Our consultancy solutions are based on leading-edge psychological research

The challenge

The client was a newly formed start-up global payments solution provider, resulting from a merger of two established organisations.

The objective was to integrate, develop and coach the C Suite, which consisted of individuals who were either new to the company, retaining their roles from the merged companies, or were needing to transition into new positions within the new structure.

The solution

PCL was tasked with coaching the 8 members of the C Suite. This involved assessing their personality and competence through a behavioural competency interview, to provide verbal and written feedback to the individuals and the CEO, and conducting 3 developmental coaching sessions with each member of the team.

Bespoke individual development reports were written for each team member, aligning their personality and competency ratings with the critical competencies required for their roles.
Developmental coaching sessions were then planned around key areas for improvement. These sessions covered areas relating to the individual’s career aspirations and identified critical themes from the assessments. The coaching psychologist worked with each individual to create a tailored action plan, with specific goals and strategies and timelines to commit to, to help the individuals improve their performance at work.

The outcome

The coaching sessions encouraged the implementation of targeted behaviour change strategies that had a positive impact on the leaders’ reputations. This, in turn, facilitated each team member’s integration into the new company and fulfil their roles during this time of transition.

The challenge

A large UK retailer was looking to create a quick, flexible and cost-effective selection process for their nationwide network of shoe stores. As a highly successful and well-known brand, they attracted a large volume of applicants for their in-store sales consultant roles. However, they wanted to ensure that they recruited the best-performing candidates whilst also reducing attrition.

The solution

PCL assessed existing employees using the Profile:Match2 personality questionnaire to help determine which personality attributes were related to high job performance. This provided statistical validation that employees who are persuasive, self-assured, goal-focused, assertive, driven and optimistic generated more sales.

Using these findings, PCL were able to tailor Profile:Match2 so new candidates could be assessed against those aspects of personality that predicted performance. PCL also designed a bespoke report with interview questions to enable the company to probe candidates further about these competencies, which became an integral part of the client’s recruitment process.

The outcome

Analysing the data after Profile:Match2 had been used for recruitment revealed a dramatic return on investment. Those employees assessed using Profile:Match2 sold 10% more than their colleagues, providing powerful evidence that selecting people with the right competencies positively impacts on sales team performance.

The challenge

The senior management team of a leading accountancy firm in the Southeast planned to implement positive change in their workplace. They recognised that ‘people are a big part of the business’ and wanted to involve employees in this process. Before embarking on this change programme, the company leaders needed to understand how to engage with their employees and in a competitive market, what makes their company stand out from the rest. In order to help meet these challenges, we were commissioned to conduct an engagement audit.

The solution

The design of a customised employee engagement survey was carried out following a series of focus groups. The project was christened ‘Project Buzz’ and a communication programme was established to keep staff updated on progress and to maintain momentum as the project was rolled out. The Employee Engagement Survey was split into two areas: the first relating to the engagement levels of the individual (e.g. I feel deeply involved with the company) and the second relating to the organisational levers of engagement, 11 factors designed to predict employee engagement levels, ranging from the physical work environment to the extent to which employees have autonomy and influence in their roles. This allowed an in-depth analysis of the organisational levers influencing levels of engagement for different cross business sectors.

The outcome

PCL’s report identified a number of key organisational areas to focus on in order to enhance employee engagement. This in turn has sparked initiative, discussion and continues to help inform key business decisions across the change rollout. Communication workgroups progressed beyond Project Buzz and has meant that employees increasingly have their say in anything ranging from a redesign of the work environment to changes in reward principles. Future plans are to give employees increasingly more autonomy, empower teams to take responsibility and to strive towards the Sunday Times ‘Best 100 companies to work for’.

The challenge

A UK based non-profit organisation needed to make a critical hiring decision for their senior leadership team, and it was essential that the final candidate could balance a drive for innovation with strong leadership and interpersonal skills. These areas had been identified as key skills gap for the organisation more broadly and it was essential that the leader raise the bar with regards to innovation.

The solution

The shortlisted candidates completed the Hogan Personality inventory (HPI), Hogan Development Survey (HDS), and the Motives Values Preferences Inventory (MVPI) and then received an in-depth feedback session with a PCL Psychologist to explore personality strengths, potential blind spots, and their cultural fit against the organisation and the role.

The assessment insights were used in two ways. Firstly, to support the hiring panel in making a robust selection decision with insights being shared via written reports and a verbal debrief with the panel. Secondly, to help set the offered candidate up for success they were offered two further development sessions to further explore their profile and inform actionable development goals in the context of the new role.

