THOMAS NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2010

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Issue18/ Summer 2010
NE
Team Audit Report W Inside this issue
News
Thomas Team Audit can help you build more More about Team Audit 2
effective teams, improve team performance and Unlimited skills testing 3
get to the heart of team issues fast. The Teams New look website 3
module has been updated with a new layout, Taylor Made partnership 4
report and pricing structure, making Team Audit Thomas tweets 14
more accessible than ever. Seminar dates 15
n the turbulent economic climate improving Features
I team performance and resolving team issues
has become increasingly important.
Team Audit offers a fast, easy way to tackle
What is a team?
Transforming the Thomas reports
5-6
9
A guide to effective interviewing 11-12
team issues and increase team output in order to Using Thomas SKILLS 13-14
improve business results. 60 second summary 15
Administering team audit is now faster and more
intuitive. The report is easier to interpret and the Case studies
pricing has been simplified, with each report Ikea 7-8
costing just 50 units, regardless of team size. Yell 10
You can also swap team members in or out of the
team at no extra charge, so the report can be
updated if team membership changes. Try
Team
Audi
Contact your Thomas consultant or email t fo
teams@thomas.co.uk to claim your free Team Audit report.* FRE r
E
*Offer open to UK based companies only. One report per company. Offer available until 31st August 2010.

2. News/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 2
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Peter's message More about Key benefits:
Analyses very quickly the structure of a team –
As economic
conditions begin to
slowly improve for
Team Audit how it works, its strengths, limitations and the
role each individual plays within it.
Self awareness – team members become
most businesses, Thomas Team Audit can help you create teams, improve aware, very quickly, of their own behavioural
I’d like to thank all team performance, understand the strengths and limitations strengths and limitations as well as those of
of our clients for of each team member, and resolve team conflicts. their team members
continuing to
Opens channels for communication – once team
support Thomas Team Audit step by step…
members are aware of themselves and others
through a difficult time. Hopefully,
they are able to talk more openly. People often
we too have supported you. Team Create
don’t know how other members of the team
The contents of this newsletter First you create a behavioural profile of your ideal team. This is done
see them.
summarise our approach - keep moving online by selecting the main characteristics required for that team
Predicts a team’s reaction to change - so an
and keep innovating. Our revamped to be successful. For example you might need the team to be driven,
organisation can plan with confidence.
Team Audit is fantastic and I urge you to assertive, goal oriented and persuasive with a fair amount of pace.
take advantage of our special offer of a Our expert system will help you build a profile graph of your Gets to the root problem very quickly - in hours
free Team report for your company. ideal team. You can adjust your team profile graph until you are rather than weeks.
The look and feel of all our reports happy with the description. Once your ideal team profile is Works with underperforming teams to identify
has been completely overhauled and you complete you can print a report issues and create success.
can now customise your PPA reports by
amending the colour and font style, or Adding team members
by adding your logo. Once your ‘ideal team’ is in place you can begin to add people to
If you are not happy with your actual team you can continue to
Later this year watch out for a fresher, your team. All team members (or potential team members) will
swap team members in and out at no extra charge.
cleaner front page to our website and need to complete a PPA to enable inclusion in the team.
Once your team is complete you can view your Team Audit report.
check out our autumn/winter Selecting ‘Add member’ will display the names and PPA profiles
programme of regional seminars on a of all available candidates. Simply double click or drag and drop The report
wide range of assessment topics. each individual into the team bar to add them to your team. The report provides a gap analysis between your ideal and actual
I wish you all a good summer and To search for a specific person, or profile shape, use the pale blue team culture and gives a ‘goodness of fit’ rating. Key team roles
here’s to a successful second half of 2010. search bar on the right of the screen. are identified and a team role chart shows where the actual
Once all your team members are in place click ‘done’. The team’s strengths and limitations lie. Information on each team
Peter Farrow profile shape of your actual team is instantly displayed on screen, member is provided in terms of their contribution to the team,
MD, UK along with a goodness of fit rating, and a chart showing how how they will work within the actual team and how their
team roles are distributed in the ideal vs. the actual team. behavioural style ‘fits’ with the ideal team culture.

