Capita works with the Army to add science to selection
Capita’s 10-year £440m contract to recruit for the British Army, combines the best of the old ways previously used by the Army with “a bit more science,” according to the executive heading up the project on behalf of Capita.
Under the terms of the contract signed last year, which went live on 26 March, with the opening of the Army’s National Recruiting Centre in Upavon, Wiltshire, Capita is responsible for the operational aspects of candidate and recruitment, while the Army retains responsibility for policy, selection criteria and standards.
Shaun King, managing director of the Recruitment Partnering Project (RPP) within Capita, told Recruiter that the new partnership preserves the face-to-face contact with an Army recruiter, but combines it with greater rigour. “Our selection process has a bit more science in it, in that you go through a selection process not just testing your skills, but also your emotional readiness that can determine where your best fit is in terms of your career in the Army.”
Screening is carried out in two stages: eligibility and suitability screening, with the latter including online psychometric assessments, that test aptitude, interest, motivation and judgement, said King.
“We are trying to bring that objectivity around testing individuals so that we can understand their best fit to meet the Army’s needs. That is always very difficult to do in a face-to-face interview, because you could be interviewed by 10 people and get 10 different views.”
But as Brigadier Andrew Jackson, director recruiting and training (operations) for the British Army, told Recruiter, the new system combines this greater objectivity with one of the greatest strengths of the old system. “The most important bit is the face-to-face meeting, actually seeing a role model, and the opportunity to question him or her about what they have done. That bit is preserved in all this, in that each of the recruiting officers in the front of house [within Army recruiting offices] will continue to be operationally experienced soldiers.”
Added King: “What we are doing is utilising the military experience where it can be used best.”
• For more on how the RPP is transforming the face of Army recruitment, see April's Recruiter, pp28-30.
