Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 13, 2003
FREDRIC D. FRANK, CEO of TalentKeepers, Inc., has over 25 years
of experience in the human resources industry, as an entrepreneur
building and selling two companies, as an executive with a multi-
billion dollar global e-information and solutions company and as
a professional well schooled in the various areas of human
resources. In 1976, he co-founded and was a principal in
Assessment Designs International, which was a firm focusing on
the areas of personnel selection, assessment and training, with
the Fortune 2000 as its client base. Assessment Designs was
acquired in 1984 by Wilson Learning, which was owned by John
Wiley & Sons, the New York publishing firm. After approximately
two years as an executive with Wilson, Mr. Frank left to begin
his second company, Electronic Selection Systems, of which he was
President. To provide capital for the creation of this company
and particularly in terms of funding product development, venture
capital was raised. ESS had a number of technology-based
recruitment, assessment, and certification and training products
primarily geared toward Fortune 2000 companies. In early 1997,
ESS was acquired by The Thomson Corporation, a multi-billion
dollar and leading global e-information and solutions company
serving the business and professional marketplace. As part of Mr.
Frank's activities post acquisition, he became involved in
acquisitions and was instrumental in creating a new division
within Thomson ' AlignMark. AlignMark spanned all areas of human
resources, from recruiting and selection, learning and
performance support, assessment and certification to performance
management. He has worked directly with numerous client
organizations including Bank of America, the FBI, the Life
Insurance Management Research Association, Metropolitan Life,
Time-Warner, and Xerox. Much of mr. Frank's experience has been
devoted to employee retention issues. He has a BA from Michigan
State University and MS and PhD degrees in Industrial
Organizational Psychology from Wayne State University. Prior to
beginning his first firm, he was a Professor at Bowling Green
State University and The University of Central Florida. Mr. Frank
has published extensively in the field of human resources. He is
a member of a number of professional associations including the
American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial
and Organizational Psychology, the American Society for Training
and Development and The Human Resource Planning Society. He is on
the Human Resource Planning Society's Editorial Review Board for
its Human Resource Planning journal responsible for the talent
management knowledge area. Mr. Frank is on the Board of Directors
for Michigan State University's College of Arts and Letters. Profile
TalentKeepers?
Mr. Frank: Probably the best way to begin is by saying; I've been
in and around the issue of employee retention and turnover
