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Workin’ on the Railroad

By Vicenzo Di Pietro, Partner & Team Director
Region: Switzerland

Sector focus: Industry

WE TRUST IN OUR METHODS AND OUR ASSESSMENTS. AT MERCURI URVAL, THEY’RE AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO. WE APPLY THEM TO EVERY CLIENT, AND WE’RE CONFIDENT THAT WE GIVE THEM THE RIGHT CHOICE.
MOST OF THE TIME, OUR CLIENTS AGREE WITH OUR ASSESSMENTS, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM AND US IS SMOOTH. SOMETIMES, HOWEVER, THEY DISAGREE. THAT’S FINE. AFTER ALL, WE CAN ONLY “STRONGLY” RECOMMEND A PERSON THROUGH OUR METHODS AND ASSESSMENTS. IT’S OUR CLIENTS THAT ULTIMATELY MAKE THE FINAL, ABSOLUTE DECISION. HOWEVER, WE DO SOMETIMES SEE THAT THEY END UP REGRETTING THAT DECISION — AND WISHING THEY’D GONE FOR OUR RECOMMENDATION.
THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED IN ONE OF MY STANDOUT CASES. WE DID AN ASSESSMENT FOR A CLIENT; IT WAS A SMALL - TO MEDIUM - SIZE COMPANY PRODUCING RAILWAY PRODUCTS. IN THE END, THE COMPANY WENT WITH THE PERSON WE DID NOT PUT IN FRONT OF THEM — MUCH TO THEIR DETRIMENT.
TO FIND THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB, WE WENT THROUGH OUR USUAL PROCESS. WE SAT DOWN WITH THE CLIENT AND THE STAKEHOLDERS THROUGHOUT THE ORGANISATION AND TRIED TO UNDERSTAND THE POSITION. WE TALKED ABOUT THEIR FUTURE GOALS, THE FINANCIAL NECESSITIES, HOW THEY WOULD MANAGE THE ORGANISATION, AND MUCH MORE.
FROM THERE, WE WENT TO WORK FINDING SUITABLE CANDIDATES FOR THE POSITION. AFTER A WHILE, WE BROUGHT TWO DIFFERENT CANDIDATES IN FRONT OF THE ORGANISATION. ONE OF THEM WAS PERFECT FOR THE ROLE. FIRST, THEY HAD EXCELLENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY. SECOND, THEY HAD THE EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE TO MAKE THEM AN OUTSTANDING LEADER WITHIN THE ORGANISATION. THAT WAS THE PERSON WE RECOMMENDED FOR THE ROLE.

However, after we did the assessment and personality test, the management had some hesitations about our recommendation. They ended up going with someone completely different. In our assessment, we wrote that their preferred candidate was not people-oriented and not a great fit for the role. As it turns out, that became a huge problem. They brought their preferred candidate into the role, and it was a disaster — specifically due to their issues of not being people-oriented. After half a year in the role, the company’s CEO was unhappy. They let the person go and returned to us to fill the position again. It goes to show that our initial recommendation is usually the right one.

Vincenzo Di Pietro, Partner & Team Director
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