Customer need will often drive business strategy, resource allocation and even competitive positioning. Once in a while it can even provide a full bore “eureka” moment too! We’ve had one recently, and I’d like to tell you about it.
During a meeting with a customer of almost twenty years she was discussing her boss coming to her with a request; “Take a look at this profile will you? The person was hired, on-boarded, coached and then finally let go … I’d like you to review this assessment and tell me what it tells you. Maybe we can figure out why he didn’t work out”.
My client showed me the assessment report and it contained just what you would expect, a 3-fold focus on competency, motivation and behavior. The report was over 50 pages long, with lots of detail around the candidate’s skills (to let us know if he could do the job), drivers (to let us know if he’d be engaged in the work) and personality (to tell us if he would have the resilience to stay at it). Sounds logical, right? Except that, after reviewing the report in depth my customer replied to her boss, “It has lots of ranking information, but compared to what? I have no more idea about why he didn’t work out after reading it that before”.
The next thing my client said after recounting the story was, “Don, I think we’re ready for your Job-DNA Benchmark”. That was the “eureka” moment. It was the keystone puzzle piece that brought the image into focus. You see, I had previously proposed what we call a “Job-DNA Benchmark” in which we use an integrated live and web-based process to convert traditional selection (and coaching) reports – into a comparative gap analysis of the candidate’s data, compared to a benchmark of what our client believes the position requires. Compared to what!
We have since created a benchmark for several of their critical positions – that generates the top seven competencies, the top four motivators and the top four behavioral patterns … as seen by the stakeholders that surround the role. Now when they profile a prospective candidate, they also receive a gap report that compares the candidate to the benchmark, and shows exactly where a candidate is a good match for the position. It shows precisely where they might be a bad fit too.
Compared to what. In this case, compared to what we all agree the job requires. When we have that, we have information with meaning. Comparative data that, along with resume, references and interviews can move us from anecdotal to analytical.
Let’s do something different – we can’t help but get better:
- Pick a position – just one, and why not start at the top?
- Give me a call – and let’s put you on the road to giving profiling a better reputation and higher return for you.
-Don Brown
don@donbrown.org
Don Brown dedicates his career to ‘helping people with people’ in leadership, sales and customer service. Bilingual and experienced at the executive and line-level alike, you see the results of his work across dozens of industries, including brewing, automotive, airline, banking and medical equipment.
Speaking, writing, coaching and selling to the best – Ford Motor Company, Anheuser-Busch, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Jaguar Cars, Hilton Hotels and many, many more – Don takes great pride in long-standing customer relationships (some running well over twenty years).
