Case studies

The challenge

Our client was a large pharmaceutical company wishing to expand one of their sales teams by 96 representatives – in a month.

What did we do?

Working closely with the client’s recruitment agency, we started by assessing candidates for the two new national and 13 new regional management roles. This gave us a core team of recruiting managers with whom we’d work on the assessment centres.

Once they were completed, the clock started ticking. In tandem we had been designing the ½ day assessment process for the representative assessments which focussed on the core competencies sought – Selling, Delivering Results, and Planning & Organising.

We trained the managers to be versatile, professional and consistent assessors with a total focus on achieving quality appointments.

We designed the timetable to enable us to assess up to 12 candidates per day with a rotating team of assessors from a pool of 26 line managers. We ran 20 assessment centres around the UK in just over 4 weeks assessing a total of 204 candidates.

What were the results?

The client offered all but 2 of the 96 roles within their one month timeframe – with the remaining ones being offered within a fortnight afterwards. And we clocked up over 50,000 miles and 1,482 servings of tea and coffee!

What did our client say?

“I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the terrific job that you have done in helping us to get this far and on schedule.

The assessment centres have run like clockwork, we’ve achieved our objective to find great people and, irrespective of the outcome, the candidates have had a positive experience of us whilst knowing the process was fair. As assessors, we have also appreciated your professionalism & guidance throughout the whole project but especially during the ‘wash up’ discussions … we haven’t made it easy for you but you have kept us on track!”

What did a candidate say?

“I just wanted to say thank you for the time you took with me to review the personality profile. It was a very helpful and valuable experience. I was also very impressed with how well the assessment centre was run – despite being unsuccessful not only was it a very valuable learning experience, my impression of your client is very positive indeed.”

The challenge

To help an organisation develop and adopt a core competency framework for the first time.

What did we do?

The client had not used competencies as part of its approach to either staff selection or development. To gain as much buy-in to the framework as possible we advised that representatives from a range of departments, functions and levels of seniority be involved so that they could act as ‘champions’ as the work started. We ran a series of short, very interactive workshops to first of all facilitate agreement about what the core competencies should be. Then we helped everyone to agree on definitions of them and facilitated the development of a series of behavioural indicators which defined ‘what good looks like’ for each.

We advised on roll-out and how to best explain the process to those who had not been involved, as well as how to incorporate the use of the competencies in day-to-day working life.

What were the results?

Not only did the group create a usable framework which encapsulated the behaviours that the organisation wanted everyone to demonstrate, they learnt a lot about each other’s roles in the process. Much consideration was given to how staff could then develop the required competencies and some very useful information was included in the framework development document.

Rolling out the framework to the wider organisation was helped by the departmental champions engaging lots of their colleagues throughout the development process, and the organisation has now integrated the framework into their day-to-day work.

What did our client say?

“When taking on the core competency project with Lisa, I was keen to inject a new culture and a new mindset into the organisation. This framework was to be the core for all of our future development strategies. I was mindful that this was an ambitious requirement, but Lisa was a fantastic support, and kept this in mind this from the outset. She ensured we had a project team from all departments, which instantly created a ‘buy in’ throughout the company, and developed a structured project plan which enabled us to reach these goals.

Lisa is an excellent facilitator, who managed a project team with different requirements and opinions in order to create a unified result. Our core competency framework has surpassed my expectations, it is simple and effective, and we have already incorporated it into day-to-day work life. We are starting to see a shift in behaviours throughout the company.

I would highly recommend Lisa, and would definitely do the whole process again with other competencies; it has been invaluable to us as a business.”

The challenge

To seamlessly integrate into an existing selection process, adding value as professional assessors

What did we do?

We ran 50 assessment days across an eight week milk round period. We swiftly integrated the Syzygy team into an existing graduate selection process which had been run by client assessors for almost 10 years. Our challenge was to get to grips quickly with quite a technical assessment process, establish relationships with a daily rotating team of client assessors, provide on-the-job coaching where necessary, bring a consistently professional approach to every single day, and focus on ensuring comprehensive feedback was provided to unsuccessful candidates.

What were the results?

We allocated three team members to the project and ensured absolute consistency of approach through regular briefing and debriefing. Feedback was offered to every client assessor on every assessment day, and suggestions were made around logistics, process improvements and adjustments to increase consistency. Scoring templates were adjusted, documentation was updated, and timetables created to ensure efficiency of approach.
Some fantastic candidates were identified, offered and accepted roles. The client has almost 4000 applications per year, and runs, on average, 150 assessment days. We have continued to work with them and will once again support them through this year’s milk round.