3. News/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 3
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Unlimited skills testing New look website
from just £850! Coming soon…
Thomas SKILLS offers fast, low cost online testing on a huge Never ones to sit still at Thomas, the last few months have seen a lot
range of topics. of new initiatives like great offers and monthly features added to the
We are currently offering unlimited annual licenses for Thomas SKILLS from front end of our website.
just £850. Use as many tests as you like, whenever you like, for 12 months.
W
e’ve had a great response to the new content, but it has led to our site
Tests available include: looking a little more unruly than we would like, as we struggle to fit
everything in!
Microsoft Office 2000, Shorthand
The solution is a new look and layout for the website, which will be unveiled later this
2003 & 2007 Data Entry
year. The new design will give us more room to tell you about news and offers, and will
Numeracy Call Centre Listening and Keying
make it easier for you
Spelling Audio Typing
to navigate around
Secretarial Email/Internet
the site.
To view the full lists of tests download our guide to Thomas SKILLS. You will still log in to
your Thomas account
Online training modules are also available to help candidates get up to speed
via the homepage of
in the areas they need most help.
the website and your
account will not be
Free Trial* affected – so once you
log in everything will
Try Thomas SKILLS for free. To start look the same.
your trial or for more information
click here, or speak to your consultant.
*Offer open to UK based companies only. One trial
account per company. Offer available until 31st August 2010.

4. News/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 4
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Taylor Made Partnership
for Thomas International
This summer Thomas International and Taylor Made Training Solutions
are delighted to announce they have formed a strategic partnership to
strengthen their consultancy offering throughout the UK.
aylor Made is a leading provider of training for developing people and
T performance, as well as IT Technical and Application training, from both
its regional training centre in Hampshire and through its team of
nationwide consultants.
The Taylor Made team have over ten years experience in their field, and have worked
with customers such as Baxter Healthcare, HSBC and BMW using Thomas’ Personal
Profile Analysis (PPA) as a tool. Ultimately both organisations are about one thing,
helping individuals, teams and businesses make better decisions and take action to
improve their performance. It is this fundamental business value that makes the
partnership between Taylor Made and Thomas an obvious one.
This is an extremely strong proposition for both companies; by using Thomas’
incredibly powerful range of business tools Taylor Made has the ability and the
experience to develop them further, with the potential to have a profound impact
upon any business.
“We are very excited to be working in partnership with an established and highly
regarded company such as Thomas. We are continuously looking to grow and To learn more about Taylor Made visit their website
improve our offering and this partnership will definitely give us the advantage to do
www.tmcstraining.co.uk
so.” Commented Miles Henson, Director of Training and Development at Taylor Made.
Martin Reed, CEO and Chairman at Thomas International added, “We are delighted For more information about the Thomas and
to be working with Taylor Made to offer our clients a complete assessment and
training solution. The team at Taylor Made are exceptional and the partnership
Taylor Made partnership contact Emma Downing on
will fulfil the demand for high quality training and development services utilising 01329 239900 or email marketing@tmcs.co.uk
Thomas assessments.”

5. Feature/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 5
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What is a team?
‘Teams’ are a favourite subject at the moment, not least because of the
World Cup: what gives with France – a team of gifted individuals who seem to
be complete strangers on the pitch?; how is it possible for the ‘minnows’ of
New Zealand to hold the ‘whales’ of Italy to a draw?; what role do managers –
men as different as Capello and Maradona – play in team performance?
Let’s not even talk about England.
B
ut teams are also being talked permanent teams dedicated to certain
about because HR managers functions or products. It’s just like the
say that how to form and 11 players on the pitch playing a world
manage them is one of the top issues cup game. But, hang on a second!
they face. Great teams deliver superior Are the substitutes part of that team? And
performance and, given business the manager? And the specialist coaches?
pressures, need to do this more quickly And the medics? Teams are more complex
than ever before. than we sometimes think. Here are a few
So, bearing in mind the sporting things to think about.
background, here are some team issues Teams cross organisational borders. “It’s just like the 11 players on the pitch playing a world
and tips. The first one is pretty basic… If you’re making a major, complex cup game. But, hang on a second! Are the substitutes
and absolutely critical purchase that is going to take some
time to negotiate and bed in, then a
part of that team? And the manager? And the specialist
Do you know what teams you have?
team will form which includes staff in coaches? And the medics?”
It seems fairly obvious. You form
the supplier organisation and your own
temporary teams to: create a new
staff. The same is true if you’re making both cases there are real gains to be Teams form by themselves. Or, to put
product; purchase and integrate a
a complex sell: your staff and your made working with those cross- it another way, teams self-organise.
new piece of kit; plan an organisation
customers’ staff will work together, get boundary teams to ensure they’re Whatever managers do to structure an
restructure or move. You have
close and work towards an objective. In performing at their best. organisation, people will start working
Continued on page 6...

