Blog / Insights
Behavioural Profiling. Like It or Not?
May 2, 2024
I’m a big fan. Let me explain why.
The higher up the salary band you go the more likely you will be to see profiling show up as part of the process – you’ll hear platforms like Belbin, Myers Briggs, Disc, Insights, McQuaig etc.
Recruitment is not just about skills and experience. It’s about the following:
⦁ Natural energy
⦁ Attitude
⦁ The WILL do as much as the CAN do
⦁ Values
⦁ Culture fit.
Most of these are ignored by employers because 95% focus on the skills and experience. They hire on that skill and fire on behaviour (that’s not always the fault of the candidate – it can just be a bad fit for one of the items on the list above).
Imagine you have the skill to do a role, the money is good and it’s on your doorstep – you can’t believe your luck! The onboarding isn’t great but you persevere, week 3 you realise the job isn’t quite what was advertised but you persevere, week 4 you realise you’re used to a culture of camaraderie and this culture is toxic, week 5 you realise that this “people” job is nothing but a fire fighting mash up with analytical reporting on numbers – the opposite of what you expected.
I’ve seen this example play out more than once and it’s why we prefer to profile candidates, for the benefit of both sides – so you’re not being pulled out of shape to do things that will flatten your natural flow. As military people we are more adaptable than most, but that doesn’t mean you should settle for a role that is pulling you out of shape every day; life is too short.
I think it’s actually quite responsible of an employer who wants to find the right personality fit for the team as well as the skills and experience. If the fit is good the chances of you staying there longer are greatly increased.
I’ll talk about this more in my next column but for now here is a very brief insight into the model we use, Contribution Compass, (shown in the picture) which looks at how people contribute towards a team.
People with
⦁ Activating energy are naturally creative and good at getting things off the ground.
⦁ Inspiring energy are natural relationship building and people focused.
⦁ Sustaining energy are natural completers and like to tick things off a list.
⦁ Refining energy natural analysts with a sharp eye for detail.
You can probably look at this list and say, “this is me” or “this is not me” just from this brief insight.
Profiling can help, not hinder.
Share This Post: -
-
-
-
