Identifying Positions Behavioral Requirements with PDA - Handbook

Transcription

1 Identifying Positions Behavioral Requirements with PDA - Handbook PDA International - All rights reserved 1

2 Index 1. Handbook purpose Identifying the behavioral requirements of the position Choosing the best alternative Detailed description of the four alternatives Identifying the position s requirements through an interview Identifying successful profiles through the PDA Assessment Choosing a Predefined JOB Profile Defining a Customized JOB Profile Final conclusions PDA International - All rights reserved 2

3 1. Handbook purpose The purpose of this handbook is to describe and transmit all the necessary recommendations to guide PDA Consultants throughout the application of the PDA Assessment when identifying positions' behavioral requirements. Proper training will allow PDA Consultants an enhanced use of the PDA Assessment. We invite PDA Consultants to read this document in detail before participating as consultants or leading a positions' behavioral identification process. Familiarization with this handbook will be extremely useful. We trust that you will achieve excellent results when working with this handbook, and hope that you enjoy reading it. 2. Identifying the behavioral requirements of the position Identifying the behavioral requirements of a position means assigning a particular behavioral profile to a particular position. The PDA Assessment offers four (4) alternatives. 1. Identifying the position s requirements through an interview: the identification, through an interview, of the behavioral trends required by the position. 2. Identifying successful profiles through the PDA Assessment: the process through which a group of selected individuals is assessed with the purpose of identifying the behavioral trends they share. 3. Choosing a Predefined JOB Profile: choosing a JOB Profile based on the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles proposed by PDA International. 4. Defining a Customized JOB Profile: the definition of a Customized JOB Profile process following the Defining a Customized JOB Position process. The four alternatives which can be carried out independently or in combination allow us to assign a behavioral profile that characterizes the position. This profile describes the basic behavioral requirements recommended for ensuring the successful performance of the person who works in said position. This behavioral profile will also allow carrying out compatibility studies between a person s behavioral style and the position s behavioral profile (behavioral requirements). At PDA International, we believe on the principle that states the right person in the right position. We understand that knowing the behavioral profile of individuals and studying and identifying the behavioral profile required by a job position is extremely valuable for organizations. Once we know 2004 PDA International - All rights reserved 3

4 this, we will be able to reduce the error margin and assign employees and candidates the tasks, responsibilities and challenges that are aligned with their main strengths and motivation areas. For example, we already know that the PDA Assessment allows us to identify the best salespeople and help them develop successfully. We first need to define the commercial profile of the sales people of the company, that is, identify the particular commercial skills required for selling the company's products and/or services. The PDA Consultant must be very familiar with the four alternatives provided by the PDA Assessment. By adopting a consulting approach, listening and analyzing the situation and the client s needs, the Consultant will be able to offer advice and guidance as to which alternative is best to use, choose the one that fits to the client s particular requirements PDA International - All rights reserved 4

5 3. Choosing the best alternative To identify the best alternative, the PDA Consultant must concentrate in consulting and determining different aspects with the purpose of proceeding with the best alternative for each case. As PDA Consultant, remember that each alternative demands a different investment of time, costs and involvement. Likewise, although the four alternatives are effective, every person adjusts differently to job positions. The PDA Consultant must know the distinctive features of the position to be defined, the context, the company, etc. All the enquiries made by the PDA Consultant regarding the position and the abovementioned aspects will help him/her define and establish which alternative or combination of alternatives is the most advisable for each case PDA International - All rights reserved 5

6 4. Detailed description of the four alternatives In this section, we will describe the steps, characteristics and distinctive features of the alternatives, not only with the purpose of: helping PDA Consultants define and determine which alternative is the most convenient for each case; serving as guide for the implementation of the dynamics. The four alternatives proposed by PDA International are: 4.1. Identifying the position s requirements through an interview This alternative is strongly recommended for, individual or specific searches. This means external selection processes or internal development processes that include only two, three or four candidates. These are processes comprised of small groups of candidates, or where the application of the PDA Assessment is limited only to the final candidates. PDA International recommends not to define JOB Profiles nor to use compatibility studies. On the other hand, we do recommend PDA Consultants to offer advice based on the PDA Graphs and Reports of candidates. We do recommend to: a. Adopt a consulting attitude, active listening and ask adequate questions. b. Ask the future leader to complete the PDA Assessment. c. Rely on the List of Predefined JOB Profiles. These three points are important and will allow PDA Consultants to clearly and objectively gather information about all the behavioral requirements of the position and adequately offer advice to those who will make the decision PDA International - All rights reserved 6

