"Having a 'sharp mind' and good intellectual abilities is necessary but not sufficient to succeed in a managerial role"
José Miguel Sepulveda,
International HR Consultant
As International HR Consultant within the Atlantic Group, José Miguel Sepulveda Now provide support to commercial and industrial management to help ensure the reliability of their recruitment and to support internal employees (job start assessments, collective efficiency and team cohesion seminars, job analysis...). He testifies to his use of the Watson-Glaser™ III tool in the evaluation of managerial function in France and in various countries where the Group is present.
The ATANTIC Group is a French industrial group that is among the leaders in the field of thermal comfort. The company has experienced strong growth, particularly internationally. The leaders have always placed people at the heart of their strategy. They attach importance to implementing necessary methods to reduce the risks of recruitment errors and to develop the skills of internal employees. The Atlantic Group has indeed obtained its "Top Employer" certification for the 10th consecutive year.
As part of its development, the Group continues to recruit. One of the major challenges to maintain its leading position is to be able to identify talents who could contribute to its growth and sustainability. Securing recruitment decisions is therefore a key axis to remain competitive.
The Watson-Glaser™ III or Critical Thinking Assessment solution is particularly relevant in the evaluation process for managerial roles and for certain executive level positions. These are indeed decision-making roles. Making relevant and effective decisions is crucial for success in this type of role.
Assessing managers' ability to discern and to make their judgement more reliable in decision-making
In the ATANTIC Group, the HR consulting team is used to using logic and reasoning tests. Having a "sharp mind" and good intellectual abilities is necessary but not sufficient to succeed in a managerial role. The Watson-Glaser™ III is the only tool on the market that provides information on a person's ability not to settle for obvious information. It allows recruiters to identify to what extent a candidate is able to "read between the lines", to challenge the information he has at his disposal and to provide a critical eye.
It also makes it possible to assess a person's ability to distinguish essential information from that which is more incidental. After having analyzed the relevance of the information with finesse and discernment, it finally makes it possible to identify the extent to which the person is able to draw logical and coherent conclusions without being influenced by his or her subjectivity.
In all this, the Watson-Glaser™ III is a tool that accounts for a person's discernment qualities and their ability to make their judgement reliable to make relevant decisions.
Like any tool, it provides a basis for discussion with candidates but it is also a rare tool that focsues on critical thinking & decision making.
Combining three complementary types of tests for successful recruitment
The combined use of the Watson-Glaser™ III, a personality questionnaire, and logic tests provides a 3D view of behavioral and leadership skills, intellectual potential, and critical thinking (judgment and discernment qualities) of a candidate.
A total duration of 1 hour 15 minutes for these three types of tests provides reliable, complementary, and relevant information in relation to the job profile, aiming to reduce the risk of error in the recruitment process.
The advantage of being in an internal consultant role is that once recruited, it is easy to get feedback on the integration phase. Most of the time, the information that appeared during the evaluation with the Watson-Glaser™ III was well founded. Currently, we have carried more than 40 evaluations where we have used this test. 1 hour 15 minutes of online test administration and 1 hour 30 minutes of structured interview which allowed us to obtain rich and qualitative information without needing the candidate to go up to half a day or a whole day in an assessment center... The challenge is to be able to maintain a balance between an acceptable level of time for the candidate and the number of tests to complete without missing essential information.
The return of results and evaluation with the "recruiter" managers also allows us to identify relevant decision-making points that would be more difficult to identify on the sole basis of an interview.
A tool to discuss on the candidate's reflective approach, on their introspection abilities, self-questioning and ability to step back
The Watson-Glaser™ III is perceived as a very rich tool by evaluators and combines well with the use of a personality questionnaire. In the behavioral part, a person's tendency to make decisions quickly or more cautiously, to go in depth, into details, or to get to the point are typically some personality traits that can be analyzed in conjunction with the Watson-Glaser™ III. Some potential pitfalls visible in personality dimensions can sometimes be compensated by the results of the Watson-Glaser™ III and vice versa.
Most of the time, it is a tool that is very well accepted by candidates, it is easy for them to make the link with management skills. The candidate experience is therefore enhanced for two reasons: they adhere to the approach and as it is a tool that is not systematically used by recruitment agencies or companies, they receive feedback that they have rarely had before.
The Watson-Glaser™ III is also a tool that allows for a discussion on the candidate's reflective approach, on their introspection abilities, self-questioning, and ability to step back from lived experience.This is found in the use of other psychometric tools, but the Watson Glaser provides powerful insights and promotes the person's awareness of "their way of doing and acting", so is rich in teaching.