We have worked with AQA to assess 300 candidates for new roles following a strategic restructure of AQA’s two core business divisions, designed to help it meet the changing needs of its customers and respond to broader changes in the assessment sector.
We provided objective data and insights for each candidate, showing how they rated against key behaviours, and created an interview framework guide to help AQA’s managers conduct best practice competency-based interviews.
As a result, AQA has been able to embed key behaviours into the business and make more informed selection decisions based on each candidate’s potential, not just their expertise. This has supported greater agility and enhanced AQA’s capability to deliver against the challenges of its changing market.
Background
AQA is the UK’s largest exam board for academic qualifications. With reforms being proposed for both GCSE and A-level examinations, secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is on the cusp of large-scale change.
To enhance its ability to provide the most relevant qualifications in the future, AQA undertook a strategic restructure to become a more ‘agile’ and customer-focused organisation. It reviewed its key processes and revamped many of its internal roles to make them more externally-focused, whilst also creating some entirely new units and posts.
AQA identified four key behavioural areas that are important for its continued success. It wanted to embed these behaviours into its new job profiles: customer and market focus, flexibility and innovation, continuous excellence and personal contribution. It also established specific leadership behaviours, linked to its newly-defined management levels (manager of performers and manager of managers).
Solution
Our response to AQA's requirements was to deliver different assessment experiences, depending on the seniority of the candidates and the roles in question. We also created an interview framework guide, derived from our Dimensions personality questionnaire, which rated each candidate against AQA’s key behaviours and generated a series of questions that a panel could use at a competency-based interview.
Approximately 100 people were assessed for AQA’s senior positions (typically manager of managers). Each of them completed our personality and ability tests online, and were then asked to deliver a case study presentation. This was followed by an in-depth interview and validation of the personality assessment. Our psychologists created individual feedback reports for each candidate, mapping their strengths to the key behaviours required in the role. A panel of AQA managers then interviewed each candidate using these feedback reports and the interview framework guide.
Our managers greatly valued the impartial data and feedback on candidates that was provided by Talent Q.
Miriam Jones, Head of People, Associates and Development at AQA
Approximately 40 middle managers (manager of performers) completed our personality questionnaire and a shorter case study which was similarly broad-based but emphasised the customer aspect. This was followed by a shorter interview and validation of the personality assessment. Again, we prepared individual reports that rated each candidate against the key behaviours for their roles. These reports were used by the interview panel alongside the interview framework guide.
Finally, 160 of AQA’s performers (non-managers) also completed the personality questionnaire which generated behavioural questions aligned to AQA’s behavioural framework. This interview framework guide was used by the interview panel to ensure a consistent approach.
Results
We have also provided training in the use and application of personality assessment, for members of AQA’s HR and L&D teams, so that they can continue to use our assessments and provide one-to-one feedback sessions for future recruitment and ongoing development support.
Considering the complexity of this exercise, which involved assessing different roles across our three main office sites, their service - including their ability to quickly create feedback reports in time for the panel interviews - was very impressive. Their accurate assessments enabled us to make better, more informed selection decisions. And, because we were able to align their assessments to our behaviours, we’ve been able to embed our key behaviours into the business.
Miriam Jones, Head of People, Associates and Development at AQA