February 10, 2010After a decade in the driver’s seat at Queensland-based online HR solutions group
Onetest, co-founder Steven Dahl has moved to the Board of Directors to make way for new CEO John Richards.
Richards (pictured left) brings 25 years of strategic management experience to the role and has held several executive level positions at companies such as IBM and his own firm AusEquity.
Dahl (right) says the appointment is a changing of the guard at Onetest and a strategic move to ensure continued growth.
“I’ve been in the role for 10 years and we’ve been very successful in that time, but John’s immense depth of executive level experience will allow the business to transition into its next phase of rapid growth,” he says.
“John brings a high degree of discipline, rigour and business acumen to the table. His strong business foundation combined with top level sales and marketing expertise will provide Onetest with stability and credibility for the future."
According to Richards, his immediate focus will be growing Onetest’s share of the HR solutions market.
“Onetest has established itself in the HR solutions space with respected assessment tools, surveys and recruitment management systems. The task now is to position the company for much greater market share and focus on our core competitive advantage, which is providing clients with the right person for each role through robust assessments,” he says.
Future challenges for Onetest include educating the HR market about the benefits of candidate assessment, Richards explains.
“I’ve hired hundreds of people and I know basing hiring decisions on resumes and interviews is far from foolproof. The cost of a bad hire is enormous but using a brief, cost effective assessment can significantly reduce the risk,” he says.
“Effective applicant assessment tools, combined with strong HR policy, can have a significant, ongoing impact on the bottom line of any business.”