The outcome

A statement from a board member involved in the hiring process commented that “the Hogan results and guidance from PCL enabled us to obtain a deeper understanding of the candidates and consider incompatibilities or difficulties that may arise months or years down the line when they have become fully settled in the role. As a result, this is the most confident hiring decision we have made in a very long time”.

The challenge

An Associate Director at a wealth management firm was referred to us for coaching. The individual was highly technically competent and a valued asset to the business, however he had been facing challenges when it came to his interpersonal impact. Specifically, it was felt he needed to improve his relationship management with colleagues and to delegate more.

The solution

An initial meeting took place with the HR manager, the line manager and the Associate Director to discuss and agree goals for the coaching and establish accountabilities. It had been agreed that we would include Hogan assessments in the process in order to uncover underlying key preferences and drivers. After an initial session exploring the Hogan profiles with the coachee, subsequent sessions focused on specific goals, referencing personality and how that might help or hinder the achievement of that goal, and devising specific targeted development actions to put in place. The beginning of each subsequent session then reviewed any relevant observations or actions that had been taken, before focusing on a new goal.

A total of 6 sessions were delivered, and in between each session, the coachee completed additional steps of the personal development plan. Part way through the process, the coachee met with their line manager to define what success would look like after coaching, and this informed the content of the last 2 sessions.

The outcome

The client developed a number of strategies to improve their effectiveness at an interpersonal level, including, for example, for relationship management – to try to implement and monitor small interactions with the team, to create words and phrases that could be used to introduce such an interaction, or to think of topics that would be comfortable to discuss and to reflect on what is stopping them from doing this.

The agreed goals and development actions – to move the coachee towards what good looks like – were shared with the line manager who was then able to support the coachee in their future development.

The challenge

A world-renowned media company wanted to enhance its internal talent pipeline for executive level placements. They had identified an international cohort of 65 high potential leaders and wanted our help in supporting their development and unlocking that potential.

The solution

Participants completed the Hogan suite of personality assessments (HPI, HDS, MVPI) and were assigned a PCL coach. Using the Hogan HiPo report to frame the discussion, the coach explored with the participant their top three strengths areas in terms of Hogan’s Hipo model, focusing on how they could leverage these strengths further and address anything that could be interfering with their progression.

The Hogan assessment results were used to provide group level analysis of the cohort’s strengths and critical gaps. This analysis was used to inform and target the design of development programme.

The outcome

Participants gained a deep level of self-insight which then helped inform a tangible action plan for leveraging and developing their strength areas. The insights from the group level analysis informed the design of an additional learning module focused on influence and persuasion…

The challenge

A corporate sales team for an international coffee shop chain was looking to enhance their effectiveness as a team. The team had experienced a lot of change and churn in the previous two years, and there was an opportunity for greater clarity in terms of vision, purpose, and accountabilities.

The solution
Using the Hogan team model, powered by the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), the Hogan Development Survey (HDS), and the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) we gained insight into the teams’ dynamics by aggregating the individual personality assessment scores of team members. PCL Psychologists carried out 121 feedback sessions with each participant, and then designed and facilitated a one-day team workshop to explore:

1. Shared values to help shape team purpose
2. Team roles and looking at the impact of group strengths in overdrive
3. Team derailers that could be undermining team effectiveness.

The team workshop focused on reflection and action, with the ultimate aim of generating and committing to tangible action points as a team for the next 6 months.

The outcome
The Hogan team results revealed strong alignment in the team’s value set, with all members being motivated by financial reward (Commerce) and a seeking a light-hearted, open-minded environment (Hedonism). Their team roles showed a tendency to focus on people over practicality (high Relationships, low Pragmatism) and their group derailers around impulsivity and public confidence (Colourful, Mischievous) meant they were limiting their ability to establish specific expectations and achieve concrete results. The workshop helped them to recognise the significance of this, while also helping them develop a clear understanding of their desired reputation and then guiding them to create specific actions and commitments.

The challenge

An international law firm aimed to improve representation of lawyers from underprivileged backgrounds. They wanted to create a selection and development programme that focused on future potential of prospective lawyers without penalising for past experience.

The solution

PCL psychologists used surveys, focus groups and visioning interviews to gather role-specific data and determine the factors that predict success as a lawyer. Based on this information, they created various assessment centre exercises including group simulations, self-reflective activities, written tasks, and interviews. The approach focused on both strengths and competencies to emphasise potential over experience. Additionally, a personality assessment was employed to focus on underlying characteristics and offer valuable developmental insight for candidates.

The outcome

PCL led the design, delivery and training of the approach which is now in its sixth year and has been used to select in over 100 law undergraduates from underprivileged backgrounds into a mentoring and career development programme.