7 It is assumed that PDA Consultants will use their consultative criteria properly when defining the aspects to be applied on each process in particular. The following are the steps recommended for these processes: a. Adopt a consulting attitude, active listening and ask adequate questions. To identify the behavioral requirements of the job position, the PDA Consultant must be open to a constructive dialogue with the people who know details about the position. PDA Consultants must ask specific questions that will help clarify the situation. The questions will be related to the Axes or combination of Axes of the PDA Assessment. For example: The position requires that the person makes decisions on his/her own or that he/she relies on the structure or consults with the superior? Will the individual have to work with the same people or will he/she constantly meet and relate with new people? Does the task require concentration and detail or is it rather dynamic and changing? Will the person need to stick to rules and procedures or do you think it adds value if the individual decides according to his/her judgement? Based on the answers to the above questions, the PDA Consultant will be able to picture a profile of the behavioral skills required for performing successfully in the position. b. Ask the future leader to complete the PDA Assessment. Knowing the PDA profile of the leader of the person who will work on the position adds significant value to the recruiting process with PDA. PDA Consultants will be able to identify the leadership style, the decision-making style, the leader's ability or difficulty to delegate decisions, his/her tension level, attention to detail, if the person is more rational or emotional, among other characteristics. Once the future leader is assessed, a PDA Feedback session can be carried out so that the leader learns about the tool and the type of information it provides. Also, after the PDA Feedback session, the PDA Consultant can open up to a consultative dialogue and ask the questions described above. That is, questions that are clearly related to the PDA Axes and Indicators. The integration of the future leader's behavioral profile information with the information gathered during the conversation will allow a consistent and solid basis for advising about the final candidates c. Rely on the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles. The PDA Consultant can open the interview by introducing the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles. By relying on said information, as PDA Consultant you will be able to guide those who know the position by explaining and describing the different styles. In addition, after going over the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles, you can open to a consultative dialogue through the questions described above, which are clearly related to the PDA Axes and Indicators. The information gathered during the conversation will allow a consistent and solid basis for offering advice regarding the final candidates PDA International - All rights reserved 7

8 4.2. Identifying successful profiles through the PDA Assessment This is the activity through which the behavioral requirements of a position are identified. This is done by assessing and studying the distinctive features, relevant and shared aspects of a group of successful referrals. In the activity, the Consultant will identify and choose a select group of successful referrals. Then, he/she will assess them with the PDA Assessment and then analyze and study their PDA individual and group trends. Through this methodology, the Consultant will be able to identify and establish the behavioral characteristics they have in common, the ones they share and that make them perform successfully as referrals. Once these similarities and shared behavioral characteristics are identified, a JOB Profile is created. This profile can be used as a position profile for development programs. The steps of this process are: a. Choosing successful referrals. b. Assessing successful referrals with the PDA Assessment. c. Analysis of information d. Agreement and final conclusions a. Choosing successful referrals: It is absolutely essential to make an adequate selection of the successful referrals and, therefore, it is key to understand and define what successful referrals means. From PDA International s perspective, it is important to understand that a successful referral is not only the person who reaches goals, but the one who besides reaching and exceeding goals, does it as the Company pretends and expects them to be made. An example of this is a salesperson who achieves goods results for some fortuitous circumstance, such as having a relative or close friend who buys large amounts of a product or service. This salesperson cannot be considered for this analysis because his/her commercial success cannot be attributed to the behavioral trends. The selected referrals must necessarily have one or more years in said position and achieve positive results as a consequence of their successful performance. This implies not only good results, but also good results that are properly reached. With this selection criteria, a minimum of ten and a maximum of 30 successful referrals will be chosen for this activity. b. Assessment of successful referrals with the PDA Assessment. Once the referrals have been identified, we must ask them to complete the PDA Form. PDA International recommends that these assessments are made in-person and in groups, not via . The purpose of this is to explain and make an introduction to the project in which they are participating. c. Analysis of information: Once the successful referrals have completed the PDA Form, the PDA Consultant must upload the forms in a same database in the PDA Platform. The next step is to generate the Group Trends Report. This report will very valuable to provide an enormous amount of information useful for the process. The PDA Consultant shall analyze said report in detail and identify the predominant characteristics that accentuate trends. If the sample was correct, at least two predominant Axes will be observed, one on its high trend and another one on its low trend. Dispersion can be observed in one or both Axes, and no trend will be determined. However, when identifying the predominant trends (highest Axis and lowest Axis), we have very valuable information. Then, the PDA Consultant will be able to relate the observed trends in the Group Trends Report, determining two or three PDA Reference Profiles. These Reference Profiles will be presented to Managers during the next step of this process PDA International - All rights reserved 8

