Non-Stop Gets Started

Many companies, due to growth or a changing market need to recruitment a large number of staff at one time. Non Stop Recruitment was in this position - having enjoyed rapid growth over a prolonged period it now needed to recruit some new staff to support their expansion plans. Experts in recruitment, the team at Non Stop had run a number of assessment centres before but found that the process took up too much of their time. They also felt that their exercises could be updated and refocused to pinpoint specific behaviours which they wanted to see in their new staff.

Resourcing Matters were engaged to:

• Establish a competency framework upon which all the exercises would be based
• Design an online application form
• Design and conduct a competency based telephone interview to screen the applicants - as a large number was anticipated - and was received
• Design the schedule for the assessment day to ensure the maximum number of candidates could be seen by the Non Stop management team
• Design the exercises which would best demonstrate the skills Non Stop wanted to identify, which were:

• A case study which involved writing an advertisement for a new role placed with Non Stop - this was to test written skills and ability to complete a task
• A presentation which the candidates were asked to prepare beforehand to demonstrate how they build rapport; their tenacity and desire to learn
• A group exercise to show how they communicate; build rapport; demonstrate an ethical approach and drive to complete the tasks
• A role play - with the scenario where the candidate has the task to persuade a client to interview a particular candidate

All the exercises were based on real life scenarios facing any member of staff working at Non Stop Recruitment. In this way, the candidate has the opportunity to experience what it is like to be a Recruitment Consultant and Non Stop has the chance to see the candidate performing the role they could be doing if successful.

The key to making the assessment centre work well is meticulous planning. Resourcing Matters supplied each candidate with a comprehensive Candidate Support Pack to ensure that all were aware of what would be required of them on the day. Resourcing Matters also ensured that all members of Non Stop taking part in the assessment were familiar with the materials and that scoring was consistent.

The assessment centres were a success with offers being made on the day. After taking an initial brief, the design and production of theexercises was down to Resourcing Matters. The benefit to Non Stop was that although they took part in the process they did not need to be involved in the design or mechanics of the day - which meant they could carry on with their business whilst recruiting.