Matters of the heart – employing candidates based on actual competency and not on feel alone!

Dave Pattle

Matters of the heart – employing candidates based on actual competency and not on feel alone!

February – associated by many with Valentines day and matters of the heart – together with all the commercial trappings that go with it.  While I am not completely opposed to a little sentimentality,

The unfortunate reality is that we make it far too easy for applicants to become employees.  The most important decision we should make concerning an employee is the decision to employ them in the first place.  So often we hear of employers bemoaning the obligations created by the law when trying to get rid of someone, when in truth they probably should never have hired them in the first place. If you raise the bar at the point of entry you will be able to greatly reduce the risk you face further on down the line.

Too many people take too long to come around to the realisation that recruitment is a skill.  Even if you are very good at making widgets it doesn’t automatically follow that you will be effective in recruiting another red-hot widget maker.  It requires skill and not merely a “good feeling” (like when you get a valentine from a secret admirer!)

Along with the skill required in order to be an effective recruiter, there is a range of basic steps that need to be adhered to in order to improve your prospects of securing the candidate you want and need.  At Drake we not only have the requisite skills, but we also adhere to these steps.

To augment our services, we are able to also make use of a bespoke on-line assessment tool specifically designed for Drake International – Drakewize. Drakewize is an on-line platform we have access to, which determines objectively what a candidate’s actual level of skill is in relation to the various inherent requirements of the job.  By assessing candidates in this way, you remove personal subjective bias (maybe incomprehensible infatuation) and have a much clearer picture of what they are actually capable of as opposed to what they say they can do.

Drakewize offers the employer a whole range (there are hundreds) of on-line assessments that an applicant or employee can be assessed against in order to determine whether they can actually meet the requirements of the job. This makes it possible to make every assessment customisable and entirely relevant.

Further the method of assessment is user friendly, efficient and can be completed on site – making it cost effective.  The applicant/ employee is sent a link for online completion.  The results are made known to us which allows us to furnish you with a report free of any bias.  (none of this emotional stuff getting in the way allowing you to make a clear decision!)

Drakewize can also be utilised in a number of other applications, this would include:

• Benchmarking the actual levels of competence in relation to key performance areas of your top performer – for future hiring decisions and or promotions.
• A partial response to equal pay challenges – where the employer seeks to rely on performance as a justification for differential payment.
• BBBEE skills spend – an employer can be far more strategic in training the right people on the right content thereby ensuring a better ROI and still enjoying recognition of spend on Drakewize as an indirect spend on Skills Development.
• Selection criteria when confronted with retrenchments.

Like the perfect bottle of wine (if that’s your thing) that goes with your romantic Valentines dinner, our P3 Behavioural assessment is the perfect accompaniment to a Drakewize skills assessment. While actual competency is obviously very important, it is also comforting to know whether the employee will be a good fit by taking into account their communication profile as well.

Should you have any questions pertaining to Drakewize or any of our other Solutions Services offerings, please contact us: