Andrew Dewar (joint owner) outlines that a key part of the growth strategy was a focus on recruiting appropriate candidates, but equally looking at ways of training and developing existing staff to unlock ‘untapped potential’. Curchods needed a clearer insight into candidates at the recruitment stage, but also a way of making existing staff more effective in their roles.

Curchods had never used psychometric profiling before they were introduced to Thomas and the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) by one of their employees. Andrew saw the content of the PPA as the perfect way for management and employees to gain a deeper insight into their behaviours, and as a way of raising employee self-awareness, so behaviours could be modified to improve outcomes. They also introduced the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) for managers to better understand the effect of emotions and how they could drive behavioural characteristics.

As a result of improved self-awareness amongst the team, they are now able to positively adapt to different situations, with Andrew stating a significant application to the sales team. All job candidates must now complete a PPA before a second interview, and managerial applicants must also complete a TEIQue. All successful recruits are later debriefed on their profiles.

Andrew summarised: “We’ve seen real benefits in terms of helping to create a more inspiring work environment, developing a more engaged and happier team, whilst also seeing time savings in processing sales and an increase in business”.