaluated by their managers.

“There was a high correlation between the predicted performance and the actual performance,” said Rowe. “We were very pleased with the outcome because it validates the accuracy and usefulness of SalesFit.”

In addition to SalesFit, the Assessment Group provides a number of customized prehire behavioral assessment services, including proprietary interactive voice response (IVR), Web and PC-based systems that efficiently prescreen and behaviorally assess thousands of job applicants for hourly to mid-management positions, saving both clients and job candidates time and money over conventional employee survey methods, while providing a high degree of reliability and flexibility.

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE: SFN) provides Recruitment, Outsourcing and Technology services. The Assessment Group is part of Spherion’s Human Capital Consulting Group, which offers assessment, career transition services, Web-based career tools and executive coaching. Founded in 1946, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, Spherion helps companies efficiently plan, acquire and optimize talent to improve their bottom line. Visit the Company’s Web site at www.spherion.com.