Managed Assessment: Personality Profiling
Business Need: FERA is part of DEFRA and is responsible for research and testing in the farming, agriculture and food sector. We were asked by FERA to improve their understanding of the strengths and risks associated with prospective candidates for a range of critical, senior roles within the Agency.
Solution: Firstly, we examined closely the Agency’s existing competency model and identified combinations of personality characteristics that would provide useful insight into each competency. Once we’d validated that mapping process with FERA, we developed a bank of tailored competency based questions for recruiting managers to use during interviewing to examine each candidate’s personality profile. To assist the recruiting manager, we also created a simple traffic light approach to identify where a candidate’s profile showed strengths and risks.
Using our Managed Assessment service, we then managed the profiling process, contacting the candidates and guiding them through the online completion of the questionnaire. We analysed candidate’s profile and provided a bespoke report for the recruiting manager with areas of strength and risk clearly signposted – together with questions to explore each area during the interview. Summary feedback reports for candidates to receive after the assessment process was concluded were also provided.
Outcome:
“Thank you for your assistance with our recent senior level recruitment. We were very happy with the service provided and cannot fault it. The pricing was competitive and the work was provided within a short turnaround. We liked the style of the tailored reports which were particularly useful (linking to our own competencies). Our interviewers found them extremely valuable, especially the competency based questions which linked to areas of potential development need. We wouldn’t hesitate in using Actualise bp again in the future.”
Matt Ramm – HR Projects/Systems Co-ordinator, The Food and Environment Research Agency
Business Need: Liverpool Mutual Homes is the leading provider of social housing in Merseyside. As part of significant change in the Association, the need in-depth profiling to support recruitment and succession was identified. It was also important that recruiting managers were supported to add rigour and focus to their assessment approach.
Solution: Working from the existing set of job descriptions and organisational competencies, we identified the critical aspects of personality and aptitude that would predict performance in a range of senior operational management roles.
Using our Managed Assessment service, we supported candidates through the profiling process whilst they completed both aptitudes tests and a personality questionnaire online. We then analysed the results for each candidate and produced a simple report, highlighting areas of strength and concern against each role. We also provided a tailored range of competency style interview questions for the recruiting managers to examine the areas of concern that we’d identified in more depth.
We discussed each candidate with the recruiting manager, exploring the highlighted talents and concerns of their pool of candidates to thoroughly prepare them for the recruitment process.
All candidates were provided with written feedback at the end of the recruitment process, thereby ensuring that that felt that the organisation had acted in an objective, open and ethical manner.
Outcome: LMH’s managers felt that it was a useful and informative process that enabled them to confidently conduct higher quality interviews.
LMH consistently ranks amongst the highest performing housing associations in terms of tenant satisfaction about the services provided. In 2013 they are awarded both Investors in People gold status and the Merseyside Environmental Business of the Year.