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mindset success stories

success story: the use of prevue in a search, recruitment & selection process

by Aaron Dodd, Operations Director

Mindset recently completed an executive search, recruitment and selection assignment for a Financial Controller for Australia’s leading supplier of electronic lighting and emergency systems to the Australian building and construction industry. Mindset’s Prevue Psychometric Assessment System was integral to the process and distinct success factor in the appointment of the successful candidate.

Phase 1 – Role Definition

When reviewing the position with the client, Mindset did not just clarify the tasks and key performance indicators inherent to the role, but also determined the level of experience and qualifications required to successfully complete the job.

Numerous research studies have concluded that once the qualifications and experience have been ascertained, the determining factor for a candidate’s success (or otherwise) is their personality. The corollary to this is that there must therefore be an “ideal personality” to be successful in a given role within an organisation’s particular culture.

Mindset therefore used Prevue’s personality benchmarking system to determine the most likely personality for a candidate to be successful in the role. This was accomplished via a rigorous and statistically proven survey methodology across key stakeholders in the Financial Controller position. The four stakeholders each independently completed an online survey coordinated by Mindset. These four sets of results were then amalgamated to create the benchmark personality to be successful in the role.

This process allowed Mindset to gain an in depth understanding of the role. Specifically;
  • Key tasks and responsibilities
  • Key performance indicators
  • Required background and experience
  • Required minimum qualifications (in this case an Accounting degree, followed by a CPA or CA)
  • Required personality to be successful.
Phase 2 – Candidate Sourcing and Screening

Candidates for the position were sourced from Mindset’s own candidate database. Other candidates were sourced from a variety of online job boards (such as Seek and CareerOne) as well as newspaper advertising (The Age). Mindset’s researchers also sourced candidates via conventional search techniques and Web 2.0 social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter amongst others).

Likely candidates were interviewed in person in Mindset’s Melbourne offices, and their likely fit and experiences determined via conventional targeted selection interview techniques. Based on these interviews a shortlist of four candidates was submitted to the client.

Mindset’s client then interviewed all four candidates and was impressed by the calibre of the talent pool he met with. It was decided that based on interviews alone all candidates had the technical skills to deliver the required results. The client naturally had a strong leaning towards one of the candidates (“Mark”) over the others due to personal preferences and their outward personality at interview.  However the client also recognised that candidates are often able to mask certain negative behaviours in an interview and also that often positive traits can be masked in the “unreal” environment of the interview room. Sometimes even positive behaviours “exhibited” at interview can be an act or fabrication.

It was decided therefore to put three of the four candidates through the Prevue psychometric assessment (one of the candidates had withdrawn for personal reasons).

Phase 3 – Prevue Psychometric Assessment

All three candidates completed the Prevue assessment online. The test evaluates three cognitive skill factors (working with word, numbers and shapes), three broad motivators (working with people, data and things) and twelve distinct personality factors.

The candidates individual results are then overlaid onto the role’s benchmark determined at Phase 1 (above). This allows a percentage fit to be determined. The Prevue Selection Report is comprehensive. A detailed commentary is provided. Also, where a result is off the benchmark a range of suggested interview questions are suggested to target why this may be and the potential effect that this mismatch might have.

All three assessed candidates were then interviewed again by the Mindset consultant. The results of their Prevue assessment were probed and their veracity further quantified. This is an important step, as with any self-assessment a participant will either answer as they genuinely see themselves (not necessarily how they actually are) or as they want to be seen (either consciously or subconsciously). If a candidate had consciously attempted to answer questions to sway the results in their favour, the Prevue system will pick this up and report on it. In fact an attempt to do this will tell an interviewer a lot about the candidate’s personality (and in particular, honestly!).

Full feedback of the candidates’ results was provided to the candidates along with a copy of their Prevue Individual Report. All three candidates stated that they felt that the tests results were an accurate portrayal of themselves.

At this Prevue assessment meeting, Mindset also sought copies of the candidates’ qualifications, work visas (where appropriate) and drivers’ licenses. Mindset also gained the candidates’ approvals to contact their referees (ideally three past direct managers or supervisors).

Phase 4 – Reference Checking

Reference checks are very important in the selection of people for positions, however with Mindset they are even more important as they allow the consultant to cross check the Prevue assessment results with third parties.

Accordingly, Mindset contacted the candidates’ referees and amongst sourcing other information about the candidates past positions and performance also ran their Prevue profiles past the referees to seek verification. In this case all Mindset’s assessments were validated.

Phase 5 – Final Candidate Selection

Based on the results of the Prevue assessment and their references, Mindset decided that one of the three shortlisted candidates was not suitable for the position. The other two were well suited however, although one was a better fit than the other. Interestingly, the best suited candidate (“Darryl”) was not the candidate that the client had a strong preference for after their first meeting (“Mark”).

Mindset prepared selection reports and recommendations for the client and presented these in person so that the two candidates could be better discussed and compared.