6. Feature/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 6
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continued...
together based on mutual respect, personalities, skills, attitudes, knowledge
“Our tests can be used to recruit together a suitably
interests, ways of working and simple and motivations. Obviously a team must
liking. The bigger the team, the more have the right characteristics to achieve psychologically diverse team - PPA and GIA are
likely it will form sub-teams; any team its aim (design a new power plant, come particularly important here.”
larger than twenty people is liable to do up with a new product idea or
this, so don’t believe the organisational whatever) but it must have the ability check that schedules are being met and the most influential people in the
chart. Teams need to form and break up to react to unforeseen circumstances or budgets observed. Emotional intelligence is team - the ones who influence the
quickly. Teams used to work together for changes of plan. If everyone’s pretty critical here. Leaders need to understand others;
years. Given the need for more flexibility much the same, this will be difficult. how they affect other people and how people who haven’t ‘got it’ and are
about focusing skills, resources and A football team in which every player is other people operate. Then they establish in danger of derailing the team’s
overheads, teams are sometimes formed, a good defender – let’s take North Korea credibility not by laying down laws or project.
do their work and break up in weeks. as an example – will get so far. But they putting up notices, but by acting in a
Any one person can be a member of many won’t be able to react if they happen to consistent way. This means that their Here a 360 survey can be very useful in
teams at the same time or be a member of go one-nil down. behaviour is understandable: they don’t looking at team attitudes.
appear one day as a best friend, the next There’s plenty more to say about
“Any team must consist of people with different personalities, as a dictator for no discernible reason. teams – and no doubt the Ashes and
skills, attitudes, knowledge and motivations.” Being able to manage your own behaviour other sporting events of the summer -
is critical to any leader. That’s why it’s so will give us further models and talking
many in the course of a year. This makes This is one of the ways our tests are fascinating seeing the different styles of, points. But investigating the points
team management more difficult and used: to recruit together a suitably say, Capello, Maradona, Domenech as they raised above is a good place to start.
issues like team loyalty more complex. psychologically diverse team - PPA and coach their teams.
So, you need to get down and dirty and GIA are particularly important here.
see what teams you’re actually managing How do you get a diverse team to Alignment
or depending on. Once you have, there are work together: to value each other's A primary leadership task is to ensure the
some key things you have to address. skills and accept each other’s different team members don’t just understand the
ways of working, strengths and teams’ aims, values and ways of behaving,
Diversity weaknesses? but have bought into them. This involves
This is often interpreted as the need to more than verbal agreement or nodding
reflect the population’s ethnic, gender, Leadership heads; the leader must check and recheck
religious and disability mix in your work That’s where leadership comes in – and that this ‘recruitment’ has happened and
force. That’s important but it’s not what teams do need leadership as well as task work intensively with two sub groups of
I’m talking about here. Any team must management; they need people to bind the team:
consist of people with different the team together personally, not just

7. Case Study/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 7
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Case study:
Ikea
The IKEA Contact Centre in Høje Taastrup (where the Danish HQ is situated)
handles all enquiries from customers regarding sales and complaints. This is
managed by phone, email, chat and mail. They also handle shipping for customers
who choose direct delivery.
I
KEA A/S primarily uses the changes for employees over a short
Thomas System to develop their period of time. Employees had begun
employees. to side with their own team to the
exclusion of others, believing it was
The challenge “our team against the rest” and “our
Kenni Toft, HR Manager at the Contact team is better than the rest – we get
Centre explained that over time employee much more work done.”
turnover and sickness absenteeism had A year ago yet another Manager was “There was a huge dividing line between the three teams in
risen above a desired level. When they placed in charge of the Contact Centre.
investigated the problem they discovered The new Manager had a vision of
the Contact Centre, which had developed over a long period.”
huge gaps between management and breaking down the walls between the
employees. This had, in part, been teams and decreasing employee turnover How did IKEA address the suggested team coaching sessions for
caused by many changes in management and sickness absenteeism. In addition, challenge? all employees.
– there had been five new managers in he wanted teams to start meeting the The Contact Centre teamed up with The approximately sixty employees
the last four years alone. Contact Centre ‘80/30’ efficiency goal – Jakob Aagaard, HR Partner, IKEA were divided into six new teams - ten
Each manager had his or her way of 80% of incoming calls needed to be Denmark. Jakob is a coach and certified members in each team – and offered five
doing things, which meant a lot of answered within 30 seconds. user of the Thomas System. Jakob coaching sessions over a period of three

