One question we are asked regularly by people considering values based recruitment for the first time is when to use the Profiles4Care profiling tool during the recruitment cycle? The simple answer is; how soon do you want to know whether the person has the right values for the job or not?
We advocate that the results of the values test should only ever make up a maximum of 25% of the decision making process but in Health and Social Care, that 25% is perhaps one of if not the most important.
We fully understand that in these times of severely constrained budgets being able to profile each and every applicant is perhaps financially daunting. However, here are a few factors to consider before making the decision.
If the values assessment is left until the final round of interviews here are a couple of scenarios we have come across:
• It can happen that everyone invited for interview does not have the values you are looking for and so it’s back to the start again.
• There is too little time to read through the individual’s values report in advance of the interview discussion and it’s not until after they have left that you discover that they are perhaps not as ideal as they seemed in the short interview.
• Worse still, a job offer is made at the interview, and accepted, before the full picture is known. And legally once a candidate has accepted an unconditional offer of employment then a binding contract exists between employer and candidate.
These scenarios don’t mention the amount of time and resources that were spent going through CVs, shortlisting, reference and background checking, setting up interviews, taking time out for senior management to conduct interviews, etc. It all adds up to a serious amount of time and money spent with nothing to show for it.
The impact of the internet
Historically, when psychometric profiling rose to prominence in recruitment is was delivered by consultants charging anywhere north of £500 to conduct a single profile of an individual. This was the main reason why profiling almost exclusively took place for only the most senior of roles in large organisations.
As time passed and more companies became involved in delivering psychometric testing the price began to fall and with it the use for lower level managerial posts. However, it wasn’t until the introduction of the internet and powerful new applications and tools, such as Profiles4Care, that brought profiling within the reach of all organisations.
Today a personality profile report will cost you less than a background check on a candidate and a whole lot less than the cost in cash, resources and time spent to take an unsuitable candidate through to the interview stage.
During a recent presentation in front of a room full of fellow care providers the managing director of our client Walnut Care stated that using the profiling tool was “cash negative” simply because of the time and resources it saved her on a daily basis. Plus the success she was now having in her recruitment process meant that the cost of attrition had fallen dramatically so the investment continues to pay back time and again.
So if you are looking to start your values-based recruitment process don’t look at it as a cost but as an opportunity to reduce other costs and gain back the investment in many positive ways, including the invaluable embedding of values in your organisation.
