7

STEPS TO
EVOLVE YOUR
TALENT CULTURE
How to get ahead of the
talent culture curve
INTRODUCTION
The way that businesses approach the recruitment, onboarding,
development and engagement of people – their Talent Culture
– is in desperate need of transformation. This has been true for quite
some time, but with recession looming and other macro pressures
threatening stability, this is even more urgent. Three quarters (76%)
of HR decision makers believe* they have less than two years to evolve
their Talent Culture before they start suffering competitive or financial
consequences. So, across the board, the race to find great staff, make
them productive, and keep them happy is more important than ever.

But rushing the hiring process is not the answer.
Business productivity is an essential** outcome for
surviving and thriving through economic recession,
and it’s clear that this is achieved when you have
talented people who are engaged and working well
with their team.The greatest risk of trying to hire too
quickly is compromising on candidate quality. Which
may go some way to explain why six out of 10 hires
don’t work out to some degree.
The first step is understanding how you’re
currently performing.
Our research demonstrates that organisations
experiencing difficulties in finding the right people
and retaining them tend to be lagging behind the
Talent Culture Curve, a model that demonstrates
the attitudes of HR leaders to Talent Culture versus
the results of their work. But how does it work?

“
There are significant individual consequences to
these trends, too. Half of the UK*** workforce report
that they feel burnt out, rising to 70%**** worldwide,
and with looming budget cuts and rising
redundancies, the pressure is mounting
HALF OF THE UK
as remaining employees are expected
to shoulder the additional workload. WORKFORCE REPORT
It’s clear that the way many businesses THAT THEY FEEL
BURNT OUT, RISING TO
are recruiting and onboarding staff isn’t getting
them the results they want. This guide will provide
you with seven tips to fix this, based on proven
approaches that real businesses are already
using to improve their Talent Culture.
70% WORLDWIDE.
* The Talent Time Bomb Researach Report, Thomas, 2022
** With A Recession Looming, Now Is A Great Time To Fix America’s Slow Labor Productivity Growth, Forbes, 2022
*** Wellness Report 2022, Employment Hero, 2022
2 **** Burnout Is A Worldwide Problem: 5 Ways Work Must Change, Forbes, 2022
THE TALENT CULTURE CURVE
Talent Culture leaders are those with high levels of
progressive talent belief and high levels of progressive
talent behaviour. They talk the talk and they walk the
walk, with both the attitude and processes in place to
make the best HR decisions possible. These leaders:

• Are more likely to have hires that work out across

all areas of the business

• Take less time to achieve productivity with

new hires

• Have higher employee tenures, which

suggests higher staff satisfaction

In contrast, those with low levels of progressive

talent belief and low levels of progressive talent
behaviour are missing out on being able to hire
the best possible people and keep them motivated
and engaged.

Where does your business fit in? The Talent

Culture Curve can act as a diagnostic to help
you plot your progress as you experience
improvement across these areas by using the tips
in this guide. Using data from over 900 HR decision
makers in companies with 250 to 5,000 employees
across a range of countries worldwide, the Talent
Culture Curve can help you chart your progress
in this area.

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 CULTURE CURVE MODEL

Believer – 29% Believer / Achiever – 17%

Q20

Neutral – 26% Achiever – 28%

BELIEF

High levels of progressive talent belief High levels of progressive talent belief
Low levels of progressive talent behaviour High levels of progressive talent behaviour
Hoping for progress, but not living it Living the dream

WE WANT TO IMPROVE WE HAVE IMPROVED

WE DON’T HAVE THE PROCESSES WE HAVE THE PROCESSES

Q20 score 10 – 40
Believer Believer / Achiever
[negative
score required
on inverse
statements]

Low levels of progressive talent belief Low levels of progressive talent belief
Low levels of progressive talent behaviour High levels of progressive talent behaviour
Living behind the curve Dream not meeting expectations

WE DON’T WANT TO IMPROVE WE HAVE THE PROCESSES

WE DON’T HAVE THE PROCESSES WE DON’T EXPERIENCE THE IMPROVEMENT

Neither Achiever

BEHAVIOUR
Q15 score 10 – 40

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HOW TO EVOLVE
YOUR TALENT CULTURE
The Talent Culture leaders demonstrate high levels of
progressive talent behaviour – and they provide great
inspiration for things that you can start doing today to
improve your processes, beliefs, and your position on the
Talent Culture Curve.