8. Case Study/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 8
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presented their own PPA profile, which they What did they achieve?
had completed beforehand, in small groups As a result of the coaching sessions the
of four and received feedback from the walls between the original teams were
other group members. torn down. Improvements were visible
Then Jakob showed the PPA profiles of across every team. Everyone had an
the Manager, HR Manager and Team understanding of why:
Leader and gave each of them 20 Person B snaps, when...
minutes to talk a little about themselves Person C doesn’t respond straight
based on their profile shape. away, because...
Both the Manager and HR Manager
were high D and low S. The HR Manager And each employee gained:
had an I-factor just above the line, while Understanding
the Manager had an I-factor below the Respect for different patterns of
line. Since the employee profiles consisted behaviour
mostly of high S and high C this opened Acceptance of diversity
their eyes to the differences between
their own behavioural style and that Moreover, as a 'side effect' employee
of their managers. turnover decreased from 46% to 27%
“Differences in behavioural style had been affecting the All of a sudden everyone understood and sickness absenteeism decreased from
effectiveness of communication in general ... and the way why things had been going wrong. 10.6% to 5.8% - all in just one year. Best
The differences in behavioural style had of all, several months later the improved
managers and employees related to one another.” been affecting the effectiveness of figures have been maintained.
communication in general, the amount A year ago less than 50% of incoming
months. It was important everyone was the other original teams. During the first of information being provided and the calls were answered within the specified
mixed so they were not in the same team sessions Jakob used conversation to way managers and employees related 30 seconds. Today measurements show
groups as before. promote open discussion. The final to one another. 75% to 79% of all calls are answered
Initially the employees were skeptical. session was devoted to PPA and how this A lot of employees made comments within 30 seconds.
Suspicious of a hidden agenda some could help team members understand to the Manager and HR Manager Following the success of the team
resisted the sessions, but as time and communicate with each other better concerning their PPA profiles and the sessions, Ikea have arranged more
progressed each employee began to open The last session took the form of a differences compared to employee workshops in a different context and this
up little by little. workshop with employees returned to their profiles. Most importantly there was time the employees are responsible for
Some employees found it very difficult original teams. Jakob explained the DISC complete candour, great inquisitiveness making up the teams. They will be using
to talk in an environment where they did factors, showed some typical profiles and and engagement. PPA profiles again to help them build
not feel secure. It was incredible to see talked through typical patterns of behavior even more effective teams.
just how little they knew the members of for each profile. The employees then

9. Feature/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 9
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Transforming the Did you know you can
Thomas reports customise Thomas reports
with your company logo?
To add your logo, log in,
Since October 2009 we have seen five of our key reports updated click ‘Admin Utilities’ and
with brand new designs and clearer layouts. This has been part of +
select ‘Report Options’.
an ongoing process to review and improve all our assessment and
reports, to ensure we are providing you, our clients, with the very
best assessments tools and services. PPA
+
If you missed the changes click on the images below to view our EIQ
latest sample reports:
+
PPA 360
PPA Job Profile Team Audit GIA
EIQ
EIQ 360 TST
360 GIA SKILLS
GIA JOB
11% 12%
88%
TST
36%
92% 26% 15%
68% 57% Overall
%65
86% Overall 84%
%55 47%
96%
75% 91%
TST GIA / TST
56%
SKILLS
59%
15%
42% 30%
88 15 47 96 26 65
SKILLS HJA
JOB
JOB GIA / TST
GIA / TST HJA

