Sarah Fitzgerald, (EiA) Managing Director recently returned from a meeting in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania where she delivered an exciting new product to a financial services client who was making a critical group level hire and wanted total objectivity delivered by an independent and suitably qualified Executive Search firm.

Having demonstrated a strong track record of assessing senior level candidates in the relevant discipline, as well as understanding the challenges faced by such a candidate working in a pan African organisation, Executives in Africa were selected to design a full Internal Assessment Process to contribute to the overall selection of the right candidate, with the right leadership, strategic, behavioral, and technical competencies for the role.

EiA designed a thorough ‘Three Stage Assessment’ to ensure that all aspects required for the specific role were investigated, and each candidate was then considered further using the bespoke job profiling tool which is now available to all our clients.

A job profiling tool was used with key stakeholders relevant to the position, and this enabled EiA to understand the critical behaviours required for this key position at this particular point in time.  Using the information gained from this tool and additionally considering both internal and external factors, EiA then originated competency based questions which were highly specific and relevant to this role.

Candidate assessments included an objective ‘fit/gap’ analysis. This technique measured multiple aspects of each candidate’s personality and behaviour against the specific job requirements. These elements were then explored further by our consulting team during the final Assessment Interviews. By accurately understanding the natural personality traits of each candidate, their key needs and the individual’s current level of work-related motivation, allowed both the EiA team and the client to understand each personality in more detail and what type of environment is likely to set them up for mutual long term success.

Having made recommendations on the final two candidates, EiA designed four separate Panel Interview questions, with a clear marking system to assess different elements of the role whilst allowing each individual interviewer to feel they had had the opportunity get an overview of each candidate and ask any bespoke questions within the same marking framework. These Panel Interviews were overseen and managed by Fitzgerald in Tanzania leading to the final recommendation and appointment.

Fundamentally, each ‘internal’ candidate taken through this process felt they had been assessed thoroughly and objectively, and accepted that the best candidate for the role would be appointed. This process offers the client the opportunity to assess areas where talent retention is key.

With good talent a sought after commodity in Africa, we are excited about the potential this new product offers our clients for both assessment and retention strategies for their businesses.

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