How a Recruitment Assignment developed into a small restructuring exercise

Written on the 20 September 2007 by Sharon Hudson

How a Recruitment Assignment developed into a small restructuring exercise

The position description sent to the consultant indicated that the client required a high profile Business Development Manager who was to have considerable public contact and to inspire a response from such contacts through presentations and networking at events and community expos; obviously requiring highly developed oral communication skills. However, the position also required a high degree of written communication ability, as the role was required to provide written reports and articles.

After assessing the Director, the consultant found that his unconscious behavioural style was 80% "C", which explained the need for someone to conduct public presentations and be the organisation's public face.

The selection panel's preferred candidate's behavioural style was 95% "I" and 5% "S", and had virtually made up their minds on his selection until they conducted a Work Pair Analysis.

When our consultant submitted the Work Pair Analysis results to the "otherwise convinced panel" it was evident that that the gap between the styles of the Director and preferred candidate styles were far too great, and that combination would be prone to polarised views of how things should be done. The consultant also identified that writing articles, and especially reports, would be counter-intuitive to the candidate's natural behavioural style, and not a good investment of his time and talents.

The outcome of this exercise is interesting. Instead of deciding not to employ Mr "I", the preferred candidate, the management decision was create another role that sat between the Director, Mr "C", and the new development manager. This decision took care of the reporting requirement and enabled better communication with the Senior Manager Mr "C". An appropriate candidate was selected from an internal role that could be redesigned, with an incumbent with the behavioural profile of "SCI", which of course was the appropriate choice for a "buffer" between the C and I styles.

What was initially a basic candidate analysis resulted in a small restructure and better dynamics within the management team, stronger communication and now a dynamic people focus through the addition of  the new Business Development Manager.

If you would like more information about using Extended DISC tools to improve

communication and effectiveness in your organisation please contact us at:

Talent Tools  email or phone 61 7 3103 0177.