10. Case Study/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 10
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Case study:
Yell
Yell is a leading international directories business operating in the classified “We were looking for an assessment that would give us robust
advertising market through printed, online and phone-based media in the information on mental capacity, aptitude and predict trainability.”
UK, US, Spain and Latin America.
Y
ell creates value by putting explains, “During the past couple of The Solution into the sales recruitment process and set a
buyers in touch with sellers years the directory market has become “We assessed around 250 existing telesales benchmark of 50th percentile and above.
through an integrated portfolio increasingly fast-paced and competitive. and field sales people using Thomas GIA. Following CV sifting and telescreen
of simple to use, cost-effective We needed to recruit sales people in the The results showed a clear correlation interviews, successful candidates were
advertising products available in print, UK who would excel in this demanding between employee performance and GIA asked to complete a series of online
online and over the phone. environment.” results, with those scoring above the 60th assessments including Thomas GIA.
It aims to be the best provider of “We wanted to identify individuals who percentile being among our top Individuals meeting the GIA benchmark
quality business leads in all its markets were flexible, able to think on their feet performers.” level and other required criteria were then
and provides high-quality leads to and capable of dealing with complex GIA is a measure of fluid intelligence – invited to final stage interviews.”
advertisers through a range of channels packaged sales, drawing on products from the ability to reason on the spot and solve “Using GIA has made a real difference
which include classified directories, local across our portfolio. To do this we were unfamiliar problems where there is no prior to the quality of candidate we recruit. At
guides, online local search, search looking for an assessment that would give experience to call upon. The test is a final interview we are seeing candidates
engines, operator assisted phone services us robust information on mental capacity, reliable and accurate predictor of who have better communication skills,
and mobile-specific applications. aptitude and predict trainability. To make it development potential – how quickly a understand more quickly and are keen to
suitable for screening large volumes of person can learn and retain new skills and learn. Feedback from our sales training
The Challenge candidates it also had to be quick, not procedures. course has been excellent with new recruits
Sarah Benson, Profiling Manager for overly complex and relatively inexpensive.” “After achieving buy-in from the senior making sales even before training has been
Yell’s UK National Resourcing Team, decision making team we integrated GIA completed.” Continued on page 11...

11. Case Study/ Feature/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 11
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...Continued “GIA has helped us take
Making your mind up
away some of the hard work of inducting
new starters. Our new recruits absorb
training faster, hit the ground running
A guide to effective interviewing
and start selling more quickly, which
makes life easier for Regional Managers.”
“We have also used GIA as a selection
tool for our management development
programme. Feedback from trainers is that We should never use one technique to make judgements about peoples’ employability: if we do we’re
participants are more inquisitive, have likely to blunder badly. We need to see someone 20 - 30 times, in different situations, over 6 months to
greater thirst for knowledge and are judge if they’re honest. Recruitment involves balancing accuracy against time and cost: we can’t spend
quicker to grasp what is expected of them.” 6 months deciding whether to recruit or promote a person, so we seek short cuts.
”As a team of recruiters being able to
I
Interviews are the most common ‘short cut’, yet Cloning: ‘I want someone like me, whatever the job.’
provide a higher calibre of candidate has
unstructured interviews – going in with CVs and Confirmation Bias: ‘I’ve made up my mind. Now where’s
raised our credibility. Implementing GIA has
asking lots of questions – are pretty awful at the evidence to support my decision?’
moved us closer to making candidate
predicting anything. Why? Semmelweise Reflex: ‘That evidence doesn’t fit with MY
selection and candidate on-boarding as
First, the interviewee won’t give an accurate reflection of view so it must be wrong.’
efficient as possible. New starters are
what he or she is actually like: trying to get a real view of Von Restorff Effect: We remember something unusual, for
beginning to sell more quickly and are
someone when they’re in a strange place answering instance a person’s strange-shaped ears (!), forgetting he
more likely to become on-target
unexpected questions doesn’t work well. also wore a reasonable suit, had a good degree in
performers. In the longer-term we
You – the interviewer – can distort things too. There are engineering, spoke well, and turned up on time.
anticipate attrition will drop as candidates
many cognitive or decision biases that affect your interviewing. Continued on page 12...
are matched more closely with role
Here are a few.
requirements.”
“Our aim is to recruit candidates who
Biases
perform optimally within our organisation
The Polyanna Effect: ‘Everything will be alright’. We remember
and thus help drive company profitability.
positive rather than negative things about people
Using Thomas GIA has made a significant
The Bandwagon Effect: Groupthink. ‘Fred and Anna say it,
contribution to that goal.”
so it must be right.’
The Status Quo Effect: ‘I want things to stay the same’
or ‘it worked in the past; why change it?’
The Halo Effect: ‘This person has one great quality so
everything else must be great as well…and any piece of
evidence that denies this must be wrong.’

