Founded in 1863, the International Committee of the Red Cross helps people affected by armed conflict and promotes respect for international humanitarian law. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it employs some 16,000 people in over 80 countries.
For the international organization, the challenge was considerable: four positions to be filled at the same time and in the same division. In order to select the most suitable candidates, the ICRC’s recruitment department chose Skillspotting for the two highly qualified senior positions.
Upstream: working closely together
In partnership with their ICRC counterparts, Skillspotting’s HR consultants first established a set of around twenty technical skills in management, finance and office automation, along with a panel of fifteen “soft skills”[1]. Around eighty candidates were then entered into the system, and the Skillspot algorithm put around fifteen profiles on the radar for each position (Head of Corporate financial controlling / Head of Field financial and admin controlling). On the recommendation of Skillspotting’s experts, ten were shortlisted.
Fair, scientific selection of candidates
Skillspot technology provides a map that is both broad, since it covers all fields of expertise, and very precise. The self-assessment dimension, absent from traditional CVs, makes all the difference here.
To ensure that the behavioral aspects stood out, the Skillspotting team then conducted structured interviews with each of the shortlisted applicants before they were interviewed by ICRC HR.
Better use of recruitment time
In a bureaucracy of this size, processes are generally very slow, so speed was an important factor.
Skillspot’s powerful matching and mapping system, which quickly eliminates irrelevant applications, gave recruiters the opportunity to refocus on interviewing: “Instead of sorting through CVs, which was done by the machine, we were able to invest our time differently: it was nice to only have to focus on the best profiles and to only work on qualitative work to go and analyze profiles in depth,” appreciates Aleksandra Popovic, HQ Recruitment Coordinator at International Committee of the Red Cross.
Recruiters’ perceptions put to the test of scientific reality
Both positions required an excellent knowledge of the workings of the ICRC. What’s more, as the organization was in a major development phase that already required upskilling with existing staff, the recruiters opted in the end to give preference to internal candidates. “We knew some of these candidates, since recruitment was open internally. It was very interesting to see them position themselves in a machine that was supposed to evaluate them completely objectively, and to see how they compared with candidates who had applied externally. There was a real difference between our perception of these people and scientific reality. It was also very interesting to compare these two populations [interne et externe] “, notes Aleksandra Popovic.
More than just a tool: a comprehensive offering
With Skillspotting, the ICRC benefited not only from the installation of a high-performance tool, but also from the expertise of seasoned senior consultants. “With our long experience in assessment and development centers, and in supporting managers in general, we have a large number of tools at our disposal, and can easily decipher different types of functioning while advising those being assessed, in coaching mode”, emphasizes Nicolas Quoëx, senior HR consultant at Skillspotting. This added value was particularly appreciated by the ICRC recruiters: “We enjoyed the whole process enormously: we felt supported and accompanied by professionals. We really appreciated Skillspotting’s assessment of candidates during one-to-one meetings, and it was all the more interesting for the interns to compare our different assessments. That’s their great added value: they’re also HR professionals who know how to assess people, they’re not there simply to sell a tool.”
A goal reached… and surpassed!
The work carried out by the Skillspotting team to optimize the recruitment process resulted in the hiring of an additional person, enabling us to respond almost instantly to an additional need: “Among the pool of candidates selected by Skillspotting, we were more than happy, since instead of only recruiting for two positions, it enabled us to fill a third,” enthuses Aleksandra Popovic.
We felt supported and accompanied by professionals. We really appreciated Skillspotting’s assessment of the candidates (…). That’s their great added value: they’re also HR professionals who know how to assess people, they’re not there simply to sell a tool.
Aleksandra Popovic, HQ Recruitment Coordinator at ICRC
The project in brief
Customer :International Committee of the Red Cross
Business sector :humanitarian aid
80 countries worldwide
Website :https://www.icrc.org
Mission:recruiting for 2 senior positions
Consultant :Skillspotting
Implementation: 3 weeks, from defining jobs to finalizing interviews (with a lot of back and forth between Skillspotting and the ICRC).
Key benefits:optimization of the recruitment process, fair and scientific selection of candidates, structured interviews carried out by Skillspotting experts, time savings enabling recruiters to refocus on their core business.
[1] Behavioral skills