How to Onboard a Calibrator Profile

Why blog about onboarding? It’s a bit dull and the deal is done by then, isn’t it?

It’s far from done! This is where the hard work begins.

Get the onboarding wrong and there’s a strong risk of the candidate not settling in and you may well have the right candidate but you lost them because the onboarding was poor – this is preventable.

We use a platform called Contribution Compass to guide our onboarding towards a successful integration. Being @Paul Avins’ Team Coach I understand this stuff at a deep level.

How do we do that?

We invite the employer to profile the role and we profile the candidate against the role and we can tell the employer with a reasonable amount of certainty how they are most likely to show up at work and what their preferences will be before they pitch up and start work with you.

I’ll look at the 8 different profile types – all different people and all of which need to be treated in a different way.

Finally, we have the CALIBRATOR profile.

• Discuss with them early on what’s “broken” or needs improving and take them straight to it. This may be part of the reason why they’re being employed. Introduce them to someone senior to showcase their genius in waiting – i.e., “Julie is being brought in to improve....”
• Their activating energy is often underestimated – they have plenty of ideas to offer.
• They are pragmatic and sometimes unemotional when making decisions, which can have an impact on the team around them.
• ％ Perfectionists face drawbacks because they always seek a better way. This can lead to chasing their own tails and lack of accomplishment. Even if they are encouraged to follow the 80% rule, it doesn’t come naturally to them.

How do you keep them engaged and upgrade them?

• Indulge their curiosity and propensity for fixing systems – let them calibrate.
• Let them fix the broken systems but help them to understand that people add value to systems too.
• Show them how people and systems coming together is for the good of the team.
• They will want to see their approach making a difference and nothing makes them happier than the longevity of the system they are improving.

Power summary

• Discuss with them early what needs fixed
• Let them refine, renew, create and upgrade
• Can be unemotional to those around them
• They need a flexible system to work with
• Indulge their curiosity for fixing things

Do you need a Calibrator on your team or are you about to onboard someone like this and you’re not sure?

Email me gbrown@forcesrecruitment.co.uk if you’d like to find out or if you would like a full copy of my FREE onboarding guide to see how ALL profile types engage.