Reducing the risk of conflict through outsourcing

Research published this week revealed that 64 per cent of men would apparently like to work in an all-male office due to the “bitchy” atmosphere in a female dominated office. When reading this I can’t help but think of the latest dispute between Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown – a high profile conflict in a male dominated arena.

In his time as Labour Party leader Brown dealt with criticism from all angles, but an attack from your own team members can be extremely damaging to both the individual and the team. Even now, over a year since his resignation, Brown is on the receiving end of negative publicity stemming from Alistair Darling’s autobiography. In my opinion the issue lies not in Brown’s skills a leader, but in the building of a team consisting of talented people whose business and personal qualities do not ‘gel’. What I’m talking about here is the need for “cultural fit” between colleagues.

Recruitment processes are increasingly shifting from the traditional candidate evaluation method focused on current skills, into more qualitative measures such as behavioural assessments. Whilst this new approach is becoming more favourable in the recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) industry, there is the challenge of how to accurately measure candidates' cultural fit without excluding potential talent.

The impact of conflict

It is all too easy to underestimate the impact a conflict can have to both employees and the company. The effect it can have on a team isn’t temporary - in fact, as the Darling/Brown issue shows it can be dragged out if not dealt with immediately and can have a damaging impact on a company’s reputation. Looking at the Labour Party as a whole, the conflict between the party’s then-leader and the former chancellor was another nail in the coffin for a political party already deteriorating.

Any HR department should have a process in place to manage such a situation, but in an ideal world this would be prevented from the beginning by building a team with complimenting skills and values. The recruitment process allows us to do just that.

Measuring qualitative values

The main issue which arises when measuring the qualitative values of a candidate is the difficulty in producing an evaluation process which measures a candidate in line with the existing teams’ culture. Values-based hiring models can measure how well a candidate ‘fits’ with the business dynamics, but it is not an exact science.

At Ochre House we use an adapted model to evaluate an employee’s ability to adapt, integrate, contribute and perform. Using this competency-based evaluation an organisation is able to manage staff and behaviours carefully. For employees who show signs of low adaptability, it is possible to plan in advance for any impact a change may have on them. If this change for example is recruiting a new leader, the job spec and assessment process can evaluate a candidate’s ability to deal with a team cautious of change.

Implementing competency-based selection

In order to successfully select a candidate using a competency- or values-based assessment there are a few rules which need to be considered:

1. Profile the needs: always start with job-profiling or -analysis so it is clear what needs there are across the company
2. Measure, measure, measure: always measure each behaviour more than once during the selection process to help produce valid results
3. Always collect primary evidence: don’t rely solely on what a candidate claims to have done, set a task which will demonstrate a particular value such as time management or organisational skills
4. Follow a structure: use a structured scoring guide with predefined positive/negative indicators and a rating scale to ensure a robust and fair assessment
5. Get a second opinion: this increases the changes of noticing any weaknesses and enables a more informed hiring decision to be made
6. Measure ‘motivational’ fit: establish a candidate's level of expectation and cultural match through questions such as “What are your expectations of the job?” and “What aspects of the role will you enjoy?”
7. There are other benefits to hiring on the basis of culture rather than skills too. Ultimately you can adapt and grow a person’s skills set, but you cannot change their personality.

Following these simple rules and implementing a competency- or values-based recruitment process should significantly reduce the chances of potentially damaging clashes between colleagues. Remember though that businesses change, so ensure you have a talent management process in place to deal with the cultural effects of economic or organisational change.

Sue Brooks is one of the founders and the Managing Director for Ochre House. Overseeing all corporate strategy implementation and direction, she is responsible for the fulfilment of the company's mission to deliver transformational value to clients measured in terms of increased productivity and business performance.

Widely respected as a thought-leader in talent management, Sue is a speaker and workshop facilitator on a broad range of HR topics and considered a champion of the adoption of talent programmes to spearhead growth. In 2001 Sue launched the global Ochre House HR Director Network, an extended think-tank of over 650 senior HR professionals from major companies which meets regularly to share best practice and new thinking in talent management.

Source: Outsource Magazine

Posted by Sue Brooks