Need:

The ICI Group develops, creates, and markets specialty chemical products and ingredients for foods, electronic equipment, fragrances, decorating, and personal care. It produces more than 50,000 products and employs more than 36,000 people in 23 countries across Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A key component of ICI’s growth strategy is to recruit graduates with high management potential from universities across Europe to fill positions in sales, marketing, R&D, IT, supply chain, finance, and purchasing. For such a forward-looking strategy to succeed, recruitment must be as detailed and accurate as possible.

Solution:

ICI called upon DDI to design a selection system that could help the organization choose the cream of what is often a bumper crop of applicants. With DDI’s help, ICI developed a four-stage recruitment process that concentrates on competencies, technical suitability, cultural fit, and potential for high performance. The process begins with an online application form, composed of competency-based questions. Forty-five percent of the applicants go on to the next stage, a telephone interview. About 30 percent of these interviewees are then invited for the third stage, a face-to-face interview in which candidates are measured against job-specific criteria. Finally, about 150 candidates go forward into ICI’s assessment centers, which are designed by DDI and based on a case study of a fictional company similar to ICI’s Paints. Candidates participate in group and individual activities, during which they are assessed against the 10 ICI success factors identified as required at the fast-track graduate level. During the day, each applicant also has a Targeted Selection® interview, which is also based on the success factors. In addition, candidates are tested for general reasoning ability.

Results:

A questionnaire distributed to all managers participating in the recruitment process yielded an average satisfaction rating of four on a scale of one to five. Feedback from candidates has also been positive. The assessment day in particular provokes strong reactions from participants, who find it both enjoyable and challenging.