Have a look at the question at the end of each tip

and mark yourself on how you’re currently doing to
achieve that objective. By the end of the guide, you’ll
have a comprehensive understanding of what shape
your business’ Talent Culture is currently in.

5
HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 1
REDESIGN JOB SPECIFICATIONS
It’s a given that any job spec will include details of what the role will entail
day to day: you must have experience with something particular, or you must
know how to use certain software. But when businesses are significantly more
likely to report a soft skills shortage than a hard skills one, with 43% reporting
that they had the greatest shortage in interpersonal (soft) skills, it seems

1
counterproductive not to include the required personality traits and behavioural
expectations of the role, too. This can include attributes like being analytical,
emotionally resilient, or able to cope with change or fast-paced environments.

Naturally, part of the reason why including this information works in attracting
the right candidates is that it allows them to self-select. If someone knows
they have a strong fear of public speaking and don’t have the patience
for teaching, they’re unlikely to apply for a role where those qualities are
specifically in demand.

By using behavioural language and describing desired personality traits in

your job adverts, you present a more accurate view of the role, attracting
candidates with a better fit and finetuning your shortlist before it has even
started to build up. This way, you ensure that candidates are both viable and
desirable at every step of the process, instead of risking wasted time with
people who aren’t the right fit.

Personality is a much more reliable indicator of future job performance

than where someone may have worked previously or where they went to
university. As a result, shifting job spec focus from basic experience towards
personality factors can yield stronger hiring decisions, all while encouraging
internal mobility and candidates from a wide range of socio-economic,
cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds.

How well do you define requirements on job profiles?

1 =  We usually only list the technical or ‘hard’ skills required for our
job profiles

2 =  It depends; we sometimes define technical and personality

preferences, but not always

3 = We clearly define both the technical and personality preferences

for candidates in all of our job profiles

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 HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

FIRST STEP:
Find a role that you’re hiring for today and review the job spec
– does it describe the behaviours you expect the candidate
to show? If not, speak to people working in that area of the
business and ask them to describe the behaviours of successful
employees, both current and former.

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

CREATEMENT
IT talent agency Createment wanted to level up the
way they recruit for highly specialised tech roles. Where
previously they used traditional recruitment methods,
now they always start with Thomas’ aptitude assessment,
which measures the learning ability of a candidate.

“Based on the years of experience we have

with this assessment, we know that the results
are a very good predictor of the rest of the
selection process and of the ultimate success
of the candidate in the organisation… 97% of
the candidates who successfully complete the
selection procedure are ultimately placed with a
client to their complete satisfaction.”

JEROEN VAN DER MADE

Director/Owner, Createment

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HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 2:
HIRE BASED ON POTENTIAL,
NOT JUST PAST PERFORMANCE
As we know, past performance is a key indicator of success

2
in any hiring decision – but there’s more to a great candidate
than their CV alone.

Fortunately, potential can accurately be measured

with the right tools. From psychometric assessments to
giving candidates a demonstration task to ensure they
have the ‘soft’ skills required, there are many different
ways to ensure you’ve found the perfect match.

For example, let’s say the role you’re hiring for

demands resilience. Rather than trying to guess
based on interview questions that leave much open
to interpretation, a pre-interview assessment can
accurately assess a candidate’s capacity for resilience.
You’ll gain a much better understanding of their
potential to succeed, how they work and what makes
them work that way – all crucial pieces of information
that are difficult to discern from a glance at a CV.

Does your organisation hire for potential as well

as past experience?