It was clear from the reports that “Darryl” was a much better fit for the role than “Mark”. “Mark” had a much more outgoing personality, relaxed manner and a big physical presence. He was intelligent and confident and sold himself well. However there were also issues to do with his decision-making abilities and his level of ambition (related to how long he would sty in the role)

“Darryl” was a much quieter individual with very strong hands-on experience in other similar sized companies. He did not sell himself as well, but it was clear from his Prevue assessment that his attention to detail was better than “Mark”’s as were his decision making abilities. He was also more settled in his ambitions. “Darryl” was also more of a team player that would better suit the client’s management team.

After much discussion, the client realised that although he preferred “Mark”, “Darryl” was the better candidate. “Mark” sold himself well, but the client was not looking for a salesperson, he was looking for a Financial Controller. The client changed his initial preference and an offer was made by Mindset on his behalf to “Darryl’, who accepted the position.

“Darryl” started in the position shortly after and was delivering results for his new employer within only weeks of joining the company. He has been a huge success, already identifying many tens of thousands of dollars in inventory savings alone.

The client stated that “In the past I would have just made the offer to “Mark”, however using Mindset’s Prevue system I was able to identify an alternative who didn’t stand out to me, but ended up a much better fit for the role and our company”

A note on Retained versus Contingency recruitment and selection.

Mindset only carries out retained assignments. The client had only ever had experience with contingency recruitment companies prior to engaging Mindset for this role. Because of poor experiences with contingency recruiters in the past they were reticent to engage a retained consultant such as Mindset. However they “bit the bullet” and did so all the same.

The client now recognises that Mindset could have only given him his result whilst being retained. A contingency recruiter would have let the client select the first candidate that he obviously preferred so that they could invoice him accordingly. Further a contingency recruiter would not have been able to reject a candidate on the grounds of assessment (or for any other reason).

In the words of the client “It is now clear to me that you can engage a recruiter on contingency, but if you want a genuine ethical selection advisor to assist with the position then that consultant must be retained”.

Download the above case study as a PDF

success story: strategic recruitment advice for Travelex

Companies are increasingly engaging in consulting services that help them develop strategies to overcome the challenges they face with their recruitment processes. Employers are realising the importance of seeking advice on strategic and effective recruitment and selection processes ensuring that the right people are in the right job at the right time.

Travelex, having evolved from an innovative bureau de change operator into a dynamic and diversified money business needed to change their lengthy recruitment process to become strategic and time efficient. This was achieved through the use of the Prevue Assessment.

The Prevue Assessment is the only integrated web-delivered assessment system on the market that measures three ability scales, three motivation and interests scales, thirteen personality traits and five work-related characteristics.

Mindset’s Managing Partner Don Holley says, “Before seeking consultation from Mindset, Travelex was using an assessment application that was not web based and therefore involved candidates completing an assessment at a specified terminal.”

“This proved difficult as the business grew and the recruitment process became unmanageable because of the geographic diversity of Travelex retail outlets, the volume of recruitment and required speed to hire.”

This initial recruitment process was time consuming and resulted in candidates moving on to other jobs. The lengthy process involved candidates first attending an initial screening, followed by an interview with the internal recruitment team and then completing the Prevue Assessment. It was not until these steps were completed that the hiring manager looked the potential candidates to make a decision.

Travelex attempted to fix this lengthy process by encouraging Sales Managers to make quick decisions. This however resulted in the full Prevue Assessment not being used and the wrong staff being hired.

The cost of the full Prevue Assessment was also under scrutiny and Mindset had to justify to the Travelex team the value of the assessment to the recruitment process.

The Travelex Internal Recruitment team began to feel the stress of the expanding business in a tightening labour market and the difficulty of finding the right staff with the lowest level of unemployment in over thirty years. Travelex approached Mindset in 2007 to review their recruitment processes.

Recruiting Staff Effectively

Mindset undertook a concurrent study with Travelex involving both high performing and low performing Retail Sales Consultants to devise a Prevue Learning and Reasoning Assessment. This would help Travelex utilise the Prevue Assessment allowing a time and cost effective recruitment process that resulted in recruiting the right staff.

The Prevue Learning & Reasoning Assessment that is part of the Prevue Assessment measures an individual’s capacity to learn and use information, develop skills, solve problems, and understand instructions. This assessment examines four cognitive dimensions: General Mental Ability, Working with Numbers, Working with Words, and Working with Shapes.

The Prevue Learning and Reasoning Assessment examined the ability, motivation and personality traits that were most consistent with the high performing Sales Consultants helping Travelex determine what qualities they would look for when recruiting their staff.

When reviewing their recruitment process, Travelex has found that it is more effective to screen out candidates who do not meet the initial general abilities requirements when completing the Prevue Assessment. This prevents time being spent on face to face interviews with candidates who are not suitable.

Michelle Pratt of Travelex says “Mindset has worked closely with Travelex to develop a tool that suits our candidates, Managers and ultimately our bottom line. We find the assessment to be highly accurate and efficient with our recruitment process becoming more strategic and time efficient”.

The Prevue Learning & Reasoning Assessment conducted by Mindset has benefited Travelex allowing them to devise a more time effective recruitment process that results in the right candidates being recruited for the right jobs.

success story: changing corporate culture for Admerex

Admerex is a home grown success story that went go global overnight. With expanding staff numbers and a worldwide office network Admerex faced critical cultural issues which raised questions about the continuing strength and the appropriateness of the prevailing corporate culture.

