by Daniela De Marco Cazzani – Kilpatrick Group
Who is “The Talent” today? People who can spontaneously stand out and set themselves apart in a variety of contexts, roles, skills and show to be quick on the uptake.
In an ever-changing labour market, where roles are increasingly cross-functional, and the relentless internationalization process has produced cultural gaps calling for effective solutions, companies are continually searching for professionals possessing the so-called “hard and soft skills”, necessary to make the difference.
Kilpatrick Executive Search has set up the first, ground-breaking knock-out assessment format which allows genuine talents to stand out and showcase their capabilities, thereby highlighting a personality in line with the values endorsed by businesses looking for the managers of the future.
In partnership with the Master’s Degree Course in Human Resources Training and Development of the Bicocca University of Milan, on April 20th the University premises hosted the first edition of this Assessment, named “Kilpatrick Survivor Assessment“, to identify the future-generation manager.
The event was built as a challenging one-day trial for all the candidates who felt confident enough to put their talent at stake.
The Game
After a brief welcoming introduction by Kilpatrick CCO Dario Brivio, like in a gaming/talent show the Survivor Assessment kicked off.
It was built as a series of tailor-made challenges dealing with several skill clusters to be taken individually or in a team: the aim was to highlight abilities and capabilities to carry out a job in the Executive Search field.
Hence each single challenge was designed to chase on critical thinking alongside analysis, relational, negotiation, problem-solving, business planning, public speaking skills and many others, tested against real-life professional models submitted in high-pressure yet fun environmental conditions. Gradually stricter assessment criteria were applied to end with the appointment of three finalists.
Every single test designated a top performer defined “go on stage” and a bottom-ranking contestant defined “shape up“. Nobody had to give up, as even the worst scorers had the chance to improve their performance, all the way down to the final.
Every candidate leaving the stage due to assessment rules had the chance to have a 30′ follow up with Kilpatrick consultants to discuss future possibilities, doubts or any kind of advise about his career.
At the end of the day, after a very intense full-day “workout”, three candidates were asked to complete the assessment with the final challenge, that will lead them straight to Kilpatrick offices for the assessment wrap up and an official interview.
Dario Brivio commented, about the day and the candidate attitude: “I think that this new service will be a success factor for ourselves and our clients in the hiring process of young talents, we had the confirmation that it’s really effective to bring out talent, not in general but within the specific framework of a specific company/department/team, in facts the real asset of this Assessment is the customization together with the possibility of assessing a huge number of candidates at the same time (even 20/30 people) observing objective comparisons between them in a transparent way.”