1 = No, we only look at past experience

2 = We mostly look at past experience, but are

open to considering a candidate’s potential
if there was a good way of measuring it other
than gut feeling

3 = We are committed to doing this and actively

use tools to assess a candidate’s potential

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 HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

CANONICAL
With staff in over 30 countries across the world, UK-based software company
Canonical wanted to strengthen their corporate business lifecycle to facilitate and
support their next phase of growth. Their ‘remote first’ policy meant they could pick
the best candidates from all over the world, but they needed a quicker, more robust
way to sift through over 14,000 candidates per month.

They worked together with Thomas to deploy around 20,000 psychometric

assessments across the business, giving them the ability to scale from 500 to 750
employees with a view to expanding further. Using Thomas assessments gave
them the support to undertake successful recruitment on a global scale during
economically turbulent times, as well as helping them to attract a more diverse
range of applicants.

“We see a strong correlation between someone

who is in an above average percentile of the of the
aptitude assessment and performance at interview.
It is a strong indicator that an individual has the
competence to be able to move through the process.”

IAIN KENDRICK
People Director, Canonical

FIRST STEP:
Think about a time when a hire didn’t work out. What went wrong? Were they a poor cultural fit
for the business? Did it take them too long to get to grips with the software they need to use? Or
maybe they struggled with the fast paced nature of the job?

Asking yourself these questions can help you to determine what traits to look for. If they were
slow to pick up the ropes, try assessing for cognitive aptitude, which is linked to learning speed.
If they didn’t get along with the rest of the team, use psychometric assessments to understand
behavioural styles, which can reveal where someone might clash with others.

9
HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 3:
CONSIDER HOW A CANDIDATE’S HARD
AND SOFT SKILLS WILL COMPLEMENT AND
CHALLENGE THE EXISTING TEAM

3
Leading Talent Cultures don’t just examine prospective candidates in
isolation. They assess the skills and personalities of existing employees too.
In fact, this can be a great place to start if you’re finding tip two challenging.

Considering how any new hires will fit into the team
involves understanding the behaviours, aptitudes,
and personality traits of existing employees. Not
only does this allow you to assess what makes a
great employee, but it also flags up any areas of
weakness within your teams. For example, you may
have a highly conscientious team of fast learners, but
perhaps they’re lacking an assertive leader to help
them build confidence and share their ideas.

To what extent do you assess new candidates

in the context of the existing wider team?

1 = We don’t think about this

2 = We think about it but have no formal

mechanisms in place for assessing our
current team

3 = We actively assess existing employees to

ensure new hires complement the team

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 HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

FIRST STEP:
Learn more about your existing team. Sit down with them and discuss how the team
functions day-to-day, what they think the key traits of any new teammate would be,
and what they think they might be lacking. If you can, use behavioural or personality
assessments to understand the different traits of your teams. Getting under the hood
of how they make decisions, solve problems, and like to work can provide invaluable
insight at the hiring stage, as well as helping you to tailor their progression within the
company, so they’re as valuable and engaged as possible.

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

HOME
With almost 1,000 employees in different locations to juggle, Danish real estate
agents HOME wanted to understand what behaviours make for an excellent
salesperson, and apply this information to help strengthen teams throughout
periods of economic turmoil where trends around client needs are turned on
their head.

They collected data on the psychological profiles of their sales staff to

compare it to their success rates, and found it useful for matching different
customers to the right member of the team.

“We see a lot of different people with different

behavioural profiles, which makes it difficult
to pinpoint every time, but knowing our
team’s profiles, we can match our approach
more precisely with the customer’s needs.
Our Sales team can give our customers top
quality service because they can provide
the team member that they know is the best
person to communicate with them.”

ANNE-METTE STENDER
Head of HR, HOME
1111
HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 4:
TAKE STEPS TO REDUCE BIAS
IN YOUR RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Despite increasing awareness of the importance of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives, unconscious bias can still

4
be present at the hiring stage and beyond.

In contrast, using psychometrics instead of CVs

and interviews alone allows you to measure what matters and
gives you an objective view of a candidate’s predicted future
performance, as well as their motivations, communication style,
preferences and values.

