Thales had previously relied heavily on manual CV sifting, before moving candidates straight through to an assessment centre. But this wasn’t necessarily getting results – at times, the team would struggle to make any hires off the back of the assessment centre stage. The right people simply weren’t getting through.
Additionally, the team’s assessment centres had often leant heavily on aptitude tests – mainly numerical and verbal reasoning. This meant that candidates would “very much feel like they’re completing an assessment”, in a “stringent test environment”. This naturally had an impact on the overall candidate experience.
And lastly, like most employers, their traditional process had always included some in-person contact. But now, in the midst of a pandemic, Thales’ assessment and selection approach needed to work remotely. The team had to adapt, fast.
The most important goal was to help Thales find incredible people, based on the behaviours they knew candidates needed to be successful.
By capturing every candidates’ unique behaviour and natural strengths with our assessment, the team were better placed to progress the right people, in the right way. Where they had been targeting AC conversion rates of 3:1, this was actually an impressive 2:1 in some instances. Feedback from within the business was clear: they could “definitely see the difference in the calibre of candidates” progressing to their (now online) AC stage. But that only solved part of the challenge.
On the candidate experience front, our assessment created an environment where candidates “could forget they were actually being assessed”. This contributed to some of the best candidate feedback the Thales team has ever received (their words, not ours!). Their process was now set up to support candidates, as they strived to show their truest potential.
Lastly, we helped Thales “transform” their whole selection process, to quickly support successful remote hiring. Not only did our assessment give them the objective insight they needed to progress the right people, but we also supported them as they built a series of virtual group activities for their online AC stage. The team went from never having hired remotely, to filling their roles with incredible people they’d never met. And, importantly, the process remained “iterative”. So the Thales team can enjoy long-term value from our work together.