9 d. Agreement and final conclusions: Once the two or three reference profiles are selected, they are presented to the company s management. The PDA Consultant projects the graphs, Descriptive Words and behavioral descriptors of the alternatives to the Managers. During the presentation, the PDA Consultant also clarifies and delves into the behavioral characteristics, strengths and potential weaknesses, motivators, etc. of each alternative. The PDA Consultant is open to questions and generates a discussion. The PDA Consultant guides and helps the group of managers in defining which is the best option, the one that is most adjusted to the client s expectations. The PDA Consultant must always keep in mind that the group of Managers will make the decision, and that he/she just guides them during the decision-making process Choosing a Predefined JOB Profile The definition of a Predefined JOB Profile process is the activity through which the PDA Consultant, together with key people in the client s organization, work with the List of Predefined JOB Profiles. This is an alternative that describes the behavioral requirements of a position in particular. The PDA Platform offers 22 Predefined JOB Profiles that cover a wide variety of possibilities regarding the behavioral requirements job positions. The JOB Profile selection process consists in selecting and assigning one of the 22 Predefined Profiles to a specific position. Once the behavioral profile is assigned to a position, the platform will be able to generate studies to measure the compatibility between individuals and positions. The steps of this process are: a. Adopt a consultative attitude, active listening and make adequate questions. b. Ask the future leader to complete the PDA Assessment. c. Rely on the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles. d. List of prints and materials. These four steps are important and will allow PDA Consultants to clearly and objectively gather all the behavioral requirements of the position to be defined and adequately offer advice to those who will make the decision. We will now describe the above-mentioned points. This will undoubtedly help PDA Consultants when gathering the information about the behavioral requirements of the position to be defined. It is very important to consider that these aspects are described as a recommendation, therefore not all of them must be applied to all processes. It is assumed that as PDA Consultant you will use your consultative criteria properly when defining the aspects to be applied on each process in particular PDA International - All rights reserved 9

10 a. Adopt a consulting attitude, active listening and ask adequate questions. To identify the behavioral requirements of the job position, the PDA Consultant must be open to a constructive dialogue with the people who know details about the position. The PDA Consultant must ask specific questions that will help to clarify the situation. The questions will be related to the axes or combination of axes of the PDA Assessment. For example: Risk Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Risk Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person working in this position have to confront, compete and need to take risks? Extroversion Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Extroversion Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person work on his/her own? Is it important that the individual relates with many people, that he/she constantly meets new people? Patience Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Patience Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person working in this position need to concentrate during long periods of time? Is it important that the individual analyses large amounts of information in detail? Conformity to Norms Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Conformity to Norms Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person working in this position have to follow rules and procedures or will he/she be guided by his/her own criteria? Is it important that the individual relies on his/her boss or do you want him/her to work with independence? The answers and information provided by the group of participants will allow PDA Consultants to outline an idea of the position s behavioral profile and offer proper advice during the next steps of the process. When participants answers are incoherent or incompatible, for example, when they state that the person must be creative and independent but must also stick to norms and procedures, the PDA Consultant shall explain said incompatibility and ask the group to define this aspect. It is important to create an environment in which participants feel free to express their opinions or points of view and that you encourage the involvement of passive participants. PDA Consultants should take note of what is said during this step because the information will be extremely important for the following steps of the process. b. Ask the future leader to complete the PDA Assessment. Knowing the PDA profile of the leader of the person who will work on the position adds significant value to the identification of the positions' behavioral requirements with PDA. The PDA Consultant will be able to identify, among other valuable information, the leader s leadership style, his/her decision-making style, ability or difficulties to delegate decisions, tension level, demand and focus on detail, if the leader is emotional or rather rational, etc. Once the future leader is assessed, a PDA Individual Feedback session can be carried out so that the leader learns about the tool and the type of information it provides. In addition, after the PDA Feedback session, the PDA Consultant can open up to a consultative dialogue and ask the questions described above. The integration of the future 2004 PDA International - All rights reserved 10

11 leader's behavioral profile information with the information gathered during the conversation will allow a consistent and solid basis for advising about the final candidates c. Rely on the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles. The PDA Consultant can open the interview by introducing the List of Predefined JOB Profiles. By relying on said information, as PDA Consultant you will be able to guide those who know the position by explaining and describing the different styles. Also, after going over the List of 22 Predefined JOB Profiles, you can open to a consultative dialogue through the questions described above, which are clearly related to the PDA Axes and Indicators. The information gathered during the conversation will allow a consistent and solid basis for offering advice regarding the final candidates. d. List of prints and materials. Use of the following document is recommended for the JOB Profile selection activity: I. Predefined JOB Profiles...one copy per Consultant 2004 PDA International - All rights reserved 11

