Recruitment

New research sends clear message to team leaders

How to decide if and when to include personality assessments in the selection proces

If not, you might be part of a hybrid strategy that’s about to fail.

As employees return to the office, they’re expecting more flexibility in their social contracts with employers. How can HR help?

Fortune 10 senior OD consultant talks about CPI 260 certification experience

Personality, gender stereotypes and leadership

“We’ve got our own competency model” sounds like an innocent phrase, but can be worrisome to an external consultant. Not all competency models are created equal, and even good ones can present a challenge to those of us who have to assess people against them.

We’ve all heard the horror stories about bad business decisions. Way back in 1876, Western Union turned down an offer to buy the patent on the telephone, as the device clearly had ‘no commercial possibilities’; more recently we could cite Kodak inventing the digital camera but then doing nothing with it (because it could have cannibalised their film business) or Lehman Brothers borrowing hugely just before the housing bubble burst. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see how wrong these decisions were, but the sad truth is that we are all prone to biases in our decision-making.

1.5 billion people in the world own a smartphone. That’s almost 20% of the world’s population; and in the US and Europe, 60% of the population own one. Such a ubiquitous device has become part of our daily lives. Many of us have it on hand at all times to check the weather forecast, get directions, access our text and email messages and read the latest news. Indeed, the average user spends three hours per day on a smartphone and 15% of all global internet traffic originates from smartphones.

As an Occupational Psychologist, something I’ve had to grow used to is being told by managers that there’s very little I’ll be able to add to how they currently recruit people. And so it was on the cold December night several years ago when I half walked, half skated across icy pavements to meet the night shift manager who had reluctantly been scheduled to see me.

Whether you need to hire staff for your own business, or you conduct interviews on behalf of a client, it’s important to get the most out of every job interview. As a business psychologist, I have studied selection methods carefully and practised them throughout my working life. Here are some tips on how to maximise the effectiveness of your next interview.

In the news this week, it seems that Humberside Police have come up with a novel way of recruiting their new Deputy Chief Constable. Prospective applicants were asked to include a ‘selfie’ with every request for an application pack. According to Chief Constable Justine Curran, this was because it was “vital that candidates embraced new technology” (hence presumably the idea that candidates should demonstrate their cutting edge technological expertise by taking and emailing a photograph). In Curran’s words, “it is vital that potential candidates understand the importance of embracing new technology within Humberside Police at the point of applying for the role”.

Visits to our Personality Matters blog were at an all-time high in 2014, and we covered a wide range of topics in our weekly posts. Over the last 12 months we've talked about the best MBTI-based books and the various resources available for L&D teams. We’ve promoted Movember, and we’ve commented on the Paul Flowers furore. We've also continued to thrive as thought leaders in a diverse range of workplace psychology issues, from recruitment and assessment centres to polarity management. But what are the top five posts that readers have returned to again and again?

Staff retention is a major issue for many organisations. Some environments are feeling the effects more than others - call centres, for example, are practically haemorrhaging employees. Consequently, HR professionals need to find more effective ways to retain talent. Our blog post offers ten top tips for engaging with staff and keeping them on board.

References on job candidates are a very valuable source of information, and yet they are being requested less and less by private sector employers. The main reasons are a fear on the part of the referee (or the referee’s employer) that if they give a candid reference, they might be sued; and scepticism on the part of the new employer about the value of any references they might obtain.

Dodging the skills gaps, avoiding unwitting bias, and navigating social media ethically and effectively are just some of the ‘icebergs’ awaiting any organisation that sets out on a selection and recruitment journey. Our striking new infographic helps prevent that sinking feeling, summing up the pitfalls and the positives of the selection process.

Few things in life are free – but OPP has some really cool free resources to support you in your work! To help celebrate our 25 years in the business, we’ve taken a trawl through the various goodies available for zero outlay on our website. They range from white papers and feedback materials to fun quick guides and infographics – many of which can also be found on our practitioner downloads page.

Last week I attended the fabulous, fun HR Grapevine Conference, HR Strikes Back – and the organisers had really gone to town on the Star Wars theme, with Darth Vader and his storm trooper pals photobombing the stands and taking an interest in talent management that seemed more measured than usual! Gimmicks aside, the conference proved to be a fascinating opportunity to talk to key HR people from some high-profile organisations, and to get inspired about the latest thinking from companies looking to get the best from their people.

Executive recruitment can be a tricky business. Historically, organisations relied on track record; if someone had been successful in a similar, perhaps slightly more junior role, then surely he (and it mostly is a he) would be a good candidate for an executive job? Well, not necessarily. Promoting people just on track record is a great way to see the Peter Principle in action (people are promoted until they reach a level at which they are incompetent). You can probably think of some good examples of this from organisations you’ve worked in yourself.

There is a large and growing body of evidence that psychometric tests and questionnaires are among the best recruitment tools you can use. Incorporating psychometric tools on top of structured interviews and other objective assessments adds real value by increasing the quality of each hire – as well as helping you to avoid big recruitment mistakes. So it is good news that the most recent CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning Report shows that over half of all the organisations surveyed do use ability tests or personality questionnaires in selection.