Profiling For Recruitment - Adding Objectivity To Difficult Decisions
Client Organisation
Chemical Company
Position
Consulting with Department Heads of HR, Engineering, Finance and R&D
Context
A Research and Development company was struggling to identify who to recruit for a key role within the business. Having interviewed over 40 applicants over a 2 year period the issue was not in identifying candidates it was in knowing what they were actually looking for and, perhaps more importantly, how to be confident at interview they had found the right fit.·
Objectives
Having spoken to the heads of department as a group at an initial consultation it was clear that having too many people involved in the decision making process was an issue. None of them had expertise in interviewing so they were relying on instinct in the interview process. Adding some objectivity to the process was clearly a critical objective.
Format and Duration
To introduce this level of objectivity to the recruitment process, the first step was determining which aspects of a very long list of attributes were actually essential and which were nice to haves. Then to create a profile of necessary behaviours and motivations for the role which could be used as a template to objectively assess candidates suitability.
We offera range ofprofiling tools but selected the LAB Profile as the profile of choice, because of it's versatility and the greater degree of accuracy it offers over other profiling tools. The role was profiled and subsequently five applicants were also profiled at interview. The profiles were used to determine who would exhibit behaviours that would fit best in the role and work with the other strong leaders in the organisation.
Outcomes
A candidate was appointed, with a 6 month probationary period - to further allay any fears over suitability etc. This closed off a role that had been open for 2 full years and filled a skills void which had begun to damage the performance and the credibility of the business.
Comments
It is not uncommon in SME environments, that often do not have extensive HR departments, to find that senior managers are drafted in to get involved in processes (such as interviewing) in which they have no expertise. At the very best of times interviews simply do not work (as intended) so important hiring decisions are always difficult to make.
Interviewing and selection is a skilled process and when interviewers lack expertise they rely on 'gut instinct'. The problem is that five different people have five different sets of guts and agreement can be hard to reach. In the absence of any recruiting expertise a third party who can deliver valuable information from a good profiling tool can be ideal to add objectivity. In our experience when the profiling is conducted well the information it generates can be far more in depth and reliable than any reference.