Case studies

Version 1 used Thomas assessments to recruit and develop candidates who shared the company's values

Version 1 is a global brand that delivers IT services and solutions to drive customer success. They work closely with their technology partners to provide independent advice that helps their customers navigate the rapidly changing world of IT.

Version 1 approached Thomas to help them recruit candidates that were better aligned with their core values and to strengthen their succession planning and career development programmes.

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Version 1

Employees

1001+

Industry

IT Services

Country

Ireland

Solution

Behaviour (PPA)

Aptitude (GIA)

Personality (HPTI)

96%

of top talent retained

The Challenge

In 2018, Version 1 decided to switch to Thomas from another assessment provider as the personality and behaviour profiles created did not match up with how they wanted to use them. Few candidates passed the assessments they were using and as a result, they were missing out on the best talent and needed a tool that was more versatile, which better suited their needs.

As Alan Reilly, Organisation Learning & Development Manager, explains: "We wanted to focus more on the behaviours that related to our Core Values and our previous solution wasn't able to cater for that – we ended up combining two of their assessments into one output and it just never really hit the mark.”

They wanted a solution that ensured that they hired the best talent available but also strengthened and provided more structure to their succession planning and career development programmes. The overall aim was to provide a positive experience to their employees throughout their time at the company in order to retain their Top Talent.

The Solution

In May and June of 2018 Thomas worked with Version 1 to train their staff to deliver Thomas’ behavioural assessment and cognitive ability test. Later on, they were introduced to the personality assessment. They embedded all three assessments as a compulsory part of the recruitment process prior to interview.

The behavioural assessment in particular enabled them to tailor interviews to candidates based on their profiles, for example, to see how compliant or dominant they are and whether they could cope with the complexities of the role. Together with the cognitive ability and personality assessments, the intention was to get as well-rounded a view of candidates at this stage of the recruitment process as possible.

“What made Thomas solutions stand out from other options,” Alan says, ”was the easy to understand reports that are generated and the amount of supporting options in the background that you can call on to further enhance the employee experience. Plus, the opportunity to extend their usage far beyond the recruitment process.”

Indeed, Version 1 also used the assessments as part of the onboarding process giving managers the full reports so that they could manage this process more effectively too. They were also used in the creation of job profiles, ensuring that they could find the right candidate when recruiting for the role.

The Results

93% of new hires in the previous 12 months had passed their probation period and Version 1 retained 95.6% of their Top Talent in 2019.

“We've put in robust processes with regards to the aptitude, behaviour and personality assessments at the recruitment phase, so we have a well-rounded view of a candidate.”

Version 1 now have the ability to provide both line and hiring managers with candidate reports that bring a smaller number but better calibre of candidates to interview. Moreover, because candidates are a better fit for the organisation, the onboarding process is quicker.

They also utilise the reports for onboarding new clients; “We've used them to match consultants to new projects and it has enabled us to put similarly minded individuals together in a team. This has given us a competitive advantage by accurately placing high performing consultants to support their clients requirements.”

Following this success, Version 1 are looking to implement additional Thomas tools to help in other areas of the business: “While the behaviour assessment is most widely used, we're gradually embracing the personality assessment as part of our succession planning initiative. We've also put a proposal forward to use the emotional intelligence assessment as part of our Senior Manager progression model. In addition, our L&D team are currently putting together a team development tool which will use a combination of Thomas assessments.”

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