“Resumes alone are no longer suitable to provide key insights into the skills and abilities of a 21st Century candidate” says Maria Moraitis, General Manager People, Performance and Culture of Fleetcare.
Apart from recruitment teams not being able to physically handle the sheer volume of resumes they receive, a resume also only tells you what the candidate wants you to know, not necessarily the data that you need to know. This makes the resume screening process both time and cost rich but data poor.
I chat with Maria and Fleetcare’s Chief Information Officer, Mark Metcalf, to find out more.
Kate:
Maria, what is a 21st Century candidate?
Maria:
We moved to align with the World Economic Forum’s insights into the skills of the future. Candidates with critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and emotional intelligence skills.
Kate:
I imagine those skills are challenging to uncover in a traditional interview. What was important to you when looking to redesign your process?
Maria:
Benchmarking the skills, experience, capabilities and cultural alignment of candidates, not just against other applicants but also the performers inside our organisation and nationally across the industry.
Kate:
How do you implement something so data driven (some candidates may say it’s a bit dry?) and obtain a 100 percent candidate experience rating?
Maria:
Following years of using the standard assessments, we moved to using game-based assessments in 2018. We piloted the games with our newest employees (former candidates) of various age ranges, gender, roles and experience levels. They experienced both the standard and gamified assessments. Feedback was clear – 100 percent preferred the game-based version.
It was clear from the World Economic Forum’s list of skills of the future that we needed a 365-degree view of a candidate’s suitability. We implemented Cognify and Emotify gamified assessments to create that 365-degree view for us.
Kate:
How did your leaders respond to such a move?
Mark:
Game-based testing gave a much deeper insight into the candidates through the large data sets it collects during the assessment process. The results were clear that it was also making it interesting and engaging for the employee. These deeper assessments have allowed Fleetcare to make better hiring decisions when coupled with formal interviews.
Kate:
I hear you have some Artificial Intelligence recruiting plans too.
Mark:
The move to Revelian’s next-gen platform enables us to analyse company-wide profiles, team fit and leadership capability.
Maria:
We are now exploring video interviewing using AI that will provide even more specific candidate information. These interviews can be assessed not only by the responses but also through analysis of what the candidate says, how they say it and what they do while saying it.
Kate:
How does all the new technology fit with your company culture and brand?
Maria:
Fleetcare combines the best of a corporate organisation with a family feel and we are looking for people who want to grow with us, learn, collaborate across the business and celebrate successes along the way. Using science-based assessments helps us to obtain high success rates and create a cohesive work culture. It’s also had a positive impact on Fleetcare’s brand perception amongst candidates in the market. It provided prospective employees with insight into the innovative culture of Fleetcare.
Kate:
Were they any unexpected outcomes of using the gamified assessments?
Maria:
When an issue with an employee arises, we often reflect on the profile and information gathered during the assessment process to get a deeper understanding of the individual and how we can assist and support.
Kate:
Maria, what advice do you have for Talent Acquisition leaders looking to move to a 21st century hiring process?
Maria:
For 21st century skills and capabilities (OECD Report – The Future of Work), we need to consider how we as the employer identify, attract, develop and retain our people in a complex, global and mobile workforce.
As HR Professionals we need to understand how the future in-demand skills (communication, collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity) as well as behaviours and traits, are identified outside of the normal interviewing process.
Emerging AI interviewing technology enables tens of thousands of points of data to help with decision making. It measures honesty in their responses and aligns them with roles. Combine this with data collection on cognitive, emotional and behavioural measures of the candidate as well as role specific skills.
All this analysis can be completed before a candidate even walks into an interview (or connects via technology), reducing time and increasing accuracy. The interview is then very much about exploring the results, testing strengths and weaknesses and measuring the alignment of culture with people who will be working closely with the candidate. Partnering with a product such as Revelian gives you that valuable insight.
If we don’t start exploring and adapting to the new ways of identifying and acquiring talent leveraging technology, we will be left behind and the perception by our candidates will be one that we are not innovative or creative in other areas of our business.
About Fleetcare:
Fleetcare is Australia’s largest independent fleet management and leasing organisation. It is Australian owned with more than 42,000 vehicles under management. It has major contracts across Australia and was recently awarded sole supplier to the Western Australian Government.
Assessments used by Fleetcare:
- Revelian Cognify — Assesses complex problem solving, critical thinking, judgement and decision making and cognitive flexibility, creativity.
- Revelian Emotify — People Management, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence, service orientation, negotiation.
- Revelian Skills-based Assessments — The ones we use are specific to our IT & Sales roles.
Benefits at A Glance:
- Improved candidate shortlists
- Better team cohesion
- Better decision-making processes
- Better team productivity
- Inspiring leaders
- Confidence to scale up the business with the right people on board
- Reduction in turnover
- Reduction in recruitment costs
This article is contributed by Revelian.