{"id":7804,"date":"2019-03-14T10:27:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T08:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jobboardfinder.com\/news\/?p=7804"},"modified":"2019-03-14T12:32:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T10:32:48","slug":"a-lesson-in-recruitment-from-the-raf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jobboardfinder.com\/news\/a-lesson-in-recruitment-from-the-raf\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson in Recruitment from the RAF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In an increasing war for talent, business is deploying ever more sophisticated tactics when it comes to recruiting. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is no exception. The aerial warfare force is comprised of experts in war and tackling difficult problems, so we wanted to see how they approach the recruitment issues of 2019. AllTheTopBananas<\/a> was granted special access to the Royal Air Force\u2019s recruiting HQ to find out just how they do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where the recruitment starts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\n\nBased at RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire, Recruiting and Selection (R&S) is the nerve centre for all aspects of signing up the next generation. Whether it\u2019s pre-screening, group interviews<\/a>, customer relationship management or the growing use of AI, organisations are looking for an advantage to get the best recruits and stay ahead of the competition. For the RAF, the different tactics are tested to ensure the recruitment process is efficient. Needless to say, it makes commercial sense to get costly up-front recruiting right the first time.\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As\nmost of us in the industry know, \u201cas recruitment gets harder, the only\nsolution for employers is to get better at attracting and retaining the right\nskills<\/em><\/strong>\u201d (quote from a 2018 report on the job market by the Recruitment\n& Employment Confederation). It couldn\u2019t be more true than for the future\ndefence of the UK. RAF can\u2019t recruit based on a one-off interview. The process\nis actually rather complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\ncandidates who apply to join as Airmen or Airwomen (which make up the majority\nof the yearly recruiting targets of circa 2 500), there is a seven-stage process. <\/strong>This is designed\nto understand key skills required for a successful career, such as effective\nintelligence, motivation and personality. As the RAF explained, this is vital\nto maximise the chances of getting the right people in the right positions and at\nthe right time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nif the stakes aren\u2019t the same, getting to know candidates better and going\nbeyond a CV is becoming more common place with civilian business too. There\u2019s a\ndifference though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Steve Peters, a Squadron leader for the RAF, said, \u201cthe armed services are unique. \u00a0We will deliberately put people in harm\u2019s way.\u00a0 We therefore have to make sure we do everything we can to make the right decisions by us and the individual<\/em>\u201d. Steve Peters heads up Sponsorship and Aptitude Testing for the RAF so he works closely with the recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recruitment adapted to the candidates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everyone\nstarts with the Airmen Selection Test\n(AST<\/strong>).  This timed exercise in exam conditions, covers seven areas\nincluding verbal reasoning, work rate,\nmechanical and electrical comprehension.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret Bailey, Head of Psychology explained that, \u201cthe AST is designed to help us assess roles for which the candidate is best suited<\/strong> to and the likelihood of success in future training in their chosen trade. \u00a0It has been developed in-house over time, specifically to address the unique requirements of the RAF<\/em>\u201d. Whereever you work, a certain amount of collaboration is needed, but our strengths don\u2019t always correspond exactly to the predefined role.<\/strong> By having a better understanding of candidates, the RAF maximises its recruits key skills and can find the best role for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the RAF has been effectively using these techniques for\nyears. Now, more and more private industries are using pre-assessment\nquestionnaires or personality quizzes to better understand the profile of\ncandidates. Even if a job\ndescription<\/a> needs to list clear requirements and specific tasks, redefining the job for the right candidate\ncould greatly improve recruitment everywhere<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personality tests: yay or nay?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We are starting to see a new trend in recruiting, where companies\nare using personality tests to better understand their candidates. A recent\nsurvey of global HR professionals by CEB, one of the largest providers of\nonline talent tests, indicated that 62% of respondents used some sort of\npersonality test pre-hire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\nThat said, the RAF was keen to stress, personality tests are not something they use.<\/strong> Mrs Bailey said, \u201cpersonality tests do not provide any added value to our current established recruitment process<\/em>\u201d. It\u2019s no surprise that a psychologist should warn against personality tests, when you consider that psychology professionals refrain from using such tests. More and more, the accuracy of personality tests has been disputed.<\/strong> Even if this is a step forward for recruiters \u2013 because it shows a desire to understand candidates \u2013 it might be the wrong step all the same.\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Interview observation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To delve deeper, the RAF looks for behavioural evidence from selection interviews. <\/strong>These\ninterviews are the candidates\u2019 opportunity to demonstrate, with real examples, whether\nthey fit the RAF culture. Unlike\npersonality tests, there are no preconceived conclusions based on relatively limited\nresponse options.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Bailey weighed in on the subject: \u201cWe work closely with the trades to best understand what they require\nthe recruit, once selected, to undertake competently so the AST and the\ninterview process have to strike the balance of not being too hard or too easy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a trade, for example, needs a greater\nemphasis on a certain part of electrical comprehension, then that will be made\nharder while other areas won\u2019t be as important. We couldn\u2019t have this\nflexibility with off the shelf personality tests when we\u2019re recruiting for more\nthan 50 trades across the educational spectrum\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bulk hiring Vs specific roles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s not forget that there is a distinct difference here\nbetween military recruitment and civilian counterparts.  A company in the\nprivate or public sector might be looking for a specific role to fill, at a\ncertain level such as a senior manager. The RAF is looking for something\ndifferent. With so many roles to fill, it can be more flexible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n

\n\n\u201cWe don\u2019t recruit the finished article<\/em>\u201d, Sqn Ldr Peters explains. \u201cWe want to unearth the raw talent and develop that throughout their career. Often recruits have not left home before, so to see them develop over 11 weeks (first phase of training) and pop up on graduation, fitter, slightly slimmer and motivated to move on in their career, is incredibly satisfying<\/em>\u201d. Does this mean companies should focus on training their employees rather than hiring the \u201cfinished article<\/em>\u201d,<\/strong> as Sqn Ldr Peters put it?\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Call it evidence based recruiting or detailed customer\nrelationship management, it\u2019s working.  Those who successfully make it\nfrom initial recruitment, through training and into their chosen trades are\njust over 90% for first years 16\/17 and 17\/18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point though, recruitment within any sector has to\ntake a leap of faith. Completely eliminating human instinct out of the process\nno matter how many steps there are in place is impossible. Decisions must\nbe made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Data-driven hires are allowing businesses to avoid appointing based on gut instinct, but crunching stats can only go so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RAF has combined data and experts in areas of the recruitment pipeline with service requirements to hone their process and maximise the chance of success.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an intense investment in manpower and budget. Could civilian business do the same?  With a reducing talent pool in an increasingly competitive market<\/a>, can employers afford not to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a collaborative piece by David Ogden from the search engine AllTheTopBananas<\/a> and Ali Neill from The JobboardFinder<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an increasing war for talent, business is deploying ever more sophisticated tactics when it comes to recruiting. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is no exception. The aerial warfare force is comprised of experts in war and tackling difficult problems, so we wanted to see how they approach the recruitment issues of 2019. AllTheTopBananas was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":7806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[489,492],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Lesson in Recruitment from the RAF - Jobboard Finder News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In an increasing war for talent, business is deploying ever more sophisticated tactics when it comes to recruiting. 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