ATA Recruitment is well established in the engineering and manufacturing sector but had ambitions to build a new search division for senior hires: ATA Search. “We have had longstanding ambitions to grow within the leadership recruitment industry, and including Thomas International in our offering is one way that we are achieving this strategy” says Ajay Bhella, Business Development Manager at ATA Search. To achieve its goal, the business needed to break away from its main brand and differentiate itself in a new sector.

ATA Recruitment had already been using Thomas assessments to add value for its clients since 2017. “We reached a threshold where there was significant demand for the objective verification and insights that the assessments provide. So I became accredited in Thomas’ Behavioural assessment in 2019 so that I could offer clients coaching in addition to the assessments themselves”, says Ajay.

“We have found that the solution adds huge value to conversations with our clients. Before we recruit leaders for any organisation, we consult with them and profile their leadership team. In senior-level recruitment, we offer an enhanced level of service to clients. Thomas’ assessments help us to provide them with a truly holistic solution to their leadership recruitment needs”, Ajay comments.

Using Thomas assessments, ATA Search can profile the behaviours, aptitude and emotion management of clients’ teams to identify strengths and skill gaps that could be causing issues such as churn within the team. Based on this data, ATA Search provides its clients with an ideal behavioural profile for future leadership team members, validating hiring decisions and enhancing team performance.

“The assessments add value to the recruitment process, both for ourselves and our clients. They have given us the ability to differentiate ourselves by providing a holistic recruitment offering. We can now say to clients, ‘we are accredited in these assessments, and our advice is grounded in psychometric theory. We can unpack personality profiling and emotional intelligence and their value for our clients.”

“One of our clients was recruiting for an Operations Director. They needed someone who could come on board and make some challenging business decisions. Several of the candidates who were put forward had low scores in ‘Dominance’ but scored highly in ‘Influence’. Equipped with this information, I was able probe at interview about their decision-making processes. If they didn’t have satisfactory answers, I knew that they weren’t right for the job. Yet on paper they had looked ideal.”

“I think that’s the difference. CVs can look good on paper. But when you apply psychology, and look at the science behind a candidate’s profile, it either substantiates or challenges the theory that this person is right for the job. This enables me to work with clients to help them shape the behavioural profile that they require for their business. Especially in leadership succession planning and talent pipelining, psychometrics add immense value.”

“One of the candidates I helped to place using Thomas assessments has been able to turn a loss making business into a break even one within eighteen months. They needed someone with the strength of character to lead a company that was making a loss and turn it around. I believe that the Thomas International profile helped me to present that particular candidate in a compelling way."