12 4.4. Defining a Customized JOB Profile The JOB Profile Definition process is the activity whereby a group of participants, guided by a PDA Consultant and following a series of pre-established steps, identifies the behavioral requirements of a job position and defines the customized profile of said position. The steps of this process are: a. Choosing participants b. Opening and introduction c. Discussing the behavioral requirements of the position d. PDA-JOB Form e. Group agreement f. Back office presentation of results to evaluators g. List of prints and materials. a. Choosing participants. To carry out an adequate JOB Profile Definition process, it is necessary to consider some important aspects when choosing the individuals who will participate in the activity. Work with between four and eight evaluators. If the PDA Consultant doesn't work with this number of individuals, the process can become complex. If there are less than four evaluators, objectivity is lost and, if there are more than eight, debates are extended, they demand too much time and we run the risk of not coming to an agreement. Always include people from different areas of the organization. Include people from HR as well as others of the position's area. Supervisors or managers may be invited to this activity. The purpose of working with individuals from different areas is to create dynamic debates. Discussion from different perspectives allows richer debates, and this strengthens the results of the process. Everyone should be intimately acquainted with and have broad and updated knowledge of the position s requirements. Without a doubt, the individuals who participate in this activity will have to know the position to be defined very well. Even more important is that the information they have and their knowledge are updated to the current operative requirements of the position. If we include individuals who currently occupy that position, they must have more than one year experience in said position and reach positive results based on their successful performance. This implies not only good results, but also good results that are properly reached. b. Opening and introductions. PDA International recommends making a brief introduction of the PDA Assessment at the beginning of the meeting. It is important to make a general overview of the activity that will be carried out. Many people know nothing about the PDA Assessment and very little about the activity in which they are about to participate. It is important to make a good internal pitch, explain the background of the instrument, its uses, and clarify what it measures and what it doesn t measure. PDA International also recommends explaining what the behavioral profile is and its implications in a person's motivation and success when working in a given job position. This introduction allows participants to open themselves to the contents of the meeting and appreciate the information provided by PDA Consultants regarding the PDA Assessment. (Recommended document: JOB PowerPoint with Intro to PDA) PDA International - All rights reserved 12

13 c. Discussing the position s behavioral requirements. The estimated time for this step is minutes and the purpose is that PDA Consultants outline a profile of the behavioral skills required for a successful performance in the position. To do so, PDA Consultants must generate and participate in a consulting dialogue with participants. During this discussion, as PDA Consultant, you should ask specific questions that will help understand the situation, questions related to the PDA Axes or combinations of Axes. For example, does the position require that the person makes decisions on his/her own or that he/she relies on the structure or consults with his/her manager? Will the individual have to work with the same people or will he/she constantly meet and relate with new people? Does the task require concentration and detail or is it rather dynamic and changing? Will the person need to stick to rules and procedures or do you think it adds value if the individual decides according to his/her judgement? These questions are clearly related to the PDA Axes and Indicators. The answers and information provided by the group of participants will allow PDA Consultants to have a clear idea of the position s behavioral profile and provide effective advice during the next steps of the process. For example: Risk Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Risk Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person working in this position have to confront, compete and need to take risks? Extroversion Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Extroversion Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person work on his/her own? Is it important that the individual relates with many people, that he/she constantly meets new people? Patience Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Patience Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person working in this position need to concentrate during long periods of time? Is it important that the individual analyses large amounts of information in detail? Conformity to Norms Axis: To know if the group expects someone with a High or Low Conformity to Norms Axis for the position, the following can be asked: Will the person working in this position have to follow rules and procedures or will he/she be guided by his/her own criteria? Is it important that the individual relies on his/her boss or do you want him/her to work with independence? When participants answers are incoherent or incompatible, for example, when they state that the person must be creative and independent but must also stick to norms and procedures, the PDA Consultant shall explain said incompatibility and ask the group to define this aspect. It is important to create an environment in which participants feel free to express their opinions or points of view. Encourage the participation of passive individuals. PDA Consultants should take note of what is said during this step because the information will be extremely important for the following steps of the process PDA International - All rights reserved 13

