Within Zircon our Directors Amanda Potter, Julie Lee and Sarah Linton we have strong views about the use of Group Exercises for Assessment and Development. » Read more: The Application of Group Exercises in Assessment and Development
The Application of Group Exercises in Assessment and Development
August 16th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »Commercial Benefits of Personality Questionnaires for Assessment & Development
August 11th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
How valid are the use of Psychometric Personality Questionnaires for Assessment and Development?
Within Zircon, our Chartered Occupational Psychologists propose that while psychometric questionnaires have the least validity for predicting individual performance and potential, compared to other methods such as Competency interviews, Case Studies, Presentations or Role plays they still have some utility. » Read more: Commercial Benefits of Personality Questionnaires for Assessment & Development
The Zircon 6 Month Coaching Model
August 9th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
Increasingly our Zircon Directors Dr Amanda Potter and Julie Lee are being asked by our clients to provide them with experienced coaches for the executive and senior managers. Our clients are also asking for a clearly defined programme of coaching over 3 or 6 months with review points along the way. The objective is the create leaders who are self aware and develop their » Read more: The Zircon 6 Month Coaching Model
How Valid are Assessment Methods?
August 5th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
Within Zircon, Dr Amanda Potter and our other Business Psychologists recognise that making sure something is valid is fundamental to an assessment or development programme. Validity is measured by correlating the results from the assessment with the future performance. This is called predictive validity. The table above shows the predictive validity of various assessment and development tools. » Read more: How Valid are Assessment Methods?
Ensuring fair treatment
August 1st, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
At Zircon we continually review best assessment practice to ensure effective selection or development procedures for employers. Particularly relevant these days is how to ensure processes are clear, transparent and fair in respect of those with Dyslexia as highlighted by recent high profile cases (Bid v KPMG: Disability Discrimination Act , 2009) and (Patterson v Commissioner of the Police, 2007). In the first case a candidate with dyslexia claims that she was disadvantaged because of her disability and that a multiple choice questionnaire is not reflective of the requirements in the role of a GP. In the second case an internal promotion candidate successfully claimed that he should have been allowed more time to complete assessment tasks as a reasonable adjustment.
Flexible working practices and engagement
July 26th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
At Zircon we believe that developing a work environment that leads to engaged, successful and high performing employees can really add value to the bottom line. A clear way to help achieve engagement is to ensure that employees are able to balance their work and their home lives effectively to reduce stress and ensure they engage and deliver to the best of their ability. Research shows that flexible working that balances the individual and organisational needs has real business benefit and yet many organisations are not fully embracing flexible approaches to work. » Read more: Flexible working practices and engagement
Interim Work at Zircon July 2011
July 22nd, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
In my search to re-launch my career as an Occupational Psychologist following a career break to look after my family and to study for an MSc in Organisational Psychology, I came across Zircon Consultancy and was impressed with their website and blog. After some emails and rigorous telephone interviews I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to work with them. » Read more: Interim Work at Zircon July 2011
What is the difference between Potential and Performance?
July 20th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
Within Zircon, we spend most of our time working with clients to understand the difference between potential and performance. Basically, potential is about the future and performance is about the current time and the past. We can measure performance through competency interviews, application forms, 360 appraisals and performance management. » Read more: What is the difference between Potential and Performance?
What Talent Wants
July 12th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
At Zircon we are always seeking to further our understanding of Talent Management, keeping up-to-date with the latest Talent research and sharing best practice. Recently Lesley Uren and colleagues from Jackson Samuel, published a piece of research called ‘What Talent Wants’ and we were keen to understand the main findings and implications for Talent Management for our Zircon clients. » Read more: What Talent Wants
The Weary Return – What are the Lessons from Kilimanjaro?
July 8th, 2011 by sarahgreen No comments »
Having spent seven days on a mountain, we have been reflecting on the lessons learnt and whether this is a good way to build commercial relationships. We can honestly say that through the fundraising, training and climb, we now as a team know each other better than some family members. In many cases, we have shared experiences, fears and had some of our most honest conversations in years. We were very lucky with our team; the 30 individuals who were all very different in age, background and seniority supported each other without exception. » Read more: The Weary Return – What are the Lessons from Kilimanjaro?
