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 Matthew
Chester, who heads up HR Resourcing examines the case
for competency testing.
As the much debated and fiercely
fought ‘war for talent’ intensifies on
the ‘home HR front’, how does one HR professional
sort the wheat from the chaff and spot a fellow ‘great’
– obviously - HR professional from amongst the
merely ‘good’?
No easy task. Especially when we’re
talking about potential, and not proven, ability;
when we’re talking about new entrants into the
HR profession and making a judgement call on just
how good they might possibly, one day, actually be.
You’ve nothing to go on. No track record of
innovative and effective HR programme implementation
and no demonstrable record of achievement beyond the
purely academic. Nothing beyond that list of, no doubt
admirable looking, qualifications and those all too
brief interviews. Sure, those boxes can be ticked,
but what else could, and should, you look to?
It’s precisely just this issue
regarding the identification of potential in those
inexperienced HR prospects that has been taxing the
industry for sometime. Latterly, this has led to the
development of some innovative new ideas whereby the
potential for excellence - not necessarily a track
record of excellence - is what is established in those
budding young HR stars of the future. An indication
or analysis of their overall competency to do the
job required today and, crucially, in the future.
Competency testing at graduate or trainee
entry level is fast becoming accepted practice and
something that employers should be demanding, and
recruitment specialists should be delivering as a
simple matter of course. And, when it comes to testing
this competency, examiners should be exploring a lot
more than the traditional areas of individual personality
or character and ‘intelligence’.
Right there at the top of anyone’s
list must be credible evidence of straightforward,
everyday commercial nous. Of paramount importance
whatever the discipline or sector - and HR is certainly
no exception – should be the exploration of
the candidate’s experience of customer focus;
when did they actually go the extra mile, beyond the
call of duty, for a customer? What’s the biggest
commercial impact they personally have ever made on
a company? And, of course, how aware are they of the
overall commercial value to be gained through the
effective implementation of an innovative HR programme?
Planning and organisational skills and
the ability of an HR candidate to multitask are also
highly attractive attributes or competencies. How
have they coped and prioritised multiple tasks or
clients demanding their attention simultaneously?
How did they handle a looming, or even a missed, deadline?
In today’s fast paced commercial
world, effective teamwork is a must and those that
are inclined to ‘fly solo’ might well
be advised not to consider a career in human resources
at all. In fact, it’s not at all unusual in
today’s truly global markets, to find oneself
working in multinational teams with numerous and diverse
reports and objectives. Therefore, evidence of effective
teamwork and working towards common goals should be
a pre-requisite. Even the ability to work alongside
‘difficult’ team members or individuals
with ideas or approaches that haven’t always
been universally accepted must be identified.
Though not at all the sole preserve
of the HR industry, the ability to problem-solve and
an attention to detail are also of paramount importance.
Again, simply talking about it is easy so evidence
that the candidate can actually ‘walk the walk’
must be demonstrated. Push them to give examples of
how and when they’ve encountered problems and
how they were overcome - and look especially for evidence
of creativity in the solution. Quiz them regarding
the level of detail they bring to their activities
and, of course, what did they do to prepare for meeting
you today?
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