Corporate culture can help drive business results, but it takes a cultural audit to differentiate which elements of the culture will lead to superior performances. In order for Admerex to develop a global corporate culture Mindset was brought onboard to design and implement an employee engagement survey which provided employees with a sense of corporate identity and enabled Admerex to develop an effective cultural plan.

Admerex is an Australian listed company providing receivables lifecycle, credit risk and contact centre solutions. Since its formation, Admerex has experienced significant growth through the acquisition of companies throughout the world.

Due to the intense level of growth the company had to rapidly increase its number of employees in order to maintain strict service levels to their clients. This meant that the diversity of cultures and backgrounds in the offices around the world grew to encompass all different types of people ranging in ages, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, and gender.

Cultural Challenges

In order to create a working environment that encourages exceptional performance from the diverse collection of individuals employed, Admerex’s HR department was given the task of organising a global cultural employee survey. The challenge the HR department faced when developing the survey was how to word the questions in a way that did not alienate any particular cultural group.

Geoff Daly, Head of Human Resources said there were challenges in terms of the cultural issues, and diversity caused by operating in culturally diverse markets. “What works in one location does not work in another,” he said.

For that reason the HR department needed to create a survey that took into consideration the diverse cultural range of employees but also concentrate on the information that they needed answered in order to have a successful outcome.

The types of questions that the survey needed to focus on included a broad range of issues including hygiene issues “bread and water” issues, pay, careers, and environment.

“We also wanted to explore “softer” areas of the business in terms of the business culture where we aimed to receive specific feedback on how well Admerex manages the business and people,” said Mr Daly.

Due to the large task that the HR department faced, they employed the services of Mindset to create and design the Employee Engagement Survey in order to test the waters and get timely feedback from the staff on what Admerex’s main strengths and weaknesses were.

The Employee Engagement Survey

Mindset offered a confidential, comprehensive survey that assisted Admerex in keeping abreast of the attitudes and opinions of their staff in their ever changing environment.

The survey included an online questionnaire which highlighted the strengths of the organisation, as well as identifying and clarifying areas of concern. This provided a valuable insight that allowed Admerex to build on their strengths in decision making, and minimise problem areas.

Mindset worked closely with Admerex to ensure that the information gathered was fed back to all members of the organisation in a confidential and professional manner. Mindset Consultants then supported the management team in developing and implementing actions to address key issues raised by the staff members.

Don Holley, Managing Director of Mindset, said the survey included a 6 month follow-up and review, which provided Admerex with valuable feedback as to the success of the improvement actions, and supported the managers in the implementation of a continuous improvement process.

The Impact

Through the implementation of the survey Admerex was able to indentify and understand the things that they did well and what they needed to improve on.

Mr Daly said that the survey provided a positive measure to address issues and confirmed why people like working at Admerex and what needed to be improved.

“The survey gave a voice to staff and a sense of being heard. Overall, the cultural survey was a positive experience, “he said.

The immediate results of the survey allowed Admerex to identify the issues that needed to be dealt with or improved and developed ways that they could be addressed.

Admerex was extremely pleased with Mindset’s flexible approach to the survey process in accommodating all of their needs and requests, and that the turn around time of information and the final report was excellent.

“The survey has made a tangible difference to the way Admerex runs their business and the results that have been achieved following the survey,” said Mr Daly.

Admerex found that they received a very satisfying result through the use and implementation of Mindset’s Employment Engagement survey and more importantly gave them a great platform to grow their business with a highly engaged and motivated workforce.

success story – improving performance at ReadSoft

ReadSoft Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Swedish Multinational. They are a market leader in document automation, with more than 3500 customers worldwide. ReadSoft originally worked with Mindset to address why the Australian subsidiary was underperforming by corporate standards. It was established that it was largely due to leadership and personnel issues.

A replacement Managing Director, Vincent Ehrstrom was appointed to turn the situation around. Vincent had successfully built the French subsidiary for ReadSoft. New to the country Mindset was engaged to assess the potential of existing team members, recruit and select new team members and run role clarity workshops with staff to clearly define their roles and objectives.

Some of the challenges Mindset assisted ReadSoft to overcome were attracting talent in an intensely competitive IT market, creating a unique culture that reflect the organisation global values and getting the right people for solution sales in an industry with long sales lead times.

Mr Ehrstrom was promoted back to the Corporate Head Quarters, based in Sweden and Mindset was responsible to recruiting a replacement Managing Director. ReadSoft had doubled in size in the past four years and was well positioned to go to the next stage of their growth. Frank Volckmar was appointed Managing Director in August 2006 and has continued the growth trend in the business.

Mindset provides an annual fixed price contract for all recruitment and selection services, a web based performance management system to drive performance and align staff to business goals and objectives and implementing HR initiatives that include compliance, retention and development programs.

By engaging Mindset as an Organisational Development partner ReadSoft had the flexibility of access to senior HR professionals who understand their business and culture, by fixing the fee they are getting significant cost savings and could manage cashflow. They also had access to latest technology selection and performance management tools included in the contract.