When you keep tabs on the DE&I statistics of your candidates,

you reveal which demographics are most commonly being
filtered through the process with success. From there, you can
use that information to ensure that your selection process doesn’t
advantage or disadvantage any particular group, preventing
discrimination in either direction. This gives every candidate a
fair chance based on their abilities, rather than their background
or protected characteristics. The same tracking measures can
be applied to developing your team, too. If you monitor DE&I
metrics across your company, you ensure equal opportunities for
learning, development, and promotion are accessible to all.

Do you monitor and track DE&I data across your talent

lifecycle?

1 =  No, not at present

2 = Yes, we try and think about it

3 = Yes, we track data and use tools to reduce bias

across the talent lifecycle

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 HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

HARVEY NASH
Harvey Nash recruits highly-skilled talent for many of the world’s top organisations.
They believed everyone deserves an equal opportunity within the business, but they
wanted to ensure this was the case. So, over 12 months with Thomas, they tracked
hundreds of their job applicants to monitor demographic diversity, behavioural
preferences, and the outcome of the applications.

Thankfully, there was no evidence that any group was being adversely impacted in
the recruitment process, but they were able to repurpose the information gleaned
to improve other processes around the business. They also became the first
recruitment company to achieve the National Equality Standard, one of the UK’s
most rigorous and prestigious accreditations for diversity and inclusion.

“The project for us was really successful and it

achieved exactly what we were looking for. There
were even a few surprises, but given the results,
we’ve been able to put together a strategy to work
with going forward. By taking part in the project with
Thomas, it’s really enabled us to look at ways of
streamlining our process, thinking of ways to save
time and money.”

ELIZ FIDAN
Team Leader of Talent Acquisition, Harvey Nash

FIRST STEP:
You can’t achieve the outcomes you want if you’re not measuring your outcomes for
success. The best place to start is by capturing data about the people who already
work at your business. Well-designed psychometric assessments can give you the
power to reduce bias in talent management, ensuring that opportunities align with
performance rather than unconscious bias. By incorporating tools that disregard
DE&I factors like age, ethnicity, and gender, you can ensure that great work is always
rewarded, and nobody finds themselves not reaching their true potential due to
factors out of their control.

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HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 5:
USE SCIENCE-BASED RECRUITMENT
PRACTICES TO ACCELERATE AND
VALIDATE RECRUITMENT
It’s standard across many industries for the hiring process to consist of
an interview or two. But do two brief conversations when somebody’s on
their best behaviour give you an idea of their skills, their weaknesses, and

5
their preferred way to work? Someone might tell you that they thrive under
pressure, but that doesn’t prove that they do. “Well, they seemed really
resilient during the interview” doesn’t cut it when a hire doesn’t work out.

In contrast, using scientific methods to assess your candidates

can accelerate the process while ensuring that new recruits
are more likely to succeed at the same time. When you have all
the data in front of you instead of just feelings and thoughts, it’s
easier (and faster) to define what you’re looking for, compare
prospective candidates, and assist them to integrate with their
new team seamlessly.

Remember, leading Talent Cultures are more likely to use

scientific measures to assess their candidates, and businesses
highlighted psychometric assessments as one of the top three
most effective recruitment approaches.

Do you rely on gut feel or science-based approaches for

HR practices like recruitment?

1 = Our approach is entirely based on gut feel

2 = A mixture of both

3 = We’re scientific in our approach

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 HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

FIRST STEP:
How does your recruitment process work currently? What parts
of it cause friction? For example, not getting a high standard of
applicants, time taken deliberating over different candidates, or
candidates not working out long term. Think about which stage of
the process would benefit most from the addition of a scientific
assessment method, such as psychometric assessments

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

AMARANT
Amarant, a disabled care institution in the Netherlands, was on the lookout
for new colleagues, but didn’t feel that they were getting enough information
about their candidates once interviewed. They experienced regular
resignations after a short tenure, finding that candidates weren’t meeting
their expectations.

They needed greater insight into candidates, so they launched a pilot

programme, using the Thomas Behaviour and Emotional Intelligence
assessments.

“We gain insights on whether someone can

motivate themselves or [how they prefer to
behave]. Very valuable information when
we are looking for a new colleague… Both
assessments provide us with a wealth of
objective data, based on which we can make
a good estimate of someone’s work behaviour
and how someone can adapt to their new role.”

