“Evaluation of competencies and skills means much more than a properly prepared interview.”
ASSESSMENT OF COMPETENCiES
Decisions on staffing of a key role with the right manager has an enormous impact on business success, be it finding the best choice out of several candidates or making a decision between two equally strong candidates. The wrong decision will cost time, money and resources, while frustrating the whole organisation. Therefore, it is crucial to start a fact-based analysis right from the beginning.
Methodology
Competency assessments measure the degree of professional skills and behaviour of a candidate. By now it has become a regular tool in the toolbox of HR managers, but often stays a black box for those being concerned - the managers, young recruits and executives.
A good staffing process also impacts the chance of success of the company’s business strategy. It’s important to be aware of the fact that the right “fit” between a candidate and the position in question is always a reciprocal relation between his or her functional and personal profile and the actual/future requirements of the organisation. A successful manager of a turnaround might not be the ideal person to implement the sustainable growth strategy thereafter. And a manager who has a successful track record in an aggressively managed company might not have the chance to show his competencies in an environment of consensus and conflict avoidance - and vice versa.
The methods used as elements of competencies assessment are the following
Tests - intellectual or personality tests
Simulations - Assessment Centre, in groups or individual
Interviews - mainly trying to predict a possible successful “fit” with the future role mainly based on the biography and experience of a candidate (often in combination with elements of the first two categories)
My consultancy is aimed for both sides - to support organisations that will implement a structured process of competencies assessment in order to sustainably improve their talent management as well as support individuals who are interested to better understand corporate staffing processes and who want to Position themselves “at eye level” in the process of selection.