Great Northern Recruitment Conference #FIRMDay

“How assessment insights research can make future talent

more effective”

Cassie Sissons – Head of Resourcing Services, GradWebcassie.sissons@gradweb.co.uk

October 2014

Agenda ‣ Opportunity to sign up for a copy of the research and contribute your data for the next round

‣ Provide some information from our Insights Research

‣ Answer some common questions around what predicts successful performance at various stages of a graduate recruitment process

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Insights Research‣ Main report focuses on:

• Application to Hire Ratios• University Sources• Media Sources• Diversity Ratios• Assessment Criteria – What Predicts Success?

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Insights Research‣ Industries represented:

‣ Pharmaceutical‣ FMCG‣ Automotive‣ Oil, Gas & Energy‣ Transport & Logistics‣ Engineering‣ IT / Technology‣ Telecommunications‣ Banking & Financial Services

‣ Data from >40 employers

‣ Total applications / candidate data in

‣ 2012-13 = c.225,000 ‣ (up from 75,000 in 2011-12)

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Insights Research‣ Major benchmarking research based solely on candidate application data

‣ All data anonymised, cleansed and grouped logically (e.g. media source)

‣ In total, this year we analysed over 2,894,293 individual items of data

‣ Competencies / behaviours were grouped by a process of statistical analysis so that we could report on them (i.e. since the different data from different employers meant we started off with 1000’s)

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Assessment Research Questions‣ What key criteria most effectively predict future success?

‣ Which exercises are more effective than others at predicting success in a recruitment process?

‣ What action can we take to improve our conversion rates?

‣ How can we minimise adverse impact (or bias) and improve diversity?

‣ How can we standardise our assessment processes so they can be utilised globally?

‣ What innovative solutions can we introduce?#FIRMDay

Do Application Forms Effectively

Predict Success at Later Stages?‣ Yes! - There was a strong, significant correlation between a high score at Application Form Stage and a high score at final interview or Assessment Centre stage

‣ Degree Grade = no significant relationship between

higher degree grade and higher performance at Assessment Centre (i.e. a 1st or a 2.1 in some instances did not mean a higher performance at AC and offer)

‣ ‘It’s not enough just to be intelligent’.

‣ ‘We want a mix of intellect, motivation and strengths’

‣ ‘I think we are missing a trick and missing out on good Engineers’

Application Form Criteria in More Detail……‣ Work Experience = marginal between number of months of

work experience and high performance at later stages in the process

‣ Communication = significant relationship between

communication skills and high performance at later stages in the process

‣ Drive to Deliver Results = significant relationship

between drive to deliver results and high performance at later stages in the process. This relationship was the strongest

‣ Engineering candidates: ‘drive to deliver results’ was an overall strong predictor of future success

Application Form Criteria in More Detail……‣ Motivation = significant relationship between

motivation for the job (not the organisation itself) and future performance

‣ Particularly significant relationship between motivation for the role (and not the organisation) for IT and Engineering candidates

‣ Working with Others / Leadership =

significant relationship between the ability to work effectively with others / lead others and high performance at later stages in the process.

Application Form Criteria in More Detail……‣ Commercial Acumen = significant relationship between high

scores on commercial acumen and high performance at later stages in the process. – 2nd strongest relationship

‣ Resilience = significant relationship between high scores on

resilience questions and high performance at later stages in the process. - 3rd strongest relationship

‣ Interesting results, as some organisations were not measuring these at early stages of their assessment process (i.e. only measure at AC and say that these attributes are really important to them)

‣ Reflect your requirements early on!!

Do Psychometric Tests Effectively Predict Success?‣ Yes - overall, significant relationships between high scores on psychometric tests and high performance at later stages in the assessment process.

‣ For IT and Engineering candidates, high scores on NRT and LRT were stronger predictors of future success than VRT

‣ There were significant relationships between high scores on SJT’s and high performance at later stages in the assessment process and less adverse impact than other tools

Do Telephone Interviews / Video Interviews Effectively Predict Success?‣ Overall, yes!