12. Feature/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 12
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These biases: 6. Take brief open-ended notes
are unconscious – we don’t control them; Make them factual. Be careful of information access issues. Do them during the
have nothing to do with performance in a job – or we have no way of knowing interview, not with hindsight. Record the interview but ask first!
if they DO have any impact on the performance in a job; 7. Give everyone more than one interview
are unfair to the candidate or employee and to the organisation. ...with the same interviewers. Look at how consistent they are.
8. Do interviews when and where you feel alert, comfortable and in control.
The upshot is that, in an unstructured interview, the interviewer is knocked around by these Not in a rush between important meetings.
unacknowledged biases and the interviewee displays uncharacteristic behavior. To improve
interviews we need to remove these biases. This starts with deciding what an interview is for. These improvements create more structured and controlled interviews that predict job
performance better. Structured interviews can get quite sophisticated, time consuming
What are interviews for? and require specialist skills. The ideas above will improve things without putting too
Interviews are good at finding out two things about people: their social skills and much strain on your resources. If you want to go deeper into the area we can suggest
their general ability. These are important, but you may think you’re finding out more more complex approaches.
things. More agreeable, socially skilled, less anxious people get better interview
ratings. These qualities may be necessary for a job, but they may not be. Do you want Where tests fit in
someone who likes a good natter to get a job requiring focused attention on a piece You’d expect us to ask where tests fit in… and they do. Tests like PPA and the Thomas
of complex machinery? It can be argued that: EIQ provide both structure and missing information to the recruitment or promotion
‘In unstructured interviews we tend to chose people who are good at interviews, process. Most of us wouldn’t employ someone without interviewing him/her face-to-
rather than people who are good at the job we’re interviewing for.’ face – but an interview isn’t sufficient to make such an important decision. Tests given
before or after an interview can generate useful questions or check what you think
How to improve interviews you saw. Since candidates rarely display their true personality at an interview, tests are a
An interview must be structured to achieve its aim. Here are some ways of doing this. useful – and much more objective – second opinion. Bias in interviews is damaging.
1. Train interviewers It can be illegal. Tests aren’t affected by the biases listed above if you chose an appropriate,
This should involve skills (asking open questions, keeping silent at least part of the well-constructed one.
time!) and awareness of the issues that affect decisions. It’s important to practice and Finally, tests like PPA can help you decide exactly what you’re looking for. If existing,
not just study. A good way of doing this is to work with an experienced interviewer. successful job holders take the assessment, you can compare their results with the
2. Use more than one interviewer candidates’. You can also analyse what’s necessary for the job using the successful people’s
Board interviewers are more accurate than one-to-ones but the interviewers need profiles, then develop questions which precisely investigate those critical factors.
to meet beforehand and co-ordinate their questions and approaches. Other sources may help – CVs, references and application forms - but a structured
3. Ask each candidate the same question interview and a good, relevant test are a good basic way of making your mind up.
4. Make every interview the same length
5. Agree and use a rating system for interviewees responses
Write a list of desirable qualities or things you want to see and rate them – either yes/
no or out of an agreed scale (don’t make this too complicated at the start – 1-3 or
1-5 will do ). Discuss them at the end. Total them. Use them to compare candidates.

13. Feature/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 13
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How to use…
Thomas SKILLS is a series of over 100 online tests designed to
measure hard competences and skills such as MS Office, call centre
listening and keying, keyboard and secretarial skills as well as literacy
and numeracy.
Why would I use Thomas SKILLS? If you have selected an existing candidate,
Thomas SKILLS is primarily a recruitment you will see Skills Online as an option on
tool designed to help organisations select the right hand side of the screen. Again
job candidates. The tests can help you make you can choose to email, complete now
more informed selection decisions and or print the assessment.
identify training needs. Thomas SKILLS can
also be used to assess the skill levels of Step 1. Selecting exercises
people already working for you, giving you Having chosen to run a Skills Online Cash book and petty cash
a benchmark against which to compare assessment you will be presented with a Numeracy
prospective candidates, or as a development list of exercise groups, organised Excel 2007 Intermediate
exercise to identify any skill shortfalls. alphabetically. Word 2007 Basic Step 2. Preferences
For example, the first group is In this screen you can choose how you
Getting started ‘Accountancy’, and within this folder are To view a full list of tests available click here. want the assessment to be delivered:
To access Thomas Skills log in to your tests for operating Sage, basic
Thomas account, click the people icon bookkeeping, cash book and petty cash, Check the box next to each test to select Mode: Select either ‘consecutive
and add a new candidate, or search for and payroll. it, then when you are happy with your exercises’ so that one exercise follows
an existing candidate. If you have added Select the tests you would like your choices click ‘Next’. another, or ‘home screen after each’
a new candidate you will see Skills Online candidate to take by checking the It is also possible to build and save so that the home screen appears
as an option under the ‘Assessment Type’ relevant box. For example, if you were groups of assessments for specific job between each test.
heading. You can choose to email, hiring a finance administrator you might roles to save time and ensure consistency
complete now or print the assessment. want to choose the following tests: when administering future tests. Continued on page 14...

