Gut instinct not enough

PhD dissertation on corporate recruitment processes

So far, HR research has been focused on how to choose the right employee and not as much on the process itself.

It is not just about choosing the right employee, but also about the way in which he is chosen. This is the opinion of PhD student Ulrik Schultz Brix, who explains that recruitment consultants need to back up their gut instinct with questions and testing.

Feelings are part of the recruitment process

- The organisations are to accept that instinct play a part in a recruitment situation, but they have to find their own way to combine their gut instinct with reason, says Ulrik Schultz Brix.

An example is the personality test, which is a tool used to combine the consultant’s gut instinct with direct observation of the applicant’s behaviour – whether the person is introverted or extroverted, for instance.

Three elements have to be present if the employment is to create value for the business: You have to take instincts into consideration, the tools have to be reliable and the way instinct and reason is combined has to make sense to the individual organisation.

Facts

Five organisations have supported the PhD dissertation: The Danish Centre for Leadership, LEO Pharma, DSB, Grundfos and Nykredit. It is carried out under the Industrial PhD Programme, with one or more businesses financing the project, which is also supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in the shape of wage subsidies.

Ulrik Schultz Brix is to defend his PhD dissertation on 26 February 2010 from 14:00 to 16:00, Ks54, the Wedge (Kilen), Frederikberg.