14 d. Completing the PDA-JOB Form. The estimated time for this step is minutes. The purpose is to identify individual expectations through the PDA-JOB Form. (Document: PDA- JOB Form) PDA Consultants hand a copy of the PDA-JOB Form to each participant. Participants are asked to complete their personal information and read the instructions, but not to start with the form itself. After participants complete their personal information and read the instructions individually, PDA Consultants will read the instructions on the PDA-JOB Form out loud, making sure that everyone understands what they are asked to do. Participants will now start to complete the PDA-JOB Form. They shall carefully read the 85 tasks on the list and mark the ones they consider essential for responding successfully to the demands of the position. It is very important that participants complete their forms independently and following each step correctly. In general, participants mark many tasks when reviewing the list. It is therefore important that PDA Consultants remind them to keep in mind that they cannot select all the behaviors on the list. Participants must know that at the end of this step each of them can have a maximum of 20 tasks selected on their list and that, at the end of the activity, the group must agree on ten tasks. PDA Consultants can suggest participants to reread the tasks they selected after their first revision. This will help them reduce the number of tasks they marked to the ten they need to reach. These ten tasks are considered basic and fundamental for succeeding in the position. e. Group agreement. The estimated time for this step depends on the group s level of agreement, shared vision regarding the position, and on the number of participants. It can take minutes but, in some occasions, it can also take several hours. After the previous step, the PDA Consultant collects the forms and transcribes the tasks selected by every participant on a board for everyone to see. The Consultant will only transcribe the selected tasks, not the marked ones. That is, no more than 20 tasks per participant. Only the selected tasks will be transcribed, not the marked ones. That is, no more than 20 tasks per participant. Then: The tasks selected by all the participants will be considered already selected. Considering the tasks selected by almost all the participants, the PDA Consultant will turn to those who did not select the tasks. After understanding said tasks better and considering that the group sees them as essential, they shall decide whether they want to reclassify them as essential or if they shouldn t be selected. If they agree to reclassify them, such tasks will be classified under already selected. If not, the group will debate if they should be selected, and a discussion will be initiated at this time. Once the tasks selected by most participants are exposed on the board, PDA Consultants will guide participants (through conversation and discussion) and will propose and suggest the most selected statements. The group will accept or reject each of the proposed tasks until they agree on the ten that are most relevant and 2004 PDA International - All rights reserved 14

15 fundamental for the position. During the debate, PDA Consultants must guide, explain and offer advice about the tasks the group is debating. To do so, PDA Consultants will mainly rely on the behavioral skills profile created when Discussing the position's behavioral requirements. The Consultant will also rely on the PDA-JOB Form which has profiles with a numerical profile that corresponds to each task. This will help the Consultant give more or less importance to the task that is being discussed by the group. Once there is agreement as to the ten most relevant tasks, the group also in agreement will classify them as A, B or C. A will be the three most significant tasks, B the following three, and C the remaining four. If there is agreement, the JOB study has been completed successfully. If there is no agreement (which may happen occasionally), that is, if the group doesn t agree on the position s ten main tasks, the conclusion will be that this group was unable to agree on the distinctive features of the position and another group of evaluators will have to be selected. f. Back office and presentation of results to evaluators. Once the ten main statements and their classification (A, B, C) are determined, the activity concludes. Then, PDA Consultants will process the information in their offices and will upload it to the PDA System. After this, a JOB Report can be generated. This Report includes a JOB Profile Graph, a list of the selected tasks with their corresponding A, B and C classification, a list of descriptive words that define the behavioral profile, some natural style descriptors, motivators, ideal environment and leadership style, among other valuable information. With this information, PDA Consultants must schedule a meeting to provide feedback to participants. g. List of prints and materials. Use of the following documents is recommended for the JOB Profile Definition process: I. JOB PowerPoint with Intro to PDA.... in digital format II. PDA JOB Form.....one copy per participant III. PDA JOB PS Form... one copy per Consultant 2004 PDA International - All rights reserved 15

16 5. Final conclusions It is very important to define which of the four alternatives for identifying a position s behavioral requirements is the most advisable for each position and situation. To make this decision, the PDA Consultant must understand the particularities of the position, the company s specific needs, the client s economic resources and urgency, among many others aspects, as well as knowing the details of each alternative. The following is a description of specific characteristics of the four alternatives and some recommendations of PDA International. a. The position definition process through interview is recommended for specific process and final candidates PDA International - All rights reserved 16

17 b. Identifying successful profiles through the PDA Assessment is recommended for massive positions, mainly sales areas, and in combination with the Customized Profile Definition. It is extremely useful for adjusting or updating Customized JOB Profiles that were defined over a year ago. c. Choosing Predefined JOB Profiles is recommended for specific positions and one-person positions PDA International - All rights reserved 17

18 d. Defining a Customized JOB Profile is recommended for massive positions and for new positions PDA International - All rights reserved 18