Advanced Personnel Selection Techniques

Digital technologies have influenced the way of doing “Personnel Search and Selection” with the adoption, for example, of computer applications and online platforms for the administration of personality, verbal, numerical and motivational questionnaires. The training aims to analyse which are the most modern tools used in the world of recruiting and those that offer greater ease of use.

The training deals with focused behavioural interviews (BEI) using the STARS method, based on the idea that the best indicators of future job performance are past performance. Such interviews focus on experiences, actions, knowledge and skills that have to do with previous experiences. The aim is to identify ‘clear capabilities’ following the definition of a role profile on which to act. The set of questions will be prepared according to a precise logic and we will act on four fundamental elements: the situation (Situation) i.e. the context of the episode told, the responsibilities (Task) that led the candidate to put in place certain skills, the action (Action) i.e. the sequence of choices made and specific actions taken by the interviewee and finally the result (Result) i.e. the changes obtained as a result of the actions taken.

Our training foresees a first phase of defining the differences between technical competences and transversal competences and coding them through the “Dictionary of Competences”; once the concepts of competence are defined, we will access a practical path of designing a behavioural interview.

Understanding and identifying soft skills is essential for all actors involved:

Competence assessment consists of the analysis of skills, knowledge, attitudes needed to perform a task.

Performance measurement and evaluation concerns

• the achievement of individual and group objectives
• the skills demonstrated and the professional or organisational behaviour implemented
• Evaluation of motivation

In particular, we will focus on the formulation of specific words and the following steps:

A) DESIGN and Definition of competences and construction of the set of questions

In relation to the competences defined by the “role and transversal competences model” we will construct the set of behavioural questions.  At the same time for each competence to be investigated we will define an Ideal Profile in order to have a score between the observed and ideal profile. At the end of our intervention we will define the difference between the maximum potential index of the ideal profile or “score of the benchmark” and the value of the observed profile, from which we will derive indications for the company in terms of competences to be developed. The comparison will make it possible to generate a gap analysis between the “ideal” and “real” profile.

B) PROPOSITION of established behavioural questions

The proposition of the questions will solicit the reference to a “critical or emblematic case” and will have to include the exhaustive description of one or more cases.

C) Preparation of an evaluation grid and weighting model

We will define the “weighting” of the selection criteria, starting from the assumption that not all criteria have the same importance, we will then use a weighting model of the factors to obtain the final score.

Widely used in the recruiting world and having to do with the assessment of personality, emotional intelligence and professional values are personality questionnaires and psychological tests.

In order to guarantee a complete evaluation of competences we will mention the tests based on the Jungian and Big Five theory, analysing in detail the five fundamental dimensions for the description and evaluation of personality (Energy, Friendliness, Conscientiousness, emotional stability and open-mindedness) with the aim of understanding the underlying orientations.

• E = Energy: confident and enthusiastic orientation towards interpersonal relationships. It is divided into Dynamism and Dominance
• A = Friendliness: orientation towards altruism and taking care of others. It is articulated in Cooperativeness and Friendliness.
• C = Conscientiousness: tendency to be precise, accurate and persevering. It is articulated in Scrupulosity and Perseverance.
• S = Emotional stability: orientation towards control of emotional states and impulses. It is divided into Emotion Control and Impulse Control.
• M = Open-mindedness: refers to openness to new ideas, to the values of others, and to one’s own feelings. It is divided into Openness to culture and Openness to experience.

The model proposed by the Big Five theory identifies those factors that are also the building blocks on which emotional intelligence theory is partly based.

Therefore, one of the topics will cover the five main areas of emotional ability of individuals:

• the knowledge of one’s own emotions
• control of emotions
• self-motivation
• recognition of other people’s emotions
• managing relationships

The assessment of competences is a fundamental step for a deep knowledge of who one is and not only of what one does. With the analysis of emotional intelligence we will deal with some fundamental concepts concerning one’s own Evaluation, Self-esteem and Self-efficacy, as awareness of being able to master specific activities, situations or aspects of one’s psychological or social functioning that we need to recognise in our candidates during personnel assessment activities.

Finally, to be able to attract “talents” is one of the great challenges that companies are called to face in order to remain competitive in the market, In the digital economy it is important to exploit the most advanced strategies to gain visibility in terms of social recruiting and personal branding, it is therefore important to pay more attention to the “Digital Reputation”.