NATALIE VAN LEEST

Senior HR Advisor, Amarant Youth Division

15
 TICK TOCK
TICK TOCK

FOR HR AND RECRUITMENT PROFESSIONALS,

THE CLOCK IS TICKING.
Businesses have less than two years to transform their approach
to talent before suffering competitive or fiscal consequences.
In our new global research report, over 900 HR and talent leaders
from organisations spanning continents, scales and sectors
reveal the greatest challenges and pressures they’re facing now.

Download the research report to find out more.

thomas.co/talent-culture-curve

16
EVOLVING TALENT CULTURE AS
HIRING COOLS DOWN
The recruitment landscape is changing faster than ever
before as businesses respond to the new waves of macro
challenges over the last few years and prepare to embrace a
different flavour of economic upheaval. The recession takes
the spotlight away from hiring and the skills gap, and puts
the focus on retention and employee development.

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HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 6:
DEVELOP PEOPLE’S POTENTIAL BY
TAPPING INTO THEIR SENSE OF PURPOSE
Companies with a progressive Talent Culture know
that a person’s potential to succeed is nuanced.

6
Just because someone achieves the basics of their job description
to a good standard doesn’t mean they’re a good fit for the
organisation or easy to work with for the wider team. You may
have made sure to screen for soft skills at the hiring stage, but
what about within your existing workforce? Interpersonal skills
such as providing feedback, being assertive, or communicating
clearly can be learned and built upon in the same way that hard
skills can, so don’t forget to foster these qualities throughout the
company in the same way.

But real development goes deeper than this by aligning an

individual’s career goals with organisational ones. When
you understand each individual team member’s strengths
and motivations, you can connect them with the parts of the
company’s mission that they would excel at. Encourage managers
to enquire what their team members would like to learn and
assess their blind spots to build a holistic picture of where in the
organisation they would best be suited.

Does your organisation actively work to identify and address

skills shortages?

1 = We don’t conduct any analysis of current skills gaps or offer

training

2 = We identify gaps in hard skills and offer training for technical
skills, but don’t think about soft skills

3 = We identify gaps in hard and soft skills,

and provide training to address both

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EVOLVING TALENT CULTURE AS HIRING COOLS DOWN HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

TLC CARE
TLC Care is an award-winning care home group that needed a solution to help
them care for their employees as well as they did for their residents. They used
psychometrics to enhance their delivery of outstanding people practices, from
recruitment to onboarding – but particularly for development.

“I think the Behavioural profile supports a greater

understanding of how to get the best out of someone.
I think you need to know people and have a person-
centred approach to maximise their potential. That
enhances their engagement, improves retention and
gives them a sense of belonging. We have recently
included happiness as a Key Performance Indicator
(KPI) because if people are happy at work, that’s the
most you can ask for.”

LORNA RUSSELL
Chief Operating Officer, TLC Care

FIRST STEP:
Choose a team to focus on and find out what each member wants to achieve
within the company. What areas are they keen to succeed at? For example, perhaps
they want to develop their negotiation skills, or become more assertive in meeting
environments.

From here, managers can use profiles in conversations with team members to explore
development pathways that will generate maximum satisfaction and value.

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HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

TIP 7:
NURTURE A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT
The future of work is quickly emerging and always evolving. As a result, employers
have to stay ahead of the curve to attract and retain top talent. While evaluating
pay transparency, benefits, and wellbeing policies is a great place to start, it’s not

7
a ‘one-and-done’ situation. These things need to be continuously re-evaluated
as the economic climate progresses, ensuring that your business is better able to
pique the interest of the best candidates possible.

On a deeper level, developing strong HR-based foundations begins

with being able to respond to internal challenges in an agile way.
Part of this is being sensitive and acting upon your employee
needs and feedback.

One way to do this is to create a culture where employees feel that

it’s safe and worthwhile to suggest improvements. By recognising
employees as individuals and reflecting on what they need to
reach their full potential, you create a more engaged workforce as
a whole, where everybody brings their best self to work.

