Customer Story: MYOB

Implementing a fair, inclusive, and efficient assessment solution for an Australian software leader

Leading ANZ business management platform provider MYOB has been at the forefront of Australia’s ascent as a digital nation over the past few decades. As a result of its success, MYOB has felt the impact of the digital skills gap that has emerged as talent pipelines for skills such as coding, developing and software engineering have struggled to keep pace with growing demand.

The challenge is not just attracting tech talent fast enough to fill roles but ensuring that talent is diverse and reflective of the company’s customer base. MYOB’s leadership team believes passionately that diversity is a mindset which, when embedded across a business, produces outcomes that are more equitable and inclusive, and more innovative and profitable. However, the technology sector has historically lacked female and minority group representation.

To tackle the lack of diversity in its talent pipeline, MYOB built The Future Makers Academy, a talent program seeking people from diverse backgrounds to join its software development team. While The Future Makers Academy is predominantly aimed at graduates, a sub-program within the Academy named ‘DevelopHer’ specifically targets women, including those changing careers or re-entering the workforce. The program is highly successful in attracting diverse applicants, but in an ultra-competitive market for tech talent, it’s critical to have an engaging and fast hiring process. MYOB was looking for a fair and equitable assessment solution that enabled the talent acquisition team to funnel applications more efficiently, reducing the extensive time required to assess Academycandidates manually.

The Objective:
Identifying diverse talent in a fast, simple way

Previous processes meant screenings were being carried out manually, with each application taking around 15 minutes to screen. The task of reviewing 600 videos occupied an entire week for a team of five people. The result was that the application processed was slowed.

MYOB required a new assessment solution that would fulfil three key objectives:

1. Efficient for both MYOB recruiters and candidates:

   MYOB needed to review and process applications faster and candidates needed a streamlined experience with assessments that were short and an easy-to-use platform.

2. Blended and multidimensional:

   MYOB was looking for a rounded view of candidates, assessing personality, technical ability (coding), cognitive reasoning and video interview.

3. Fair and equitable:

   The Future Makers Academy is designed to identify and attract diverse candidates, so it was essential for MYOB that the solution could assess applicants fairly and accurately.

The Solution:
Blended assessments wrapped in inclusive, engaging content

Sova proposed a blended assessment solution mapped to MYOB’s key capabilities, encompassing video interviews and engaging multimedia content that enables applicants to learn about MYOB and the role throughout the recruitment process.

MYOB selected Sova to deliver the solution, for its impressive candidate and administrator experience, along with the scientific rigour required to predict success in the role. Sova’s online assessment tool balances relevant and engaging content for candidates with accuracy and fairness, ensuring equitable outcomes for companies that care about diversity.

Content produced by MYOB’s marketing agency was embedded in the talent assessment platform to immerse applicants in MYOB’s company culture, particularly around diversity and inclusion, to ensure the best talent is engaged in the process.

Sova’s assessments use neutral, inclusive language and countdown times can be removed from ability tests to help with engagement of more diverse candidates. The platform offers MYOB a visual dashboard through which to review candidates against multiple metrics, presenting them with a rounded view and the opportunity to optimise assessments for fairness.