Case Example: BEST PRACTICES IN RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

Competency-Based Selection
A US based company needs over 100 new executives each year to meet its 
worldwide  growth objectives. However, the average
tenure of the executives it hired from outside was only three years. Those who
grew within the company and made it to the executive ranks typically lasted
four years, a slightly better record. To identify the characteristics of those
executives with the skills to implement the company’s  growth strategy and at
the same time succeed in their unique corporate culture, this
company engaged a consulting firm as partner in its competency-based
selection efforts. The result of the company previously cited had a very
interesti ng discovery aft er using the competency-based selecti on.
They discovered that while the “outstanding” executi ves  they identified
were driven by the call to improve the bottom-line results, these
outstanding executives were not the ruthless and aggressive group as known in
the market place. This group of outstanding executi ves identi fi ed by the
company had incredibly positi ve respect for individuals. They were very
optimistic about what they and others could achieve, an d we r e m o ti v a t e d
b y f o r m i n g s t r o n g p e r s o n a l r e l a ti o n s h ip s . O t h e r c o m p e t e n c i e s
t h e   company identified as contributing to success included high levels of “ego
maturity” and “genuineness”, indicating that they acted consistently with how
they thought and felt. 
After uncovering the characteristics that determined success in the organisatio
n, it became apparent that many of the outside hires were mismatched with
the company’s culture and hence the high failure rates. Upon reflection on the
results, the top management team concluded that executives who “grew up”
in bureaucratic, political organisations did not fare well in this company
because they focussed too heavily on managing process as opposed to
managing the business. Experienced external executives who came in and
expected their position power to yield results instead of person-relationships
were also often rejected. The findings changed the way the company recruited.
They were able to better identify the kind of executives who would fit into
their company’s culture.