Employee Profiling
What is in it for me?
Profiling can be one of the more controversial aspects of
employer/employee relations. It gives the employer great insight
into potential or present employee and can give them a great
deal of bargaining power. It presents a much more detailed
assessment of their employee, outlining their strengths, weaknesses,
reaction to different situations, and a general character
assessment. On the other hand, for the employee, the idea
of being assessed by a computer is concerning; what will it
reveal about your innermost weaknesses? How will it affect
your job?
New graduates, certainly have concerns, coming into contact
with the first profiling system. What would it reveal? Would
it be a positive image? Would an employer be put off by what
it revealed?
Nevertheless, the results are interesting. It confirms an
effective team player, with a hardworking and enthusiastic
outlook, it also reveals any low tolerances for stress, was
not independent, and lacked self-confidence.
Clearly any cynicism about the results shows us that we perhaps
should not take such profiling completely at face value. There
is a great deal of negativity towards the usefulness of such
profiling systems, but their extensive usage should suggest
to us that clearly they have some kind of role to play. Recruitment
is an obvious area where profiling has established itself,
especially in many large companies dealing with vast quantities
of applicants and with a limited amount of time to dedicate
to interviews.
However, it is not recruitment which I refer to when I mention
the role of profiling in business. Instead, profiling is starting
to play an increasingly important role in training –
not the training itself, but in the T.N.A – Training
Needs Analysis. A Training Needs Analysis assesses what type
of training would be of greatest benefit to a company in order
for it to succeed in the long term. It is now standard practise
for any company considering investing in training, allowing
them to make sure what they are getting is essential and useful.
Where profiling comes in is to assess the training needs
of a company right from its very source: the employees. Instead
of looking at wider trend for training, profiling allows us
to gain access to the very core of training needs. It reveals
things about your employees that may not become evident until
a particular situation draws it out of them.
It could be suggested that a candidate is in need of some
stress management training, or perhaps assertiveness training.
It is not that I will not function without it at this particular
period in time, but it could be crucial if I was to come under
serious stress in my work.
When such a situation occurred, I would have the knowledge
and skills to deal with it in the correct manner. It could
avert reduced productivity, or even time off through stress.
Such measures are extremely important in the business world.
We do not want to be simply reacting all the time to situations,
but predicting their potential and taking action beforehand
to limit their damage when they do occur. Training is part
of this long term perspective; providing a framework for staff
to deal with problems, ideally before they happen. Profiling
gives us the benefit of being able to perceive problems before
they happen even more clearly.
Back
|
