REWARD
reason to ask competency-based questions early in the employee life cycle, the way they read to a neurotypical person could be totally different to the way they read to a neurodivergent person. Also, remember to include context and possibly some examples. My brain works by looking at things from many different angles, and my explanations and answers to questions would make total sense to me, but anyone else reading them may struggle to understand me. Where an employer has turned someone down because they didn’t answer in the expected or required way, they should ensure the applicant has been given every opportunity to understand what was being asked, along with why it was being asked. I “Have recruiting employers properly considered how someone who struggles to remember passwords could cope with multiple systems, each with their own login credentials?”
believe these types of competency-based questions should be removed from such an early stage in the employee’s life cycle. But, if employers feel they really must have them, they should allow applicants to have a conversation with someone rather than being made to attempt to provide their answers in a limited amount of words, in an online, written format. Only ask for what’s really needed I’m going to be a little controversial here. Have employers taken a close look at all the information they’re asking for at the application stage and whether it’s actually required? All they really need to know at this point is: l a person’s career history from the relevant roles they’ve had or how previous roles fit in with the role they are applying for. Perhaps ask what transferable skills the person can bring to the new role l whether the applicant can work in the required location (we will look at flexible working in a later article) l any relevant qualifications the person may have (but, on a side note, do you actually really need to know what someone did at school 25 years ago? And would a lack of qualifications actually mean that a person couldn’t do the role? I was very successful for 20 years without a qualification) l the name the applicant would like to be addressed by
l how to contact the person. Remember, some people do prefer email over a call and vice versa l if there are any further reasonable adjustments required at this stage. Employers don’t realistically need anything more at this point. Any more than that could potentially leave them open to a discrimination claim. Why, at this stage, does the employer need to know any more about a job applicant? The more information an organisation asks a potential candidate to provide, the higher chance of them not completing the job application process, or of them struggling with it. Many businesses also use the job application stage to ‘shortlist’, by asking the applicant to answer a selection of questions they have defined as scenario questions, which have absolutely nothing to do with the applicant’s ability to do the job. A neurodivergent person may only give a really succinct answer, which doesn’t demonstrate anything around their capability of doing the job, while another may find it too overwhelming or not be able to translate their experiences into words that other people can read and understand. Do employers really need job applicants to tell them how they dealt with a difficult situation, especially at an early stage? Let’s face it, this could well be made up! Sure, maybe further down the line, but that’s what the job interview is for. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 104 | October 2024
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