The topic of best practice profiles (BPP) has already been discussed in detail in several previous articles. A BPP serves as a basis for comparison. It allows conclusions to be drawn about the candidate's positioning in terms of individual personality traits and reveals potential areas for development and growth. It shows what makes the best in an industry tick and which characteristics are particularly necessary and conducive to success in a given profession. In short, a best practice profile is a comparison with the best.
- This article discusses the steps required to create a best practice profile. Creating a best practice profile consists of five steps: First, the most successful employees in a professional group within the company must be identified. In order to identify these employees, success criteria must be defined. What criteria should be used to select the most successful employees? Which figures are decisive for success? Examples of success criteria are the sales achieved or the return on investment. Next, a best practice group is formed from the most successful employees in the company and the characteristics relevant to success and verifiable are collected. Figure 1.1 shows a table for determining the most successful employees.
- Next, each selected employee completes an online aptitude assessment. This is a self-assessment that identifies and highlights the participant's strengths and weaknesses. Some sample questions can be seen in Figure 1.2.
- This is followed by the evaluation of the aptitude diagnostics. The results of the aptitude diagnostics show the various characteristics of the most successful employees. By combining and evaluating all profiles of the best practice group, a best practice profile is created. This profile is also known as the ideal profile. It shows which criteria are consistently important or unimportant for the participating employees.
- However, the evaluations of each individual employee are also considered and recorded in an individual profile.
- In the final step, the values of the individual profile are compared with those of the best practice profile. A deviation analysis is performed. This checks the extent to which the values of both profiles match for the individual characteristics. The key criteria are also checked. Attention is paid to whether the key criteria are the same and how great the difference between the individual profile and the ideal profile is. Figure 1.3 shows an example of a partial evaluation of an aptitude assessment.
By comparing the best practice profile with several other profiles, significant changes in self-assessment relative to the values of the comparison group can be more easily identified.
In a structured interview, deviations can be discussed on the basis of the BPP. In addition, targeted questioning can clarify the causes of the discernible differences.
The next article in this series will focus on quality criteria. What criteria must a good and reputable procedure meet? What else should be taken into account?
About the author
After completing his studies in automotive engineering and industrial engineering, he began his professional career in the automotive industry in the areas of sales, development, and marketing, and also spent a year in Japan with one of the largest automotive suppliers.
He then moved to a world-renowned premium car manufacturer, where he was responsible for product marketing for Japan and South America as well as marketing strategy for North and South America.
In 1994, he decided to become self-employed and founded a personnel consulting firm in Munich, where he has been driving development and expansion for over 20 years. As managing director, his industry focus is naturally on the automotive world as well as mechanical and plant engineering.
His doctorate in the field of aptitude diagnostics ideally complements his areas of expertise, particularly in relation to human resources and management consulting. His dissertation deals with the identification and verification of typical personality traits of engineers and the definition of areas of development for a successful career.
These are scientifically derived and presented in the book "Eignungsdiagnostik im Praxiseinsatz" (Aptitude Diagnostics in Practical Use).
At the same time, he focuses on establishing networks and cooperation models as well as the continuous development of systems and processes in HR consulting.
Over the past 20 years in HR consulting, he has developed several brands that continue to operate successfully on the market today.
