Selecting and Harnessing Organisational
Talent
by Ambrose McKinnery Organisational
Psychologist
Modern Organisations exist within a constantly changing
economic environment where demands, pressures and expectations
continue to increase at a seemingly endless pace.
Organisational performance at all levels is critical to
ongoing competitiveness and survival, and this includes not only
strategic decisions and resource management, but also critically,
the effectiveness of employees in delivering business and
commercial objectives.
Senior Management including HR Professionals is responsible
for selecting and harnessing talent, and maintaining a committed
and performing workforce. High Performance Job Analysis
Positions are usually described at three levels.
- Task description.
- Competency requirements
- Functional Analysis
Task descriptions and competency analyses are more basic
stages in capturing and describing the requirements of a role. A
functional analysis adds an additional layer, whereby top
performing behaviours are captured and defined. This becomes the
'blueprint' that defines high performance.
Why Develop a High Performance Job Analysis?
1. Recruitment & Selection
(a) Provides candidates with extensive information upon which
they can make an informed application decision.
(b) Reduces the number of unsuitable applications
(c) Interview questions are readily formulated, and exactly
aligned with role requirements.
2. Performance Management
(a) A definition of high performance can become the foundation
upon which to coach, manage, and ultimately rate performance,
through advanced performance management and appraisal
systems.
(b) Focuses executive coaching programmes
(c) Assists formulate succession planning
(d) Optimises individual and team performance via a modelling
process, or transference of ideas.
Psychological Appraisal
Psychological Appraisal is used by psychologists in a range of
work based settings, and these include:
• Personal selection
• Succession planning
• Executive coaching
• Team development
At NLP Corporate, our psychologists use testing for selection
purposes only, preferring more effective and useful methodologies
in the development of existing employees in the workplace.
There are a number of assessment methods available to an
organisation, when attempting to secure suitable high performing
employees. These include assessment:
• Assessing background and experience which commences at the
CV screening stage
• Phone interviews
• Referee checks
• Formal behavioural interviewing (refer article 'the
pitfalls in behavioural interviewing')
• Role plays
• Psychological Appraisal
Psychological appraisal provides additional information that
assists in the decision process. It should not be used in
isolation as the sole selection method, nor should any
interpretation of temperament or personality inventories be
undertaken without the psychologist having met and interviewed
the applicant.
In the analysis of a position, certain competencies and
behaviours become apparent as desirable and likely to lead to
high performance. These behaviours are captured in the position
description, and psychological appraisal seeks to measure the
applicant against these competencies and behaviours, providing an
opinion and recommendation of suitability.
This recommendation is determined through the evaluation of
specific areas of psychological functioning, and these are:
- Temperament
- Intellectual capability
- Vocational interest.
Temperament Assessment can uncover an extensive range of
likely behavioural patterns. A number of managerial and
leadership qualities can be determined, among which include but
are not limited by:
- Underlying motivations and drives, & likely sources of
frustration
- Commercial and entrepreneurial orientation
- Interpersonal style, degree of expressiveness and team
orientation
- Strategic thinking
- Organisation and project mindedness
- Competitiveness, assertiveness, & ego strength
- Degree of adaptability or independenceIntellectual
capabilities are a significant factor in performance, and
include IQ and formalised abilities such as Language and
Numerical capability.
Other tests can assess such things as Mechanical Aptitude,
Critical Thinking, or Risk Orientation where safety in machinery
operation is critical.
Vocational Interest is a significant factor in job satisfaction
and hence motivation. Put more simply, if one does not
fundamentally enjoy the tasks and functions to be undertaken in a
role, that person will struggle to maintain the required
enthusiasm and hence performance
required.
