Problem

Having discovered that very few females had applied to one of their graduate pathways, and even fewer had received offers, the company’s Head of Talent wanted to use TCC Recruit to provide additional insights as part of the recruitment process. They wanted to look at both potential and cultural fit in a more scientific and objective way to promote greater diversity.

Solution

Applicants for the graduate programme were invited to attend a traditional assessment centre, involving a structured interview, presentation and group exercise, with individuals ranked in order of performance against these activities. The candidates were also asked to complete The Cambridge Code, and the hiring team received a report on each individual as well as a summary dashboard that benchmarked candidates on key areas such as drive, adaptability, resilience and dealing with authority. The results from TCC Recruit were used alongside scoring from the assessment centre to inform the final decision on selection.

Results

The insights from TCC Recruit provided objective evidence to adjust the final rankings and ultimately led to different decisions about which individuals to hire. Before looking at the insights from The Cambridge Code, some female candidates had been deemed not to have demonstrated as much evidence of certain characteristics as their male counterparts. For example, observations from the interviews had noted lower levels of drive, innovation, and independence, and a higher need for support. Not only did the results from TCC prove this to be incorrect, but in some cases revealed the opposite to be true. The end result was that final offers were made to 4 female and 2 male candidates.