What did our client say?

“We have been working with Syzygy for 10 months now, providing a level of consistency across our assessment centres, ensuring everything runs to schedule and providing constructive feedback.

The Syzygy team have seamlessly integrated themselves into our business, are knowledgeable, highly organised and efficient. They frequently go above and beyond what we ask of them and provide us with a service that is focussed on delivering results and is innovative.

We really have nothing but praise for the Syzygy team, they are fabulous.”

The challenge

To develop and deliver the assessment of candidates for the role of Chief Executive

What did we do?

We worked with the Operations Director to devise an appropriate selection methodology for a first, second and final stage for internal and external candidates. Balancing the need for robustness with time, cost and candidate expectations, we guided senior internal and external stakeholders (as assessors) through a challenging yet fair process to ensure the appointment of an appropriately ‘fitting’ individual. We developed interview questions and indicators, and identified suitable activities for assessment, managed the assessment day and ‘wash up’ discussions, and wrote feedback reports where necessary.

What were the results?

Shortlisted candidates received a thorough and engaging experience, the client made an appointment within 6 weeks of our initial briefing, and all candidates were offered comprehensive feedback based on observed behaviours.

What did our client say?

“Lisa guided us through the assessment process with expertise. This gave our internal team the confidence that we were following a best in class approach, and with her involvement in the project we were able to ensure a robust process was followed, which ultimately led to a successful appointment.

We would have no hesitation in working with Lisa and her team again in the future.”

The challenge

To design and run a number of development assessment centres in order to check individual’s levels of capability, potential and desire for promotion and development.

What did we do?

After identifying key competencies from the client’s framework, we identified the right blend of off-the-shelf and bespoke activities which would provide a picture of each individual whilst encouraging self-awareness and consideration of their career plans.
We worked with members of the Senior Leadership Team to assess both current and potential managers on a one-day centre. This was followed up with a one-to-one session with each delegate on resilience whilst the Learning and Development Manager facilitated a personal planning session based around the centre feedback and their personal development and career plan.

What were the results?

Two cohorts of managers were assessed over a six month period. Data were collated and presented to the Senior Leadership Team identifying themes for management development in general, as well as detailed plans for individual development, potential and next career steps.

What did our client say?

“Lisa and her team were a real pleasure to work with – highly professional, experts in their field but with a real focus on designing a solution that met our unique business needs. All stages of the process were very well thought through and executed, which meant our staff had a very positive experience – whether they were a participant of the Development Centre or one of our Managers in an assessor role.  The information and insights gathered from the process has been extremely useful in helping us to develop and support our talent pipeline, and the process is still very much on-going. I would have no hesitation in recommending Syzygy to other organisations.”

The challenge

To assess 111 employees across 3 bands and 10 grades as part of a downsizing restructure

What did we do?

Working with the client we identified the core competencies on which the process would be built. We researched and recommended the most appropriate mix of on-line and on-the-day tests/ activities to use and we created three different processes (one for each band of roles). Activities included role plays, fact finds, group exercises, ability tests and, for senior roles, personality profiling. We advised on – but were clear we should not be involved in – the desk top assessment process (agreed as part of the collective consultation process) so that the two aspects of assessment were kept completely separate.

What were the results?

A total of 111 candidates were assessed over a three-week period. Internal HR stakeholders were involved in the process to ensure the client team was seamlessly supported. Scores, data and personalised feedback on each candidate’s performance were provided to the client within 24 hours of each assessment day to enable them to map to their desktop assessment and make timely decisions regarding appointments. Candidates for senior roles were offered 1-2-1 sessions regarding their profiles and encouraged to connect these to their development plans.

What did our client say?

“I have sought feedback from people involved in all aspects of the assessment process – be they observers, candidates or senior managers receiving candidate feedback. Without fail, the feedback has been exceptionally positive. Everyone has praised you and your team’s professionalism, organisation and absolute commitment to ensuring every single candidate was made to feel at ease as far as possible. The quality of observations of candidate performance/behaviour and the quality of the resulting feedback was absolutely first class.

We tried hard as a client to be as clear as possible on what we needed, but inevitably some things changed as we went about the process. Your adaptability and responsiveness to those change requests was very much appreciated, as was your advice.

It felt like a partnership activity and I think that was down to the excellent interpersonal and client relationship skills that all of Syzygy demonstrated – if only the chocolates provided had been calorie free!”