How dynamic is your organisation’s Talent Culture?

1 =  Low, our Talent Culture is not subject to continual review and

improvement

2 = Medium, we gather employee feedback and generally try to

respond to it

3 = High, we have an embedded culture of gathering feedback

from employees and responding in an agile manner

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 HOW TO EVOLVE YOUR TALENT CULTURE

FIRST STEP:
Do you currently take any steps to get feedback
from your employees? If you do, how could that
process be individualised? A company-wide
anonymous satisfaction survey is a great start, but
true understanding requires you to go deeper - and
managers play a huge role in this.
When your managers receive feedback, do they
act on it? Do your teams hear back on whether or
not their suggestions will be implemented? Get
managers into the habit of checking in with your
employees to get under the hood of what they
think could be done better, and encourage an
environment of trusting honesty, where staff feel free
to be truly open about how they feel.
One particularly effective way to do this easily
and thoroughly is via regular eNPS employee
engagement surveys. By routinely sharing the results
of these with the wider company, you promote
accountability into the process. If everyone is aware
of any issues that come up, there’s no room to bury
your head in the sand about them.
At concurrent meetings, ensure previous feedback is
revisited and the company’s response is discussed.
Doing this fosters the sense that each employee
plays a crucial role at the business, reminding
them that they have options beyond quitting if they
become dissatisfied with any aspect of their role.

TALENT CULTURE LEADER:

UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE
The South African University of the Free State (UFS) started using psychometric
assessments in 2015, to help mature its performance management and
development processes. They measure a range of psychological and motivational
factors, including people’s behaviours, personality, emotional traits, and their
engagement levels, to support their interventions and make sure programmes
align to the experience they wish to create.

They continue to use Thomas assessments to support their programmes and

ensure that they align with the employee experience they set out to create, and
they say their findings have helped them to maintain engagement and facilitated
flexible working.

“The assessments have really informed our

development programmes. With recruitment
it’s about identifying the right candidates. It’s
also about supporting the whole candidate
experience right through until they leave us.”

NATASHA NEL
Organisational Development Specialist,
University of the Free State
2211
WHAT’S THE SCORE?

So, how did your company’s Talent Culture rank?

7-11
If you scored 7-11
12-17
If you scored 12-17

Your organisation is living behind the Curve:
as a business, you likely have low levels of
progressive talent belief and behaviour,
meaning you don’t have the processes or
the mindset in place to foster a progressive
Talent Culture.
Low scores can indicate that your
organisation is on the road to low
productivity, worker burnout and
employee churn, so increasing this is
vital. Take some time today to begin
implementing the tips in this guide,
making a note of the areas your
business performed lowest in as a
place to start. The road to becoming a
Talent Culture Leader starts here.
Your organisation is halfway there – as
a business, you either have high levels of
progressive talent belief or high levels of
progressive talent behaviour, but not both.
Average scores indicate your
organisation could benefit from
adopting the tips highlighted in this
guide to progress ahead of the curve.
Review your answers to see whether it’s
talent belief or talent behaviour that
needs addressing.

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18-21
If you scored 18-21

Your organisation is living the dream, with

both high levels of progressive talent belief
and talent behaviour.

High scores indicate your organisation

has already adopted some of the
practices outlined in the guide and
is reaping the rewards of doing so.
However, it’s important not to get
complacent, as a progressive Talent
Culture is always evolving.

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Get in touch with Thomas today to find
out how introducing people science to
your HR practices can help you evolve
your Talent Culture.
connect@thomas.co
@
+44 (0)1628 470980

18 Oxford Road
Marlow
SL7 2NL

© Thomas International Ltd 2023.

Founded in 1981, Thomas International transforms the performance of organisations around

the world through smarter people decisions, looking be-yond just skills and experience to
identify the true potential and capability of people. Its talent assessment platform combines
technology, psychology and data to make the complex nature of human behaviour, aptitude
and personality easier for everyone to understand. Today, Thomas helps over 11,000 companies
across 140 countries unleash the power of their people.