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Outsourcing and Minimising Conflict - Lessons from the Brown / Darling Conflict

19 Sep 2011 12:00 AM | Anonymous

Alistair Darling’s autobiography is stirring up a real storm in the Labour party camp – most notably for his account of disagreements with the party’s then leader, Gordon Brown. Once again, this negative coverage has raised questions of Brown’s leadership qualities. What this really highlights to me though is the need to look beyond skills and source talented people who really gel with the team to avoid such clashes from the start.

‘Cultural fit’ is a new HR buzz word and increasingly recruitment processes are testing a candidate’s behaviour to judge how they would fit with the business. This shift from the traditional method of recruiting on the exclusive basis of background and skills opens up a whole new challenge – how to accurately measure a candidates’ cultural fit without excluding potential talent.

As the Darling / Brown case shows, one conflict can have a lasting effect on the team and can be potentially damaging to a business’s reputation should an employee leaves on bad terms following a conflict. Whilst any organisation ought to have a plan in place to deal with such a situation should it arise, the recruitment process can be used as a filter for any potential problems.

Using a values–based hiring model built around the establishment of cultural criteria, a candidate can be measured on values and behavioural patterns as well as their skills. It is by no means an exact science, but by using this model in the recruitment process it is possible to minimise the chances of cultural clashes and ensure a candidates ‘fits’ with the business dynamics. And it doesn’t have to stop there.

Going back to the case of Darling and Brown, circumstances can change (i.e. leadership or business needs) and can cause disruption despite the best attempts to manage the process. It is important then to look at the flexibility of a candidate and closely manage the talent in your organisation to minimise any disarray.

At Ochre House we use an adapted model to evaluate an employee’s ability to adapt, integrate, contribute and perform. Using this evaluation an organisation is able to manage staff and behaviours carefully. For employees who show signs of low adaptability, it is possible to plan in advance for any impact a change may have on them. If this change for example is recruiting a new leader, the job spec and assessment process can evaluate a candidate’s ability to deal with a team cautious of change.

And there are other benefits to hiring on the basis of culture rather than skills. Ultimately you can adapt and grow a person’s skills set, but you cannot change their personality.

In the case of the Labour party I am sure we’ve yet to hear more from the Darling / Brown saga, but perhaps Mr Milliband will use this debacle as a learning curve for future political team building.

Sue Brooks is managing director of RPO and talent management specialist, Ochre House

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