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Achieving competitive advantage through people
Written by John Berry on 1st May 2017. Revised 25th April 2023.
27 min read
Competitive advantage is where a firm enjoys lower costs or greater sales than competitors. This paper builds an argument for a set of HR practices that form the basis of the psychological contract, the set of expectations that both employee and employer hold.
Psychometric testing: a focus on personality testing
Written by Sue Berry on 2nd May 2017. Revised 25th April 2023.
4 min read
There are four primary instruments that should be used to conduct a robust selection process during recruitment - the aptitude test, the personality profile, work sample tests and a structured interview. This blog focuses on the personality profile, which is one tool in a suite of psychometric tests.
A practical guide to Company Sick Pay
Written by John Berry on 22nd April 2021. Revised 25th April 2023.
6 min read
Many Government employees get full wages paid for anything up to a year of absence, so the Government, as an employer, pays ‘Company’ Sick Pay. Some firms have realised that to attract and retain key staff, they must do something similar. Whilst managers might want to pay full wages whenever an employee is off sick, only the Government and a few others can afford such generosity. So, what are managers to do?
Power play in performance appraisals
Written by John Berry on 3rd May 2017. Revised 25th April 2023.
7 min read
Performance appraisals are worthwhile. Manager and subordinate sitting down together to review performance over the past year provides huge benefit. But for many it’s a time of dread. Unless controlled, both parties will use their power to distort the performance appraisal outcomes in their favour.
Psychometric testing: a focus on aptitude tests
Written by Sue Berry on 31st May 2017. Revised 24th April 2023.
4 min read
When recruiting a new member of staff you want to select the best person for the job. But how? Use psychometric tools to test for aptitude. Managers should always use general mental ability tests comprising tests of verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and abstract reasoning. Other aptitude tests can be assembled to evaluate each candidate's specific capability. Aptitude and other tests enable a good, evidence-based hiring decision to be made. Here's how.
Recruit like a punter: rationalise
Written by John Berry on 6th March 2018. Revised 24th April 2023.
6 min read
There are three approaches that humans take to make decisions - automatic, neuralistic and rational. Emma Beddington in The Guardian summarised those recently, asking, "...can you really wing it to the top?" As she describes, only one - rational - has any place in recruitment and selection. Automatic helps us survive. Neuralistic is fine for incident commanders. But only rational works for hiring decisions. Here's why.
