Need:

Covance, Inc., with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive drug development services companies, with global operations in 17 countries and more than 6,900 employees worldwide. The company's turnover rate in 2000 was 21 percent, however, which was attributed to three areas: job expectations of new hires, salary, and poor management by supervisors. In addition, there was no company-wide hiring campaign in place, although Covance was hiring 1,500 to 2,000 people a year, mostly young adults with life sciences degrees and a few years of professional experience.

Solution:

To leverage and support the company's five core competencies, called Leadership Expectations, Covance used DDI's Targeted Selection® to organize and interview against job profiles. Covance also created two levels of competencies—employee and leader—for all jobs, both of which include following and believing in the company culture. Covance believes in diversifying the work and encouraging employees to work across organizational boundaries—a cross-functional focus that didn't exactly meet some new hires' expectations. Now, through interview questions, new candidates exhibit that they value differences.

Results:

Within a year, turnover was reduced to 17 percent. In 2002, Covance continued to improve its employee retention rate, with the goal of reducing turnover to 15 percent, down a total of 6 percent in just two years. Covance also has found that its new hires are more motivated by the company's values and culture.