14. Feature/ News/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 14
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Options: Select ‘unlimited use’ to If you selected ‘consecutive exercises’ in The report
allow candidates to take the test
multiple times (this is useful when
utilising the training modules), or
Step 2 then the candidate can only
choose which test they tackle first – the
Once a test has been completed the
report is instantly available. A summery Thomas
Tweets
other tests will follow automatically. of the results is displayed on the screen
‘take once only'. Each test is preceded by a set of and a full report can be obtained from
Randomise questions: Turn this instructions on how to complete the your account.
option on or off. test, and gives the time allowed. You The report gives a percentage score
Invitation type: Choose to email or are able to print the instructions if you and tells you the total number of
print an invitation to complete the wish. When the candidate has read and questions, how many were completed
test, or select ‘complete now’. understood the instruction they click correctly, incorrectly, or not attempted,
‘Start’ to begin. how much time was allowed and how You can now find Thomas on
Once you are happy with your selections Once the test has started, the time much time was taken. Twitter and LinkedIn.
click ‘Update’. and number of questions remaining Follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date
is shown at the bottom of the screen. with news, special offers and events,
Step 3. Invitation Candidates move through the questions and read updates from CEO and
Depending on your invitation choice in by clicking the ‘next’ button once they Chairman Martin Reed and Managing
Step 3 this page will give you the option have selected their answer. The ‘back’ Director, Peter Farrow.
to: write and send an invitation email, button can be used to return to a
write and print a hard copy invitation, question to check or change an answer. http://twitter.com/ThomasInt
or click a button to ‘complete now’. When the allotted time has expired
the test will close and the results will be
The Status tab
The status tab will tell you whether an
displayed on the screen. The results can
be printed if you wish. If the candidate PPA
assessment has been started or completes the test before the allotted
completed, and allows you to view and time has expired, the test will close EIQ
Join our LinkedIn group for trained PPA
print completed reports. automatically. practitioners and connect with other
Completing a test
360
PPA users. The group provides a forum
for you to share ideas and seek advice
On accessing the testing system the from your professional peers.
candidate will be asked to supply their GIA
contact details before proceeding to the
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Go to the Thomas UK Group
shows the tests the candidate is required
to complete and allows them to choose
the order in which to proceed.
find out more about SKILLS
JOB

15. News/ Issue18/ Summer 2010 15
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Seminar Dates
Autumn/Winter 2010 second
summary:
If you are keen to develop your skills as an assessor and administrator of Thomas assessments Don't forget to sign up for your
our programme of seminars is ideal. free Team Audit report.
We offer free public sessions for those interested in broadening their knowledge of assessment
Thomas is now on Twitter and
tools and methods, and specialist workshops just for trained PPA Practitioners to help you
LinkedIn. Come and join us!
develop practical assessment skills. All seminars are run on a half-day basis, so if you are
trained why not make a day of it and attend both sessions? Half day seminars on Emotional
Intelligence and Conflict Resolution
Topic Type London W Midlands E Midlands The North are running in September. Book
your place now.
September
Good interview technique is vital for
AM Introduction to Public Seminar 14/09/10 23/09/10 02/09/10 16/09/10
Emotional Intelligence effective recruitment. Read ‘Making
PM Conflict Resolution PPA Practitioner 14/09/10 23/09/10 02/09/10 16/09/10 your mind up on’ p11 for a quick
Development Workshop refresher.
October Thomas SKILLS offers fast,
AM/ PPA Feedback Refresher PPA Practitioner 12/10/10 North East cost effective hard skills testing.
PM date TBC. Talk to your consultant for deals on
November unlimited annual licenses.
AM Topic TBC Public Seminar 16/11/11 18/11/11 09/11/11 24/11/11
Thomas International Ltd, Harris House
PM Building Effective Teams PPA Practitioner 16/11/11 18/11/11 09/11/11 24/11/11 17 West Street, Marlow, Bucks, SL7 2LS
Development Workshop
T 01628 475 366 E info@thomas.co.uk
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