‣ There were significant relationships between high performance at telephone interview and at later stages of the process for:

‣ Motivational fit for the role (not the organisation)‣ Communication‣ Drive to deliver results

‣ No further significant relationships at telephone interview stage

Do Assessment Centres Effectively Predict Success?‣ Overall Yes! - Significant relationships between high performance on following criteria at AC and candidates who achieved offers:

‣ Motivational Fit (role only)‣ Communication‣ Commercial acumen‣ Analytical thinking‣ Working with people ‣ Drive to deliver results

There were no other significant relationships

Which Assessment Centre Exercises Predict Success More Effectively?

‣Analysis and Presentation exercises – strongest significant relationships between high scores on these exercises and offer.

‣Group exercises (which included some element of conflict) – also strong significant relationships

‣High scores on Role Play exercises had only a marginal relationship

‣Competency based interviews – there was no significant relationship here!

‣Job related exercises appear to produce better results – argument for day in the life or bespoke to organisation

Conversion RatesAssessment stage Average pass rate Typical range

 Application form 30% pass rate 15-45%

Situational judgement test

35% pass rate 30-70%

Cognitive ability tests 30% pass rate 30-60%

Telephone interview 50% pass rate 45-70%

First round interview 30% pass rate 25-60%

Assessment centre 35% pass rate 25-75%

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Applications to Hire Ratios

Application to hire:

‣ 2012-13 = 97:1 / 51:1‣ 2011-12 = 77:1‣ 2010-11 = 67:1‣ 2009-10 = 59:1

‣ HR: 277:1 (up from 160:1 in 2011-12)

‣ Finance: 53:1 (down from 96:1)

‣ IT: 36:1 (down from 76:1)‣ Engineering: 74:1 (up from 54:1)

‣ Sales, Supply Chain, Marketing consistent year on year

Disability / Hire Ratios‣ Disability applications and hires on the rise – 2.38% applications (up 16%), 3.23% hires (up 42%)

‣ Processes non-discriminatory?‣ But, overall % of UK students who have a disability is c.9% - should this not be reflected in graduate hire ratios??

‣ Likely skew due to non-declaration‣ Some evidence to suggest higher proportion of disabled graduates set up their own business

Ethnicity / Hire Ratios‣ Offers to Chinese nationals have increased steadily since 2010/11, from 2.45% to 5.71%

‣ Significant increase in application volumes from “White – Other” – again steady year-on-year trend

‣ White – British represent 42.32% of applications, and >60% of hires – what is happening here?

‣ But, conversion ratio of White – British candidates is 20:1, vs Black candidates at 70:1 – still a lot of work to be done here!!

The Impact of the Insights Research‣ Further work to be done to support BAME candidates (plus at the attraction stage for disabled candidates)

‣ Indicates at each stage which behaviours are more effectively predict success

‣ Consider whether sifting on degree grade is really predicting success for you (or eliminating strong candidates)

The Impact of the Insights Research‣ Be cautious when sifting on work experience due to adverse impact on BAME candidates

‣ Think carefully about whether or not to sift on motivational fit for organisation, rather than just role (especially for IT and Engineering candidates) – reflect your requirements at the earliest stage in the process

‣ Seek advice about adverse impact

The Impact of the Insights ResearchApplication forms appear to most effectively predict success if they include questions on the following:

Drive to deliver results,

Motivational fit for job (not organisation)

Working with others

Commercial Acumen

Resilience

Communication

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The Impact of the Insights ResearchBAME candidates perform better and understand the relevance of Motivational fit questions more if given guidance on the careers website

‣What is motivational fit?

‣Why is it important?

‣How can you demonstrate it effectively?

‣It’s ok to talk positively and ‘sell oneself’

‣Talk about achievements in terms of ‘what I did’ rather than ‘we did’

The Impact of the Insights Research‣ When utilising Telephone Interviews (or Video Assessment), think about measuring the following areas:

‣ Communication‣ Drive to deliver results‣ Motivational fit for the job

‣ Consider weighting criteria differently based on ability to predict success?

‣ Strengths-future focused approach – nice alternative to competencies?

‣ SJT’s in this research have been shown to have less adverse impact‣ Bespoke ‘day in the life’ AC’s have been shown to receive higher positive candidate experience ratings and are more face valid

Sign up for your copy of our Insights Report by entering our Winner of Dinner Competition

THANK YOU! – ANY QUESTIONS?cassie.sissons@gradweb.co.uk