Accelerating Selection for a Leading Global Humanitarian Public Sector Organization
- By PCD-Security
Background
In an era marked by escalating humanitarian crises, a prominent global public sector organization embarked on a bold initiative to fortify its security analyst team. These roles stand as linchpins in all humanitarian and peace operations worldwide, particularly crucial in volatile conflict zones where they undertake vital work to safeguard aid workers. Assigned to missions spanning regions like Ukraine, Palestine, Africa, and the Middle East, these individuals play an indispensable role.
However, the organization faced a formidable challenge: efficiently navigating through a pool of over 6,000 global qualified applicants to fill 500 crucial positions. Complicating matters further, this task demanded strict adherence to inclusive practices and stringent staffing regulations.
Challenge
The organization’s primary hurdles included:
- Efficiency: Narrowing down from a vast pool of over 6,000 applicants to 500 most suitable candidates promptly.
- Equity: Ensuring fairness and impartiality throughout the selection process across diverse geographical and gender backgrounds.
- Legality: Adhering to the organization’s staffing framework while ensuring that the selection process adhered to all legal requirements, safeguarding against any potential legal challenges or scrutiny.
Solution
Anthro, an experienced global people analytics company, was tasked to address these challenges through a comprehensive and innovative approach:
- Collaborative Planning: Anthro’s first step involved an in-depth collaboration with the client to fully grasp their needs and explore potential innovative solutions. This partnership ensured a tailored approach, accommodating the dynamic requirements of diverse stakeholders.
- Efficient Screening: Leveraging a global network, Anthro deployed 50 professional screeners, facilitating the review of each application within a week of job postings’ closure. This process was streamlined further by prioritizing applicants who applied for multiple levels, ensuring a single and consistent, efficient screening process.
- Innovative Assessment: Anthro’s assessment experts developed and administered tailored online tests, including Situational Judgement Tests, authentic Work Sample Tests, and Basic Language Proficiency evaluations, to all eligible candidates. Anthro not only built these tests online but also managed all candidate test communication as well as technical support. This approach, underscored by a unified test for applicants across different levels, enhanced candidate satisfaction and streamlined the assessment phase.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Through a custom results dashboard, Anthro furnished the organization with critical insights into candidate demographics and competencies, enabling informed, unbiased decision-making.
- Streamlined Interviews: Anthro introduced a single interview process for multi-level applicants saving over 1,000 hours in personnel time. This innovation, combined with the provision of professional note-takers, ensured high-quality, comprehensive candidate evaluations.
Results
Anthro’s intervention led to significant outcomes:
- Time and Cost Efficiency: The recruitment process was completed in less than half the usual time at one-sixth of the cost, compared to the organization relying solely on internal resources.
- Stakeholder Satisfaction: Feedback from the organization highlighted the exceptional quality of Anthro’s interview notes and the invaluable support provided. Senior management praised the project’s successful execution, emphasizing that this project would simply not have been possible without Anthro’s support.
- After-Action Review: Anthro demonstrated a commitment to continuous improvement by conducting a comprehensive review of the project. The client welcomed Anthro’s recommendations for future enhancements.
Conclusion
Anthro’s partnership with this renowned public sector organization exemplifies the power of innovative people analytics in addressing complex recruitment challenges. By combining efficient processes, innovative testing, and a data-driven approach, Anthro not only met but exceeded the client’s expectations, establishing a new benchmark for recruitment in high-stakes environments. Looking ahead, Anthro stands ready to extend its expertise, agility, and dedication to delivering diverse, high-quality outcomes to support more organizations in their recruitment endeavours.
