HATS Training – From A Novice’s Perspective

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I attended a Harrison Basic Accreditation Training Course  in the spring. The course took place at the beautiful Middle Aston House nestled in the picturesque Oxfordshire Countryside.

I am not a HR specialist my background is firmly rooted in marketing. I now run my own IT & Marketing Consultancy business. I have in the past been responsible for recruitment and in one role I had to recruit an entire marketing department after a relocation and an acquisition left us 8 members of staff down.

I understand the pressures of writing job descriptions, endless calls from recruitment agencies, trawling through CV’s, shortlisting and interviewing while also ‘doing your day job’.

I wanted to attend the course partly driven by my desire to learn more about myself and partly because how can 2.2 million people worldwide be wrong. Some of the biggest names in the industry subscribe to Harrison. What do they know that I don’t?

The preparation for the course involved completing the Smartquestionnaire™. Which is a report based on Paradox Theory. The report focuses on 12 paradoxes that relate to the workplace. It provides a view of your tendencies (human traits and behavioral competencies) related to each of the 12 paradoxes. I found the report fascinating and an accurate overview of how I behave in the workplace and under stress. Pat talked me through my report and I found her feedback positive, accurate and intuitive.

The report was the catalyst for me, they are onto something here. The questionnaire took 30 minutes to answer and I’m presented with a report that I would confidently describe as ‘me’. So how does me knowing myself better help me recruit and retain the right staff for my business?

The answer is beautifully simple, Harrison allows you to map human traits and behavioral competencies against Job Success Formula’s and Key Performance Indicators. You can then get an overview of a candidate suitability and eligibility for a particular job role. You will know before you interview which candidates are best suited for your job role. In a nut shell you’ve got some hard evidence that they are worth looking at and would fit into the culture of your organization before you interview. You can also tailor your interview questions more effectively to really get to know your candidates.

You can also use Harrison to develop existing teams and manage the talent pipeline. Harrison allows you to set up career planning systems to keep the talented people in your organisation in your organization. It helps with team building, a talented executive board is not an effective board if the individuals within it cannot work as a team.

After 3 days of intensive but enjoyable training I left clutching my certificate in ‘Basic Accreditation for Recruitment and Employee Development’ 4 weeks later we need to recruit a Project Manager for a global company and  we are selecting candidates for interview through Harrison. We cannot afford to get this appointment wrong.

Emma Bailey

Director EBC Consulting Ltd