Guildsrealm takes the guesswork out of recruiting

Guildsrealm, has proved that there is more to providing a search and selection service than simply finding candidates.

The company has embedded psychometric assessments into its selection process, which is providing clients with a more robust means of matching the right people to the right jobs. Launched at the beginning of 2004, the service has helped to take the guesswork out of recruiting ñ providing an objective, fair and quantifiable appraisal of a potential candidateís ability to be successful in a role.

Candidates undergo detailed profiling using psychological assessments, specially selected to meet the criteria of the job. Junior and middle management are competency assessed (aptitude, verbal, numerical and reasoning) and specialist assessment tools are in place for senior management and director level roles.

The reports are used to screen out those individuals who simply do not have the ability to do the job, as well as provide a basis for the interviewing process; the combination of assessments with interviews ensures that a reliable picture of a candidate can be obtained. The information helps the hiring manager to understand what motivates a candidate, why they react in certain ways, how they will fit into the team and their level of ability in relation to the demands of the job.

It is difficult to put a figure on the cost implications of hiring mistakes and the potential value that the right people can bring to a business. Nevertheless, it is accepted that selection errors are costly, stressing the need for the selection process to become more rigorous.

There are many benefits of using a scientific approach when selecting candidates, such as psychological assessment tools, including: attract and select better staff faster, make selection more objective, reduce selection mistakes, lower recruitment costs and enhance long-term development.

Alan Dyer, HR Consultant and long-standing member of the British Psychological Society, spent in the region of six months developing the service. He researched client needs and examined every nationally recognised test and assessment to ensure validity, fairness, reliability and consistency. Alan comments: ìOur assessment techniques have proven to add value to the overall recruitment process and act as a predictor of behaviour in the workplace, putting science behnd the interview process. It ensures that the individual hired is of best-fit for the client and it’s employees, which is incredibly hard to achieve with interviews alone.î

Companies looking to maximise the value of their people have been using psychometric assessment a key management technique for 25 years. The benefits to the bottom line is now accepted in the corporate boardroom and is beginning to catch the attention of business of all sizes. This trend is evidenced by Guildsrealmís success since launching the service, which has been widely adopted by its clients in the engineering, healthcare, aerospace, manufacturing and utility sectors.

Many clients have seen the validity of Guildsrealmís approach to using psychological assessments in the recruitment process and have worked with the consultancy to replicate the process across their entire recruitment activity.

But the value of the assessment does not stop at recruitment, it can be used as a basis for development as well as selection. The reports identify areas of strength and areas for improvement, which can be translated into an induction programme and on-going development plan for the new recruit. The information also helps individuals to become more self-aware in managing their own development, which can be very motivational for existing staff, and Attractive to potential staff. Guildsrealm works with its clients in this manner, to harness and nurture its talent in the immediate as well as longer-term.